Conversation On Storytelling In Hindu Tradition

Swami Sharanananda joined the two-year training course in Sandeepany Sadhanalaya, Mumbai, inspired by Pujya Gurudev Swami Chinmayanandji. He has served Chinmaya Mission centers in India and has been the resident Acharya at Chinmaya Mission Chicago since 1993. He conducts regular scriptural classes in Chicago and across the US. He also serves as a compassionate guide to countless families. Swamiji places great importance on value-based living, especially for children.

Aditi Banerjee’s first novel, The Curse of Gandhari, a successful bestseller, was published by Bloomsbury India in September 2019. Her second novel, The Vow of Parvati, was also published by Bloomsbury India in April 2022. She has also published Hindu Love Stories: Dharmically Ever After in February 2022. She is a practicing attorney at a Fortune 500 financial services company in the US and has also completed an Executive MBA at Columbia University. She earned a Juris Doctor from Yale Law School and received a B.A. in International Relations, magna cum laude, from Tufts University. She is a prolific writer and speaker about Hinduism and the Hindu-American experience. She is a member of the Indic Academy and Indic Book Club, which sponsored a successful six-city book launch tour for The Curse of Gandhari in September 2019 across India. She co-edited the book, Invading the Sacred: An Analysis of Hinduism Studies in America in collaboration with Rajiv Malhotra, and has authored several essays in publications such as The Columbia Documentary History of Religion in America since 1945 and Buddhists, Hindus, and Sikhs in America: A Short History (Religion in American Life) (Oxford University Press). Her articles have also been published in Outlook India and many other publications. In her free time, she enjoys wandering the Himalayas, cooking with the latest kitchen gadgets, hunting for that perfect cup of coffee, and reading about history and world literature.

Deepa Bhaskaran Salem is a student of Hindu dharma and Advaita Vedanta. She has published two books: "Adideva - 25 Legends Behind His 25 Names" and "Airavata Dharma Activity Book for Children". She speaks and writes on Hindu dharma, Itihasas, Puranas, Bhagavad Gita, parenting, and mental health in local events, conferences, online platforms, and her blog. She also conducts workshops for children and adults, using insights drawn from Sanatana Dharma. She offers life coaching for teens and young adults. In her career, she is a technology marketing professional.

Manjula Tekal loves to make sense of stories separated by time, place, and context. She transitioned to writing after a long corporate career. She is the author of Devayani, a novel set in pre-Rigvedic times based on a story from the Mahabharata. She is now working on a second novel based on a Puranic story. She has contributed a short story to the anthology Aryaa, curated by G V Shivakumar. Her literary translations include Dr Babu Krishnamurthy's Ajeya (Azad, the Invincible, English), Jagmohan's My Frozen Turbulence in Kashmir (Prakshubdha Kashmira, Kannada), Savarkar's Moplah (English) and Gomantak (English), and K S Narayanacharya's The Last Moments of Krishnavatara (English). Several other translations are forthcoming. Manjula holds master's degrees in Management from the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore (IIMB) and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). She lives in Champaign, IL. Manjula is on X (formerly Twitter) (@Akumallaji), Instagram (@mtvji) and Facebook (Manjula Tekal)

An avid reader of world history and mythology Pranshu Saxena inherited the inquisitiveness from his grandparents. The passion stuck through his education in Delhi, Cambridge and post-graduation in America. He enjoys a detailed analysis of past events marrying it with his current position as Software Manager. His first fictional prose was published through Indic Academy in Unsung Valour – Forgotten Warriors of Kurukshetra, past publications include articles on Cricket. His writings on history and mythology are available on various portals. Pranshu tutors Indian Culture to youngsters in New Jersey where he shares his life with wife, daughter and a lifelong collection of books.

Avatans Kumar is an award-winning columnist, author, speaker, and linguist. Avatans is an alumnus of Jawaharlal Nehru University and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he taught linguistics and Hindi as a foreign language. Avatans received the San Francisco Press Club’s Journalistic Excellence Award in 2023, 2022, and 2021. His ‘The Flight of Deities: An Anthology of Desecration & Devotion’ was published in 2023. He has contributed chapters in Westland Book’s Indian Renaissance: The Modi Decade and BlueOne Ink’s Padma Bharatis: Ordinary Indians Extraordinary Triumphs. Avatans has also been involved in translating original English work into Hindi. Notable works include Prof. Subhash Kak and Ambassador Arun Sahu’s poetry collections प्रकाश और छाया का पथ and इग्वाना और अन्य कविताएँ respectively. As President and Trustee, Avatans leads the US operations of Indic Academy, incorporated as INDICA, Inc., a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization in the US. INDICA seeks to preserve India’s traditional institutions, knowledge, and practices, protect her identity against distortions, and promote Indic thought to local and global consumers, practitioners, and seekers.

Nishant Limbachia is one of INDICA's (Indic Academy) National Coordinator and Treasurer with Dharmansh USA Inc, a US-based 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Nishant is actively involved in the local Hindu community in other volunteer organizations and lives with family in Chicago suburbs.