Discussion With Authors

Rajeshwari V. Pandharipande is a Professor Emerita of Linguistics, Religion,
Sanskrit and Comparative and World Literature, at the University of Illinois at Urbana-
Champaign, USA, and a permanent member of the South Asia Committee at the University of
Chicago. Currently, she is a Research Professor of Religion at UIUC. She holds two Ph.D.
degrees in Sanskrit Literature (From India) and Linguistics (From the University of Illinois).
Her research and teaching focus on the language of religion, sociolinguistics, structure, and
literature of South Asian languages (Sanskrit, Hindi, and Marathi), Hinduism in India, and
Diaspora, and Asian Mythology. She is the recipient of the Chancellor’s prestigious Award with the permanent title “University Distinguished Teacher Scholar” for her outstanding record of
Research and teaching. In addition to over one hundred articles, including book chapters, she
has published books including A Descriptive Grammar of Marathi (Routledge), Sociolinguistic
Dimensions of Marathi (Lincom Europa Publications), The Eternal Self and the Cycle of Samsara (Ginn Press), four co-edited volumes, and two collections of original Hindi poems.

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.

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.

Avatans Kumar is an award-winning columnist and linguist.

Originally from Patna, Bihar, 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, respectively.

As a 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.

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. Avatans has also translated Prof. Subhash Kak and Ambassador Arun Sahu’s poetry collections (original English) into Hindi.