Jaipur Bytes

“India lives in her villages,” said Gandhi. Although agriculture is the most important sector of the economy, accounting for close to 16 %of the GDP and providing employment to much of the nation's workforce, rural-urban distances and divides continue to grow. The incomprehension between those who contribute to growing our food and those who consume it widens by the day. All political parties clai...

Best-selling author and historian Ben MacIntyre’s latest work  Agent Sonya  is an exhilarating narrative whfich unravels the life of Ursula Kuczynski Burton, code name- Agent Sonya, the spy behind some of the most dangerous espionage operations of the twentieth century. Her escapades included a failed assasination on Hitler, spying on the Japanese and other covert missions for Moscow. Ma...

A powerful narrative on the stark realities of climate change,  We Are the Weather: Saving the Planet Begins at Breakfast  by Jonathan Safran Foer takes a hard-hitting look at the day-to-day human contribution to the unfolding environmental catastrophe. Weaving personal stories, facts and metaphors, he also analyses what motivates some people to sacrifice short-term comfort for the sake...

The recurrence of pandemics is an unfortunate reality in human history. Leaving a devastating trail of suffering and death, they disappear from public memory until such time that the demons surface again. Academic and author Chinmay Tumbe in his recent book,  Age of Pandemics (1817-1920): How They Shaped India and the World,  chronicles the many facets of the cholera, plague and influenz...

Democracy has many faces, many lives, subject to change, investigation, reform.  In The Retreat of Western Liberalism , Edward Luce makes a larger statement about the weakening of western hegemony and the crisis of liberal democracy, of which Donald Trump and his European counterparts are not the cause, but a terrifying symptom. He warns of the dangerous ignorance of the West regarding its ow...

Sex and Vanity  is Kevin Kwan’s latest book, following on the sensational success of  Crazy Rich Asians , and opening up a world of extravagant travel, love, and deceit, with subtle undertones of the complexities of race and identity. A love affair traversing Capri and the Hamptons, the narrative – a homage to  A Room With a View  – introduces us to the lives of the ultra-...

The interactions between India and China have been long and complicated. Tansen Sen sets on a singular mission: to fill the gaps in the narratives tying the regions, breaking through traditional conceptions of understanding India-China connections and proposing new ways to explore the historical and contemporary relations. Sen peoples his tapestry with material exchanges, archival evidence, intell...

“All power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” So goes the axiom but is it an absolute truth? Is power inherently susceptible to being misused? Or can power be yielded dispassionately for the public good? Eminent speakers and public intellectuals examine the proposition in its different dimensions.

Celebrated author, poet and artist Mark Haddon takes us on a journey through his literary career, which includes  The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time , the short story collection  The Pier Falls  and his latest novel,  The Porpoise . In conversation with author and broadcaster Sandip Roy, he talks about the inspirations and ethos that guide his pen.

In  Brown Baby , Nikesh Shukla explores themes of racism, feminism, parenting and our shifting ideas of home. By turns heartwrenching, hilariously funny and intensely relatable, the memoir is dedicated to the author’s two young daughters and serves as an act of remembrance to the grandmother they never had a chance to meet. In this emotionally stirring session, Shukla navigates the porous bou...

Was the relationship between China and the world  shaped by wars? War with Japan in the late 1930s, the PRC's involvement in Korea in the early 1950s, its border conflict with India in 1962, and the military offensive it launched against Vietnam in 1978 were key events in the history of China's foreign relations. Within this context, how will the relationship between the two rising power...

Kate Summerscale’s latest book,  The Haunting of Alma Fielding , is a gripping narrative that follows the investigation of supernatural experiences in the shadow of war, and the unraveling of a story of trauma, loss and alienation. Summerscale is  also the author of  bestsellers  The Suspicions of Mr Whicher  and  The Queen of Whale Cay . In conversation wit...

A session traversing the spiritual and archeological path of the expansion of Buddhism opening a fascinating window into its foundations, histories and traditions. It also gives a keen insight into the role of patronage and of Buddhist monks in spreading its ideas and philosophy. Academic and author Himanushu Prabha Ray, talks of the expansion of Buddhism within India while the Senior curator for...

