India Booked

The Green Revolution resulted in spectacular advancements in Indian agriculture. Having achieved food security for its citizens, the country has now become a net exporter of different agricultural commodities. But sadly, this does not reflect the real state of the Indian agricultural sector. In truth, our farmers are plagued by crop failures, poor income, and indebtedness. Such is their misery that they are of late driven to commit suicide.  Join the author Prof. Narayanamoorthy in conversation with host Ayushi Mona where we dive into temporal and spatial data to figure what's right and what's gone terribly, terribly wrong!

Colaba, the southernmost tip of Mumbai, is Mumbai's most iconic neighbourhood. This bustling locality—with the Gateway of India, the world-famous Taj Mahal Hotel, and the Colaba Causeway, a shopper's paradise—is an unparalleled tourist attraction. But barely 200 years ago, it was a rocky, jackal-infested island, separated from the rest of Bombay by a temperamental creek. In this episode, host Ayushi Mona discusses the compelling biography of the neighbourhood with author Shabnam Minwalla. The podcast much like the book unravels accounts of colonial rivalries and dowry negotiations; and of shrewd industrialists who transformed this doomed island into the centre of trade during the cotton boom of the 1860s. She navigates through the sometimes charming, sometimes seedy streets to track its evolution from a spiritual and recuperative retreat for British soldiers to a coveted residential area for the Brits and Indians alike. Tune in!

Do you often wonder— 'Is my money safe in banks?' India is grappling with its worst banking crisis ever, and we are still trying to figure out what landed us here. This podcast episode with economist Madan Sabnavis analyses the role of the government and RBI in allowing the problem to reach the dimension it has assumed today. When will the never-ending NPA issue be resolved? Does it make sense to merge two PSBs when the culture and governance structures are alike? Should the RBI reserves be used in times of crisis? Should the tenure of a CEO be long or short? The book ponders and debates on some of these questions. Hits and Misses presents the two sides of the Indian banking story by giving an account of the reforms as well as quandaries in times of extraordinary economic and political challenges. The podcast just like the book, answers many relevant questions by highlighting the highs and lows of the banking sector, which became subjects of debate in media and financial circles today. Tune in!

In this episode of India Booked, host Ayushi Mona talks to Rajat Chaudhuri about 'The Butterfly Effect', on how his work as a climate activist is reflected in his fiction, the necessity of "enveloping scientific ideas in a story" to make it more accessible, the interconnected roles of technology, politics, public health and the environment, especially in India, and more. Listen in for a scathing yet succint breakdown of how consumption and corporate lobbies work, and the role activism can play in correcting injustice. The Butterfly Effect reveals a grim picture of humanity, it brings to life an eco-dystopian story revolving around the threats of technology and genetically modified crops. It goes on to show the disastrous circumstances that may befall humanity when scientific experiments go horribly wrong. Humans are thus pushed into a bottomless pit of dystopia and dejection; and with the theme of a pandemic running through the narrative, it is a timely adventure story to watch out for. It simultaneously addresses classism, capitalism, extreme poverty and inequity, as well as the rise of autocracy (none of which is unimaginable or restricted to the pages today).

In this episode of India Booked, host Ayushi Mona talks to Veio Pou, about his brilliant new debut novel, Waiting for the Dust to Settle, published by Speaking Tiger Books. Set in Manipur, the book is a moving novel about the human cost of the violence that the Naga. The podcast discussed what people have endured since the 1980s telling the story of Operation Bluebird—one of the darkest yet little discussed moments in the history of the Indian Army in the northeast. Above everything else, this is a deeply human portrait of an entire people the novel talks about the human cost of the violence that the Naga people have endured since the 1980s. It tells the story of Operation Bluebird—one of the darkest yet little discussed moments in the history of the Indian Army in the northeast. A moving, timely book that is surely to arrest and impress you in the way that Veio intersperses fictional narratives with the stark reality of life. Tune in!

