Senior journalist, author, and corporate trainer Kalyani Sardesai has been conferred the Shakti Ratna Award by the Maritime Union of India (MUI) Women’s Wing. The award was presented at MUI’s annual commemorative event at Hotel Holiday Inn, Sakinaka, Mumbai, on May 12, 2026, held in the run-up to the International Day for Women in Maritime, observed on May 18 by the International Maritime Organization.
The Shakti Ratna recognises women achievers making a meaningful difference to society – women across different spectra whose work empowers and uplifts others, and Sardesai bagged the honour as an accomplished author whose books give voice, strength, and visibility to women’s stories and marginalised children.
Sardesai’s books are socially themed and a researched documentation of changing norms.
‘Child of My Heart: A Comprehensive Guide to Adoption in India’ – a first of its kind – examines how adoption works in India against the broader backdrop of how the country views its vulnerable children.
The Amazon bestseller ‘When Love is Lost: Cases from the Family Courts of a Changing India’ is a critically acclaimed look at the changing face of marriage in a deeply conservative society.
‘Punyakatha: The Story of a Million Years’, done for Heritage India, is a children’s book chronicling the history of Pune and the Deccan Plateau from the Stone Age to the present.
Her recently released ‘Lost Among the Myths: Her Stories from the Ramayana’ is a feminist reclamation in which thirteen women characters from the epic tell their own stories in their own voices.
“I feel deeply honoured by this recognition, and it strengthens my resolve to continue exploring issues that impact us all. My next two books trace the history of Maharashtra for over 2000 years in a manner that is interesting and engaging to every reader, as well as a reclamation of women’s voices from the Mahabharata,” shares Sardesai.
A gold medallist in Journalism and English Literature from Pune University, Sardesai has written for The Indian Express, The Times of India, DNA, and Heritage India, among other leading publications.
