She has lived here with her husband, Rajindar, a retired emerita professor of economics at OU, for decades, and the couple's welcoming nature is more than politeness, it is a familial value they hold dear.
Manjulika's values are so important that she released a book: "Values That Shape Us: Inspirational Stories and Quotes." The collection of tales and sayings details the formative values of dozens of people, many of whom are local to Athens. Manjulika said she hopes the book can serve as a peaceful inspiration to its readers.
For a taste of the Koshal's hospitality and a glimpse into her debut book, one can visit the Little Professor this Thursday from 4 to 7 p.m. for Manjulika's book signing. The Koshals have handmade a quasi-Chex Mix to serve: raisins, rice crispies and chex mixed together with a blend of Indian spices. Manjulika said she made sure to minimize the spice for her Athens guests, and the mix will be served alongside samosas, water and discussions from Manjulika and others featured in the book.
She said the idea for the book came from an experience with a friend battling cancer. Manjulika realized her friend was lonely, so she gifted him a book of something dear to her: quotes.
"One day, I think it was 10 days before he passed away," she said. "He returned me the book and he said, 'This was a great healer. It kept me going."
Manjulika asked him if he thought she, too, should write a book that could help heal others. She said she wanted to document true stories of values, hope and encouragement.
"And he says, 'Of course, sure,'" Manjulika said. "'It will be like a medicine to the people.'"
The day the idea traveled from mind to paper came with the dreary onset of COVID-19. Manjulika and her husband own a winter home in India, which they had been visiting for an intended short while in early 2020. They ended up staying five months.
Manjulika said the home is neighborly, with nearby families always stopping by, helping take care of one anothers' gardens and embracing a communal support system. When COVID-19 grounded all flights out of India, Manjulika began asking these neighbors for stories.
"Most of them had a story, you know?" she said. "So I started collecting."
Two years later, the book was ready for publishing. Once India allowed flights out for American and German citizens in July, the couple was able to fly back to Athens. Once back in the U.S., Manjulika also collected stories from friends, colleagues and strangers here.
"Values That Shape Us: Inspirational Quotes and Stories" is now available in print and hardcopy, a long-awaited cover finally perfected. Manjulika said the cover, an image of blooming lotus flowers and lotus roots separated by a torn piece of paper, took significant time to create. Finding images to use that did not violate copyright was time-consuming, but she said she was set on the lotus flower, something that blooms beautifully, like a value, from its tangled, muddy roots.
She said many family members contributed lessons to the collection, from her 11-year-old grandson to her husband. Rajindar said his chapters often came from his experience as a child during the India-Pakistan partition.
According to "The New Yorker," the partition occurred with the departure of the British in 1947. During this time, the subcontinent was split into two states: Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan. This immediately spurred one of the greatest migrations in human history, with millions of Muslims hurrying to West and East Pakistan (East Pakistan is now known as Bangladesh) and millions more Hindus and Sikhs headed toward India.
Violence followed this migration, particularly along the border as the newly-split nations clashed. Hundreds of thousands of migrants never made it to their destination, stopped by massacres, fires, forced conversions, mass abductions and horrific sexual violence. Partition is remembered as a terrible display of violence to almost unimaginable degrees: infants, for instance, were found roasted on spits– just one example among millions of incomprehensible atrocities. After it slowed just one year later, more than 15 million had been uprooted and between one and two million were dead. One of these 15 million was Rajindar.
"They slept on the platform," Manjulika said. "(They went) to the railway station, everybody, and you think 'OK, we are going to New Delhi.' New Delhi was in India, and they boarded the train and then the train stopped. Why? The next station you cannot go to – everything is on fire. The city is on fire."
Manjulika said the distance her husband covered felt like they were walking to California.
"(We) covered about 200 miles," Rajindar said. "It took three and a half months."
Ranjindar's stories are part of 52 tales collected in the book. One story she took pride in was one of her son, Vipin Koshal, a cardiologist at O'Bleness Hospital.
She recalled a story from his college graduation. Everyone was going to visit Vipin, so he bought 50 pounds of chicken to make Tandoori chicken for all of their guests. On the day of, people flooded into his home without RSVPs. Vipin's roommates were stressed and frustrated, worried how they would feed so many guests.
"All my son said was, 'Hey guys, stop it! The sky has not fallen. We can manage,'" Manjulika said.
The Koshals, Vipin and his roommates went to the store and bought naan and vegetables to make. They successfully fed the group together without anyone knowing there had been a struggle.
"After the whole thing was over and we were sitting, having some coffee or beer, then his roommates asked him, 'Vipin, now tell. Everyone was so panicky and intense. How about you? You were so calm.'" Manjulika said. "He said, 'This, I got from my house. In my house, whatever number of people come, you manage. This characteristic we instilled in him."
Each chapter of the book, only a page or two, tells a similar story. Manjulika said she hopes everyone can read the book and take away the importance of values.
The Koshals said they hope everyone comes to the book signing, which was extended to 7 p.m. from its original 6 p.m. end time to accommodate work schedules. Manjulika will be available to sign copies of the book and will speak on what she hopes people of all ages learn from "Values That Shape Us: Inspirational Stories and Quotes."
"Always get inspired, always try to learn from society," Manjulika said. "Whatever you learn, you think it is good practice. And keep it up, and try to teach others. That is the fundamental thing I learned while writing this book."