https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Ramesh_Menon_%28writer%29Ramesh Menon (writer) - Revision history2026-11-04T19:46:18ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.43.6https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ramesh_Menon_(writer)&diff=529270&oldid=prevTradeunofabrics: made some details first draft!2024-11-30T00:34:50Z<p>made some details first draft!</p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description |Indian translator (born 1951)}}<br />
{{BLP sources|date=July 2018}}<br />
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2023}}<br />
{{Use Indian English|date=June 2023}}<br />
{{Infobox writer<br />
| name = Ramesh Menon<br />
| image = Ramesh Menon 5.jpg<br />
| caption = <br />
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1951|09|20}}<br />
| birth_place = [[New Delhi]], India<br />
| occupation = Author<br />
| notableworks = * ''The Ramayana: A Modern Retelling of the Great Indian Epic''<br/>* ''The Mahabharata: A Modern Rendering'' (two volumes)<br/>* ''Krishna: Life and Song of the Blue God''<br/>* ''Siva: The Siva Purana Retold''<br/>* ''Devi: The Devi Bhagavatam Retold''<br/>* ''Bhagavata Purana'' (two volumes)<br/>* ''Srimad Bhagavad-Gita''<br/>* ''The Complete Mahabharata'' (twelve volumes)<br />
}}<br />
<br />
'''Ramakrishna Ramesh Menon''' (born 20 September 1951) is an Indian author.<br />
<br />
He has written several literary renderings in modern English prose of classical works from the ancient [[Hindu]] tradition.<br />
<br />
His books include:<br />
* ''[https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780865476950 The Ramayana: A Modern Retelling of the Great Indian Epic]'' ([[Farrar, Straus and Giroux]] and [[HarperCollins India]])<br />
* ''[http://rupapublications.co.in/books/the-mahabharat-vol-i-ii/ The Mahabharata: A Modern Rendering]'' (two volumes)<br />
* ''Krishna: Life and Song of the Blue God''<br />
* ''[http://rupapublications.co.in/books/siva-the-siva-purana-retold/ Siva: The Siva Purana Retold]''<br />
* ''Devi: The Devi Bhagavatam Retold''<br />
* ''The Bhagavata Purana'' (two volumes)<br />
* a new translation of the ''[[ Bhagavad Gita]]''<br />
* twelve-volume retelling of ''[https://www.flipkart.com/complete-mahabharata-box-set/p/itmexq8dkvskzuqb The Complete Mahabharata]'' (as writer and series editor) <br />
– all published by [[Rupa Publications]].<br />
<br />
All his main books, apart from the latest Complete Mahabharata series (finished in September 2017), have gone into many reprints in India.<br />
<br />
==Early life, education and career==<br />
Born in New Delhi, Menon studied at [[St. Xavier's School, Delhi|St Xavier's High School]] and [[St. Stephen's College, Delhi|St Stephen's College]], where he read history honours (1968–69) and then philosophy honours (1969–70), but left college without taking a degree.<br />
<br />
Reading the ''[[Bhagavad Gita]]'' at this time was a life-changing experience for him. It was the seed from which all his later work emerged.{{citation needed|date=June 2023}}<br />
<br />
He developed an informal [[guru–shishya tradition|guru-sishya]] relationship with the [[Malayalam]] novelist [[O. V. Vijayan]], and translated two of his master's novels into English: ''[[Gurusagaram|The Infinity of Grace]]''<ref>{{Cite book|title=Infinity of Grace|last=results|first=search|date=1996-02-01|publisher=Penguin Books India|isbn=9780140260076|edition= 2nd|location=New Delhi; New York, N.Y.|language=English|translator-last=Menon|translator-first=Ramesh}}</ref> (Penguin) and ''Madhuram Gayathi'' (yet to be published by Vijayan's estate after his death in 2005).{{citation needed|date=June 2023}}<br />
<br />
In addition to Delhi, Menon has lived and worked in [[Bangalore]], [[Chennai]], [[Hong Kong]], [[Jakarta]], [[Kodaikanal]] and [[Thiruvananthapuram]].<br />
[[File:Ramesh Menon 6.jpg|thumb|Ramesh Menon]]<br />
<br />
==Critical response==<br />
In a starred review, [[Kirkus Reviews]] described his ''Ramayana'' as "A masterpiece made new for a generation of readers who ought to be very grateful indeed to Menon".<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/ramesh-menon/the-ramayana/|title=THE RAMAYANA by Ramesh Menon {{!}} Kirkus Reviews|language=en-us}}</ref><br />
<br />
British theatre director [[Peter Brook]] called the book ''A beautiful new rendering of an inexhaustible theme''.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780865476950|title=The Ramayana {{!}} Ramesh Menon {{!}} Macmillan|work=US Macmillan|access-date=2018-06-27|language=en-US}}</ref><br />
<br />
His two-volume rendering of ''The Mahabharata'' is his most read and reviewed book.<br />
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==See also==<br />
{{Portal |Biography |Books|India|Linguistics}}<br />
{{Commons category}}<br />
* [[List of Indian writers]]<br />
* [[List of translators into English]]<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
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{{Authority control}}<br />
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Menon, Ramesh}}<br />
[[Category:1951 births]]<br />
[[Category:Living people]]<br />
[[Category:20th-century Indian male writers]]<br />
[[Category:20th-century Indian translators]]<br />
[[Category:21st-century Indian male writers]]<br />
[[Category:21st-century Indian translators]]<br />
[[Category:Hindi–English translators]]<br />
[[Category:Hong Kong writers]]<br />
[[Category:Kodaikanal]]<br />
[[Category:St. Stephen's College, Delhi alumni]]<br />
[[Category:Translators from Malayalam]]<br />
[[Category:Writers from Bengaluru]]<br />
[[Category:Writers from Delhi]]<br />
[[Category:Writers from Chennai]]<br />
[[Category:Writers from Jakarta]]<br />
[[Category:Writers from Thiruvananthapuram]]</div>Tradeunofabrics