Curriculum Vitae

Name: Sreejit Datta

Address: Batamore, North Jagtala,
P.O. Maheshtala, South 24 Parganas
Kolkata – 700141
West Bengal, India

Contact: +91 9051238503

+91 8013932260 (WhatsApp)
Landline: 033 24900448
E-mail: sreejit.datta@gmail.com

Personal Details:

Nationality: Indian

Gender: Male

Date of Birth: 17th June, 1991

Marital Status: Single

Languages Known: English, Hindi and Bengali (can read, write and speak fluently in all
three languages and use them for complicated communicative purposes with nuance);
Spanish and Sanskrit (can read, write and speak in these two languages with an intermediate
level of understanding)

Objective:

To undertake and conduct rigorous academic research in the area of Indian aesthetics to build
a critique of existing scholarship on the subject by Sheldon Pollock et al, with a focus on the
development of the Rasa Śāstra and its intersection with Kashmiri Śaivism as well as
Vedānta, in the pursuit of a doctoral degree culminating in a PhD research thesis.

Educational Background:

10th Standard:

 Name of Examination: Madhyamik Examination, 2006

 Board: West Bengal Board of Secondary Education
 Name of School: Nangi High School, Batanagar, Kolkata, India
  Medium of Instruction: Bengali
 Subjects Taken: Bengali, English, Mathematics, Physical Science, Life Science,
History, Geography, Mechanics
 Percentage of Marks Obtained: 86.63
 Division Obtained: First Division

10+2:

 Name of Examination: Higher Secondary Examination, 2008

 Board: West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Examination
 Name of School: Jodhpur Park Boys’ School, Kolkata, India
 Medium of Instruction: English
 Subjects Taken: Bengali, English, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Statistics,
Environmental Education
 Percentage of Marks Obtained: 82.86
 Division Obtained: First Division

Graduation:

 Name of Examination: Bachelor of Science

 Dates Attended: 2008-2011
 Name of College and University: St. Xavier's College, Kolkata, India (Autonomous
under the University of Calcutta)
 Name of Department: Department of Statistics
 Major Subject Taken: Statistics Hons.
 Pass Subjects Taken: Mathematics, Economics
 Compulsory Subjects: English, Bengali, Environmental Science
 Medium of Instruction: English
 Percentage of Marks Obtained: 55.80
 Division Obtained: Second Class

Post Graduation:

 Name of Examination: M.A. in Comparative Literature

 Dates Attended: 2013-2015
 Name of University: Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India
 Name of Department: Department of Comparative Literature
 Major Subject Taken: Comparative Literature
 Medium of Instruction: English
 Percentage of Marks Obtained: 71.38
 Division Obtained: First Class, secured 3rd rank in the university
PhD (From 2015 till Present):

 Name of University: Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan, India

 Name of Centre: Centre for Comparative Literature, Bhasha Bhavana
 Marks Obtained in PhD Course Work: 66.67%
 Thesis Title: The Sound of Meditation: A Historical Analysis of the Lyrical and
Musical Components in Brahmasangeet
 Area of Specialization: Performance Studies
 Areas of Interest: Comparative Literature Theory, Performance Studies, Indian
Aesthetics, Translation Studies, Sacred Sanskrit Literature, African Literatures

Other Qualifications / Certifications:

1. The candidate has successfully completed a two-month certificate course titled

“English Impact Course at Upper-Intermediate Level” in 2011from the British
Council, Kolkata and received the grade “Very Good”.

2. The candidate has successfully completed a three-month certificate course titled

“Spanish Basic Course” in 2013 from the Indo-Hispanic Language Academy,
Kolkata and obtained First Division with 73% marks.

3. The candidate has successfully completed the UGC-approved 300 contact-hour

certificate course on “Translation as a Skill” offered by the Centre for Translation of
Indian Literatures (CENTIL), Department of Comparative Literature, Jadavpur
University in 2013-2014 obtaining grade A+.

4. The candidate has successfully completed a three-month certificate course titled

“Spanish Advanced Course” in 2014 from the Indo-Hispanic Language Academy,
Kolkata and obtained Second Division with 50% marks.

5. The candidate has successfully completed the a single-semester certificate course

titled “Bodies at the Border” conducted jointly by the Centre for Studies in Latin
American Literatures and Cultures (CSLALC), Department of Comparative
Literature, Jadavpur University and Cornell University, USA in 2014.

6. The candidate has successfully completed a “Post-Graduate Certificate Course in

Editing and Publishing” with a focus on Editing, offered by the School of Cultural
Texts and Records, Jadavpur University in 2015.
 7. The candidate has successfully cleared the National Eligibility Test in December
2015, a national-level test in India conducted by the University Grant Commission,
Government of India, for testing eligibility for assistant professorship in colleges and
universities across the country, topping in his subject (Comparative Literature) with
74.29% marks. This also won him a 2 year scholarship named the Junior Research
Fellowship (JRF).