Nobel Peace Prize winner and bestselling author Malala Yousafzai's journey has been nothing short of extraordinary. From being an education activist in the Swat Valley in Pakistan to her path breaking work with the Malala Fund, she has emerged as an international voice in the fight for education for all and ending gender discrimination. Her latest book is We are Displaced: My Journey and Stories f...

Renowned author and music critic Alex Ross’ latest book  Wagnerism: Art and Politics in the Shadow of Music  unravels the cultural history and significance of Richard Wagner and the kaleidoscopic work and life he inhabited. Ross weaves together not just Wagner’s story but also the political, artistic and cultural history of the last 150 years. Ross’ other books include  The Rest Is...

We live in an age of accelerated anxiety and the prospect of loss stares us in the face in the times of the pandemic. A conversation across generations where two young women writers, Kairavi Bharat Ram, age 22, and Arshya Gaur, age 16, share their hurts and the process of healing with clinical psychologist and author Sonali Gupta and psychologist and family therapist Shelja Sen.  Dr. Sen is c...

Enter Stage Right: The Alkazi-Padamsee Family Memoir  is a heartfelt homage to one of the greatest alliances in the world of theatre and art in post-Independence India: the Alkazi-Padamsees. Penned by noted director Feisal Alkazi, son of the late theatre veteran and Director of the National School of Drama Ebrahim Alkazi, and Roshen Alkazi, pioneering costumier and founder-director of Art Her...

Journalist and writer George Packer’s  Our Man: Richard Holbrooke and the End of the American Century  is an enduring account of the force behind the Dayton Accords which famously ended the Balkan wars. Packer’s sweeping diplomatic history is based on Holbrooke's diaries and papers and gives a peek into the life of man both equally admired and detested. Packer’s other works include &nbsp...

A timely session which brings together a cross section of voices and perspectives to understand feminism and its kaleidoscopic dimensions. Bee Rowlatt embarks on an extraordinary journey looking at the life and legacy of the first celebrity feminist, Mary Wollstonecraft, in her latest book In Search of Mary . Mariam Khan  in her anthology It’s Not About The Burqa, writes about why feminism ne...

Tom Stoppard, one of the greatest living playwrights, is a towering and beloved literary figure. Known for his dizzying narrative inventiveness and intense attention to language, he deftly deploys art, science, history, politics, and philosophy in works that span a remarkable spectrum of literary genres: theater, radio, film, TV, journalism and fiction. His most acclaimed creations,  Rosencra...

Drawing heavily from Roman Catholic theology and philosophy,  Divine Comedy  by Dante Alighieri is a long narrative poem divided into three parts: Hell, Purgatory and Paradise. The text and its imaginative vision of the afterlife is a masterpiece representing Dante’s journey from darkness to error to the final ascent to God in Paradise. Author and literary critic Piero Boitani is a Dante...

A book charting an exceptional life and career,  Unscripted  by screenwriter, director and producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra and scriptwriter Abhijat Joshi takes us on an extravagant journey through the life, mind, method and madness of perhaps one of the greatest filmmakers Bollywood has seen today. Over the past three decades, Chopra has seen it all, from putting together low budget student...

TM Krishna, public intellectual and acclaimed classical vocalist in the Carnatic tradition, is dedicated to working across the spectrum of music, society and culture. The Edict Project, in association with Ashoka University, is a creative collaboration that seeks to musically rediscover Emperor Ashoka’s ancient edicts -- philosophies that speak of a more humane society built on empathy and compass...

Tripurdaman Singh's latest book Sixteen Stormy Days: The Story of the First Amendment of the Constitution of India is a fascinating look into the turbulent history and contentious legacy of the First Amendment of the Constitution. Rooted in parliamentary debates, press reports, judicial pronouncements and existing scholarship, the book takes a deep dive into the series of events that led Prime Min...

The power of the ‘tweet’, the ‘like’ and the ‘share’, and other digital interventions has never been more evident as online avenues become increasingly viable sites of protest. They offer invaluable potential for raising awareness, engaging in structural critique, mobilising support and driving action while also allowing for a range of negative mirror activities. An urgent session on the positive...