BIC TALKS

Scholar and translator Arshia Sattar speaks to editor and critic Somak Ghoshal about her new book Maryada: Searching for Dharma in the Ramayana . This episode is an edited audio discussion first aired as a BIC Streams livecast. 'Maryada' is the Sanskrit word for 'boundary' and also means 'propriety of conduct'. In the Ramayana, the word carries special weight because it comes to be used as the def...

Researcher Karthick Bala talks to host Pavan Srinath about the microscopic world of diatoms, and discusses the life and work of HP Gandhi, a pioneer in the study of diatoms in India.  Diatoms are microscopic algae which are present in all water bodies, and occur in fascinating shapes and structures. Apart from producing almost 25 per cent of the world's oxygen, diatoms find myriad invisible uses a...

Authors Devi Yesodharan and Samhita Arni talk about how sex is depicted in literature and epics and how they can inform healthier conversations in the 21st century. They explore how Indian epics like Kalidasa's Kumārasambhava , to Andal's poetry, to the Arabian Nights and Dante's Divine Comedy, approach various aspects on sex, courtship, and relationships. They also talk about how distorted modern...

Musician and Museum Director Manasi Prasad joins host Pavan Srinath to talk about the life and work of Mysore T Chowdiah (1885 – 1967), violin maestro, innovator, composer and teacher of Carnatic music. Manasi also discusses the larger role of Mysore in music and performing arts over the last two centuries, and locates Chowdiah within it. She also shares Chowdiah's compositions, which have not rec...

Milan Vaishnav joins host Pavan Srinath to talk about the rise of Indian Americans in US politics. They discuss how Indian Americans might vote in the upcoming 2020 US Presidential Elections, political views across the community, and what issues matter most to them.  Milan Vaishnav is Director and Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, D.C. Milan is one of t...

In this talk as part of 'The Satish Chandra Memorial Lecture', Romila Thapar discusses two categories of migrants, the pastoralists and the traders and will be confined to the early period of Indian history, namely up to about the fourteenth century. A fundamental difference between the two categories is that pastoral migrants tend to come to a new area, set up scattered settlements and tend to no...

Economist Ajit Ranade talks to host Pavan Srinath about the recent national legislations on farming and agricultural markets, and the reason for widespread farmer protests across the country.  Ajit discusses the three amendments that were first passed as ordinances by the Government of India and explains the history and impact of Agricultural mandis (APMCs) and the Minimum Support Price (MSP). He...

Musician and scholar Dr Sumathi Krishnan talks to host Pavan Srinath about what makes a great musician and performer. She discusses how the Carnatic classical music tradition approaches training and moulding a musician, and shares snippets from ancient texts as well as stories from the lives of many musicians.  Dr Sumathi Krishnan is a musician, trained both in Carnatic classical music as well as...

This podcast presents the fourth and final segment of our four-part series 'Beethoven Variations: A Poet's Journey through the Music and Life of Beethoven' with renowned British poet  Ruth Padel  and eminent pianist  Karl Lutchmayer . This series has been put together by  Prateeti Punja Ballal . In Part IV of the series, Ruth and Karl take us through Beethoven's last years. His last great love aff...

This podcast presents the third segment of our four-part series 'Beethoven Variations: A Poet's Journey through the Music and Life of Beethoven' with renowned British poet  Ruth Padel  and eminent pianist  Karl Lutchmayer . This series has been put together by  Prateeti Punja Ballal . In Part III of the series, titled 'The Essence of Romanticism', poet Ruth Padel and pianist Karl Lutchmayer take u...

This podcast presents the second segment of our four-part series 'Beethoven Variations: A Poet's Journey through the Music and Life of Beethoven' with renowned British poet  Ruth Padel  and eminent pianist  Karl Lutchmayer . This series has been put together by  Prateeti Punja Ballal . In Part II of the series, Ruth and Karl take us through the years when Beethoven contemplates suicide, then decid...

This is the first segment of our four-part series 'Beethoven Variations: A Poet's Journey through the Music and Life of Beethoven' with renowned British poet Ruth Padel and eminent pianist Karl Lutchmayer . This series has been put together by Prateeti Punja Ballal . In Part I of the series, Ruth and Karl take us through Beethoven's early years, his childhood in Bonn, his arrival in Vienna first a...

