 Her father Suresh Kanekar was jailed twice by the then Portuguese government for his participation in the movement against colonial rule.Her maternal aunt was Mitra Bir, educationalist, who was sentenced to twelve years in jail at the age of 22, and later went on to open schools for girls at Madgaon (Margao), Verem, Kakora and other locations in Goa, as also centres for adult and vocational education for women, before her death in 1978.Mitra was married to the late Madhav Bir, member of the Goa legislative assembly and Gandhian.