Jaipur Bytes

Lisa Ray, author of "Close to the Bone", in conversation with festival director Sanjoy K. Roy. Lisa Ray is one of India’s first supermodels, an actor, a mother of twins through surrogacy and a cancer-survivor. Her memoir is an unflinching and a deeply moving account of her nomadic existence, her mentors, friends, lovers, her healing and spiritual quest. In conversation with Jaipur Literature Festi...

In this podcast-exclusive, Host Lakshya Datta chats with Ján Tompkins about VRwandlung - an immersive experience, a virtual reality installation adapting Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis by the Goethe Institut. Recorded live at the #ZEEJaipurLitFest2020.

Actor and model Sonali Bendre Behl decided to rekindle her passion for reading by connecting with other like-minded readers. She established ‘Sonali’s Book Club’, an inspirational space to interact with book lovers from around the globe. Other bibliophiles and friends from the film industry joined in as she battled cancer in New York. An exciting and eclectic set of books come up for live-streamed...

Ashwin Sanghi, author of The Vault of Vishu (part of the Bharat Series) in conversation with Jaipur Bytes host Lakshya Datta, recorded live at the ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival 2020 at the Diggi Palace on January 23.  Ashwin Sanghi ranks among India’s highest selling English fiction authors. He has written the bestsellers, The Rozabal Line, Chanakya’s Chant, The Krishna Key, The Sialkot Saga...

Polyglot Prasoon Joshi is a poet, lyricist, author, advertising icon, screenwriter and CBFC chairman. In conversation with actor and theatre person Vani Tripathi Tikoo, he speaks of his ideas on culture, cinema and social narratives as well as his abiding love for classical music.

Filmmaker and author Nandita Das in conversation with Jaipur Bytes host Lakshya Datta, recorded live at the ZEE Jaipur LIterature Festival 2020 in Diggi Palace on January 23.  Nandita has acted in more than 40 feature films in ten different languages. Her directorial debut in 2008 was Firaaq, which won many accolades and appreciation in India and abroad. Manto , Nandita’s second directorial f...

Elizabeth Gilbert is the number one New York Times bestselling author of Eat, Pray, Love as well as the short story collection Pilgrims , a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award and winner of the 1999 John C. Zacharis First Book Award from Ploughshares. A Pushcart Prize-winner and National Magazine Award-nominated journalist, she works as writer-at-large for GQ. Her journalism has been published in...

William Dalrymple, festival co-director of #JaipurLitFest2020 and author of "The Anarchy", in conversation with Jaipur Bytes host Lakshya Datta. In this podcast-exclusive, William talks to Lakshya about the year that has been, and why this year's programme is the festival's finest. 

Sanjoy K. Roy, Producer of Jaipur Literature Festival and Managing Director of Teamwork Arts, in conversation with Jaipur Bytes host Lakshya Datta. In this podcast-exclusive chat, Sanjoy talks to Lakshya about what you can expect from the festival in its 13th edition and the many ways you can experience it when it returns to the Diggi Palace in Jaipur from January 23 to 27, 2020. Learn more about...

In the 100th episode (and 2019 season finale) of Jaipur Bytes, host Lakshya Datta speaks with Jaipur Literature Festival co-director Namita Gokhale about her upcoming novel 'Jaipur Journals'. Partly a love letter to the greatest literary show on earth, partly a satire about the glittery set that throngs this literary venue year on year, and partly an ode to the millions of aspiring writers who wan...

A sense of belonging is an essential component to the notion of identity. In conversation with Mridula Nath Chakraborty, Roanna Gonsalves and Shameem Black read from their work and discuss the multiplicities of identity in their writings. This episode is a live session from JLF Adelaide 2019.

Dr. James Onley, Director of Historical Research and Partnerships at the Qatar National Library, in conversation with Jaipur Bytes host Lakshya Datta. In this podcast-exclusive, James and Lakshya talk about the 4000+ years long history between India and the Gulf, how the dynamics between the two regions changed after 1947, and the work he and his team at QNL having been doing to archive this rich...

In conversation with James Crabtree, writers Peter Verghese, Shashi Tharoor & Tony Birch examine social realities nd the conflicts of today. This episode is a live session from JLF Adelaide 2019.

