[1] He counts Konkani, Portuguese, and English as his three mother tongues, he moved to Bombay and took his BA from St. Xavier's College, Mumbai in 1945.

[citation needed] The 1940s already saw a number of his English-language short stories appearing in British Indian publications.

He was the first Indian to be appointed Copy Chief at the advertising giant J Walter Thompson's Bombay office, but migrated to the US just months later.

[1] In 1956, he emigrated to the United States, along with his wife, Lea, and worked part-time as a music critic for the New York Times.

[2] In 1983 he took an MA from Teachers College, Columbia University, taught for a time in private and public schools, and then became involved in coordinating adult literacy teaching.