Thread by @shrikanth_krish

Found an old out-of-print book in my house - "Stories from Indian Classics" written by V Krishnaswami Aiyar

This was originally a Sanskrit compilation by Aiyar - a famous judge of Madras High Court (1863-1911)

Later translated to English by Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan

The history around this book is interesting

It was originally titled "Arya-charitam" in Sanskrit by Aiyar, when first published 110+ years ago

And it was compiled by Mr Aiyar as a "counter" to a provocative convocation speech by Lord Curzon in 1905!

Curzon challenged the "ideals" of the Indian people by suggesting that the notion of Truth is fundamentally "Western"

Quoting him (1905 - Calcutta University convocation)

"the highest ideal of truth is to a large extent a Western conception. Undoubtedly, truth took a high place in the moral codes of the West before it had been similarly honored in the East"

One is not sure if Mr Aiyar was in the audience. But apparently the speech caused a bit of a furore among Indian intelligentsia

Aiyar took upon himself to create a collection of "Aryan legends" which convey the high fidelity of Indian culture to truth, refuting Curzon's view

The book emerged in this context. It is a little over 200 pages long

Stories covered include -

Raja Harishchandra (from Markandeya Purana)
Nanda the cow (from Padma Purana)
Sati Sukanya (from Devi Bhagavata)
Krishna-Kucela (from Bhagavatam)

among several others (19 in all)

Tidbit - Aiyar was a very high profile lawyer in his day.

And went on to found "Indian bank" by collaborating with Ramasamy Chettiar - the grand uncle of P Chidambaram