Sandhya Mendonca is an Indian writer, author, biographer, editor and publisher. Born in Bengaluru (Bangalore) in the state of Karnataka, India, she gained a BA in Economics, Political Science & Sociology from St. Joseph's College of Arts & Science and an MA in Political Science specialising in International Relations from Bangalore University. She has a Diploma in Public Relations from the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. She lives in Bengaluru.
Sandhya Mendonca worked as a journalist [1] for over sixteen years before co-founding a media company with her husband and veteran journalist Allen Mendonca (1960 - 2009), Raintree Media,[2] of which she is the Managing Director & Editor-in-Chief. She is also the mentor at TheGoodCity.in, a web and mobile-based curated content platform, and the Festival Director of Under The Raintree women's cultural festival,[3] India's first multi-arts festival curated by women.
A native Kannadiga, Mendonca is a chronicler of the cultural history of the state of Karnataka through books published by Raintree Media such as Karnataka - A Cultural Odyssey, Raj Bhavan Bangalore - Through the Ages,[4] Marvels of Karnataka & more and many others. She is the co-author of Marvels of Mysore & More, published in 2012. This book has been hailed by author Shashi Deshpande, and editor-in-chief of Outlook, Krishna Prasad. In 2015, Marvels of Karnataka & More[5] was translated into Kannada as Karnatakada Vismayagalu (ಕರ್ನಾಟಕದ ವಿಸ್ಮಯಗಳು).
Her book Disrupt and Conquer - How TTK Prestige Became A Billion Dollar Company[6] [7] co-authored with Mr. TT Jaggannathan (Chairman of TTK Group), was published by Penguin Random House in 2018.[8] It featured in Amazon Editor's picks of Memorable Books of 2018, and Best of Business & Leadership of 2018.
Random House also published her earlier book on the REVA electric car Reva EV - India's Green Gift to the World (co-authored with Dr. SK Maini), in 2013.[9] Her autobiographical stories are published in the Chicken Soup for the Indian Couples' Soul & Chicken Soup for the Indian Singles' Soul series, both a part of the international Chicken Soup for the Soul series, published in India by Tata Westland in 2012.
In 2019, she edited and published the Augmented Reality embedded Innovate Bengaluru,[10] which features the top 100 innovators and enablers in Bengaluru's ecosystem. The book was launched in April 2019 at the Innovate Bengaluru Festival,[11] which brought together over 300 Icons, Inventors, Entrepreneurs, Emerging Leaders, Enablers and Investors.
She co-authored with Nafees Fazal, the latter's memoir, 'Breaking Barriers - The Story of a Liberal Muslim Woman's Passage in Indian Politics' published by Konark Publishers in 2022.