Doctoral Student in Asian Languages and Cultures
About
I came to the U.S. as an immigrant in 2015. Spending formative years in India has certainly helped solidify my research interests. Growing up in the western state of Gujarat, I became interested in how, time and again, history and classical symbols were evoked to address different versions of nationalism. It fascinated me that the same Hindu classical text used by Gandhi to further his ideas of Ahimsa (non-violence) was used, decades later, by Hindu nationalists to justify the violence that followed Gujarat riots in 2002. My desire to systematically articulate these questions, coupled with an acute interest in language, literature, and history, has found an appropriate site in the field of Asian Studies.
Broadly, I am interested in how nationalist writers from colonial and postcolonial India have sought refuge in Indian classical literature to make their political cases. Understanding their interpretation and appropriation of ancient texts will be helpful in charting a modern Indian identity built around caste, race, and religion. To do so, I will be engaging primarily with classical Sanskrit texts to understand how they figure within contemporary South Asian literature. In what ways will a literary interpretation of Sanskrit texts engage modern readers and writers differently? Will the Sanskrit text lend itself as easily to cultural appropriation if approached as a work of literature? What happens when we read texts considered sacred as literature and how would that offer a new interpretation of nationalist texts written in the 19th and 20th century India? These are among a few questions I ask of my research.
I am also interested in Dalit literature, especially in ways that Dalit texts approach the ancient Sanskrit texts from India. My undergraduate thesis at Rutgers University, titled ‘‘Keep the Thumb, Give Up the Spirit: An Exploration of Eklavya’s Dilemma in the Hegemonized Culture of 21st Century Indian Education System,’ revolves around this theme.
I am deeply committed to cultivating a scholarship that adds to the living experiences of the South Asian community, one that is useful in practical ways. ALC provides the right intellectual and interdisciplinary platform that is so crucial for my research.
Languages (other than English):
