Well, today I found out that my first book, The Secret Garland, has been selected as part of the Perennial Series by HarperCollins, the book’s Indian publisher. This makes it part of ten translations that are thought to represent the best of Harpers. Color me a bright, bright red, for I am flushed and blushing, and matching the striking new book jacket.
It was a struggle to bring out this Andal book in an Indian edition. I am glad I stuck with it, and insisted. It’s somewhat affordable, I think (299 INR). What’s the point of doing this work, if it’s not accessible to folks in India? Yes, it still reaches only a sliver of people–urban, English-educated–but that sliver still means something to me. And I think of myself, growing up in India, a Tamil-illiterate, a Sanskrit illiterate. Maybe I would have awakened to the beauty and richness of the subcontinent’s rich literary past and vibrant literary present, had I access to works in translations.