In this episode of India Booked, host Ayushi Mona talks to Vikram Sampath, the best selling author of four acclaimed biographies, 'Splendours of Royal Mysore: the Untold Story of the Wodeyars' on the Mysore royal family; 'My Name is Gauhar Jaan: The Life and Times of a Musician'- the biography of India's first recording superstar Gauhar Jaan of Calcutta; 'Voice of the Veena: S Balachander - A Biography', the story of eminent veena maestro late Dr. S Balachander and 'Savarkar: Echoes from a Forgotten Past, 1883–1924' which is the first volume of a two-part biography about the legendary Indian revolutionary leader– Vinayak Damodar Savarkar. Vikram walks us through the process of research and the writing of a biography (calling it a 'love affair') and the surprisingly vexing events that follow post publication. They discuss the account and impact of each of his biographies and lives of the misunderstood and forgotten characters in it, the troubles writers face and about their extensive presence online, the issue with the lack of nuance and the binary perspective of people. Tune in to find out more about his relation with music and history, his wish to be its 'night watchman', and about the Archive of Indian Music, which is India's first digital sound archive for vintage recordings of the country.

RAYA: Krishnadevaraya of Vijayanagara, written by author Srinivas Reddy, is the definitive biography of India's first truly global leader and one of the greatest kings who changed the course of Indian history. In this episode of India Booked, host Ayushi Mona and author Srinivas Reddy engage in an ardent conversation about Deccan history, the life of Krishnadevaraya and the town of Hampi. Srinivas Reddy is a scholar, translator and musician, and his previous books include translations of Krishnadevaraya's Amuktamalyada and Kalidasa's Meghadutam and Malavikagnimitram. The podcast delves into a discussion about caste, tolerance and the sensitivities around it, the link between power and value of culture and how the different perspectives and romanticism of the dynamic Indian history are put together to shape its totality. This episode contains two very vivid excerpts from the book on the routines of the emperor Krishnadevaraya and the striking scenes of warfare, including a translation of one of the beautiful poems written by Raya himself. By the end, you will be compelled to pick this book up right away and start reading, or pack your bags and go visit Hampi, either of which will give you an extensive idea about the life of Krishnadevaraya and the historic city of Vijayanagara. Tune in now!

In this episode of India Booked, journalist and children's book writer Priyanka Pradhan takes us on a journey through the Himalayas by discussing stories from her book 'Tales from the Himalayas' which features snow leopards to bagpiping girls to the real life stories of heroes from the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand, Gaura Devi and Nain Singh Rawat. This book is for "all the children, including the children in us" as she says, for the stories in it, from the heart of the mountains, though fascinating and fun, are diverse and impactful at the same time. This podcast is light hearted as Ayushi Mona and Priyanka Pradhan engage in a conversation about her childhood in Uttarakhand and the books she read growing up that inspired her to write one of her own, the causes and reasons of the events addressed in the book and the importance of why children and young readers need to be educated about it early on. Tune in to this episode to get a sense of what lies in her book, the simplicity and innocence of its writing and its audience, and the way she modified the stories to make it relevant to current world, reflecting the times we live in now.

In this episode of India Booked, Ayushi Mona discusses with social activist, writer and editor Ishmeet Nagpal, an array of essential topics ranging from the upsurge in domestic violence during the lockdown to the plight of migrant workers stranded far away from their homes, the unfair burden of expectations on women during the quarantine and the uncertainty of living in cities. The podcast explores 'Isolocation Poems', which is an anthology of shortlisted poems coedited by Ishmeet that reflects the shared reality of people coping with the shifted reality of life due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. Listen now to discover how the anthology came to be, the beauty in the collaboration of different poets from different locations, brought together by verses of joy, pain, desire, acceptance, and catharsis, to voice out themes of mental health, feminism, love, family and the current socio-political climate

'Panjab: Journeys Through Fault Lines' is a rigorous investigation and a personalized narrative by Amandeep Sandhu about the matters of Panjab, an account on the recovery from its past and the discovery of its present. This episode of India Booked is illuminating and comprehensive, much like the book itself, which brings an alternative outlook to the pre-existing perspectives on Panjab by discussing the impacts of militancy, separation, farm bills and egalitarianism, underlining the contrasts of a Panjab that was and a Panjab that exists now. This conversation between Ayushi and Amandeep spans across the representation of Panjab in political and entertainment media and details into the concerns of drug addiction and the laws regarding it, agrarian havoc caused by political mismanagement during the green revolution, and the reality of rampant exodus in Panjab and much more. Tune in to understand all in all, the events, issues and contributions of the state that shaped the Panjab we know today!

