Books and Beyond with Bound

Tara and Michelle discuss what migration means to them and what kind of stories are missing from the migration narrative.   From partition to season migrants, from traveling abroad for higher education to migrating to the Gulf, the typical migration story focuses on moving to another place for a better life and how difficult it is to make it there.  Does every migration story focus on struggle? Wh...

Find out what it means to write a ‘feminist romance’ and what differentiates it from a typical romance novel.  Tara and Michelle chat with Riva about why she set her debut novel ‘Arzu’ in the 90s liberalization era and explored the socio-economic backgrounds of her characters. Riva explains why she wanted to explore the mind of a ‘working woman’ and what kind of research was required to get the nu...

Find out how she became an expert of romance and relationships through her romance books and podcast.  Tara and Michelle chat with Aastha about why India and Bollywood are obsessed with love! Aastha shares her experience of creating the Love Aaj Kal podcast and why she decided to write a dating guide, ‘The L-word’. Has the dating scene changed drastically since the 90s?  How did she finish writing...

Find out how she presents the experiences and rigorous training that women go through in her latest army book. In this Editor Special episode, Tara chats with Tanushree about her experiences as an ‘army wife’ and how she developed the characters of Billi, Lakme, Shiny and Nutty. Tanushree shares why discipline is such an important part of training in the army. Tara shares her thoughts while editin...

Find out why she decided to explore male friendship and class differences in her debut novel. Tara and Michelle chat with Shivani about how she chose the title ‘Equations’ and the challenge of diving into the minds of male characters. She shares her experience of growing up around literary women like Namita Gokhale and Meru Gokhale. Does Indian fiction need more stories about class? How did she fi...

Find out how she sheds light on the lost stories of extraordinary women in medicine in her non-fiction book. Tara and Michelle chat with Kavitha Rao about her research process -  piecing together information through letters and memoirs - and how she chose which women to feature in the book. They discuss the role of sensitivity readers and why writing nonfiction is so expensive. Why did she decide...

Find out how he revolutionizes the way we write about the environment, starting with the story of the nutmeg! In this special episode, Tara and Michelle dissect the work of award-winning author Amitav Ghosh and chat with him about his latest book “The Nutmeg’s Curse”.  Amitav Ghosh says, “climate change is a form of ecological violence.” He shares his research process and his inspirations: from Ma...

Find out how women are represented in Indian books and films today.  Kick off season 4 with a deep dive into gender and representation with Tara and Michelle! They share their favourite books and movies, and discuss what is considered problematic and what is considered inclusive today. Do our childhood favourites like Harry Potter stand the test of time? Can authors create believable characters of...

Tara and Michelle reconnect with Manu Pillai about writing and publishing his latest book, ‘False Allies’ during the pandemic.  Manu explains how and why he used Raja Ravi Varma’s art to direct his research. And how this book is structured much differently than his previous works. He takes Tara and Michelle deep into the world of empowerment and political intrigue with the story of Jamnabai. Were...

In this season finale, Tara and Michelle talk about cancel culture, trigger warnings, and their favourite season 3 episodes. From Lolita to Friends to Harry Potter, Tara and Michelle discuss the question of problematic stories and their implications in today’s society. They talk about their favourite childhood stories (P.S. they involve animals) and the importance of telling and highlighting untol...

Find out how she explores masculinity in India through the coming of age story of 3 brothers in her book, ‘The Anger of Saintly Men’. Anubha shares how she came up with the idea of writing about the tale of three brothers in Haryana and how it was challenging to write a fiction book that comments on caste and sexuality in India. Michelle loves how she uses Mahatma Gandhi to show the contradiction...

Find out how she brings animal science and wildlife conversation to life in her latest book, ‘Every Creature Has a Story’. Janaki talks about how she accidentally got into wildlife research and how she wrote the book to bring the wilderness stories into people’s homes. She talks about her relationship with an editor and how a great editor can push a writer to develop their craft. Tara loves findin...

Find out how she uses objects to uncover untold stories about the Partition for her book, ‘Remnants of a Separation’.  Aanchal shares her family’s history with partition and why she decided to use objects to ask people about sensitive and traumatic memories. She discusses her experience of interviewing people in Pakistan and how her guide Khizarji helped her navigate difficult interviews. Tara can...

