5.31 Ranjana Kaul: Why I Decided To Translate My Grandmother’s Book Into English

Imagine discovering surprisingly progressive stories from the 19th century, all written by your grandmother!

In this episode, we'll introduce you to Ranjana Kaul and her passionate endeavour to do justice to her grandmother's legacy — a trailblazing woman, who not only wrote but also fervently fought for women's rights. 

Join your host, Michelle, as she delves deep into the captivating accounts of how Ranjana serendipitously unearthed the stories and accounts of her grandmother. Laxmibai Abhyankar wrote short stories in Marathi, and Kaul, her granddaughter, painstakingly translated and moulded her work into an English collection called "Stepmother and Other Stories".

The collection highlights archaic customs and regressive beliefs, such as the mistreatment of widows and the denial of education to women.


Produced by Aishwarya Jawalgekar
Sound Edit by Kshitij Jadhav

‘Books and Beyond with Bound’ is the podcast where Tara Khandelwal and Michelle D’costa uncover how their books reflect the realities of our lives and society today. Find out what drives India’s finest authors: from personal experiences to jugaad research methods, insecurities to publishing journeys. Created by Bound, a storytelling company that helps you grow through stories. Follow us @boundindia on all social media platforms.