Oct 04 2025 to Oct 04 2025 6 p.m.

Book/Buy

Where

Champaca Bookstore, Library and Cafe

7/1 Edward Road, Off Queens Road 560052

Event Description

Some stories are timeless, returning to us with new meanings each time they are retold. Broken Nest and Other Stories, translated by acclaimed poet Sharmistha Mohanty, brings Rabindranath Tagore’s unforgettable tales into a contemporary voice that resonates with today’s readers.

At this special discussion, poet and translator Sharmistha Mohanty will be in conversation with writer and scholar Mani Rao, exploring how translation can revive, reframe, and reimagine Tagore’s narratives for new generations. Together, they will reflect on the enduring power of Tagore’s explorations of love, alienation, memory, and the fragile strength of women’s lives.

Here are the details:
Date: 4 October 2025
Time: 6:00 PM
Venue: Champaca Bookstore, Vasanth Nagar

About the Book: 

This selection of Tagore’s stories exemplifies his remarkable ability to enter the complexities of human relationships. Within seemingly simple plots, Tagore portrays with unusual compassion and lyricism the predicament of Bengali women in traditional contexts—moving from the loneliness of an intelligent, beautiful woman neglected by her husband in his acclaimed novella Broken Nest to the powerlessness of a young girl whose prized possession is taken away in Notebook, from the casual abandonment of an orphan in Postmaster to a girl robbed of her childhood in The Ghat’s Tale.

Powerful in their simplicity, brilliant in their astuteness, the novella and three short stories included in this collection—translated by acclaimed poet and fiction writer Sharmistha Mohanty—are some of the Nobel Laureate’s finest prose works.

About the Speakers: 

Sharmistha Mohanty is a celebrated Indian poet and fiction writer. Her poetry collections Book One and Extinctions often deal with themes of home, womanhood, alienation, love, and identity. Her translations of Tagore’s stories have been widely read and admired.

Mani Rao is a poet, translator, and scholar. She is the author of twelve poetry collections and acclaimed translations of the Bhagavad Gita and Kalidasa. Her work explores intersections of literature, philosophy, and spirituality, and she frequently moderates and participates in literary discussions across the world.

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