SUNITA DEOSTHALI, NEE HEGDE WAS BORN IN VADODARA ON 29TH OCTOBER, 1956 WHERE SHE COMPLETED HER SCHOOLING AND HIGHER EDUCATION AS WELL. AFTER GRADUATING IN PSYCHOLOGY FROM MAHARAJA SAYAJIRAO UNIVERSITY, SHE PURSUED HER B.ED. DEGREE. SHE ALSO COMPLETED M.A (HINDI) FROM GUJARAT UNIVERSITY AS HINDI LANGUAGE FASCINATED HER. SHE STARTED HER CAREER AS A HINDI TEACHER AND THEN WENT ON TO WORK IN A NATIONALIZED BANK FOR 26 YEARS. AS A CHILD, CREATIVE WRITING WAS HER FAVORITE PASTIME. RIGHTLY SO, SHE HAS BEEN AWARDED MANY PRIZES FOR THE SHORT-STORY COMPETITIONS HELD AS A PART OF THE ANNUAL LITERATURE ASSEMBLY HELD IN VADODARA. HER CAREER AS AN AUTHOR TOOK A LEAP AFTER SHE OPTED FOR VOLUNTARY RETIREMENT FROM HER BANK JOB IN 2006. STORY WRITING WAS HER MOST LOVED AREA OF WRITING. HER FIRST SHORT STORY “DUDHAVARCHI SAAY” GOT SELECTED TO BE PRINTED IN THE DIWALI SPECIAL ISSUE OF “MAHER” MAGAZINE PUBLISHED BY MENAKA PRAKASHAN. SOON MANY SHORT STORIES AUTHORED BY HER WERE PUBLISHED IN WELL-KNOWN MAGAZINES SUCH AS MAHER, MAZI VAHINI, PRUTHA, SAMATOL, ANNAPURNA AND SO ON. SUNITA MAM WAS GIVEN FIRST PRIZE IN 2008 BY “SNEH PUNE” INSTITUTE FOR A KIDS’ DRAMA WRITTEN BY HER. SHE ALSO SERVED AS A CO-EDITOR FROM 2014 TO 2016 FOR THE MARATHI EDITION OF “PRANVAYU” MAGAZINE THAT FOCUSED ON MEDICAL ISSUES AND WAS PUBLISHED FROM SURAT. SHE HAS ALSO WORKED EXTENSIVELY AS A TRANSLATOR OF GUJARATI TO MARATHI LANGUAGE, APART FROM HER USUAL WRITING. SHE HAS TRANSLATED 7 BOOKS AND 45 FORTNIGHTLIES WRITTEN BY FAMED GUJARATI AUTHOR VANARAJ MALAVI INTO MARATHI FOR MUMBAI’S SELF DEVELOPMENT PUBLICATION. HER ONE-ACT PLAY “BAIKO EITIT NAVRA KATRIT” WAS PUBLISHED IN 2007 AND RAN FOR MANY SHOWS. THIS PLAY WAS SELECTED FOR AUDIO PRESENTATION ON THE RADIO CHANNEL “VIDYAVAANI” AS WELL. HER COLLECTION OF SHORT STORIES WILL BE PUBLISHED BY MEHTA PUBLISHING HOUSE SOON. SHE IS CURRENTLY COLLABORATING WITH MANY ORGANIZATIONS FOR TRANSLATION WORK ALONG WITH HER PERSONAL WRITING PROJECTS. MOREOVER, SHE DELVES IN WRITING POEMS AND SCREENPLAYS FOR LEISURE TOGETHER WITH SHORT-STORY WRITING.S

सौ. सुनीता देवस्थळी या पूर्वाश्रमीच्या सुनीता हेगडे. जन्म बडोद्याचा (२९.१०.१९५६). शालेय तसेच महाविद्यालयीन शिक्षण बडोद्यातच झाले. बडोद्याच्या महाराजा सयाजीराव विद्यापीठातून मानसशास्त्राची पदवी संपादन करून पुढे बी.एड.ची पदवीही प्राप्त केली. हिंदी विषयाची आवड असल्याने गुजरात विद्यापीठातून हिंदी विषयात एम.ए. पूर्ण केले. काही काळ हिंदी शिक्षक म्हणून काम केल्यावर पुढील २६ वर्षे राष्ट्रीयीकृत बँकेत कार्यरत. लेखनाचा छंद लहानपणापासूनच होता. बडोद्याला दर वर्षी होणाऱ्या वाङ्मय परिषदेत घेतल्या जाणाऱ्या लघुकथा स्पर्धेत अनेक पारितोषिके प्राप्त. २००६ मध्ये बँकेतून स्वेच्छानिवृत्ती घेतल्यानंतर लेखनकार्याला गती मिळाली. कथालेखन हे आवडते क्षेत्र. पहिली लघुकथा दुधावरची साय २००८ मध्ये मेनका प्रकाशनच्या माहेर या मासिकात प्रसिद्ध झाली. त्यानंतर अनेक कथा माहेर, माझी वहिनी, पृथा, समतोल, अन्नपूर्णा वगैरे मासिकांतून प्रकाशित झालेल्या आहेत. त्यांनी लिहिलेल्या बालनाटकाला स्नेह पुणे या संस्थेतर्फे २००८ सालचा प्रथम पुरस्कार मिळाला. २०१४ ते २०१६ या काळात सुरतेहून प्रकाशित होणार्या प्राणवायू या वैद्यकीय विषयावरील मासिकाच्या मराठी आवृत्तीची सहसंपादक म्हणून काम केले, लेखनाव्यतिरिक्त गुजराथीतून मराठीत भाषांतराचे भरपूर काम केले आहे. मुंबईच्या सेल्फ डेव्हलपमेंट पाब्लिकेशनसाठी प्रसिद्ध गुजराती लेखक वनराज मालवी यांच्या मानसशास्त्र व व्यक्तिमत्त्वविकास यावरील ७ पुस्तकांचा, तसेच ४५ पाक्षिकांचा मराठी अनुवाद केला आहे.