Writer, literary translator, book critic and a literary podcast (Desi Books) host herself, Jenny Bhatt speaks to Ayushi Mona how the themes of Dhumketu's books resonated with the short stories of her own, prompting her to bring out her debut literary translation, 'Ratno Dholi: The Best Stories of Dhumketu'. In this hour-long episode on short stories and translations, Jenny describes, through brilliant metaphors, how a short story differs from a novel and why it is unfair to expect authors with different skillsets to master both, and about the commercial pressures on writers in the publishing industry. Recommending works by other luminaries in the field, Jenny talks about how regional translations break stereotypes and create a better understanding of diverse cultures, and touches upon the deficit representation of Indian literature in school curriculums and of Gujarati literature being translated in comparison to other regional languages. Tune in now!

'Twilight in a Knotted World' is the third novel by journalist and historian Siddhartha Sarma that uncovers the many layers of the Phansigar problem and a hierarchy of stranglers through the investigations of Captain William Henry Sleeman, unearthing mysteries and bleak, uncomfortable truths about India. In the 18th episode of India Booked, discussing the period of colonial India, host Ayushi Mona and Author Siddhartha Sarma unravel the aspects of history and the gaps that are filled by fictionalizing it. The podcast delves into the reasons for bringing out the book and the solid portrayal of major female characters in it, the construction of conversations between them and the thoughts that went into vivifying the untold stance of the characters in history. Tune in now to discover the underlying facets of the colonial rule and a list of historical fiction recommendations that will get you absolutely hooked into the genre, if you aren't already!

'Bhairavi- The Runaway', written by Shivani aka Gaura Pant, a pioneer of women's fiction in India, is the story of a woman's life, her resilience, her moral and mental strength, and about the restraints and choices women have in the society. In this episode of India Booked, the translator of 'Bhairavi' and Chitra Mudgal's 'Giligadu', Priyanka Sarkar talks to Ayushi Mona about her experience translating the books, the scope and depth of women's literature, about bringing alive a concept to an unaware audience and as she says, 'translating the untranslatable'. The discussion in this episode spans from the reactions women receive from the society for writing bold books to the inclusion of glossaries in translations to spirituality and sensuality in mythology and the aspect of humanizing the characters in it. Priyanka takes us into the world of 'Bhairavi' through significant excerpts from the book, both in Hindi and English, while pulling out comparisons between them and explaining the nuances of translation. Tune in now!

Stoned, Shamed, Depressed' is an alarming reality check of the struggles faced by the teens of India, dealing with the evident but deliberately denied issues of substance abuse, social media and gaming, bullying, body shaming and the frailty of mental health. Renowned journalist and author Jyotsna Mohan Bhargava traces the difficult journey from teenage to adulthood, where children easily give into temptations without realizing the repercussions and dangers of the virtual world and bad habits.  In this episode of India Booked, Jyotsna talks to host Ayushi Mona about the eye opening accounts that materialized the book and the incidents that confirm the ignorance and denial of parents on the mental health issues and habits of their children.  The conversation addresses the concerns of drugs, consent and self-harm, of how children get caught up in the web of conforming to the expectations of their family against the pressure from their peers and much more.  Tune in now to hear Jyotsna Mohan Bhargava dig beneath the charades of everyday lives of the Indian teenager in both cyberspace and the modern-day school life in urban India.

'The 'Other' Shangri-La: Journeys through the Sino-Tibetan frontier in Sichuan' is a narrative  travelogue based on author Shivaji Das and his wife's journey which explores the region's history  and the lives and cultures of the people inhabiting these remote lands in detail.  In this episode of India Booked, Shivaji Das and Yolanda Yu recount their journey to Tibet as writers  and more significantly as travellers, embellishing it with quirky incidents and fascinating anecdotes.   The travel enthusiasts and companions share with Ayushi Mona the highlight of their trip with  surprisingly different approaches, one recounting how they got entangled in the unfolding of a love  triangle, while the other underlines the realities of them travelling on rugged roads fraught with  danger.   The podcast narrates the adventures of travelling into lands far away, the edge of touring as a  couple, the culture and habits of migration amongst the Tibetans and the dangerous journeys they  undertake that "make men out of boys", as Shivaji puts it.  Tune in to hear them discuss elements of nature that are worth going back to and draw parallels  between the two diverse cultures of India and China. This episode is for writers and travellers alike,  as it explores the routines they follow as writers and the thrills they experience as travellers on a  journey!