8. The candidate has successfully completed the Ministry of Human Resource

Development-approved 18 contact-hour certificate course titled “Oral History and
the Art of Listening” offered by the Department of Comparative Literature, Jadavpur
University in December, 2016 obtaining grade A and one full credit, under the Global
Inititative of Academic Networks (GIAN).

9. The candidate has successfully completed a Certificate Course on Sanskrit titled

“Sanskrit Praveshika” conducted and awarded by the Madras Sanskrit College in
March-June, 2017. Marks obtained: 79%

Participation in Workshops / Seminars / Conferences / Symposia:

1. The candidate participated in a workshop titled “Introductory Workshop on Virtual

Observatory”, organized jointly by the University of Calcutta and IUCAA Resource
Centre, Kolkata in December 2012.

2. The candidate participated in the academic sessions of the International Translation

Autumn School organized at Jadavpur University, by the Centre of Advanced Study
(CAS) in Comparative Literature and the CENTIL, Jadavpur University, in
collaboration with the British Centre for Literary Translation, University of East
Anglia, and the Writing and Society Research Centre, University of Western Sydney
in September 2013.

3. Authored and presented a paper “Is the ‘Popular’ Political? ‘Hegemony’ and Popular
Culture: Politics and Its Use of Popular Means” at the 7th Annual Debrupa Bal
Memorial National Students’ Seminar on “Popular Culture and Comparative
Literature: Indian Context”, organised by the Department of Comparative Literature,
Jadavpur University in August 2014.

4. The candidate performed in the production “Aahad-e-Gham ki Hiquayatein” at the 7th

Annual Debrupa Bal Memorial National Students’ Seminar on “Popular Culture and
Comparative Literature: Indian Context”, organised by the Department of
Comparative Literature, Jadavpur University in August 2014.

5. The candidate was a rapporteur in the sessions at the International Seminar on

“Centering Borders: Narrative Explorations in South Asia and Latin America”
organized jointly by the Centre for Studies in Latin American Literatures and Cultures
(CSLALC), Department of Comparative Literature, Jadavpur University and Maulana
 Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies (MAKAIAS) at Jadavpur University in
January 2015.

6. The candidate participated in a performance titled “Dear Earth...Hope You Are

Keeping Well!” at the International Seminar on “Centering Borders: Narrative
Explorations in South Asia and Latin America” organized jointly by the Centre for
Studies in Latin American Literatures and Cultures (CSLALC), Department of
Comparative Literature, Jadavpur University and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute
of Asian Studies (MAKAIAS) at Jadavpur University in January 2015.

7. The candidate participated in the Wales-India International Translation Winter School

organized at Jadavpur University, by the Centre for Translation of Indian Literatures
(CENTIL), Jadavpur University, in collaboration with Aberystwyth University, UK.
During the winter school, he acted as a co-translator of Sahitya Akademi prize winner
and renowned Bengali author Ramkumar Mukhopadhyay’s short stories. The author
himself was an integral part of the translating team in this winter school in January
2015.

8. Authored and presented a paper entitled “Applying Methodological Tools of

Comparative Literature in the Study of Aesthetic Reception of Dhrupad in 19th
Century Bangla Brahmasangeet” at the International Conference on “Comparing
Comparative Literatures” organized by the Department of Comparative Literature,
Jadavpur University, as part of the UGC-UKIERI Thematic Partnership Award 2014
involving Jadavpur University, India and St Andrews University, Scotland, in March
2015.

9. Co-authored and co-presented a paper entitled ““Dust My Broom”: A Take on the

Correlations between West African Traditions and Blues Music” at Palaver XIII,
annual forum for Scholars of African Studies, organised by the Centre for Studies in
African Literatures and Cultures, on Journey of Performance and Performing Art
Forms within Africa and Beyond, an International Conference held at Jadavpur
University in January 2016.

10. Authored and presented a paper titled “Censoring as a Mode of Erasing (or
Rewriting) History: A Case in Epistemic Violence?” in the International Conference
‘Comparative Literature: At the Crossroads of Culture and Society’ organised by the
Centre for Comparative Literature, in collaboration with ICSSR, CIIL, UGC, CLAI
and Rabindra Bhavana, Visva-Bharati, in January 2016.

