Manorama Jafa  Manorama Jafa is an Indian writer of children's literature, who has authored over 100 books and 600 other publications like stories, articles and research papers. She was honoured by the Government of India, in 2014, by bestowing on her the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award, for her services to the field of literature. Manorama Jafa was born in 1932 and secured a master's degree in Geography from University of Allahabad. After her marriage to Virender Singh Jafa, she took up writing, in the late 60s, when her husband was posted in Patna. The initial efforts were columns in local newspapers which soon developed into story writing. When her husband moved to the US to work for the United Nations, she took a course in story writing at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to propel a career which yielded over 100 books and several hundred stories. Manorama has two children, eldest a son and the youngest, a daughter, Navina Jafa, a locally known Kathak dancer. Manorama Jafa is a prolific writer with more than 100 books and many research papers to her credit. She writes in Hindi and English and her stories have been translated into many languages such as Japanese, Dutch, Italian and Spanish. From her first book, "Donkey on the Bridge", Jafa writes in simple language, mostly in text and pictures format. Jafa writes for adults as well, such as her book "Devika", which has more political overtones. Apart from the regular books she has written, Manorama Jafa's contributions to the cause of Children's literature have been reported to be noteworthy. She has also written themed books, such as "Gabbar and Babbar" and "I am Sona", which are aimed at children with special needs. She has launched a special program for traumatized children, "Book Therapy" and has distributed books to children living in areas distressed by calamities like Afghanistan and in tsunami affected areas in India. She confessed the idea struck her on seeing a picture of a crying child holding a ball for comfort after the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. Jafa has produced many research papers on children's literature and a book on writing children's literature and is pioneering a movement for better books for children. She also conducts regular workshops for emerging writers to promote children's literature in countries like Singapore, Thailand, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal, which are said to have influenced the present boom in Children's literature. She is also credited with initiating a "home library movement" towards this end.