Author Intan Paramaditha in conversation with Jaipur Bytes host Lakshya Datta. In this podcast-exclusive chat, Intan talks to Lakshya about her academic career, Indonesian films, why she chooses to write in her native language, and how she wrote a choose your own adventure novel.  Intan is an Indonesian fiction writer and currently a lecturer in Media and Film Studies at Macquarie University,...

Frank Dikötter, author of "How to Be a Dictator: The Cult of Personality in the Twentieth Century", in conversation with Jaipur Bytes host Lakshya Datta. In this podcast-exclusive chat, Frank talks to Lakshya about his career, The People’s Republic of China, The people of Hong Kong, and dictators.  Frank has been Chair Professor of Humanities at the University of Hong Kong since 2006. He...

Tony Joseph, author of " Early Indians: The Story of Our Ancestors  and  Where We Came From", in conversation with Jaipur Bytes host Lakshya Datta. In this podcast-exclusive, Tony tells Lakshya about the research that went into writing the book, how the modern indian population came to be composed as it is, and what we can learn about ourselves and our current times from o...

Writer and editor Tom Cho in conversation with Jaipur Bytes host Lakshya Datta. In this podcast-exclusive chat,  Tom talks to Lakshya about his first book, his next book, and where and how he finds the words to fill them. Tom’s debut collection of fiction, titled " Look Who’s Morphing" , was shortlisted for multiple awards, including the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best First Book. He&nbs...

Ryan Stoa, author of " Craft Weed: Family Farming and the Future of the Marijuana Industry”, in conversation with Jaipur Bytes host Lakshya Datta. In this podcast-exclusive, Ryan tells Lakshya about what drew him to studying and teaching law, how he found himself writing a book about the cannabis and marijuana industry, how he proposes for quality regulation in the form of Marijuana...

André Aciman, author of " Call Me by Your Name " and its upcoming sequel " Find Me ", in conversation with Jaipur Bytes host Lakshya Datta. In this podcast-exclusive, André and Lakshya talk about why he drawn to writing these characters again, how the success of the film affected his writing process on "Find Me", why he chose to tell this story from three perspectives, while also sharing some grea...

Vanessa R. Sasson, author of “Yasodhara: A Novel About the Buddha’s Wife”, in conversation with Jaipur Bytes host Lakshya Datta. In this podcast-exclusive, Vanessa and Lakshya talk about why she wanted to tell this story, what it was like to write in Yasodhara’s voice, and how the process of writing this book changed how she felt about the Buddha. Vanessa is a professor of Religious Stud...

Author, activist, psychotherapist Farzana Doctor in conversation with Jaipur Bytes host Lakshya Datta. In this podcast-exclusive, Farzana and Lakshya talk about her life and career - both as a novelist and as a psychotherapist - as well as the work she does with WeSpeakOut, a global group that is working to ban female genital cutting in her Dawoodi Bohra community. Farzana Doctor is the award...

David Moscrop, author of "Too Dumb for Democracy? Why We Make Bad Political Decisions and How We Can Make Better Ones”, in conversation with Jaipur Bytes host Lakshya Datta. David and Lakshya talk about politics, the currently ongoing Canadian elections, his new book, and what sort of topics he and his guests will be debating on his new podcast "Open to Debate with David Moscrop". David is a polit...

Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish, 2010 Nobel Peace Prize nominee and internationally recognized human rights and inspirational peace activist, in conversation with Jaipur Bytes host Lakshya Datta. Dr. Abuelaish talks to Lakshya about what hatred does to a person and to a community, where he gets his strength to deliver his message of hope and forgiveness, why political leaders need to humanize and not polit...

Marcus Moench, founder of The Institute for Social and Environmental Transition-International, in conversation with Jaipur Bytes host Lakshya Datta. In this podcast-exclusive conversation, Marcus tells Lakshya about the connection between literature and science that he found in India, why he was drawn to work on social and environmental issues, how JLF gives scientists and activists a platform to...

Kent Nerburn, author of “Neither Wolf Nor Dog”, in conversation with Jaipur Bytes host Lakshya Datta. In this podcast-exclusive conversation, Kent and Lakshya talk about how “Neither Wolf Nor Dog” came to be, how it became a cult classic that is used as a bridge to connect non-natives to the Native-American experience, how Robert Plant (lead singer of Led Zeppelin) found the book and ended up writ...