Ep. 100: Bringing Indian Classics to us all with Harvard University Press's Editorial Director Sharmila Sen
“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 WorldsSharmila’s childhood in Calcutta (Kolkata) and her move to Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1982Assimilation, accent, and the desire to “disappear” as a young immigrantLearning Americanness through television, language, and cultural mimicryRace, Privilege, and VisibilityComing to understand race in the U.S. as an immigrant from IndiaThe contrast between being part of a dominant group in India and a racial minority in AmericaThe persistent “foreignness” assigned to Asian AmericansPassing, names, and the refusal to erase one’s identityLanguage as IdentityBengali as a lived, literary, and emotional languageExperiences living and working in Pakistan and BangladeshLearning Urdu (including Nastaliq script) and PunjabiThe cultural and political significance of language in South AsiaThe Murty Classical Library of IndiaFounded in 2010 with support from Rohan MurtyInspired 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 languagesAims to make Indian classics accessible to scholars, general readers, and future generationsTen Indian Classics (10th Anniversary Anthology)Curated selections from the Murty Classical LibrarySpans 2,500 years and 9 languagesIncludes:Poems of the early Buddhist nuns (Therīgāthā)Tulsidas’s RamayanaSufi poetry by Bulleh ShahGuru Nanak’s hymnsPersian chronicles of Emperor AkbarUrdu, Tamil, Sanskrit, Punjabi, and moreExplores the idea of classics as living traditions, not museum artifactsWhy Indian Classics Still MatterClassics as “background noise” that continues to shape cultureStories and verses that live on through oral tradition, popular culture, and daily lifeReading across regions and languages as an act of cultural connection and nation-building📚 Books & Resources MentionedNot Quite Not White – Sharmila Sen (memoir)The Murty Classical Library of India (Harvard University Press)Ten Indian Classics – Edited by Sharmila SenAmar Chitra KathaThe Ramayana and Mahabharata (regional retellings)🔗 Find all books and resources at theindianedit.com📢 Stay ConnectedIf you enjoyed this episode:Share it with a friendFollow the podcast on Instagram @theindianeditpodcastVisit theindianedit.com for full show notes and links
