The Indian Edit

“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!

Rivers have been on my mind recently with some recent buzzy arrivals on their power (from Elif Shafak to non-fiction Robert Macfarlane). Join me with author Suma Subramaniam and illustrator Tara Anand to discuss their beautiful picture book My Name Is Long As a River. Inspired by Suma’s own heritage, the story celebrates the deep connections between names, family history, and cultural identity. Together, Suma and Tara share how rivers, poetry, and personal memory shaped this tribute to the power of knowing where we come from.

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

Rivers have been on my mind recently with some recent buzzy arrivals on their power (from Elif Shafak to non-fiction Robert Macfarlane). Join me with author Suma Subramaniam and illustrator Tara Anand to discuss their beautiful picture book My Name Is Long As a River. Inspired by Suma’s own heritage, the story celebrates the deep connections between names, family history, and cultural identity. Together, Suma and Tara share how rivers, poetry, and personal memory shaped this tribute to the power of knowing where we come from.

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

Suma Subramaniam

Tara Anand, photographed by Brittany Oxley

SHOWNOTES for Ep. 98:

Connect with Suma through her website

And with Tara Anand here

Books and other stuff we discussed on the show:

Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar

Terry Pratchett’s Discworld books

Tishani Doshi’s poetry collection A God at the Door

The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese

Amar Chitra Katha comics

Malgudi Days by R.K. Narayan

Support the show via Patreon!

Questions? Comments? Get in touch @theindianeditpodcast on Instagram!

Want to talk gardens? Follow me @readyourgarden

Special thanks to Soumya Saksham, Sudipta Biswas and the team at The Media Tribe for audio-post production!

Another long overdue episode with a FANTASTIC guest! Philly-based lawyer-turned-writer Farah Naz Rishi has written YA, sci-fi, romance, and a heartbreaking memoir ‘Sorry for the Inconvenience’. Pop in your airpods, grab a hot drink, go for a walk, listen how you please, but don’t miss how this Pakistani-American Muslim writer became a TikTok sensation, how she wrote the book that ‘broke Mindy Kaling’s heart’, and of course her favorite books and hometown Philadephia hang outs!

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

SHOWNOTES for Ep. 97:

Connect with Farah through her website and Instagram

Buy Sorry for the Inconvenience and Farah’s other books here

Books and other stuff we discussed on the show:

Robin Hobb’s books

R.F. Kuang’s books

Ursula LeGuin’s writing schedule

Philly’s fab restaurant Mawn (I tried it based on Farah’s tip and it is AMAZING, but now apparently hard to get a table!)

Free Library of Philadelphia

Harriet’s Bookshop in Fishtown

Support the show via Patreon!

Questions? Comments? Get in touch @theindianeditpodcast on Instagram!

Want to talk gardens? Follow me @readyourgarden

Special thanks to Soumya Saksham, Sudipta Biswas and the team at The Media Tribe for audio-post production!

And we are back! After a very long delay (you can read why here on the newsletter), I’m delighted to bring you this overdue episode with Dr. Seema Yasmin. Ignore my most awkward intro ever to hear how this brilliant Emmy-award winning journalist, author, medical doctor and professor managed to overcome a challenging childhood and Islamophobia in a small town in England to publishing multiple books and teaching at Stanford by following her passions and pivoting when it felt right! The conversation feels very timely given Seema’s efforts to battle Scientific misinformation, promote reproductive rights and queer and Muslim representation in children’s books.

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

SHOWNOTES for Ep. 96:

Connect with Seema through her website and Instagram

Buy Unbecoming and The ABCs of Queer History and all of Seema’s books here

Other books and other tips we discussed on the show:

The Who and the What: A Play (I love Seema’s reading challenge ‘A play a day’)

Disgraced and other Ayad Akhtar plays

Shefali Luthra’s Undue Burden: Life and Death Decisions in Post-Roe America

Support the show via Patreon!

Questions? Comments? Get in touch @theindianeditpodcast on Instagram!

Want to talk gardens? Follow me @readyourgarden

Special thanks to Sudipta Biswas and the team at The Media Tribe for audio-post production!

The dynamic author Sujata Massey joined me in conversation earlier this summer and shared her resolution to make it her best summer by “only reading pleasurable and escapist books”! Why not take this idea into the hectic ‘Back to School’ season too? Join us as Sujata shares more about her latest Perveen Mistry historical mystery set in 1920s India and don’t miss her fun suggestions for light reading and how to make some free fun for yourself WITHOUT getting on a plane!

