The Hindu On Books

In this episode we are in conversation with the former chairman of the National Security Advisory Board (NSAB) Shyam saran about his new book, How China sees India and the world and the authoritative view of India-China relationship. Two years after the Galwan clashes on June 15-16, 2020, in which at least 20 Indian soldiers and four Chinese soldiers were killed, the government says it has still n...

In this episode, we are joined by Rahul Sagar, author of a new book that sheds light on how Indian thinkers in the 19th century viewed India’s place in the world and how their debates would leave a lasting impact on India’s strategic thought in the 20th century. “To Raise a Fallen People: How Nineteenth Century Indians Saw Their World and Shaped Ours” looks at the late 19th century as a critical b...

In this episode of On Book Podcast with The Hindu, we are joined by senior journalist Rasheed Kidwai author of “Leaders, Politicians, Citizens- Fifty Figures Who Influenced India’s Politics”. Mr. Kidwai has been a journalist for over three decades while writing political columns for multiple publications, he is also a visiting fellow with the Observer Research Foundation. This book is an unusual a...

In this episode, we are joined by two distinguished scholars who have closely documented the changing social and political trends in India for close to half a century, Jan Breman and Ghanshyam Shah. The two of them have come out with a new book, titled ‘Gujarat, Cradle and Harbinger of Identity Politics: India’s Injurious Frame of Communalism’, published by Tulika Books. This book, a collection of...

In this episode, we are joined by Shrayana Bhattacharya author of ‘Desperately Seeking Shah Rukh: India’s Lonely Young Women and The Search for Intimacy And Independence’. She is a technocrat who works with the World Bank as an economist. The genre-bending book maps the economic and personal trajectories - the jobs, desires, prayers, love affairs and rivalries of a diverse group of women. Deep ado...

Disturbed Afghanistan has always fascinated writers and journalists. Its history has drawn people in. The absence of Central control, the terrible civil war within, foreign intervention and a staging point for the cold war to defeat the Soviet Union. Afghanistan has seen it all. And you thought it might have ended. After the sudden withdrawal of American troops, Washington has left Afghanistan to...

The story of Covid could not be told sitting in the studio, says journalist, anchor, columnist and author Barkha Dutt. What began as daily reporting of going to Delhi border and returning to the studio to put out the story of India’s fight against COVID after the 21-day lockdown was announced during the first wave, Ms. Barkha realised the story of the pandemic was not about policies, announcements...

In this episode, we are joined by Nalin Mehta, author of ‘The New BJP: Modi and the Making of the World’s Largest Political Party’, a book that looks at the factors behind the rise of the BJP to a position of hegemony in Indian politics. How did India become a BJP-centric polity, from first being ruled mostly by the Congress, to a period of coalitions drawn from regional players and socialists and...

In this episode, we are joined by Isaac Stone Fish, author of America Second: How America's elites are making China stronger, a book that traces China’s growing influence on America’s elites and corporations — how this influence has grown, how Beijing wields it, and how America should respond, while not compromising on its values. From Henry Kissinger to the leading lights of Hollywood, the book e...

In "Whole Numbers and Half Truths", data journalist Rukmini S delves deep into a range of numbers to answer some of the burning questions India is dealing with, from crime and how India votes to how India handled the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on on-the-ground reporting and backed with data, the book questions some of the most deeply-held conventional wisdoms about politics and society in India. G...

"Phenomenal Woman" is about Kamala Harris, the Vice-President of the United States. Chidanand Rajghatta not only talks about Kamala Harris, her links with India, and how she evolved through the rough and tumble of U.S. politics, but also through that narrative, he touches upon some of the fascinating and tectonic shifts that have been happening in U.S. politics. Guest: Chidanand Rajghatta, U.S. Bu...

Kavery Nambisan belongs to a rare breed of writers – the doctor who writes fiction. She is a general surgeon – a domain where women are uncommon. Another uncommon thing about her career is that she is a rural doctor, having practised for the most part of her career in rural India. She has published seven critically acclaimed novels. "A Luxury Called Health: A Doctor’s Journey Through the Art, the...

The 50 anniversary of Bangladesh’s liberation takes place on December 16. Much has been written about the Indian role and Delhi’s assistance to the Mukti Bahini.  Chandrashekhar Dasgupta, who served in India’s mission in Bangladesh soon after liberation, has provided a riveting, insider account of Delhi’s preparations for a free Bangladesh – by no means an agreed goal within the Indian establishme...

