Santha Rama Rau (शान्ता राम राव) (born 24 January 1923) is best known as a EMMY H. Her father, who is Sir Benegal Rama Rau, was an Indian diplomat and ambassador. Her mother was Dhanvanthi Rama Rau, a leader in the Indian women's rights movement who was the International President of Planned Parenthood. As a young girl, Santha Rama Rau lived in an India under British rule. She was sent to England to be educated, and graduated from school there in 1939. She applied to Wellesley College in the United States, and was the first Indian student to be accepted there. She graduated with honours in 1944. When India won its independence in 1947, Santha Rama Rau's father was appointed as his nation's first ambassador to Japan. While accompanying her father on a trip to Tokyo, she met her future husband, an American, Faubion Bowers. The couple settled in New York City. Rau became an instructor in the English faculty of Sarah Lawrence College in 1971, also working as a freelance writer. Rau is the author of Home to India, East of Home, This is India, Remember the House (a novel), My Russian Journey, The play was produced for Oxford Playhouse, then for the BBC television by the BBC in 1965, adapted by John Maynard and directed by Waris Hussein. Then it moved to West End in 1984 it was adapted for film by director David Lean.Gifts of Passage, The Adventuress, (a novel), View to the Southeast, A Princess Remembers, An Inheritance. She adapted the novel A Passage to India, with author E. M. Forster’s approval, for the theatre. The play was produced for television by the BBC in 1965, adapted by John Maynard and directed by Waris Hussein. In 1984 it was adapted for film by director David Lean. Santha Rama Rau married Faubion Bowers in 1951 and had one son, Jai Peter Bowers in 1952. The couple was divorced in 1966 when Jai was fourteen years old. In 1977 Santha Rama Rau married Gurdon Wattles, and had no children. Faubion Bowers died in November 1999 and is survived by his son, Jai Peter Bowers. Jai is currently living in Scottsdale, Arizona with his wife, Deborah Lee Bowers, and has a daughter, Whitney Elizabeth Bowers. Jai also has two step-children, Morgan and Ross Mandeville.
She wrote a novel called "By Any Other Name". This novel is about two young sisters who went to Anglo-Indian School ruled by British and the teacher changed their names. Santha was changed to Cynthia and her sister Premila was changed to Pamela.