11. Authored and presented a paper titled “Plurality of Voices within Revolutionary
Punjabi Poetry of the Naxalite Movement: Poetry of Avtaar Singh Sandhu “Paash”
and Laal Singh Dil” at the International Seminar ‘Of Poetry and Revolution (1965-
2015): Wings of Change’, organized by the Centre for Studies in Latin American
Literatures and Cultures, Department of Comparative Literature, Jadavpur University,
Kolkata, India in January, 2016.
12. Authored and presented a Bengali paper titled “Bangladesher Shahitya O
Tulanamulak Shahitya – Sanskritik Censorship Ebong Kichhu Shombhabona” at the
International Conference on Bangladesh, titled “Chollish Periye Bangladesh: Atmata
O Shwatontrer Shondhane” organised by the Department of Comparative Literature,
Jadavpur University in collaboration with Rabindranath Studies Centre at Jadavpur
University, Kolkata in February 2016.

13. Authored and presented a paper entitled “Drumbeats of Time: Reading (or Hearing)
Aboriginal Music in Canada and the Parai Drumming of Tamil Dalits” at the
International Conference titled, “No Map, No Trail, No Footprint, No Way Home:
Rethinking Memory, History and Representation in India and Canada”, organized by
the Centre for Canadian Studies, Department of Comparative Literature, Jadavpur
University; in February, 2016.

14. Authored and presented a paper entitled “A quest for an Alternative Historiography
through the Music of the Tamil Dalits: Parai Drumming” at the Young Researchers’
Conference on ‘Critiquing Caste in/as Dalit Literature’ organised by the Department
of English, Presidency University in March, 2016.

15. Authored and presented a paper titled “India’s Independence through the Eyes of
Ismat the Reader” in the Symposium titled “Afsana-e-Chughtai”, organized by the
Centre for Comparative Literature, Bhasha Bhavana, Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan,
India in March, 2016

16. Participated in an Orientation Programme on “The Myriad Ideas of Rabindranath

Tagore”, organised by Tagore Studies Unit, Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan in March
2016.

17. Authored and presented a paper entitled “The Shanta Rasa and a Hierarchy of Rasas
in Vyasa’s Mahabharata: Themes, Forms and Aesthetics” in the National Conference
titled “Epic in India: Exploring, Variations, Transformation and Mutations” organized
by the Centre for Comparative Literature, School of Humanities, University of
Hyderabad, India in August, 2016.

18. Participated in the workshop on “Research Methodology for Indological Studies”,

conducted by the Asiatic Society, Kolkata, India; 2016.

19. Authored and presented a paper entitled “Badshah Pather: Adapting King Lear into
the Bhand Pather of Kahsmir” at the International Conference “Shakespeare’s Ashes”
organized by the Shakespeare Society of India and participated in the Conference at
the British Council, New Delhi, in October 2016.

20. Co-authored and co-presented a paper: ‘Adaptation or Translation of Shakespeare:

Questions Concerning the Problematic of “Cultural Translatability” and
 “Untranslatability” in Welcome Msomi and Girlish Chandra Ghosh’s Readings of
Macbeth' in the XIII Annual International Conference of Rajasthan Association for
Studies in English (RASE) on “William Shakespeare through the Ages”, organized by
the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Dr. K.N. Modi University and
RASE, Newai, Rajasthan, India; 2016.

21. Authored and presented a paper entitled “Debendranath Tagore’s Atmajiboni (The
Autobiography of Maharshi Debendranath Tagore, 1914): A Phenomenological
Reading of the Maharshi’s Bangla Self-Narrative and the Nation’s History through
Memory” at the First Biennial International Conference “IACLSC 2016: Postmodern
Nation-State and Nationalism: Citizenship, History and Public Sphere” organized by
the International Association of Comparative Literature, Society and Culture
(IACLSC 2016) and the Institute of Advanced Research, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, in
December 2016.

22. Authored and presented a paper entitled “Hindustani Music in the Age of Cross-
Border Tensions: The Plights of a Raga and a Qaul” at the International Seminar
‘Shifting Significations of Borders in Contemporary South Asia and the Americas’,
organized by the Centre for Studies in Latin American Literatures and Cultures
(CSLALC), Department of Comparative Literature, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, in
January, 2017.

23. Authored and presented a paper titled “A Critique of Sheldon Pollock’s Take on Rasa
in “From Rasa Seen to Rasa Heard” at the Swadeshi Indology II Conference on
‘Global Perceptions of Indian Heritage’, organized by the Indira Gandhi National
Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) in association with the Infinity Foundation, India in
February, 2017.

24. Participated in the workshop titled “Bharat Muni Ki Natyashastra Prastuti

Parampara – Marganatya Karyashala Samapan Evam Pradarshan” organized by the
Sangeet Natak Akademi, New Delhi in March, 2017.

