For centuries, Rajasthan has been a gold mine of oral traditions and histories, with Padma Shri Vijaydan Detha being one of the foremost storytellers of all time. His stories, collected from the common folk of Rajasthan, mark an important intervention in 20th century Rajasthani literature. Giving a new lease of life to his writings, Timeless Tales from Marwar is a handpicked collection of folk tales from the everlasting works of Detha’s celebrated Batan ri Phulwari meaning ‘Garden of Tales’. Col...
Oct 10, 2020•43 min
Bringing in the 12th episode of India Booked on a high note! Shantanu Datta, in his 30-year-long journalism career, has interviewed such global icons as Roger Waters (Pink Floyd), Ian Anderson and Martin Barre (Jethro Tull), Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits), Usha Uthap, Dilip Balakrishnan, and several, several more. He has written about it in the Speaking Tiger-published, Calling Elvis. Host Ayushi Mona has an hour-long chat with Datta about this journey of seeing the consumption of western music ch...
Oct 03, 2020•58 min
A prolific translator, the Books Editor at Scroll.in, and professor of creative writing and literary journalism; Arunava Sinha is one of India’s most important literary figures. In this episode of India Booked, Ayushi Mona and Sinha discuss Bengali literature and how he came to translation (part awareness, part accident, part design), the city of Calcutta (“The theatre of the vast drama of human life” as Sinha puts it) in the literary imagination of readers and writers both in Bengali and Englis...
Sep 26, 2020•35 min
In this episode of India Booked, host Ayushi Mona speaks to Vikramjit Singh Rooprai, an educator, heritage activist and author. They discuss all thing Indian heritage, especially 'Baolis', or stepwells, of and around Delhi. Vikramjit shares the brilliance behind physics and other natural factors involved in creation of a Baoli, and what really pushed him to write 'Delhi Heritage: Top 10 Baolis' (published by Niyogi Books), the research involved, his passion for Indian heritage sites, and much mo...
Sep 19, 2020•34 min
In episode 9 of India Booked, Ayushi Mona and bestselling author Vikram Chandra discuss his non fiction debut, Mirrored Mind: My Life in Letters and Code. The podcast expounds on the connections between the worlds of art and technology. Is elegance the domain only of writers and artists? What about Coders also obsessed with the same but how can we ascribe beauty to the craft of writing code? Listen to this podcast to explore varied topics discussed in the book such as logic gates and literary mo...
Sep 12, 2020•45 min
In this eighth episode of India Booked, Ayushi Mona speaks to the stalwart academic and writer Ruth Vanita. They chat about her journey writing about the courtesans of India (in Dancing with the Nation: Courtesans in Bombay Cinema and Memory of Light), what inspired her to write about the courtesan culture, how Victorian morality changed the ideas of pleasure in Indian society and made the "dominant attitude" as anti-pleasure, her favourite cinematic depiction of courtesans, and much much more. ...
Sep 05, 2020•25 min
Essayist, short-story writer, and author of 'House of Nails', and 'Fire Girl', Sayantani Dasgupta speaks to Ayushi Mona about her childhood experiences – from being an avid-reader to enjoying the dynamics of Delhi, from getting emotional to evolving as a person who places everything in contexts, from what moved her about Delhi to books that you should read, and more. Tune in now. "Fire Girl," is her debut collection of essays, where she examines her personal story against the history, religion, ...
Aug 29, 2020•41 min
In Bulletproof, journalist and author Teresa Rehman goes beyond statistics and looks at documentary evidences, and shows us how conflict impacts women, children, health etc. A first-of-its-kind account, Bulletproof is the story of a female combat journalist and her encounters with insurgency from north-east India. In this episode of India Booked, Rehman speaks to Ayushi Mona about her experiences of being a journalist and author, and also shares the story behind the title of the book, how challe...
Aug 22, 2020•36 min
In Truck De India!, journalist Rajat Ubhaykar embarks on a 10,000 km-long, 100% unplanned trip, hitchhiking with truckers all across India. On the way, he makes unexpected friendships; listens to highway ghost stories; discovers the near-fatal consequences of overloading trucks; documents the fascinating tradition of truck art in Punjab; travels alongside nomadic shepherds in Kashmir; encounters endemic corruption repeatedly; survives NH39, the insurgent-ridden highway through Nagaland and Manip...
Aug 09, 2020•33 min
Bad Money, the latest book of Vivek Kaul is an important title for the way its author discloses the history of the Indian Economy and Banking system we never knew about, and discusses why it is important to be aware of where your money goes. In this episode of India Booked, Ayushi Mona discusses with him what constitutes bad money, what the transition has been like from the banking systems in the past to the current ones, and how important is it to know where your money is safe and unsafe. In th...
Aug 08, 2020•34 min
Invisible Man, the seminal work (controversies and shortcomings included) talking about the Indian transmasculine network, is an important work for bringing the community's voice to the fore. In this episode of India Booked, Ayushi speaks to author Nandini Krishnan on how the book came to be, what the interview process looked like, how India's socio-religio-political realities play out within the network, the friction that the book caused after being released, and much, much more. Tune in now!
Aug 01, 2020•47 min
In the second episode, travel through a Christian village in Meghalaya, meet the Kolkata-based Jewish community and feast on the 56-course feast at Jagannath as India Booked talks to Varud Gupta, author of the cookbook-cum-travelouge Bhagwaan Ke Pakwaan. Listen to discover what he has to share on the connections between faith and food in the communities of India and how they are trying to preserve their culinary cultures. Varud Gupta is an NYU graduate in Finance. He has also penned Chhotu, a co...
Jul 25, 2020•37 min
In the first episode, India Booked talks to Manimugdha Sharma, News Editor and author of Allahu Akbar: Understanding the Great Mughal in Today's India. Listen to discover about mughals, akbars, nationalism and how bollywood gets Akbar wrong. Manimugdha Sharma is a quizzer, a journalist, and holds an interest and education in history. In Allahu Akbar, he combines his love and knowledge of the past, to give us an interesting oral account of what Akbar represents in today's times. We discuss Akbar'...
Jul 18, 2020•42 min
India Booked Trailer
Jul 16, 2020•36 sec
