Rohan Murty is the son of one of India’s most respected entrepreneurs, N R Narayana Murthy (father and son spell it differently), the founder of software giant Infosys.
Despite coming from a cultured family with many writers and educationists, the 32-year-old only realised that he knew little about India’s classical literature many years later when he was studying for his doctorate in computer science at Harvard.
Murty, who grew up in Bangalore, was curious about how Indians lived and died 2,000 or more years ago. It was then he decided to take a course in epistemology, the theory of knowledge, in ancient India.
“As I began reading fifth-century texts, I was stunned at India’s rich intellectual traditions, ones that matched and sometimes surpassed those of western philosophy,” he says.
Murty’s unfamiliarity with his country’s intellectual and literary heritage stemmed from the fact that, like millions of other Indian students, he read Robert Frost, T S Eliot, Dickens and Shakespeare at school but no Indian classics.
As he continued with his doctorate, Murty began wondering how he could make these classics available to others. A few months later, he met Sheldon Pollock, a professor of South Asian studies at Columbia University, and the idea was born: why not create a library of the ancient Indian classics?
Thanks to a US$5.2 million (Dh19.1m) endowment from Murty, the venture took off. In fact, the endowment will enable the library to keep publishing over the course of this century. The plan is to publish five new volumes of translations every year until … whenever.
“Many classic Indic texts have never reached a global audience, while others are becoming increasingly inaccessible even to Indian readers. The creation of a classical library of India is intended to reintroduce these works to a new generation of readers,” writes Pollock, the editor, on the library website.
The first five volumes of the Murty Classical Library of India were celebrated at the Jaipur Literary Festival, which was held between January 21 and 25 this year. Published by Harvard University Press, the project is unprecedented in its scale.
The series will provide modern English and Hindi translations of classical works, not just from Sanskrit but from many other Indian languages. “Taken all together, they give India the single most complex and continuous multilingual tradition of literature in the world,” Pollock says.
The books are handsome, rose-coloured editions, with the original script on the left and the translation on the right. The inaugural five books are Therigatha: Poems of the First Buddhist Women; Bulleh Shah's Sufi Lyrics; Abu'l-Fazl's The History of Akbar: Volume 1; Allasani Peddana's epic poem about the first human being, The Story of Manu; and Sur's Ocean, an anthology of more than 400 poems attributed to the 16th-century Hindi poet Surdas.
The lack of interest in India in its classics, even among scholars, is evident when you consider that, for example, The Story of Manu has never been translated from the original Telugu into any other Indian language. You wonder why when you read the translation, which reveals an easy, charming tone that surely deserved a wider audience:
If a woman doesn’t have the good luck
of having a lover who is young and handsome
and who makes love to her whenever she wants,
who really loves her, what good is her beauty
and her youth? Why be alive?
Murty’s favourite is the collection of poems by the first Buddhist nuns, composed in Pali, a dead language. A hidden gem, these poems could arguably be the first piece of surviving feminist literature with the nuns talking poignantly about love, loss and ageing:
The hairs on my head were once curly,
black, like the colour of bees,
now because of old age
they are like jute.
“To read these poems from 2,200 years ago, to see why they became nuns – one said she became a nun after the death of her child, another said it was the failure of her marriage – is to have a fascinating glimpse into emotions from far away yet still recognisable to us now,” says Murty.
The Murty Classical Library will encompass both unfamiliar texts such as the Buddhist nuns’ poetry and familiar works. It will include poetry and prose, Buddhist, Hindu and Islamic texts, and history and philosophy.
Given the parlous state of the study of the classics in Indian universities, the library has had to rely on translators and scholars from western universities. Experts agree that Indians have done little to preserve or translate their own texts.
“Familiarity with India’s ancient past is missing. The upper middle class tends to receive a westernised education, leaving it without any knowledge of even famous texts that have passed into the oral traditions of ordinary Indians. And the middle class is fixated on Bollywood and shopping malls and tends by and large to be uninterested in the world of letters,” says the literary critic Parsa Venkateshwar Rao.
Nor is this neglect confined to literature.
“The lack of interest in the past is striking. You can ask people who live right next to a 15th-century ruin what it is and they won’t know who built it and when,” says the author Binoo John. Having travelled extensively in India over the past four years, Pollock has noticed the lack of knowledge of India’s heritage. “I was in Udaipur with 900 of the best literary critics in India. I asked them how many had ever taught an Indian language text in the language. Not one person raised their hand.”
Murty believes it is overstating the case to say that large sections of the Indian middle class do not care for their classical literature. “I think they are like me. If you give people access to these works, I think they will be interested and that’s precisely what our purpose is,” he says.
For Pollock, there is a sense of urgency about the gap the library needs to fill. “We are talking about more than 2,000 years of extraordinary storytelling. To lose that treasury would be of tremendous sadness to the people of India and the world,” he says.
What strikes him is the contrast between the rich traditions of the past and the present.
“There seems to be a dramatic discontinuity between centuries of deeply sympathetic and loving cultivation of all forms of knowledge and literature and the present, when this seems to be on the point of disappearing,” he says.
Of late, the achievements of ancient India that Pollock so loves have become a source of political controversy, with the Hindu right trying to appropriate them as political trophies, to be exploited either to win Hindu votes or to bait Muslims.
The foreign minister Sushma Swaraj said last month that the ancient Hindu religious text, the Bhagavad Gita, should be the “national book”.
Some of her colleagues claim that Indian mathematicians discovered Pythagoras’s theorem long before he did and that cosmetic surgery and airplanes were known to ancient Indians.
In November, an abortive effort was made to make Sanskrit compulsory in schools. However, scholars have pointed out that ancient India was open to a diversity of thought and abhorred dogma.
That is one reason, perhaps, why these ancient texts still resonate – they are not insular, but universal. “These books contain both recognisable ways of being but also radically different forms of consciousness and expand the range of possibilities of what it means to be human,” says Pollock.
Murty would like Indian schoolchildren to have the option of studying these Indian classics alongside the western literary pantheon. He has taken the first step towards such a possibility by making them available.
“I want the library to survive. It should outlive my lifetime, and everyone else’s lifetime,” he says.
Amrit Dhillon is a regular contributor to The National.
thereview@thenational.ae
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Jordan cabinet changes
In
- Raed Mozafar Abu Al Saoud, Minister of Water and Irrigation
- Dr Bassam Samir Al Talhouni, Minister of Justice
- Majd Mohamed Shoueikeh, State Minister of Development of Foundation Performance
- Azmi Mahmud Mohafaza, Minister of Education and Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research
- Falah Abdalla Al Ammoush, Minister of Public Works and Housing
- Basma Moussa Ishakat, Minister of Social Development
- Dr Ghazi Monawar Al Zein, Minister of Health
- Ibrahim Sobhi Alshahahede, Minister of Agriculture and Minister of Environment
- Dr Mohamed Suleiman Aburamman, Minister of Culture and Minister of Youth
Out
- Dr Adel Issa Al Tawissi, Minister of High Education and Scientific Research
- Hala Noaman “Basiso Lattouf”, Minister of Social Development
- Dr Mahmud Yassin Al Sheyab, Minister of Health
- Yahya Moussa Kasbi, Minister of Public Works and Housing
- Nayef Hamidi Al Fayez, Minister of Environment
- Majd Mohamed Shoueika, Minister of Public Sector Development
- Khalid Moussa Al Huneifat, Minister of Agriculture
- Dr Awad Abu Jarad Al Mushakiba, Minister of Justice
- Mounir Moussa Ouwais, Minister of Water and Agriculture
- Dr Azmi Mahmud Mohafaza, Minister of Education
- Mokarram Mustafa Al Kaysi, Minister of Youth
- Basma Mohamed Al Nousour, Minister of Culture
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
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The Written World: How Literature Shaped History
Martin Puchner
Granta
If you go
- The nearest international airport to the start of the Chuysky Trakt is in Novosibirsk. Emirates (www.emirates.com) offer codeshare flights with S7 Airlines (www.s7.ru) via Moscow for US$5,300 (Dh19,467) return including taxes. Cheaper flights are available on Flydubai and Air Astana or Aeroflot combination, flying via Astana in Kazakhstan or Moscow. Economy class tickets are available for US$650 (Dh2,400).
- The Double Tree by Hilton in Novosibirsk ( 7 383 2230100,) has double rooms from US$60 (Dh220). You can rent cabins at camp grounds or rooms in guesthouses in the towns for around US$25 (Dh90).
