BIC TALKS

Journalism has been the beacon that illuminates the truth amidst the shadows of ignorance. How true does this adage hold in a post-truth world. Writer and columnist, Bachi Karkaria, moderates a captivating panel discussion featuring authors and journalists - P Sainath, Sashi Kumar, and Barkha Dutt.

This BIC Talks conversation revolves around the evolving nature of human interest stories, the importance of grassroots reportage, and their collective reflections on their noble profession, which strives to hold a mirror up to society. However, the question looms: Has this mirror transformed into a sycophant, exposing irreparable cracks? Is the entire enterprise teetering on the verge of failure?

This episode is adapted from a session at the Bangalore Literature Festival 2022.

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Historian Shekhar Pathak; ecologist, and author Ullas Karanth and historian and author Mahesh Rangarajan converge in this episode of BIC Talks to explore the path towards a sustainable and environmentally friendly world. With their extensive knowledge in environmental history, wildlife conservation, and cultural perspectives, they engage in a dialogue encompassing crucial topics such as environmental challenges, wildlife preservation, historical contexts, cultural impacts, and sustainable development.

This conversation sprinked with information, analyses, anecdotes, past and current studies and on ground realities promises to be a rich and enlightening exchange of ideas, aiming to inspire actionable solutions for a future that prioritizes ecological balance and the well-being of our planet.

This episode was adapted from a session at Bangalore Literature Festival 2022.

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Renowned author and Sahitya Akademi awardee Damodar Mauzo engages in a conversation with author and playwright Vivek Shanbhag discuss Mauzo's collection of 14 stories titled "Teresa's Man and Other Stories from Goa." These tales provide a profound glimpse into the world of Goan-Konkani literature, a realm shaped by both remarkable achievements and challenges.

Konkani, considered the "oldest of modern Indo-Aryan tongues," has faced various obstacles throughout its history. It has encountered persistent pressure from dominant regional languages like Marathi and Kannada, and it endured violent suppression during the Inquisition years in Goa from 1560 to 1812. The language struggled for survival amidst waves of diaspora and underwent a fervent postcolonial agitation. Eventually, in 1992, Konkani gained official recognition as a language under the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution.

Within "Teresa's Man," Mauzo skillfully captures the essence of Goa and its Konkani-speaking population. These stories, translated from Konkani to English by Xavier Cota, offer a blend of local flavour and universal themes that evoke a range of emotions and ideas. In this episode, adapted from a session at Bangalore Literature Festival 2022, Mauzo and Shanbhag delve into the inspirations, characters, and themes that shape the collection.

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What is a language and how do they make us who we are? Is an eternal question philosophers have grappled with over eras. Linguistics scholars seek to determine what is unique and universal about the language we use, how it is acquired and the ways it changes over time. They consider language as a cultural, social and psychological phenomenon that stretches across the range of what is human. Over the past few decades we are faced with the language of the digital era that has rapidly changed the constitution of everyday interaction of humankind and steered evolution in all its aspects.

In this episode of BIC Talks, journalist, film maker and media entrepreneur Sashi Kumar speaks about Language and its ever changing face. This episode is adapted from a Bangalore Literature Festival 2022 session.

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In northern India, an eighty-year-old woman slips into a deep depression after the death of her husband, and then resurfaces to gain a new lease on life. Her determination to fly in the face of convention – including striking up a friendship with a transgender person – confuses her bohemian daughter, who is used to thinking of herself as the more 'modern' of the two.

To her family's consternation, Ma insists on travelling to Pakistan, simultaneously confronting the unresolved trauma of her teenage experiences of Partition, and re-evaluating what it means to be a mother, a daughter, a woman, a feminist.

Rather than respond to tragedy with seriousness, Geetanjali Shree's playful tone and exuberant wordplay results in a book that is engaging, funny, and utterly original, at the same time as being an urgent and timely protest against the destructive impact of borders and boundaries, whether between religions, countries, or genders.

This episode of BIC Talks is adapted from a conversation between Geetanjali Shree, Anukrti Upadhyay and Arunava Sinha about Geetanjali's International Booker winning novel, that was part of the Bangalore Literature Festival 2022.

