Ambitious Murty lit project: Row not affecting translators

Tensions in the editorial board of Rohan Murty’s ambitious project at Harvard University came to light early this week

Kannada translators associated with Murty Classical Library of India (MCLI) have been reassured that the internal editorial turmoil won’t impact their commissioned projects or contracts.

Founded by Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy’s son Rohan, MCLI is translating ancient classic Indian texts into English. The Library is based out of Harvard University and engages distinguished scholars from around the world.

What happened

On Monday, historian Rajeev Kinra posted a statement on X, criticising the inner workings of MCLI’s oversight board and the Harvard University Press. The statement was signed by Kinra and four others who were allegedly dismissed from MCLI’s eight-member editorial board by Parimal Patil, the chair of the oversight board, “without cause, explanation or documentation”. The Library has been without a general editor since 2022 when the founding general editor and eminent Sanskrit scholar Sheldon Pollock was “forced to resign, also with no reason given”.

They expressed concern about the lack of transparency in decision-making, the uncollegial management style, and the future of commissioned works. They have written to Harvard University to conduct an external review of the developments.

‘Oversight board in good hands’

Soon after the conflict became public, S N Sridhar wrote to Rohan, expressing his desire for Pollock’s continued editorial involvement in ‘The Kannada Mahabharata’ project because of his valuable contribution. Sridhar is the editor of the four-volume translation project of Kumaravyasa’s ‘Karnata Bharata Kathamanjari’. Pollock and Archana Venkatesan had given critical comments and suggestions for its first volume, released recently. 

“I wanted to continue to benefit from Pollock’s counsel, guidance and comments for future volumes,” Sridhar said over a call from New York where he is based.

In response, Rohan assured Sridhar that the MCLI oversight board is in good hands and the process is designed in such a way that temporary changes in admin or editorial teams won’t affect literary projects or their larger commitment to translating rare texts. “I gathered from his email that the changes in the editorial board are part of a larger overhaul,” he adds. 

Sridhar says Patil and the executive director of the Harvard University Press also sent him emails, appreciating his Kannada team’s work and assuring their project will remain on course.

Sridhar came to know about the churn before the news broke, from the dismissed editors. “Pollock said while he was reassured he would be allowed to continue to work on projects he was helming, he wasn’t sure. He was saddened and puzzled by these developments.”

Bengaluru-based Vanamala Viswanatha says she received an email from MCLI’s editorial team in February, assuring her there are no changes in contracts or commissioned works. She translated Kannada poet Raghavanka’s 13th-century ‘Harishchandra Kavya’ to ‘The Life of Harishchandra’ for MCLI in 2016. Her upcoming work involves ‘Vaddaradhane’, a 10th-century prose in Kannada.

“I have submitted Vaddaradhane’s translation. They are yet to arrive at a timeline (for publishing) but I am not anxious,” she says.

‘Translation critical for country’

C N Ramachandran from Bengaluru is part of the group translating Kumaravyasa’s texts. He hopes MCLI’s editorial board sorts out their differences soon.

“There isn’t an institution like MCLI that has spent so much on translating ancient classical literature across diverse languages (such as Apabhramsha, Pali, Persian, Sindhi). If the work stops even for a year, it will be a huge loss to readers, especially in India. India has a rich past of literature and philosophy and Indians must know about them. It is for the betterment of the country,” he says.

Metrolife could not reach Rohan, and the South Asia office of MCLI for comments.