Jaipur Bytes

Author Maaza Mengiste in conversation with Jaipur Bytes host Lakshya Datta. In this podcast-exclusive conversation, Maaza and Lakshya talk about how she was drawn to storytelling as a kid, what it was like to take the unknown path of becoming a writer, the research and multiple drafts that led to “The Shadow King”, and why she loves telling stories. Maaza is an Ethiopian-American writer and a...

Scholar-translator Linda Hess in conversation with Jaipur Bytes host Lakshya Datta. In this podcast-exclusive conversation, Linda talks to Lakshya about what drew her to come to India in her 20s, how she fell in love with Kabir and his words, and why 500 year old songs created by an illiterate poet are still relevant today. Linda’s publications include "The Bijak of Kabir", "Singing...

Chiké Frankie Edozien, author of "Lives of Great Men: Living and Loving as an African Gay Man", in conversation with Jaipur Bytes host Lakshya Datta. In this podcast-exclusive conversation, Frankie talks to Lakshya about his time at the Jaipur Literature Festival 2019, what it was like to be in India soon after Section 377 was abolished, what the ruling in India meant for the LGBTQ community in Af...

Mira Jacob, author of "Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations", in conversation with writer/host Lakshya Datta. In this podcast-exclusive, Mira and Lakshya talk about her new book - why she wrote it, what it was like to re-live these talks from her past, and what conversations she hopes it starts. About the book: Inspired by her viral BuzzFeed piece '37 Difficult Questions from My Mixed-Raced Son',...

Sohaila Abdulali, author of "What We Talk About When We Talk About Rape", in conversation with writer/host Lakshya Datta. In this podcast-exclusive episode, Sohaila talks to Lakshya about what it has been like to share this book with people around the world, and what stories readers have shared with her along the way. Sohaila has also published two novels, "The Madwoman of Jogare" and "Year of the...

Michael Patrick MacDonald, author of the New York Times Bestselling memoir “All Souls: A Family Story From Southie”, in conversation with Jaipur Bytes host Lakshya Datta. Lakshya speaks with Michael about what drew him to tell stories, the writing process behind his memoirs, how his family and his community reacted to his books, and how he uses storytelling as a tool to talk about justice and heal...

Ranju Roy and Dave Charlton in conversation with Tara Fraser. Understanding Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras is the key to understanding yoga itself and yet relatively few of today’s practitioners know how to apply these ancient Sanskrit aphorisms to contemporary life. Yoga Teachers Ranju Roy and David Charlton, both practitioners within the tradition of TKV Desikachar of Chennai, discuss some of the most...

Santanu Das and Shrabani Basu in conversation with Yasmin Khan. Santanu Das's India, Empire and First World War Culture: Writings, Images and Songs recovers the experience of combatants, non-combatants and civilians from undivided India trying to make sense of home and the world in times of war. Shrabani Basu’s For King and Another Country also takes into account India’s First World War through th...

The inaugural address by Tara Gandhi Bhattacharjee at JLF Belfast 2019. She has held the position of Vice-Chairperson of Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Samiti for nearly nine years. Gandhi Smriti is the site of the martyrdom of her grandfather, Mahatma Gandhi, for truth and non-violence. She is also involved with the movement to protect rivers and the environment in India. She is the Chairperson of the...

Vasuki Shastry, Steve Tsang, Ellen Barry and Lijia Zhang in conversation with Salil Tripathi. While the phenomenal economic rise of India and China is of key interest to economists around the world, the civilisational links between these two ancient cultures are equally fascinating. A session on how the ‘elephant’ and the ‘dragon’ negotiate their relationship with each other and the ways in which...

Navin Chawla and Mukulika Banerjee in conversation with John Elliott. India is the world’s largest democracy. It has faced daunting challenges, sustaining democratic institutions against all odds. Its vigorous political system remains credible and sound in its fundamentals with nearly 900 million citizens, young and old, exercising their constitutionally given freedom to choose in what remains a d...

