Nagpur: Author Yashaswini Chandra shared some unique and interesting information about horses at the the run-up event of the Vidarbha Literary Festival (VLF) organized in the city on Saturday.
The Times of India is the media partner for VLF.
Chandra has written ‘The Tale of the Horse: A History of India on Horseback’, a book which takes an in-depth look into Indian history, mythology, art, literature, folklore and popular belief through stories about horses.
In conversation with the moderator for the event, Rajiv Aggarwal, Chandra said that both her parents used to write, especially her mother who was also fond of horses. Chandra said her love for writing as well as horses might have been passed onto her by her mother. ““My mother was a Bengali and my professor used to pull my leg for being half Bengali. I was inspired by writings of Aurobindo and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose,” she said.
The book takes a unique journey of the rich heritage of India. When the moderator asked her about her studies in UK — Chandra has a PhD from SOAS University of London – Chandra said, “It’s my academic training which really made me do thorough research for the book. I studied history, did my MA including PhD in history of arts. The research was very much based on that training.”
Sharing a few stories from the book, she said, “One of them is a famous story from Rajasthan, in which the lead character’s mother leaves him but promises that she will take rebirth as his horse. Another story is about Akbar’s general Mansingh who presents the Mughal emperor a horse gifted by the king of Iran. Mansigh says Akbar wouldn’t have been happier even if they had gifted him whole kingdom.”
(Reporting by Deepika Patil)
The Times of India is the media partner for VLF.
Chandra has written ‘The Tale of the Horse: A History of India on Horseback’, a book which takes an in-depth look into Indian history, mythology, art, literature, folklore and popular belief through stories about horses.
In conversation with the moderator for the event, Rajiv Aggarwal, Chandra said that both her parents used to write, especially her mother who was also fond of horses. Chandra said her love for writing as well as horses might have been passed onto her by her mother. ““My mother was a Bengali and my professor used to pull my leg for being half Bengali. I was inspired by writings of Aurobindo and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose,” she said.
The book takes a unique journey of the rich heritage of India. When the moderator asked her about her studies in UK — Chandra has a PhD from SOAS University of London – Chandra said, “It’s my academic training which really made me do thorough research for the book. I studied history, did my MA including PhD in history of arts. The research was very much based on that training.”
Sharing a few stories from the book, she said, “One of them is a famous story from Rajasthan, in which the lead character’s mother leaves him but promises that she will take rebirth as his horse. Another story is about Akbar’s general Mansingh who presents the Mughal emperor a horse gifted by the king of Iran. Mansigh says Akbar wouldn’t have been happier even if they had gifted him whole kingdom.”
(Reporting by Deepika Patil)
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