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356. How We Used to Love
Anusha Rao and Suhas Mahesh with Radhika Chadha
Speakers
Being immune to the charms of poetry is a crime that is its own punishment, the Sanskritic tradition tells us. Join us as we discover the allure of Sanskrit and Prakrit love poetry and the travails of translating doe-eyes and elephant-thighs into English with Anusha Rao and Suhas Mahesh, co-translators of the verse anthology, How to Love in Sanskrit (HarperCollins 2024).
How to Love in Sanskrit is a poetic exploration of the maze of modern dating: flirting, daydreaming, yearning, and breaking up, through the eyes of Kalidasa, Bana, Vidya, and many other, often anonymous gifted poets.
Moderated by Radhika Chadha, the translators will discuss their inspiration for the book, their approach to translation, misconceptions about Sanskrit poetry, and the challenges of translating pre-modern poetry, drawing from both classic and forgotten texts to paint a picture of what love feels like in Sanskrit. The session will conclude with a reading of their favourite verses from the book and a Q&A session with the audience.
In this episode of BIC Talks, Anusha Rao and Suhas Mahesh will be in conversation with Radhika Chadha .This is an excerpt from a conversation that took place in the BIC premises in January 2025.
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Speakers
Anusha Rao
Anusha Rao is a scholar of Sanskrit and Indian religion who likes writing new things about very old things. Anusha is currently pursuing her PhD at the University of Toronto, where she works on the intersection of philosophy and poetry in early modern South India. She is a columnist for the Deccan Herald.
Suhas Mahesh
Suhas Mahesh is a scholar of Sanskrit and Prakrit with a terrible weakness for good verse, rare manuscripts and arcane grammar. A physicist by day, Suhas moonlights as a Sanskritist and is working on a translation of the novel Nilakanthavijaya for the Murty Library.
Radhika Chadha
Radhika Chadha is an innovation consultant, author, and artist. She is the author of Intelligent Investing (Wheeler Publishing), Innovative India (Penguin), and a series of picture books, including the Baby Bahadur Books, Basava and The Dots of Fire, and A Well is Born (Tulika).
