Balam Sundaresan

Balam Sundaresan was born in 1937 in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, where she attended school and college. She was among the first of her generation of women to demand and receive a formal education. The daughter of the renowned lawyer, humanist and writer, K.G. Subrahmanyam, Balam began writing at an early age. 

Balam’s writing is inspired by her childhood experiences in small villages in pre-independence India, to life in later years in big cities such as Chennai and Mumbai, and eventually, trips to foreign countries. Her characters and stories are as varied as her own interests, which include painting, music, yoga, gardening, blogging, computer programming and learning French. Her articles and short stories in Tamil and English have been published in various newspapers and magazines, and as well on her personal blog. Balam currently lives in Coimbatore and is frequently visited by her three children and five grandchildren.