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Bhūta Kōlā, also referred to as Daiva kōlā or Nēmā, is a shamanistic ritual dance performance prevalent among the communities of Tulu Nadu and parts of Kasargod in northern Kerala, India. The dance is highly stylized and performed as part of 'Bhootaradhana' or worship of the local deities worshipped by the Tulu speaking population. It has had it's influence on Yakshagana folk theatre. Būta kōlā is closely related to Theyyam of neighbouring state of Kerala. In this episode of BIC Talks, educator, writer and columnist Dr Purushottam Bilimale and researcher and writer Dr Indira Hegde talk about the history, social and religious aspects and contemporary relevance of this ancient ritual practice.

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Dancer, actor and public intellectual Mallika Sarabhai writes a memorable account about how she stumbled her way to health, fitness and sanity. In this episode of BIC Talks, Mallika speaks to author and journalist Ramjee Chandran about her book In Free Fall is all about coming to terms with oneself and ones body and find the lifestyle that works for you. And how to make mistakes, pick yourself up and carry on.

In this conversation Mallika and Ramjee dive into her artistic process, her perspective on the evolution of grammar of performance, her stint as Draupadi with Peter Brook, a glimpse into her study on what corrupts people which her a doctorate and her foray into electoral politics. This conversation was part of the Bangalore Literature Festival 2022.

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The Pashtuns are perhaps the largest ethnic group in the world without a country of their own. They inhabit a continuous stretch of land from the Hindu Kush to the Indus, across Pakistan and Afghanistan. Pakistan used the Pashtun-dominated areas in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) as a launching pad against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s and later during the US-led War on Terror.

In the process FATA was kept in a constitutional and informational black hole. The discontent finally burst in 2018 when the extra-judicial killing of a Pashtun youth led to widespread protests.

In this episode of BIC Talks, veteran analyst Tilak Devasher speaks to Ambassador PS Raghavan, chairperson of the National Security Advisory Board of India about his book The Pashtuns in an attempt to fill the gap in the geopolitical understanding of South Asia, given the US withdrawal from Afghanistan and the shifting power equations in the region. This conversation was part of the Bangalore Literature Festival 2022.

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Over 150 years ago, in 1870, a public park was inaugurated in Bangalore. Designed by British engineer Richard Sankey, it spread over 100 acres and encompassed features typical to the city—granite outcrops, lush greenery, wide avenues and government buildings. Originally named Meade's Park, it has been known to generations of Bangaloreans as Cubbon Park—sanctuary, lung space, thoroughfare, battlefield, picnic spot, repository of urban biodiversity, and public park. In this episode of BIC Talks, author and ecologist Harini Nagendra speaks to author and co-founder of BangaloreWALKS Roopa Pai about her book, Cubbon Park, The Green Heart of Bangalore - the first of its kind as they attempt to decode the enduring appeal of the Park.

This conversation was adapted from a Bangalore Literature Festival 2022 session. Subscribe to the BIC Talks Podcast on your favourite podcast app! BIC Talks is available everywhere, including iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Castbox, Overcast and Stitcher.

Pradeep Magazine's memoir is a story of lived, real experiences, of joy, sorrow, fear, loss and hope, and about how an uprooted identity shapes one's attitude towards society and the nation. From the Kashmir of the 1950s to terror-stricken Punjab, from the Mandir-Masjid divide and the impact of Mandal politics to the tragic consequences of the Kashmir situation-Magazine paints a fascinating portrait of modern India. At the core of the book are accounts of some of the most epochal events in India's cricketing history, woven around personal encounters with several well-known cricketers. The author lays bare the vicious machinations that are a staple diet of sports governance and reveals hitherto unknown facts about the frictions and ego clashes that are inevitable in a game that dominates India's sporting discourse. Journalist and editor Prem Panicker engages author and cricket writer Pradeep Magazine in a conversation about this journey as a reporter.

This episode of BIC Talks is adapted from a session at Bangalore Literature Festival, 2022. Subscribe to the BIC Talks Podcast on your favourite podcast app! BIC Talks is available everywhere, including iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Castbox, Overcast and Stitcher.