Architects, educators and curators Rahul Mehrotra and Kaiwan Mehta talk to host Pavan Srinath about the ideas behind the ongoing State of Housing – Aspirations, Imaginaries and Realities in India exhibition at the Bangalore International Centre.  Rahul, Kaiwan and Ranjith Hoskote curated the State of Housing exhibition in 2018 as a traveling exhibition, which is now at BIC in Bangalore for the mon...

Historian and Infosys Prize Winner Manu V. Devadevan talks about the life and work of MM Kalburgi. This episode is an edited audio discussion first aired as a BIC Streams livecast on August 30, 2020, on the anniversary of his untimely death in 2015.   Born in a peasant family in 1938, Professor M.M. Kalburgi went on to become one of the most influential historians of Karnataka in the post-independ...

Heritage practitioner-scholar Krupa Rajangam talks to host Pavan Srinath about how a noble effort like heritage conservation can end up displacing and inflicting everyday violence on people living in heritage zones. Krupa talks about how the World Heritage Site of Hampi has existed before, during and after the Vijayanagara period – and the region is home to over 60,000 residents today. Can modern-...

Why are Indian city governments so weak and toothless? Is it because Indian has failed to implement the 74th Constitutional Amendment, or are there fundamental flaws with the amendment itself?  Mathew Idiculla talks to host Pavan Srinath about how Indian cities need a new deal in the 2020s, with fresh imagination. Mathew explores the place of city governments in constitutional and legal regimes ac...

Vasant Saberwal from the Centre for Pastoralism talks to Aarati Halbe about the life, livelihood and challenges of pastoral communities of India. Millions of people in India follow a pastoral way of life. They tend to a vast majority of millions of sheep, goats, camels, cows, buffaloes and other animals. While invisible to most city dwellers, they remain an integral part of Indian society and econ...

Narayan Ramachandran returns to BIC Talks to talk to host Pavan Srinath about how the US Fed's actions have given a breather for the Indian economy.  Narayan gives a primer on the central banks of emerging markets, on the impact of the US Fed's recent announcements on India's economic recovery, and what India ought to do in order for its economy to flourish in the short, medium, and long term.  On...

Columnist and emerging markets investor Narayan Ramachandran talks to host Pavan Srinath about the US Federal Reserve and its monumental recent announcements.  On August 27, Jerome Powell of the US Fed announced a shift indicating a primary focus on employment over inflation, a move that will impact not just the United States of America but India and the entire world.  On Episode 46 of BIC Talks,...

BIC Talks is pleased to present the first full episode of a brand new podcast, Scrolls and Leaves, on Pandemics and Borders.  Scrolls & Leaves is a podcast featuring stories from the margins of history. Global events are usually explained through a mainstream gaze, and lack perspective from other societies, and experiences. Hosts Mary-Rose Abraham and Gayathri Vaidyanathan meander through little-k...

Can Indian companies start providing period leave for women, following Zomato and others' lead? Radhika Radhakrishnan talks to Padmini Ray Murray about this important aspect of making workplaces better for women.  Menstruation, menopause, mental health, all remain taboo or distorted topics of conversation in much of India. Radhika and Padmini explore the arguments for, and against period leave, an...

Deborah Moggach, BAFTA nominated author and script writer, talks to novelist Jaishree Misra on Episode 43 of BIC Talks. This is a part of the #WorldLit series of conversations in collaboration with the Bangalore Literature Festival.  Did you know that Deborah Moggach's book 'These Foolish Things' was based in Bangalore? This was made into the movie The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and became Jaipur'...

Harish Narasappa and Sarayu Natarajan explore the wide-ranging implications of judicial delays on Indian society, delve into why delayed justice is such a pernicious problem, and talk about how it can be addressed. Sarayu and Harish discuss themes explored in the recent book Justice Frustrated: The Systematic Impact of Delays in India, edited by Shruthi Vidyasagar, Shruthi Naik and Harish Narasapp...

Anthropologists Veena Das and Maya Ratnam explore what sociology and anthropology can inform us about the ongoing pandemic and crisis and how it affects the everyday lives of people, the nature of the State, and societal reaction to the crisis.  Veena Das is Krieger-Eisenhower Professor of Anthropology at the Johns Hopkins University. Before joining Johns Hopkins University in 2000, she taught at...

Varun Deshpande and Ramya Ramamurthy of the Good Food Institute discuss the future of meat and the viability of plant-based substitutes with researcher and journalist Shailesh Rai. Varun and Ramya talk to Shailesh about the recent success of the Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods brands in the US, about what makes true meat substitutes work, why they are necessary, and how they can contribute to sus...