25. Co-authored and presented a paper titled “Simultaneity or Concentric Circles: The
Narrative of the ‘Minor’ in Nepali Literary Historiography through the Case of the
Tāmāng Selo” in the seminar “Worlding Small/Minor Literatures” at the Annual
Meeting 2017 of the American Comparative Literature Association, held at the
Universiteit Utrecht in Utrecht, Netherlands in July 2017.

Publications:

1. Review of “Comparative Literature: Terms and Concepts” (Ed. By Dr Soma

Mukhopadhyay) in Sāhitya, the web journal of the Comparative Literature
Association of India, August 2016 issue (ISSN 2249 – 6416 Online)
 2. Translation of Shri Ramkumar Mukhopadhyay’s Bengali short story “Bonomalir
Prithibite Phera” as “Bonomali’s Return to Earth” in the Wales Arts Review (WAR),
UK, published on 12.08.2016 (Web Journal)

3. Article titled “The Limits of Indian Secularism” in Analysis and Review, a web
journal published from the UK, on May 17, 2017 (Web Journal)

4. His article “The Limits of Indian Secularism” has been featured and republished as
“Secularism Has Been Infected by a Venom Which Must Be Countered” by the online
news portal TopYaps with permission from the original publishers, on May 31, 2017.
(Web News Portal)

5. Article titled “Is ‘Aarambh’ about Concocted Histories and Propagandist Fiction?” in
TopYaps, on June 20, 2017 (Web News Portal)

6. Co-authored paper titled “Adaptation or Translation of Shakespeare: Questions

Concerning the Problematic of “Cultural Translatability” and “Untranslatability” in
Welcome Msomi and Girish Chandra Ghosh’s Readings of Macbeth” in Gnosis: An
International Refereed Journal of English Language and Literature (ISSN: 2394-
0131; July 2017 issue)

7. Article titled “How ‘Wonder Woman’ Reinforces the Need to hold on to India’s
Dharmic Values” in TopYaps, on July 5, 2017 (Web News Portal)

8. Article titled “Hindustani Music in the Age of Cross-Border Tensions: The Plights of
a Raga and a Qaul” in Srijan Samay, a journal published from the Department of
Performing Arts (Film and Theatre), Mahatma Gandhi International Hindi University,
Wardha, Maharashtra, January-June consolidated issue, ISSN: 2456-771X.

9. Article titled “Hierarchy of Rasa-s in Vyāsa’s Mahābhārata: Themes, Forms and

Aesthetics” in India Facts, on August 1, 2017 (Web News Portal)

10. The candidate has also written prolifically for various literary magazines based in
Kolkata, contributing poetry, essays and plays written in Bengali and English for the
same; and has contributed translations of poetry and fiction in several acclaimed
literary journals in India and the UK.

Work Experience:

 Worked as a teacher of Bengali language and literature to undergraduate, graduate and

PhD students from various universities in the USA at the American Institute of Indian
Studies, Kolkata on contract basis from 16.05.2016 to 31.08.2016.
Awards / Scholarships / Fellowships:

 INSPIRE Scholarship, awarded by the Department of Science and Technology,

Government of India, for securing a rank within the top 1% in Higher Secondary
(10+2) examinations, 2008

 Young Artistes Scholarship, in the category of Light Classical Music

(Rabindrasangeet), awarded by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, 2010

 Junior Research Fellowship, in comparative literature, awarded by the University

Grants Commission, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of
India, for passing the National Eligibility Test (UGC-NET) held in December 2015.

Memberships, Associations:

 Member of the American Comparative Literature Association for the year 2017
 Member of the “Small/Minor Literatures & Cultures”, an international collaborative
network of researchers who work on small/minor literatures and cultures both
theoretically and empirically with a special focus on a comparative analysis of their
contacts, similarities and differences. Website: http://www.minorliteratures.org

Computer Proficiency:

 The candidate is well-versed in using the latest versions of MS Office (MS Word, MS
PowerPoint, MS Excel) and is experienced in blogging, basic photo editing and sound
editing.

Volunteer / Community Service:

 Worked as a tutor to unprivileged children from South Kolkata slums as part of the
National Social Service Scheme, during 2010-2011 for earning one full ‘social
credit’ in the graduation course.

Interests:

 The candidate is an accomplished musician. He has been obtaining training since the
past 15 years without a break, has been awarded the Young Artiste Scholarship in the
category Hindustani Light Classical Music (with a specialization in Rabindrasangeet,
Tagore's songs) by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India for a two-year
advanced training in his chosen field in the year 2010.

 He is an accomplished and regular performer in the state of West Bengal in India,

collaborating with the veteran actor Soumitra Chattopadhyay (who has acted in lead
roles in many of Satyajit Ray's films and has been awarded Dadasaheb Phalke, the
highest film-related award in India, and the Order of Légion d'Honneur – the highest
decoration in France) on a number of occasions with his vocal music performances.