Sujata was first on the podcast on Ep. 60 which you can catch right here! 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!

SHOWNOTES for Mini-Edit 5:

Connect with Sujata through her website and Instagram

Buy the Perveen Mistry Book 4 here (The Mistress of Bhatia House)

Other books and other tips we discussed on the show:

Tehrangeles by Porochista Khakpour

The Hachette Book of Indian Detective Fiction Volumes I and II

Wives like Us by Plum Sykes

The Lost boy of Santa Chiomia

The Franchise Affair and Brat Farrar by Josephine Tey

Support the show via Patreon!

Questions? Comments? Get in touch @theindianeditpodcast on Instagram!

Want to talk gardens? Follow me @readyourgarden

Special thanks to Sudipta Biswas and the team at The Media Tribe for audio-post production!

“Why do people migrate?” was the question Ritu Hemnani’s daughter posed to her one day. A deeper look at her own family’s story of migration from Sindh to Hong Kong led this educator to explore the history of the Partition and to share this story with her family and beyond. Author of ‘Lion of the Sky’ a beautiful, middle grade novel in verse, Ritu joins me on this episode to discuss her family’s story of resilience. We chat about the Sindhi language, life in Hong Kong, her experience teaching in an urban British school, and so much more.

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

SHOWNOTES for Ep. 95:

Connect with Ritu through her website and Instagram

Buy Lion of the Sky

Veera Hiranandani’s books on the Partition The Night Diary and Amil & the After

Other books and other tips we discussed on the show:

Restart by Gordon Korman

Charlotte’s Web by E.B. WHite

Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds

The Crossover by Kwame Alexander

Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai

The Forgettery by Rachel Ip

Arirang Korean restaurant

Support the show via Patreon!

Questions? Comments? Get in touch @theindianeditpodcast on Instagram!

Want to talk gardens? Follow me @readyourgarden

Special thanks to Sudipta Biswas and the team at The Media Tribe for audio-post production!

Another one for you book lovers out there!

Many of us were introduced to the wonder of picture books only once we began reading them to our kids. My latest guest Srividhya Venkat fell in love with children’s books and never looked back (at her former career in accounting)! Srividhya began a second act in early childhood education, and then a third in children’s literature. Her beautiful books ‘Girls on Wheels’ and ‘Dancing in Thatha’s Footsteps’ are a wonder, and she has a brand new one out next week celebrating Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi!

Join us in this conversation celebrating the joy of kidlit! Listen and rate us on iTunes,Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. If you enjoyed this, please do tell a friend!

SHOWNOTES for Ep. 94:

Connect with Srividhya through her website and Instagram

Buy Girls on Wheels, Dancing in Thatha’s Footsteps and Seeker of Truth: Kailash Satyarthi's Fight to End Child Labor

Other books we discussed on the show:

Where Three Oceans Meet by Rajani LaRocca

May Your Life Be Deliciosa: A Picture Book by Michael Genhart

Support the show via Patreon!

Questions? Comments? Get in touch @theindianeditpodcast on Instagram!

Want to talk gardens? Follow me @readyourgarden

Special thanks to Sudipta Biswas and the team at The Media Tribe for audio-post production!

Looking for a new picture book to read with kids in your life? This brand new one really made me think about all the tiny and large ways children develop their sense of belonging in a family and their sense of self in the world at large. The rich detail of what family members pass down to new arrivals is beautifully captured in this lovely book written by Shelly Anand, illustrated by Meenal Patel.

I get to chat with TWO previous guests on this Mini-Edit (hear Shelly’s story on Ep. 55 and Meenal’s on Ep. 23)! Join me as we dive into the story behind this new book, and please take a second to rate us on iTunes,Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts!

SHOWNOTES FOR Mini-Edit 4:

Connect with Shelly through her website and Instagram

Find Meenal through her website and instagram

Buy “In This Family”

Other books we discussed on the show:

Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler

Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo

Buy me a coffee via Patreon!

Questions? Comments? Get in touch @theindianeditpodcast on Instagram !

Want to talk gardens? Follow me @readyourgarden

Special thanks to Sudipta Biswas and the team at The Media Tribe for audio-post production!