Mrinal Pande Age, Husband, Family, Biography & More

Some Lesser Known Facts About Mrinal Pande

• Mrinal Pande is an Indian journalist, television personality, and author, who received the prestigious Padma Shri award in 2006 in recognition of her significant contributions to the fields of journalism and Hindi literature.

• Mirinal’s father’s job necessitated frequent relocations for the family, including Allahabad and Priory Lodge in Nainital, before ultimately settling in Lucknow. Mrinal’s mother, Gaura Shivani Pant, was honored with Padma Shri in 1982.

• Mrinal Pande used to have tantrums when she saw her sister in school because she was so eager to go to school. Following this, her mother spoke with the school’s principal, who consented to accept Mrinal, who was then three years old, even though the starting age was five. The principal, however, informed Mrinal’s mother that she should be placed in the first standard since she was too academically gifted compared to the other students.
  

  A picture of young Mrinal Pande in the lap of her mother

• Mrinal began copy-editing her mother’s compositions in the Hindi language at the age of 14.

• She published her first story was published in the Hindi weekly Dharmyug when she was 21 years old. Afterward, she began to write shorter tales, stage performances, longer fictional stories, and thought-provoking compositions. She wrote many books, such as The Subject is Woman (1991), Daughter’s Daughter (1993), That Which Ram Hath Ordained (1994), Devi: Tales of the Goddess in Our Time (1996), and My Own Witness (2000).

• During her school days, Mrinal displayed exceptional proficiency in subjects like English and Sanskrit literature.

• It was during her college years that she discovered her talent for debating, singing, and dancing.

• While attending university, she met people who shared her interests and ideologies, which led to her involvement in politics and a transformative shift in her perspectives on various topics. Subsequently, she delved into research on political analysis, as well as health and women’s issues.

• Due to his job, his family traveled to various places including Allahabad and Priory Lodge in Nainital, before settling in Lucknow. He died at an early age.

• Mrinal’s husband, Arvind Pande, is a Cambridge University graduate who became an IAS officer in 1965. After twenty-one years of his service, he began working at SAIL, a public sector steel company, and got retired in 2002.

• Mrinal worked as a teacher at both the University of Allahabad and the College of Jesus and Mary, Delhi University, and taught English Literature. Additionally, she shared her expertise in the history of art and architecture during her tenure at Maulana Azad College of Technology in Bhopal.

• She worked as the editor of Vama, a Hindi publication owned by The Times of India Group, from 1984 to 1987, and Saptahik Hindustan, a Hindi weekly owned by The Hindustan Times Group, from 1988 to 1992. On August 31, 2009, she departed Saptahik Hindustan.
  

  A picture of Mrinal Pande while interviewing Rajiv Gandhi for Saptahik Hindustan, a newspaper she was editing at that time

• She played a pivotal role as the founder-president of the Indian Women’s Press Corps, serving from 1990 to 1994 and later from 2001 to 2002. Additionally, she dedicated several years to the National Commission for Self-Employed Women, actively contributing to the socioeconomic progress of marginalized communities including rag-pickers, vegetable sellers, and domestic workers.

• Pande’s significant achievements also include her appointment as the chief editor of Hindustan, the Hindi daily of The Hindustan Times Group, where she became the first woman to hold this position from 2001 to 2009.
  

  I entered it as a special correspondent for culture, a category Hindi journalism lacked. Circumstance pushed me into the mainstream and after working as an editor with The Times of India Group, I accepted a lateral entry into The Hindustan Times Group as editor of their Hindi magazines and later the daily.”

• In February 2010, she assumed the position of chairperson at Prasar Bharati, which is the largest public broadcasting agency in India. She remained in this role until April 2014.

• Pande was the host of Baaton Baaton Mein, a weekly interview show, which broadcasted on Lok Sabha TV under the Congress Government.

• She embarked on her anchoring career on Star News and Doordarshan in 1996.

• She assumed the role of senior editorial advisor for news and current affairs programs on the channel from 1999 to 2001.

• In an interview, Mrinal revealed that her step-sister used to bully her even though they both shared a close bond with each other. She further added,
  

  I was closer to my elder [step-] sister than my siblings who were six and nine years younger. My sister was affectionate but a bully. She was musically gifted while I was the one with brains. She did not wish for me to pick up music for fear that I would do better. So, even though I loved it, I learned it only after I married.”

• In an interview, Pande revealed that she vowed that she would never sing in public; however, she has written on the growth of classical music in post-1857 India and the contribution of women singers to it in her book.

• Pande said that she considers sleeping, reading, thinking, and listening to music her leisurely indulgences while talking about it an interview.

• Mrinal frequently expresses opposition to the BJP, as seen when Narendra Modi visited Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh, in 2019. Pande ridiculed him for wearing their traditional headgear and shared a picture of a rooster on Twitter with the caption “Once more!!”. She faced severe criticism from internet users for mocking the headgear.
  

  Mrinal Pande’s mocking tweet in reference to Narendra Modi

• Mrinal met several notable personalities including Giani Zail Singh.