Dr. Vandana R. Singh is an author, translator, and editor with a Ph.D. in English-language Indian texts. She has worked as a bilingual teacher for the Manchester Education Committee in the UK and served as an Associate Professor of English at GCG, Panjab University. She has translated Premchand, Krishna Sobti, and Geetanjali Shree’s writings from Hindi to English. She has written several books on communication skills and ELT for Oxford University Press.

She was the recipient of the Award of Recognition for excellent contribution to writing from the Chandigarh Sahitya Akademi.

She has developed textbooks for NCERT & NIOS and served as a consultant editor for numerous UN organizations. She considers translating to be a civic responsibility that contributes to bridging cultures. She is an avid gardener and bonsai aficionado. Words-their origin and evolution fascinate her.

The Kolkata Mail correspondent Priyanka Dutta caught up with the writer on her book The Bhagavad Gita- A Life-Changing Conversation.

In recent times, there has been much controversy with regard to religion. How will your book The Bhagavad Gita – A Life-Changing Conversation help in such troubled times?

Dr. Vandana R. Singh- My first and foremost hope is that this book will help demystify the Gita. I feel that controversies around religion oftentimes are borne of a lack of authentic knowledge of sacred texts. Many of us who talk of our faith may or may not have a nuanced understanding of the expanse that ancient texts have and the underlying subtleties are often lost in the desire to be vocal. As we know most narratives operate on several planes, tend to have more than one meaning, and are open to multiple interpretations. But for any of these to happen the text has to first be read.

Through this book, I hope to arouse curiosity to know more about the Gita…to tickle the imagination into exploring the book that is thought of as a hallowed text – and therefore beyond the grasp of those who are not scholars of Vedic texts or are Sanskrit scholars.

The Gita is for everyone and it’s important to know that it is a standalone text that can be read, understood, and internalized – all it asks of the reader is to have an open mind.

The Gita stresses upon co-existence, equality, and free will and attaches a high tag to the pursuit of knowledge. This pursuit should lead to not just knowing our texts better but to also a correct understanding of their messaging. Correct both in letter and spirit. One also hopes that a holistic understanding of the deeper meaning will discourage random citing of the text as and when it might suit a particular line of argument or a situation.

How did you come up with the idea for this book?

Dr. Vandana R. Singh- When I look back and think of how the book happened the trajectory of events feels surreal to me even today. Back in early 2020, in addition to the pandemic crippling us all, I suffered a huge personal loss and lived through the most difficult five years of my life.

To be with me during this trying time a close family member, Dr. Savitri Singh, came to spend a few days with me. Unexpectedly, the lockdown was announced, and what was to be a brief 4-day visit was extended to a 4-month long stay.

I’d known my house guest all my life and I knew she was a Sanskrit scholar but it had never till then crossed my mind that her area of study could be relevant to me in any way. I did not realize that her scholarship could change my life.

Being an emotionally charged time for me, I was grappling with several issues – big and small. My head was buzzing with questions – and most of them I couldn’t find answers to. And so, somehow, I found myself asking her to explain the philosophy of the Bhagavad Gita to me. A request she accepted.

I had a copy of the Gita and so soon we found a quiet place to sit and Didi (that’s what I call her) unraveled the Gita for me – verse by verse. Thus started an exchange – rather an extended conversation – that changed my life.

Eventually, the lockdown was lifted and soon my house guest left. It was at that moment I wondered if there was any way that I could ensure that the storehouse of knowledge that she had shared with me could be captured. Writing it down seemed to be the obvious answer. And so, I started by documenting my understanding of some of the verses. I started writing and soon it became something I had to do every day.

In short, that is how the book happened. Over and above all that I’ve learned from the text, the way the book came to be has now also convinced me that spiritual serendipity happens!

How much time did it take to write the book?

Dr. Vandana R. Singh- As I said earlier, this book came to be during the pandemic. Morbid as it may sound, had it not been for the lockdown which offered long periods of self-introspection and what then appeared to be infinite free time on our hands, the book may never have happened.

And so, once I started writing I was completely immersed in it and devoted a good part of my day to my laptop. Other than the time that this took what was more difficult and perhaps equally time-consuming was deciding which verses to write on. It was like having to choose a single flower from a beautiful bouquet – when you know you can’t take them all and so struggling because you want them all!!

Eventually, I chose 251 verses of the total 700 in the Gita making sure that each of the 18 chapters was included. In the book, each chapter is prefixed with a thematic introduction to what is to follow, a sort of sneak preview if you may, of the subjects to be touched upon in the following pages.

The entire process of selection and writing took me about 4 months. Not sure if it will be appropriate to say thanks to the pandemic, but I doubt if I could have written some 95,000+ words in 4 months in normal times.

Do you think that the Bhagavad Gita still has relevance in modern times?

Dr. Vandana R. Singh- In a constantly changing physical world fresh interpretations of existing concepts are needed from time to time to enable us to view them through a contemporary lens. While terminology and technology have evolved over the years, the human mind is still just as insecure, paranoid, envious, and sometimes even unstable. In other words, the human mind with all its follies continues to need an anchor today just as it did thousands of years ago.

