South Asia Studies
PhD Scholar
Education
B.A. (Research) in English with a Minor in Sociology, Shiv Nadar University
M.A. in Comparative Literature, University of Pennsylvania
Bio
I am a dual-degree Ph.D. scholar in Comparative Literature and South Asia Studies. My research focuses on women authors—specifically, why they litigate and how gender, language and class complicate their authorial rights, making the ownership of their literature more tenuous. I situate my scholarship at the intersection of legal and literary studies, examining how "women’s authorship" is defined and contested in court.
Research Interests
Gender Studies; Authorship Studies; Adaptation Studies; History of Modern Hindi and Punjabi Literature (20th and 21st centuries); Law and Literature; Sociology of Literature; Intellectual Histories of Contemporary South Asia
Research Languages: Hindi, Punjabi, English
Selected Publications
2025: Co-Organiser, UPenn Hindi-Urdu Workshop on the theme “Articulations of the Punjab and Punjabi in Hindi and Urdu: Land, Literature, and Language”
2024: Presenter, panel titled “Women in Law Courts: Archives, Performance, and Legibility”, Annual Conference on South Asia, University of Wisconsin–Madison
2024–present: Member, “Women and the Court” Project, University of Lausanne, Switzerland — a platform for interdisciplinary scholars working on women’s voices in the early modern and modern periods of South Asian history
Courses Taught
Instructor
- “World Literature” (COML 1191 / CLST 1602 / ENGL 1179): Fall 2024.
- “Narrative Across Cultures” (COML 1025 / ENGL 0039 / SAST 1124/MELC 1960/ THAR 1025): Summer 2025.
Teaching Assistant
- “Introduction to Modern South Asian Literature Literatures” (SAST0007/ COML 0007): Spring 2024 & Spring 2025 for Dr. Gregory Goulding.
- “Narrative Across Cultures” (COML 1025 / ENGL 0039 / SAST 1124/MELC 1960/ THAR 1025): Fall 2023 dor Dr. Ania Loomba
Affiliations
Department of South Asia Studies (Joint Ph.D.)