Those who don’t read History are condemned to read WhatsApp forwards. On the occasion of Independence Day, let’s talk about how to approach our our past, and how to make sense of it. Today we discuss two books that recreate that past out of multiple sources, and give us a baseline to build on.

This is episode #15 of Bookasur, talking about a legendary Tamizh king, an annoying-endearing Hindi song about history, and how feedback from friends should be handled (by ignoring most of it).

Books featured:

Plassey, by Sudeep Chakravarti, published by Aleph.

The Illustrated History of South India, by K A Nilakanta Sastri, published by Oxford University Press.

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Published 15th August 2020. Find out more about Bookasur here: https://www.psnissim.com/p/bookasur.html

P.S. Nissim tweets at: https://twitter.com/ps_nissim

Title Music: Jazz In Paris by Media Right Productions used under Creative Commons

Crazy times. Crazy enough, in fact, that it felt strange to want to just talk about random stuff. But, prompted by questions from a few friends, that's what I did in this episode. Tune in for a fun bunch of recommendations (not to mention a couple opinionated rants). 

This is episode #13 of Bookasur, talking about Asterix, Rani Laxmibai, Colonial Bengal and Mughal-era India, not to mention the average number of books that people read in their lifetime. 

Books featured: Dozens of them. What, you want to list them all here? 

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Published 29th July 2020. Find out more about Bookasur here: https://www.psnissim.com/p/bookasur.html

P.S. Nissim tweets at: https://twitter.com/ps_nissim

Title Music: Jazz In Paris by Media Right Productions used under Creative Commons

These days, we’re all thinking about sickness and pandemics - but these have been around for a long time in various forms. With them, have been men and women dedicated to healing, as well as unexpectedly human stories of extraordinary courage. Today, we talk about a new translated book about three generations of doctors, and then a classic book that speaks of the breakdown of civilisation due to a pandemic.

This is episode #13 of Bookasur, talking about mist rising like chloroform, the Spanish Flu, a pretended blindness, and success in your sixties.

Books featured:

A Ballad of Remittent Fever, by Ashoke Mukhopadhyay, translated by Arunava Sinha, published by Aleph.

Blindness, by Jose Saramago, translated by Giovanni Pontiero, published by Vintage Classics.

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Published 15th July 2020. Find out more about Bookasur here: https://www.psnissim.com/p/bookasur.html

P.S. Nissim tweets at: https://twitter.com/ps_nissim

Title Music: Jazz In Paris by Media Right Productions used under Creative Commons

Fantasy is a genre built out of many, many, components that come from all over. In India we’re seeing a resurgence of a fantasy tradition that rebuilds mythology and borrows liberally from western traditions. Today we talk about one of these books that creates a rich story out of all these elements. Then we discuss a project that overlays sci-fi with an Indian epic, with startling results.

This is episode #12 of Bookasur, talking about Arthurian legend and Gorkha training camps and The Matrix, not to mention Sholay, A. K. Ramanujan, and the surprisingly human core of Indian sci-fi.

Books featured:

Kali Yuga: The Ascension, by Jatin Gupta, published by Rupa.

Breaking the Bow, ed. by Anil Menon and Vandana Singh, published by Zubaan.

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Published 1st July 2020. Find out more about Bookasur here: https://www.psnissim.com/p/bookasur.html

P.S. Nissim tweets at: https://twitter.com/ps_nissim

Title Music: Jazz In Paris by Media Right Productions used under Creative Commons

What we’re scared about is what goes into our Horror fiction. Today we talk about fiction that builds the base on what the genre is composed of, and then look at another book that’s the result of 40+ years of working in the genre.

This is episode #11 of Bookasur, talking about ghostly doctors and paranormal sightings and also a phone that brings in the world - and the otherworld - in an understated, beautiful friendship. Not to mention nostalgic sightings in second hand book piles.

Books featured:

Darkness, by Ratnakar Matkari, published by Harper Collins India.

If It Bleeds, by Stephen King, publisher by Hodder & Stoughton.

I also mention my novella Brown Boy, published by Blaft.

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Published 17th June 2020. Find out more about Bookasur here: https://www.psnissim.com/p/bookasur.html

P.S. Nissim tweets at: https://twitter.com/ps_nissim

Title Music: Jazz In Paris by Media Right Productions used under Creative Commons

Man made God in his own image - but then turned Him into something else, until a writer turned him and made Him a man again. In this episode, we speak about a Marathi bestseller that tells Krishna’s story in His own words. We then speak about an originally-in-Greek classic that brought Jesus Christ’s story back to the basics.

