Santha Rama Rau was born in Madras, India, and is the daughter of a distinguished Indian diplomat, Benegal Rama Rau. As a child she went to school in England, and later lived in South Africa, the United States, and Japan. A graduate of Wellesley, she is an internationally known author. In 1956 she adapted E. M. Forester's *A Passage to India* for successful runs on the stage in London and New York.