“There's nothing dead about the Indian classics. It's not a revival of anything. It's not a museum piece. I think our classical tradition is alive through the stories our parents and grandparents told us…[and through popular culture]…..but with few exceptions, we don't know about the classics from our neighboring state, right? I always hope that the girl in Chandigarh can read a Mangal Kavya from Bengal, a boy in Patna can read a Telugu classic. Someone sitting in your old hometown, Pune can read Bulleh Shah.”

🎙️ In this episode (100!) of The Indian Edit, join me with writer, scholar, and Editorial Director of Harvard University Press, Sharmila Sen. We explore Sharmila’s personal journey from growing up in Bengal to immigrating to the United States as a child, her reflections on race, belonging, and visibility, and her work stewarding the linguistically ambitious literary project: The Murty Classical Library of India.

Shownotes for Episide 100:

Growing Up Between Worlds

Sharmila’s childhood in Calcutta (Kolkata) and her move to Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1982

Assimilation, accent, and the desire to “disappear” as a young immigrant

Learning Americanness through television, language, and cultural mimicry

Race, Privilege, and Visibility

Coming to understand race in the U.S. as an immigrant from India

The contrast between being part of a dominant group in India and a racial minority in America

The persistent “foreignness” assigned to Asian Americans

Passing, names, and the refusal to erase one’s identity

Language as Identity

Bengali as a lived, literary, and emotional language

Experiences living and working in Pakistan and Bangladesh

Learning Urdu (including Nastaliq script) and Punjabi

The cultural and political significance of language in South Asia

The Murty Classical Library of India

Founded in 2010 with support from Rohan Murty

Inspired by Harvard’s Loeb Classical Library (Greek & Latin classics)

Publishes bilingual editions (original text + English translation)

Covers 2,500 years of writing across 19 South Asian languages

Aims to make Indian classics accessible to scholars, general readers, and future generations

Ten Indian Classics (10th Anniversary Anthology)

Curated selections from the Murty Classical Library

Spans 2,500 years and 9 languages

Includes:

Poems of the early Buddhist nuns (Therīgāthā)

Tulsidas’s Ramayana

Sufi poetry by Bulleh Shah

Guru Nanak’s hymns

Persian chronicles of Emperor Akbar

Urdu, Tamil, Sanskrit, Punjabi, and more

Explores the idea of classics as living traditions, not museum artifacts

Why Indian Classics Still Matter

Classics as “background noise” that continues to shape culture

Stories and verses that live on through oral tradition, popular culture, and daily life

Reading across regions and languages as an act of cultural connection and nation-building

📚 Books & Resources Mentioned

Not Quite Not White – Sharmila Sen (memoir)

The Murty Classical Library of India (Harvard University Press)

Ten Indian Classics – Edited by Sharmila Sen

Amar Chitra Katha

The Ramayana and Mahabharata (regional retellings)

🔗 Find all books and resources at theindianedit.com

📢 Stay Connected

If you enjoyed this episode:

Share it with a friend

Follow the podcast on Instagram @theindianeditpodcast

Visit theindianedit.com for full show notes and links

🎙️ The Indian Edit: Mini Edit with Sonali Dev – “There’s Something About Mira”

Welcome back to The Indian Edit! In this special mini edit, award-winning romance author Sonali Dev returns to the podcast to discuss her newest novel, There's Something About Mira (Feb 2025). We dive into the inspirations behind the book, themes of identity, love, and community, and the layered characters that travel from Naperville to New York to Darjeeling and beyond.

📚 In This Episode:

The origin of There's Something About Mira and how a New York Times article inspired the plot

Exploring “Brown Town,” community expectations, and finding emotional safety

The story within the story: a powerful queer love story in 1980s India

What draws readers to wealthy romantic leads and how Sonali rethinks that trope

Creative energy management and the joys and pitfalls of newsletters & social media

Travel tips and favorite cities: Mumbai, Darjeeling, Chicago

Sonali’s recent reads and book recommendations

📘 Books & Media Mentioned:

There's Something About Meera by Sonali Dev → Buy on Bookshop / Amazon

The Vibrant Years by Sonali Dev → Read more

Sense and Sensibility (Jane Austen homage in Sonali’s series)

All We Imagine As Light (film about Mumbai life) → IMDb

The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese → Amazon

People of Means by Nancy Johnson

🎧 More with Sonali:

Visit: https://sonalidev.com

Instagram: @sonali.dev

Newsletter: Sign up on her website for The Three R’s: a recipe, a recommendation, and a really bad joke!

YouTube archive of Lit with Love: Lit with Love on YouTube

📍 Cities We Discussed:

Mumbai – a city of grit, warmth, and humor

Darjeeling – majestic Himalayas and spiritual beauty

Chicago – architecture, lakefront, theater, and cozy big-city charm

✨ If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe, rate, and share! Catch Sonali’s previous appearance on The Indian Edit in Episode 57.

Hear our latest chat now on iTunes, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts, and if you enjoyed this, PLEASE SHARE THE EPISODE WITH A FRIEND!

🎙️ New Episode Out Now!

In this inspiring episode, we sit down with Manisha Bharti, CEO of Pratham USA, to explore what it takes to lead one of India’s largest education nonprofits.

From her journey through Harvard to her work in HIV response and international development, Manisha shares powerful insights on:

✨ Nonprofit leadership & global impact
🌍 Philanthropy in the Indian diaspora
📚 How Pratham empowers youth through education & skilling
🤝 The importance of partnerships and scaling what works
🔍 Her favorite tool for self-awareness: the Enneagram

🎧 Plus:

Breaking into public health & international development

Using private sector strategy to drive nonprofit success

Advice for young professionals seeking purpose-driven careers

Listen now on iTunes, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts, and if you enjoyed this, PLEASE SHARE THE EPISODE WITH A FRIEND!