K. A. Beena

K. A. Beena (കെ.എ.ബീന) is an Indian author, journalist, and columnist who writes in Malayalam on a variety of topics, particularly social issues affecting women. Her publications include memoirs, magazine articles, travelogues, children's books, essay collections, short stories, and history books about journalism and media. She is currently the assistant director for the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting's Bureau of Outreach and Communication. She was born in Vazhayila, Trivandrum district of Kerala, the daughter of journalist M. Karunakaran Nair and his wife Ambika. She has a Master's degree in journalism and English literature from the University of Kerala and wrote her thesis about K. Balakrishnan. Her husband, Baiju Chandran, is the deputy director of Doordarshan in New Delhi. They have at least one child, filmmaker Ritwik Baiju. Beena started writing in her early school days, completing Beena Kanda Russia, a travelogue, at the age of 13. It published for the first time in 1981. The book recounts her experiences of attending the International Children's camp at Artek in the Ukrainian SSR in 1977. In 1987, she became the assistant editor for Kerala Kaumudi women's magazine and moved to the Mathrubhumi Printing And Publishing Company in 1989. In 1991, she joined the Indian Information Service for the Government of India and worked as the news editor of All India Radio and Doordarshan. She also worked in the Press Information Bureau and Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity.