As the author of the recently published novel A Nest for Lalita, I’ve often been asked what motivated me to write a novel set in India about a social activist, Meena Kaul, and her quest to shelter women who have survived domestic violence? And how did I come to write about Meena’s struggle with an ultra-right-wing Hindu party, which is trying to turn the clock back on women’s rights?
The India part was easy: I fell in love with the country the moment I read the Yoga Sutras in college. I went on to do a Ph.D. in Sanskrit and Indian studies at Harvard University and lived in Varanasi, Pune, and New Delhi for a total of more than five years. But the reason I began a novel about a woman activist is more complicated. The short answer is that I am atoning for the sin of writing a ten-pound Ph.D. dissertation on the subject of Sanskrit love poetry.
Let me explain.
Sanskrit poetry, mostly written between the 5th and 12th centuries, has captured many a heart, both within and outside of India. Here’s a short poem by Rājashekhara, a 9th century poet and critic, to illustrate the genre.
The cut of lover’s nail upon her breast
Shows drops of blood as red as lac;
As if of Kāma’s [Cupid’s] fire, grown strong within,
The sparks had burst forth through her heart. – [translation by Daniel H.H. Ingalls]-30-
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