Cosmographia: The Graeco-Romans, the Egyptians and Us Souhardya De, FRAS

Herein is a translation of Kalidasa’s famous literary masterpiece Abhijnanam Shakuntalam, probably the best work produced in the Sanskritic literature, by Sir Monier Williams, the second Boden Professor of Sanskrit at the University of Oxford, as done in the early 19th century. Innumerable archaic English words have been used in this play but they only add to the beauty of it, rather than making it what one may deem difficult. The act has been narrated until Dushyanta’s entry into the hermitage of Saint Kanwa and the remaining part of the Act 1 will be out in the next episode. Since the drama Śakoontalá entails a total of 7 acts, it would take 14 episodes to complete the entire literary masterpiece in its translated version. Till then, stay tuned to Cosmographia!

This extract taken from Alberuni’s India by Dr. Sachau tells us about the ruling Shahis of Kabul, their origin, the benevolence they possessed and the dynasty’s end. Traveller Alberuni, having been someone in the service of Mahmud, was aware of the Shahis for quite sometime since it were the Shahis who had been contending against the prince Mahmud for time immemorial, and this is why it is no longer a surprise that Alberuni wrote about the Shahis of Kabul in the very first chapter of his work ‘Tarikh-i-Hind’ the English translation of which has, in this episode, been narrated.

Harsimran Kaur is a well acclaimed, sixteen-year-old author of 'The Best I Can Do Is To Write My Heart Out' and 'I am Perfectly Imperfect,' self-published at 14 and 15, respectively (written under the pseudonym of Harsimran Kaur Mand). She is an Asia Book of Records and India Book of Records record holder who has also contributed to several anthologies. She recently published her third book, 'Clementines on my Poetry Table: A Poetry Collection' on 17 May 2021. She has written over 150+ poems till now. An English- language enthusiast, she is also a part of the prestigious literary forum of her city.
She is currently a senior in high school and resides in India. Follow her on Instagram and Facebook @harsimranwritesbooks

Prasiddhi Singh is a social entrepreneur and environmental activist, hailing from the Chengalpattu district of Tamil Nadu. She is well noted for having led the plantation programme of thousands of trees and fourteen forests all across India, with a specific focus in the derogated Tamil region, through the ‘Prasiddhi Forest Foundation’ she has established. In Puducherry, Prasiddhi had regularly been carrying out environmental activities.

Cosmographia brings you an all new Season 2 wherein our host Souhardya De, interacts with luminaries from across various genres of writing to discuss how they’ve been inspired to take up what they’ve been doing for all these years and what messages they have conveyed to the world! Season 2, Episode 1 begins with Hari Kumar Krishnamoorthy, better known by his pen name K Hari Kumar, one of India’s most acclaimed horror novelists and screenwriter who talks about his life, his upbringing, the love and fascination he had for horror and the most powerful of all, how fear can be used to restrain people from doing bad! This one hour chat is a must hear for historical horror buffs as well as for writer cum changemakers who look forward to creating an impact with their writing!

Gender Equality in Classical Antiquity is an article written by Souhardya and published in the book, “Gender Equality and Female Empowerment Policy for a Sustainable Development SDG 5” (ISBN: 9789387537828). This episode talks about the various dimensions of Gender Equality as has been narrated down in various classical tales and been researched upon by scholars throughout the ages!