Helena Kennedy, Avi Singh and Sunita Toor in conversation with Bee Rowlatt. Helena Kennedy QC’s ground-breaking book Eve Was Shamed offers an impassioned, personal critique of the British legal system. “The smell of the gentlemen’s club permeates every crevice of the Inns of Court,” writes Kennedy. A session which focuses on the treatment of women in the legal system with Kennedy, academic and wom...

Eric Ngalle Charles (poet, author, playwright) in conversation with Lakshya Datta (Founder of Launchora). Eric Ngalle was born in Cameroon. After nearly a decade seeking sanctuary as a refugee, he eventually reached south Wales, where he studied modern history and popular culture at Cardiff Metropolitan University. A fellow of the leadership network British-American Project, he currently sits on t...

Lucy Caldwell (award-winning novelist and playwright) in conversation with Lakshya Datta (founder of Launchora). Lucy Caldwell was born in Belfast in 1981. She studied English at Queen's College, Cambridge, and for an MA in Creative and Life Writing at Goldsmith's, University of London. She is the author of three novels: Where They Were Missed (2006); The Meeting Point (2011), set in Bahrain immed...

William Dalrymple transports us back to a bygone era of matchless splendour – the period of the last Mughal. This evocative session features readings by award-winning author and historian Dalrymple from his book The Last Mughal: The Fall of a Dynasty, Delhi, 1857 and the vocals of Vidya Shah celebrating the poignant and robust folk poetry of the time and ghazals of the Mughal court. This episode i...

Pico Iyer, Christina Lamb, Carlo Pizzati and Monisha Rajesh in conversation with William Dalrymple. This episode is a live session from #ZEEJLFatBL2019.

James Crabtree and Avi Singh in conversation with Mukulika Banerjee. This episode is a live session from #ZEEJLFatBL2019.

Chris Power, Namita Gokhale and Navtej Sarna in conversation with Paul McVeigh. This episode is a live session from #ZEEJLFatBL2019.

Navtej Sarna in conversation with Amrit Kaur Lohia. This episode is a live session from #ZEEJLFatBL2019.

David Levy, Irving Finkel and Michael Erdman in conversation with Pragya Tiwari. This episode is a live session from #ZEEJLFatBL2019.

Anita Anand and Kim A. Wagner in conversation with Navtej Sarna. Anita Anand’s The Patient Assassin tells the remarkable story of one Indian's 20 year quest for revenge, taking him around the world in search of those he held responsible for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre of 1919, which cost the lives of hundreds. Kim A. Wagner’s Jallianwala Bagh: An Empire of Fear and the Making of the Amritsar Mas...

Anjali Joseph, Lijia Zhang and Romesh Gunesekera in conversation with Catharine Morris. Three writers speak about ways of seeing and recording, and how they navigate words across countries and cultures. Romesh Gunesekera is the acclaimed Sri Lankan-born British author and finalist for the Man Booker Prize. Award-winning Anjali Joseph has written three novels, including her recent The Living. China...

Jonathan Gil Harris, Rachel Dwyer and Varsha Panjwani in conversation with Cary Sawhney. Shakespeare’s Indian avatar has taken deep root in Bollywood and popular culture. Poet and lyricist Gulzar along with directors Sanjay Leela Bansali and Vishal Bharadwaj have all taken inspiration from the Bard. A lively panel explores the profound resonance between Shakespeare’s craft and Indian cinema and cu...

Shashi Tharoor, Wajahat S. Khan, Romesh Gunesekera and Prashant Kidambi in conversation with Mukulika Banerjee. Cricket in South Asia has become a symbol of national identity and a surrogate battleground between competing nationalisms. Prashant Kidambi’s Cricket Country: An Indian Odyssey in the Age of Empire tells the story of the first all Indian cricket tour of Britain and Ireland and how the i...

Opening Address (of ZEE JLF at the British Library 2019 on June 14) by Chief Executive of the British Library Roly Keating, High Commissioner of India to the United Kingdom Ruchi Ghanashyam, Namita Gokhale, William Dalrymple, Sanjoy K. Roy, and Shreyasi Goenka. This episode is a live session from #ZEEJLFatBL2019.