This is episode #10 of Bookasur, talking about modern epics that retell older ones, a kid singing our National Anthem for fun, a tenuous connection to a politician, and silver cows.

Books featured:

Yugandhar, by Shivaji Sawant, published by Eka (Westland).

The Last Temptation, by Nikos Kazantzakis, published by Faber.

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Published 3rd June 2020. Find out more about Bookasur here: https://www.psnissim.com/p/bookasur.html

P.S. Nissim tweets at: https://twitter.com/ps_nissim

Title Music: Jazz In Paris by Media Right Productions used under Creative Commons

Take a horror classic that’s considered foundational, and build a new book on top that’s… a thriller? No one but Ruth Ware could have dared, and gotten away with it. We then move on to a ghost story by someone who’s known for anything but ghosts - Rabindranath Tagore. Or maybe the story’s a metaphor for something else.

This is episode #9 of Bookasur, talking about Domestic Thrillers and Haunted Houses, an author who’s being called a successor to Agatha Christie, and that one Manna Dey song ( I mistakenly call it the Hemant Kumar song in the podcast!!! )

Books featured:

The Turn of the Key, by Ruth Ware, published by Vintage Digital.

The Hungry Stones and Other Stories, by Rabindranath Tagore, on Project Gutenberg.

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Published 6th May 2020. Find out more about Bookasur here: https://www.psnissim.com/p/bookasur.html

P.S. Nissim tweets at: https://twitter.com/ps_nissim

Title Music: Jazz In Paris by Media Right Productions used under Creative Commons

There are many reasons to read Biographies. Maybe they remind us of our own childhood, or maybe they take us to a creative place only the privileged can reach. Today, we discuss the story of the man who made Alisha Chinai happy in that one iconic video, but who prefers to talk about running today: Milind Soman. Then we delve into the life of one of the most iconic classical musicians ever, Ustad Vilayat Khan, chronicled beautifully by Namita Devidayal.

This is episode #8 of Bookasur, talking about Biographies, growing up in the 90s, doing 20 pushups, and that time Madan Mohan stole a tune from a classical concert.

Books featured:

Made in India, by Milind Soman and Roopa Pai, published by Penguin India.

The Sixth String of Vilayat Khan, by Namita Devidayal, published by Context India.

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Published 22nd Apr 2020. Find out more about Bookasur here: https://www.psnissim.com/p/bookasur.html

P.S. Nissim tweets at: https://twitter.com/ps_nissim

Title Music: Jazz In Paris by Media Right Productions used under Creative Commons

How much of the appeal of Horror fiction is in the setting? How much in the world building? Today, we discuss @almakatsu’s book The Deep, where she sets us up for scares on the fatal voyage of the Titanic. And then we talk of @andaleedwajid’s horror novel House of Screams, which takes you to a historic - and storied - area in Bangalore city.

This is episode #7 of Bookasur, talking about horror, setting, scares, and story and somehow working in both Raj Comics and Ramsay Brothers movies.

Books featured:

The Deep, by Alma Katsu, published as ebook by Transworld Digital.

House of Screams, by Andaleeb Wajid, published by Penguin.

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Published 8th Apr 2020. Find out more about Bookasur here: https://www.psnissim.com/p/bookasur.html

P.S. Nissim tweets at: https://twitter.com/ps_nissim

Title Music: Jazz In Paris by Media Right Productions used under Creative Commons

Why don’t we read more comics? Especially those that are labours of love, that hold your hand and take you to places you’ve been too intimidated to enter. Amruta Patil (@hathoric) and Devdutt Pattanaik (@devduttmyth) riff off Indian Spiritual texts to create a fresh take. And Apostolos Doxiadis (@apdox) and Christos Papadimitriou give us a layered, unconventional biography of modern mathematics through the eyes of Bertrand Russell.

This is episode #6 of Bookasur, talking about two amazing comics that make you go, “why didn’t I read these before?”

Books featured:

Aranyaka, by Amruta Patil and Devdutt Pattanaik, published by Tranquebar.

Logicomix, by Apostolos Doxiadis and Christos Papadimitriou, published by Bloomsbury.

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Published 25th Mar 2020. Find out more about Bookasur here: https://www.psnissim.com/p/bookasur.html

P.S. Nissim tweets at: https://twitter.com/ps_nissim

Title Music: Jazz In Paris by Media Right Productions used under Creative Commons