- The transport Minibuses run along the Chuysky Trakt but if you want to stop for sightseeing, hire a taxi from Gorno-Altaisk for about US$100 (Dh360) a day. Take a Russian phrasebook or download a translation app. Tour companies such as Altair-Tour ( 7 383 2125115 ) offer hiking and adventure packages.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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THE BIO
Age: 30
Favourite book: The Power of Habit
Favourite quote: "The world is full of good people, if you cannot find one, be one"
Favourite exercise: The snatch
Favourite colour: Blue
The past Palme d'Or winners
2018 Shoplifters, Hirokazu Kore-eda
2017 The Square, Ruben Ostlund
2016 I, Daniel Blake, Ken Loach
2015 Dheepan, Jacques Audiard
2014 Winter Sleep (Kış Uykusu), Nuri Bilge Ceylan
2013 Blue is the Warmest Colour (La Vie d'Adèle: Chapitres 1 et 2), Abdellatif Kechiche, Adele Exarchopoulos and Lea Seydoux
2012 Amour, Michael Haneke
2011 The Tree of Life, Terrence Malick
2010 Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Lung Bunmi Raluek Chat), Apichatpong Weerasethakul
2009 The White Ribbon (Eine deutsche Kindergeschichte), Michael Haneke
2008 The Class (Entre les murs), Laurent Cantet
The BIO:
He became the first Emirati to climb Mount Everest in 2011, from the south section in Nepal
He ascended Mount Everest the next year from the more treacherous north Tibetan side
By 2015, he had completed the Explorers Grand Slam
Last year, he conquered K2, the world’s second-highest mountain located on the Pakistan-Chinese border
He carries dried camel meat, dried dates and a wheat mixture for the final summit push
His new goal is to climb 14 peaks that are more than 8,000 metres above sea level
Surianah's top five jazz artists
Billie Holliday: for the burn and also the way she told stories.
Thelonius Monk: for his earnestness.
Duke Ellington: for his edge and spirituality.
Louis Armstrong: his legacy is undeniable. He is considered as one of the most revolutionary and influential musicians.
Terence Blanchard: very political - a lot of jazz musicians are making protest music right now.
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
North Pole stats
Distance covered: 160km
Temperature: -40°C
Weight of equipment: 45kg
Altitude (metres above sea level): 0
Terrain: Ice rock
South Pole stats
Distance covered: 130km
Temperature: -50°C
Weight of equipment: 50kg
Altitude (metres above sea level): 3,300
Terrain: Flat ice
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Shooting Ghosts: A U.S. Marine, a Combat Photographer, and Their Journey Back from War by Thomas J. Brennan and Finbarr O’Reilly
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Company%20Profile
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The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo
Power: 240hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 390Nm at 3,000rpm
Transmission: eight-speed auto
Price: from Dh122,745
On sale: now
The biog
Name: Maitha Qambar
Age: 24
Emirate: Abu Dhabi
Education: Master’s Degree
Favourite hobby: Reading
She says: “Everyone has a purpose in life and everyone learns from their experiences”
Mia Man’s tips for fermentation
- Start with a simple recipe such as yogurt or sauerkraut
- Keep your hands and kitchen tools clean. Sanitize knives, cutting boards, tongs and storage jars with boiling water before you start.
- Mold is bad: the colour pink is a sign of mold. If yogurt turns pink as it ferments, you need to discard it and start again. For kraut, if you remove the top leaves and see any sign of mold, you should discard the batch.
- Always use clean, closed, airtight lids and containers such as mason jars when fermenting yogurt and kraut. Keep the lid closed to prevent insects and contaminants from getting in.
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
The Bio
Name: Lynn Davison
Profession: History teacher at Al Yasmina Academy, Abu Dhabi
Children: She has one son, Casey, 28
Hometown: Pontefract, West Yorkshire in the UK
Favourite book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Favourite Author: CJ Sansom
Favourite holiday destination: Bali
Favourite food: A Sunday roast
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
The%C2%A0specs%20
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Graduated from the American University of Sharjah
She is the eldest of three brothers and two sisters
Has helped solve 15 cases of electric shocks
Enjoys travelling, reading and horse riding