Humankind’s search for peace, the search for answers to life’s many questions remains just as intense, and we continue to see innumerable Arjuns around us struggling with modern versions of distress, despair, and inner conflict. These conflicts may erupt from twenty-first-century issues but the resolution of these still lies in the age-old narrative – the Bhagavad Gita.

This multi-layered text is also a curious mix of the dynamic and the static – very much in the spirit of the adage that the more things change, the more they remain the same. The meanings might keep changing with each reading, but the text remains the same. It’s the same 18 chapters, the same 700 verses, the same speakers, and the same battlefield. But like a kaleidoscope where the hues change each time, it is rotated – the meaning/s of the verses keeps evolving – not necessarily replacing the earlier one, but certainly enhance it.

I might add here – especially since it is so relevant to our times – one of the most important inferences one draws from the narrative is to not hesitate to ask for help when you’re in a dark place. A distressed Arjun turned to his charioteer for solace and look at the storehouse of wisdom that he was exposed to in return. So, seek help when you feel the conflict between outward expectations is not in sync with your inner self.

As an author, what are your personal takeaways from the verses of the Bhagavad Gita?

Dr. Vandana R. Singh- To me, personally, the Gita came across as a handbook of how to live life in an imperfect world. An experiential guide that connects the outer world with the inner, it is an unparalleled mix of the physical and the metaphysical, the natural and the supernatural, the human and the superhuman.

While on one plane, the Gita is multi-layered and granular, on another it is simple, direct, and pragmatic. The entire set of teachings is based on the realistic premise that each individual is born with a particular temperament, and so laying down a single spiritual path for all to walk on, is simply not possible. In fact, the Gita very clearly says that one size does not fit all.

This sets the tone for the underlying message of acceptance of individuality as well as a plurality. The multiplicity of ideas thought processes, and subsequent individual actions, are concepts that lie at the heart of this understanding and acceptance.

The Gita has also told me  – you are your own watchdog, your own timekeeper, your own conscience keeper. Each one of us has within us an unacknowledged greatness – a potential that needs to be unleashed. For me, the Gita is a journey from a partial understanding of life to a complete one.

In your book, you have touched upon life skills. How do you connect these skills with the Bhagavad Gita?

Dr. Vandana R. Singh- To answer this question it’s important to understand what life skills are.

Life skills are essentially those abilities that help promote mental well-being and competence in people as they face the realities of life. It refers to the skills one needs to optimize opportunities and handle critical situations that arise from time to time.

The term has gained currency in the last few decades and is now frequently recognized as the key to professional success and personal well-being as also for preparing professionals for striking the right work-life balance.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) categorizes life skills into the following broad components:

a) Critical thinking skills and Decision-making skills

b) Interpersonal and Communication skills

c) Coping and self-management skills

We see these frequently at play in the Gita. For example, right at the outset, we see a breakdown of Arjun’s decision-making skills which leads to his inner conflict.

As Krishna offers life-changing solutions, Arjun’s self-esteem is soon restored and he is finally ready to perform his duty, with newly acquired coping skills.

Seeing Arjun unable to lead with his current work-life balance issues, Krishna makes ample use of verbal communication. We see Arjun listening actively as the moment of self-awareness arrives with the help of information-gathering skills. Arjun eventually learns to self-manage his battered emotions as conflict resolution gradually appears in sight.

Armed with tips on positive thinking and stress management techniques, Arjun’s assertive skills come into play. Providing Krishna with positive feedback Arjun is back in action ready to face life and its many challenges.

Do you think that the Bhagavad Gita will be able to solve modern-day problems?

Dr. Vandana R. Singh- The two best-known themes from the Gita are – perform your duty without any expectation or desire for a reward. And the other is that whenever evil starts to overtake the good in this world a superior force takes birth and wipes out the evil and restores order.

But there is much more to the Gita than this. Since most of us are well aware of these two aspects we feel no need to explore further. As the Gitaseeped into me, and as its many messages opened up to me layer after layer, I realized what a limited view one had had of the Gita and how erroneous it is to view it as a period piece.

Its key messages hold true today.

• Balance is the key – a balanced lifestyle is a key to a good life.

• Equanimity should be the ultimate goal of life. Equanimity includes overcoming prejudices based on culture, religion, caste, nationality, and race.

• The Gita is an avid supporter of free will and actively encourages human beings to make their own choices in life. In other words, it is also asking us to be responsible for our own actions.

• As we read the Gita, it becomes amply clear that every step we take is a link in the eternal chain of cause and effect, and of action and reaction. No thought or action remains unaccounted for – and eventually paid for – in the balance sheet of life. Or indeed of life after life.

These ideas are timeless and offer solutions to issues of human existence irrespective of the day and time one life in. But while the teachings are there it is up to us how we choose to interpret them and apply them to ourselves.

What the Gita suggests is – while it is good to be competitive, let the competition eventually be with your own self. Make sure that today you are an improved version of what you were yesterday.

In a nutshell, the Gita tells us to live life in a manner where self-introspection is a habit, followed by self-improvement. It encourages us to recognize self-control as the solution, and set self-actualization as the eventual goal.