Saumya Roy speaks to us on her latest book "Mountain Tales". It is a gut-wrenching story of the poor and marginalised who work and live at Mumbai’s Deonar landfill to earn their daily bread. Journalist Saumya Roy, who spent eight years researching the impact of urbanisation, over-consumption and waste mismanagement in Maximum City, describes it as ‘discarded desires’ of the moneyed-people. Roy ini...

In his memoir, "Stories I Must Tell, The Emotional life of an Actor", actor Kabir Bedi details his unique life experiences. In the barely 300 pages of the book, Kabir speaks candidly of his great successes (Sandokan, Khoon Bhari Maang, Octopussy) as well as his failures and mistakes. Writing through the prism of his relationships, Kabir reveals the agony and ecstasy of being a husband, lover, pare...

Amitav Ghosh speaks to us on his latest work of non-fiction “The Nutmeg’s Curse: Parables For A Planet In Crisis” Host: Amit Baruah, Senior Associate Editor, The Hindu

Syed Akbaruddin speaks to us on his latest book ‘India vs UK: The Story of an Unprecedented Diplomatic Win’ Syed Akbaruddin was India’s Permanent Representative to the UN when India scored an unprecedented diplomatic victory in 2017 by defeating UK for a seat on the International Court of Justice. India’s Dalveer Bhandari was elected a judge of the ICJ. Mr. Akbaruddin’s recent book ‘India vs UK: T...

Prof Neera Chandhoke speaks to us on her new book, The Violence in Our Bones: Mapping The Deadly Faultlines Within Indian Society G. SampathOne of the big promises of democracy is that it would solve – to a substantial extent – the problem of violence. It is commonly held that one of the differences between barbarism and civilization is that barbarians tend to kill those they hate or disagree with...

In this episode of The Hindu on Books, Pallavi Aiyer speaks to us on her latest book 'Orienting: An Indian In Japan'. Through the book, Pallavi Aiyer draws a comparative image between the life in India and Japan. She draws a contrast between the way of life, environment and the general state of India and Japan. She also raises the issue of race, caste and other arbitrary societal norms which are p...

In this episode of The Hindu on Books, we are chatting with one the most acclaimed investigative journalist Josy Joseph where we talk about his new book "The Silent Coup". The book answers the question "Is our democracy slowly being degraded?" He also talk about how people simply bend the rules of suits the wims of the ones in the power seats. Josy Joseph makes the reader ask where the democracy i...

In this episode, we are joined by Sanjaya Baru and Suhasini Haidar to talk about the new book "A New Cold War: Henry Kissinger and the Rise of China” Timed to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Kissinger's historic 1971 visit that marked the start of the era of U.S.-China engagement, the book examines the legacies of the visit. We discuss in this podcast how the 1971 visit happened, its impact...

In this eposide of The Hindu on Books, we are sitting down for a chat with Nirupama Subramanian where she talks about her latest book "Murder on the Menu: The Sensational Story of the Tycoon who founded Saravana Bhavan" Twenty years ago, the murder case of Prince Santhakumar, a young tutor-turned-insurance agent, created a sensation in Tamil Nadu and elsewhere as it pointed to the involvement of P...

In their book, Spy Stories: Inside the Secret World of The R.A.W and I.S.I, Adrian Levy and Cathy Scott-Clark make several explosive revelations, including about the Pulwama attack and alleged Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav. The two foreign journalists seem to have enjoyed an unprecedented level of access to the intelligence establishments on both sides, even working as back-channel diplomats after...

Malcom Gladwell says "The Bomber Mafia" marks a departure for him stylistically as a writer as he has never told a story before that was just one narrative with no social science. But there is a common thread across Gladwell’s books, which is his fascination with how the human psyche deals with conflict; and this book has that in spades. The Bomber Mafia follows the competition between the two men...

Kavitha Rao tells the stories of six women, who in the 19th and early 20th century challenged societal norms, fought gender and caste battles to tread an unconventional path and become doctors in her famous work "Lady Doctor: The Untold Stories of India's First Women in Medicine" The book helps us to see what it was like for these six women who defied every obstacle, balanced work and family lives...