Nisha da Cunha, writer and beloved literature professor, dies at 92

Remembered for her short story collections, Nisha also inspired an entire generation to fall in love with books as a professor of literature

MUMBAI: Veteran author and educator Nisha da Cunha passed away at her residence on Tuesday evening at the age of 92, leaving behind a literary legacy as rich as her fiction. Remembered for her short story collections, Nisha also inspired an entire generation to fall in love with books as a professor of literature.

Nisha da Cunha, writer and beloved literature professor, dies at 92

Born into a Gujarati political family—her father was the late finance and home minister HM Patel—da Cunha spent her early years in Delhi. In an interview with this writer in September last year, she spoke of how she grew up in a home filled with books, courtesy of her father, who boasted of a wonderful library and encouraged his five daughters to read in their free time. After completing her studies, she taught English literature at Miranda House in Delhi for five years. She moved to Mumbai, then Bombay, after her marriage to the late legendary adman Sylvester da Cunha, and continued teaching at St Xavier’s College for the next 25 years, retiring as head of the English Literature department in 1985.

Among her many illustrious students was author, columnist and former editor Shobhaa De, who credits da Cunha for gifting her her career as a writer. Describing da Cunha as a “precious gift”, De said, “She made me fall in love with words, literature, the power of imagination.” De particularly remembers her “passion for the written word, for books, poetry, ideas, her encouragement to express freely, break rules, find the inner voice, and go ahead confidently, and be unafraid...”.

“I ached and longed to attend her classes, and was spellbound by her personality as she made characters come alive, encouraging deep dives into the complex constructs of difficult books. She taught me to be fearless. I owe her a big, big one,” she said.

City history columnist Meher Marfatia, who was part of da Cunha’s class of 1984, believes her to be the “last of that generation of great English lit professors”. “When I heard we lost Nisha, I went straight to one of my cherished keepsakes — an exam paper she corrected 45 years ago when it was my privilege to be taught by her. Even when I visited her in hospital recently, she keenly discussed Virginia Evans’ book, The Correspondent, which I’d gifted her. She was just so inspiring.”

Da Cunha’s writing career had a delayed start. Her father’s best friend, senior ICS officer and ex-Indian diplomat AD Gorwala, whom she visited daily post retirement to read to him, was among those who motivated her to write fiction. She eventually got introduced to David Davidar, one of the founding members of Penguin India, via a mutual friend. The two collaborated on several books, including her debut Old Cypress: Stories (1991), which immediately established her as one of the country’s finest short story writers, and The Permanence of Grief (1993), Set My Heart in Aspic (1997) and No Black, No White: Short Stories (2001).

Writer, translator, and theatre critic Shanta Gokhale remembers visiting da Cunha in the “lovely cottage-like home” she and her husband Sylvester shared. “That’s where Old Cypress was launched,” she recalled. “It was a small party, mostly friends with David Davidar present. I read the stories in a couple of days and told her how much I had enjoyed being part of the world of her imagination. Her prose was lyrical, her craft impeccable and her stories full of an ache that was also luminous and tender. They seemed to be integral to her personality, her wistful expression and her soft, faraway voice … I feel the ache of her going,” Gokhale added.

Actor-director Bugs Bhargava Krishna, a long-time associate and friend of da Cunha’s son, ad man, playwright and theatre director Rahul da Cunha, says he developed a close friendship with her after her husband passed away in 2023. “She was all intellect, and had a consummate knowledge of literature and writing.”

For some time now, Krishna and Rahul have been working towards bringing da Cunha’s celebrated short story Old Cypress to the screen. The story follows an elderly woman from Mumbai who decides to move with her husband to a hill station and settle there. But just before they leave, her husband reveals that he is having an affair and does not want to join her. She goes alone, and in her new home, builds new friendships. “As a matter of fact, we were going to start shooting in October, and our plan was actually to show her the first cut on March 7, her next birthday,” said Krishna. Rahul, he added, had also planned to release the film both, in Hindi and English, as a special gift to his mother. “She was quite excited about this.”

Though da Cunha never taught him, Krishna still thinks of her as his teacher. “We discussed books, and it was so great. And now there’s a big void. I don’t have anyone else to have these conversations with.”