BIC TALKS

We are well into the 21st century, and yet 50% of women and girls in developing countries, including India, cannot afford basic sanitary products to manage their periods, and rely on unhygienic practices such as old rags, sand and ash. Together with limited knowledge and limited sanitary facilities, this leads to serious health risks, such as reproductive and urinary tract infections. It also prev...

Between the twelfth and sixteenth centuries, a distinct form of Islamic thought and practice developed among Muslim trading communities of the Indian Ocean. In this episode of BIC Talks, economic historian and author of Monsoon Islam: Trade and Faith on the Medieval Malabar Coast, Sebastian R Prange and art historian and researcher, Ayesha Matthan explore the argument presented in Sebastian's book...

'So, what's your exit strategy?' The question often leaves most entrepreneurs stumped as running a business leaves little time to think about anything else. While business owners recognise that they may have to exit their business at some point, few give enough thought to how they will sell it. And fewer prepare for it. In this episode of BIC Talks, K Srikrishna, serial entrepreneur, business ment...

The enduring persistence, resurgence and mutation of many epidemic diseases have made apparent the problematic nature of the 'epidemic disease narrative' in the 21st century. Through the lens of the history of polio vaccination and treatment from a seemingly peripheral, Eastern European perspective, Dora Vargha aims to shift our attention to question what, when, and for whom is an end of an epidem...

Memories of a city and its unique brand of life come from the people who make it memorable and places that work as pegs for those memories. One such person who created that space which so many Bangaloreans remember with unfaltering fondness and affection is Mr. Shanbhag, the gentle bibliophile who created a warm and welcoming space, synonymous with his personality in Premier Bookshop. Premier is r...

Gandhi's autobiography is famous for the austerity of its narration, and its veracity. Less known are his autobiographical observations made, almost incidentally, in the course of his speeches and writings. This episode of BIC Talks features Gopalkrishna Gandhi  in conversation with scholar and author Sunil Khilnani about the latest book 'Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi: Restless as Mercury: My Life as...

This episode of BIC Talks with author and historian Tripurdaman Singh and lawyer Siddharth Raja contextualises and discusses the lead up to the first ever amendment to the Constitution of India in the year 1951, only a year after the Constitution was brought into effect, the subject of Tripurdaman's new book Sixteen Stormy Days - The Story of the First Amendment of the Constitution of India .  The...

In this episode renowned lawyer Sriram Panchu, pioneer of Mediation in India speaks with Kamala Naganand on the evolution of Mediation as a successful dispute resolution mechanism. We explore how mediation fosters mindfulness and healing with non judgemental justice; and the myriad applications of the process to public, private, domestic and international conflict resolution. Sriram Panchu has bee...

Is India obsessed with IT & engineering studies and are we ignoring investment in pure science education? With the limited resources we have shouldn't we be focused on finding answers to the immediate issues of today's  society or should we invest in pursuing long-term scientific breakthroughs as well as well? What are the big questions in Science that impact Indian society and what should be our...

After five years of trying to spot the elusive black panther – Karia – of the Kabini forest, author and philanthropist Rohini Nilekani completes her story after finally sighting the black panther she was searching for. But where? And what happens next? Will the end of one quest mark the beginning of another? In Part 2 of the talk 'Romancing the Black Panther' Rohini Nilekani completes her story ab...

While stating that Hinduism is not a religion but a collection of practices associated with the space now called India, MK Raghavendra, critic, film scholar and writer, in this conversation with former diplomat Chiranjiv Singh examines what being a Hindu means and asks whether its practices are reconcilable with global modernity and compatible with justice and egalitarianism. He has recently autho...

In this episode Vivek Wadhwa author, academic, entrepreneur explores the ideas in his book ' From Incremental to Exponential: How Large Companies Can See the Future and Rethink Innovation' in a conversation with  Dr. Srivatsa Krishna, IAS and Secretary CEO of Coffee Board of India.  Ray Kurzweil of Singularity University has predicted that for the first time in human history, we are entering the "...

Rahul Rao, scholar and author of Out of Time: The Queer Politics of Postcoloniality, in conversation with writer Kavya Murthy talks about the inheritance that the former colonies are living with and how they have managed to warp and expand the imperialist biases and criminalisation of the Queer community. Primarily examining three locations - India, Uganda and Britain - the relationship between th...

