Janhavi Acharekar grew up in the cities of Mumbai of Kolkata and obtained a degree in English from Street Xavier’s College, Mumbai, She has a master"s degree in English from the University of Mumbai and a diploma in mass communication from the Xavier Institute of Communications.
She is the author of the novel Wanderers, All (2015), a collection of short stories Window Seat: Rush-hour stories from the city (2009) and a travel guide Moon Mumbai and Goa (2009). She began writing as a freelance journalist for The Independent while a student at Saint Xavier’s and went on to work as a copywriter in advertising. Acharekar’s novel Wanderers, All was published by HarperCollins India in 2015.
Her short stories appear in the collection Window Seat (HarperCollins India, 2009) (3) as well as in anthologies of short fiction such as the Indo-Australian Fear Factor: Terror Incognito and Only Connect: Short Fiction about Technology and Us from Australia and the Indian Subcontinent (5) (6) edited by Meenakshi Bharat and Sharon Rundle.
She is the author of Moon Mumbai & Goa (Avalon, 2009) (7), the first Indian destination travel guide to be published by the American travel book series Moon Handbooks. lieutenant was a finalist in the Travel Guide category at Foreword Magazine’s Book Of The Year Awards (BOTYA, United States of America).
A condensed version, Moon Spotlight Goa, was published in 2010. She was a special contributor to the travel guide Driving Holidays Across India by Outlook Traveller.
Acharekar is a freelance travel writer and arts journalist.
She is a contributing editor at Conde Nast Traveller India (8) and writes book reviews and features for The Hindu. Her articles have appeared in The Statesman, The Times of India, Biblio, Vancouver Sun, and other publications. She has also curated several literary festivals in India and written two books for children (9).
Acharekar was awarded the Charles Wallace Visiting Writer’s Fellowship at the University of Stirling in 2009.
She was declared one of nine prominent Mumbai residents of the year by Asian Age (10) for her writing, in the same year.
