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What makes for good translations from an old language? For Suhas Mahesh and Anusha Rao – co-editors of How to Love in Sanskrit – it's “a game of compromise”. Rather than fixating on “excessive attention to irrelevant detail”, they focus instead on making words come alive. So a female lament from 2,000 years ago becomes: “Dear God, make him hang out with other women more. He does not seem to realise what a catch I am.”

This is a rich conversation about life in general, not just linguistics. We talk about why monks write love poems, the pitfalls of marrying academics, and all sorts of other topics, including:

* What to look for when choosing translations.

* The extent to which Sanskrit is a living language.

* Where to find advice on love beyond the Kāma Sūtra.

* Whether some ancient words are untranslatable.

* Why Rumi quotes are rarely what they seem.

Indian readers can buy the book here – or try here if you’re in the U.K., or here in the U.S. You can also email Suhas here and Anusha here if you have any suggestions for future translations – they’re already at work on the next compilation.

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