“Our Roots Make Us What We Are”

A teacher by profession, Manjiri Khandekar is also the founder of a unique initiative called Heritage India which not only publishes a magazine to focus on India’s vast heritage places, faiths and cultures but also conducts heritage tours and workshops in an attempt to make Indians proud about the country’s rich legacy. In this interview with Huned Contractor, she elaborates about what triggers her passion for all things heritage in value.

- Huned Contractor

Could you tell us something about yourself?

I was born end of 1959 in Pune and grew up in Mumbai where my father worked for Premier Automobiles Ltd. I did my graduation in Ancient Indian Culture from St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai with a three-year scholarship in the subject and followed it up with a PG Diploma in Social Communications Media from Sophia Polytechnic, Mumbai. I did not really get to apply my education back then because I got married soon after and travelled across the country with my husband who was serving in the Indian Armed Forces. Foray into teaching happened by default since that was the one job I could do with little children at home and being continuously transferred from one place to another.

After I came to Pune I equipped myself with a Masters degree in French and a NET and was fortunate enough to get a post with the Pune university. From teaching part-time courses to teaching French has now lasted for 25 years and I will happily retire from this profession this November. It has been a rich journey with several international collaborations. My last project is at the Montpellier university in France in November where I will present two Marathi films which we, at the Department of Foreign Languages, have subtitled into French and also do a number of presentations on India in two of their junior colleges.

What was it that triggered your interest in the heritage of India?