In the 14th episode of India Booked, author Anukrti Upadhyay takes us through the deserts of Rajasthan and the hot springs of Japan through her novel Kintsugi. In the same conversation, she connects contrasts betweenthe cultures of Jaipur and Japan and creates a delightful echo, all of her own.  Anukrti Upadhyay is also the author of the twin novellas Daura and Bhaunri, which have been commended for its independent characters and fresh narrative, and a short story collection in Hindi called Japani Sarai, making her one of the few bilingual writers in India.  Tune into this episode to hear her and host, Ayushi Mona discuss her inspiration for writing and her thoughts on how books belong more to the readers than the authors themselves. She paints a picture of the striking visual differences in the aesthetics of Japan and India, calling both the cultures "perfect foils to each other" and expresses how people, despite differences in cultures and traditions, are not very different from each other after all.  Tune in for a descriptive treat of an excerpt from the novel Kintsugi by the author herself, as she brings to life the people and the lanes of the Johri Bazar of Jaipur.

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'. Collected and written over the span of nearly fifty years, this fourteen-volume assortment of Rajasthani folk stories earned him the moniker-the Shakespeare of Rajasthan. On this episode of India Booked, Ayushi Mona talks to Vishes Kothari, a financial consultant, native of Sadulpur in Rajasthan with a keen interest in the oral and musical traditions of his state.  He has been associated with UNESCO-Sahapedia on projects focussed on the musical traditions of women in Rajasthan, and as a language expert with the Jaipur Virasat Foundation.

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 change in India, his own relationship with music and musicians ("When I spoke to them, the names on vinyl records came alive," says Datta), how music reporting has changed and how its increased availability impacted how to write about it, his own introspection on what makes their tunes timeless, K-pop, and much, much more! As a bonus, hear tunes from Datta's own CD collection of Indian rock from the 80s! #purplepencilproject #indiabooked #indianrock #rockstars #pinkfloyd #jethrotull #direstraits #callingelvis #speakingtigerbooks

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 English, how the city's literary, political, and sporting culture has directly or indirectly influenced so many of our writers, the "shrinking of our literary and artistic arcs" and much more. Tune in now.

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 more. Tune in now!

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 modernism, the machismo of tech geeks, the omnipresence of an "Indian Mafia" in Silicon Valley, and the writings of the eleventh-century Kashmiri thinker Abhinavagupta,  This episode much like the book is engrossing, original, and heady book of sweeping ideas.

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.  Tune in now on the channel of your choice or the link in our bio.  * Ruth Vanita is an Indian academic, activist and author who specialises in British and Indian literary history with a focus on gender and sexuality studies.

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, popular culture and mythology of South Asia and her current home in the American West.

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 challenging and eventually traumatic it is to report in some of the most under-reported regions without any support system, why it's important to still do so, and much more. Listen now!

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 Manipur; and is unfailingly greeted by the unconditional kindness of perfect strangers. Imbued with humour, empathy, and a keen sense of history, Truck De India! is a travelogue like no other you've read. It is the story of India, and Indians, on the road. Listen to Rajat Ubhaykar in the fifth episode and take a journey. Horn Ok Please

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 this episode, he also unfolds how bad money affects the economy, layer by layer and shares with the listeners his recommendations on books related to economy and other structures. Tune in!

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!

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 coming-of-age graphic novel set against the Partition. Bhagwaan ke Pakwaan, which loosely translates to Food of the Gods, captures stories of what different cultures have to offer around their famous recipes. Listen now to find out how food, faith, and community are interwoven in India and how the stories came together in the book.

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's ruthless achievements in warfare, his political savviness and how media agenda setting and the (mis)representation of matters has not changed through times. We also touch upon the subject of secularism and discuss if Akbar was the statesman he's made to be and ask the pertinent question: should the present be judged by the yardstick of the past? Listen in to find out!

India Booked Trailer