Suchitra Vijayan, author of Midnight's Borders: A People's History of Modern India, talks about what propelled her to travel 9,000 miles along India's borderlands. In conversation with Vaibhav Vats, Vijayan recounts her reportage along India's tenuous boundaries with Bangladesh, Myanmar, China and - most contentious of all – Pakistan. The conversation delves into the nature of borders, the peculia...

Manu V Devadevan interviews HS Shivaprakash on the beginning of his life as a poet, his influences and his evolution - personal and literary - over half a century. The conversation traces the timeline of contemporary Kannada Literature in parallel with that of world literature through a personal lens. The speakers delve into what makes the experience of a poem or a play different from that of a no...

In this spirited lecture, which was originally a LISA distinguished lecture delivered in March 2021, the historian Ramachandra Guha recalls some memorable experiences from a lifetime of working in libraries and archives in India and abroad. He introduces us to some great repositories of printed books, such as the National Library in Kolkata and the Sterling Memorial Museum Library of Yale Universi...

Bilal Zaidi, founder of the political tech start up, OurDemocracy.in, is in conversation with Sweta Daga, as he gets to the brass tacks of the electoral campaign system in India. This conversation evaluates the ongoing practices which are looked upon as tradition in our electoral democracy, its shortcomings, the opacity in the process and lack of accessibility to the citizenry. Bilal and Sweta tal...

Edward Luce, one of the most highly regarded commentators on US politics, talks about the dynamics of US politics, and the impact of the newly elected US government on the world, especially on India. This episode was originally streamed live on March 12th, 2021 as the annual Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay, Girish Karnad Memorial Lecture. One of the leading and most prestigious events on the calendar, th...

Researcher Siddharth Chakravarty and anthropologist & researcher Vani Sreekanta exchange notes on their most recent visit to West Bengal post the lifting of the lockdown. They talk about complexities of food habits, food production, policies that govern the ecologically sensitive areas of the Mangroves, coastal mechanisation, gender politics and the politics of migrating fishing workers and labour...

The elemental relevance of poetry in lives and times such as ours is what binds this conversation with poet Ranjit Hoskote and Journalist Supriya Nair together. Ranjit's newest collection of poetry, Hunchprose is a response to and reflection of the many lives the poet possesses within him.  This conversation delves deep into inspirations, memories and experiences that affords us a glimpse into the...

Pavan Srinath talks to Lekha Naidu about creating BIC Talks and releasing 100 episodes of the podcast since March 2020, when the pandemic lockdowns began in India. On this episode Pavan takes the guest seat, as Bangalore International Centre's Programme Manager Lekha Naidu talks to him about the joys, lessons and challenges of podcasting. They discuss how BIC pivoted to podcasting within a week of...

In early March 2020 as the shadow of the pandemic loomed large and uncertainty - financial and otherwise was the order of the day, Yes Bank joined a long parade of banking and financial scandals arisen due to malpractice. Another one seemingly bitten the dust when the moratorium on Yes Bank was imposed by the RBI. Journalist Furquan Moharkan had been following this story long before it broke and h...

Author Keshav Desiraju and music enthusiast Vishnu Vasudev discuss Mr. Desiraju's latest book Of Gifted Voice  that looks at MS Subbulakshmi's life and times, and the great musical tradition she belonged to and to which she brought so much, against the larger backdrop of developments in the world of Carnatic music. MS Subbulakshmi's life was one of extraordinary achievement. Although she was portr...

Historians Dinyar Patel and Prashant Kidambi discuss the life and legacy of Dadabhai Naoroji, who Gandhi referred to as the 'Father of the Nation'. Dinyar has authored the book, Naoroji: Pioneer of Indian Nationalism (Harvard University Press, 2020).  They discuss Naoroji's life and work as an Indian nationalist thinker, as a member of the British parliament, and as a leading intellectual whose le...

Authors Taran Khan and Samhita Arni share personal experiences and stories from their time spent in Kabul, peeling away the many layers that make up the city and its rich and tumultuous history.  Taran N. Khan is a journalist based in Mumbai, and author of Shadow City: A Woman Kabul. Taran spent time working in Kabul between 2006 and 2013. She grew up in Aligarh and was educated in New Delhi and L...