Find out how she provides a glimpse into the experiences and challenges of growing up in war-torn Kashmir through her memoir, ‘Rumours Of Spring: A Girlhood In Kashmir’.  Farah tells us why she decided to write this book and how it was challenging to relive some painful memories. She talks about her grandmother, Bobeh, who was a strong female figure  in her coming-of-age story and why she decided...

Find out how he uncovers the untold stories and troubled lives of Bollywood celebrities like Rajesh Khanna, Rekha, Sanjay Dutt and Guru Dutt in his biographies.  Yasser breaks down his research process - from approaching the celeb for interviews to going through old articles and talking to people who knew them well. He shares some interesting anecdotes about Rajesh Khanna and Rekha, and how the me...

Find out how she captured the red-light district of Lahore and wrote a compelling and nuanced love story in her debut novel, ‘Skyfall’.  Saba shares how her writing is inspired by her father and why she decided to explore the exact opposite through the villainous father figure in her novel. She tells us why she made her main character Rania a tour guide to show women accessing public spaces.  Tara...

Find out how she captured her journey with infertility and years of medical research into her one-of-a-kind medical memoir, ‘What's a Lemon Squeezer Doing in My Vagina?' Rohini shares her writing process: from storing all her medical documents to writing for 30 minutes at a time. She recounts how her brother acted as her sounding board and beta reader: convincing her to write this book a...

Tara talks to the talented Pakistani writer, Moni Mohsin, about  how she uses social satire to comment on current events in her 2 bestselling books ‘The Diary of a Social Butterfly’ and ‘The Impeccable Integrity of Ruby R’.  Moni shares how the ‘metoo’ movement inspired her to write her latest politically charged novel. And how the male politician character is inspired by Trump and 1970s Amitabh B...

Tara and Michelle talk to bestselling Bengali author Anita Agnihotri and expert translator of 60+ books, Arunava Sinha, about their latest book ‘The Sickle’, the writer-translator relationship and the growing popularity of regional writing and translations in India. In the last few years, translations are getting the attention they rightly deserve in India from readers and literary awards like the...

Tara and Michelle talk to Sonia Faleiro about how she investigated the death of 2 teen girls in UP for her latest narrative nonfiction bestseller, ‘The Good Girls’. We’ve joined #PodForChange to raise donations for Covid relief. Donate here: www.auwa.in/podforchange Sonia talks about what made her choose this particular case and how she 5 years writing about it! She shares interesting anecdotes ab...

Tara and Michelle talk to Rituparna Chatterjee about how she uses magic realism to explore the heavy theme of child abuse in her memoir ‘The Water Phoenix’. We’ve joined #PodForChange to raise donations for Covid relief. Donate here: www.auwa.in/podforchange Rituparna recounts how real-life events inspired her to start writing this book as a fictional story and how her editor convinced her to turn...

Tara and Michelle chat with Clyde D’Souza about how he captures the essence of Goan villages, food and culture in his latest book Susegad: The Goan Art of Contentment.  We’ve joined #PodForChange to raise donations for Covid relief. Donate here: www.auwa.in/podforchange Clyde talks about all things Goa! From the free ferry system to why Goans like fish curry and mango pickle! He calls Susegad a ‘s...

Tara and Michelle talk to Diksha Basu, critically acclaimed author of The Windfall and Destination Wedding, about how she creates memorable characters with humor and empathy.  This episode is sponsored by Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters, who roast + brew India's best Arabica coffee. Use the code mentioned in the episode to get a 10% discount on all coffee purchases over INR 400. Offer valid till 3...

We are back with season 3! Tara and Michelle discuss what creativity means to them and how they have developed small habits or rituals to help them be more relaxed and productive.   Tara and Michelle’s first creative act was writing fanfiction! Tara wrote Enid Blyton fanfiction while Michelle was inspired by R. L. Stine’s Goosebumps series. They discuss why reading newspaper articles, short storie...

Our hosts discuss their reading preferences and the Indian literary scene in this season finale. Tara and Michelle bond over their shared love for books and reading - how did they fall in love with books, what kind of stories do they like to read, and how has the pandemic affected their reading habits? Most notably, they finally read Arundhati Roy’s ‘The God of Small Things’ in 2020! They discuss...