How best to know a people? Let me count the ways. Madhuri Vijay writes about a Bangalore girl who goes off the beaten paths in Kashmir, looking for a tenuous connection to her past, in her highly acclaimed debut literary novel. Onaiza Drabu retells the stories that the Kashmiri folk tell each other, around the fire, on chilly winter nights. And P. S. Nissim, in reviewing these books, has something to say about how literary fiction contrasts with folk tales.

This is episode #5 of Bookasur, connecting two very different treatments of the beautiful state of Kashmir.

Books featured:

The Far Field, by Madhuri Vijay, published by 4th Estate.

The Legend of Himal and Nagrai, by Onaiza Drabu, published by Speaking Tiger.

--------

Published 11th 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

There are all kinds of travel. There’s discovering a familiar city through new eyes, and there’s going to a place that’s remote in place and time. In this episode, Meera Iyer shows us her city, Bengaluru, as a place full of surprises, heritage, and trivia. Then, Dervla Murphy, tells us of a visit to Gilgit and Baltistan - in the dead of winter - and with her 6-year-old daughter along with her. 

This is episode #4 of Bookasur, connecting two books from very different times and authors, but with similarly appealing spirits of adventure.

Books featured:

Discovering Bengaluru, by Meera Iyer, published by Intach (Do one of their walks if they're in your town!)

Where the Indus is Young, by Dervla Murphy, published by Speaking Tiger in India.

--------

Published 26th Feb 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 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNLJMTRvyj8

Saee Koranne-Khandekar (@Saeek) walks us through Maharastrian culture via its food, in her new recipe book. Then, we roll back to a cookbook originally published in 1943, which chronicled the society of the time, even as it told young housewives what to do with the day’s find in the vegetable market. Why would a book review show pick up cookbooks, especially when I can’t really cook anything more than Maggi? Tune in to find out.

This is episode #3 of Bookasur, where the show begins to go off into uncharted territory. Fingers crossed!

Books featured:

Pangat, by Saee Koranne-Khandekar, published by Hachette India

Rasachandrika, by Saraswat Mahila Samaj, published by Popular Prakashan

--------

Published 12th Feb 2020. Find out more about Bookasur here: https://www.psnissim.com/p/bookasur.html

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

S. B. Divya (@divyastweets) shows us a dozen future interactions between man and machine, in her collection of cool sci-fi short stories. In the meantime, Varun Thomas Mathew takes us to ecological apocalypse and beyond, in his debut novel. Once you get started, you can’t stop reading these bad boys, they’re that absorbing. Tune in to find out more about them.

This is episode #2 of Bookasur, beginning of Jan 2020. I think I’m getting better at it :).

Books featured:

Contingency Plans for the Apocalypse and Other Possible Situations, by S. B. Divya

The Black Dwarves of the Good Little Bay, by Varun Thomas Matthew

Both published by Hachette India

--------

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

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

Aayakudi and Kanthapura are both small villages in South India. But the books set in these places are dramatically different! Tune in to find out more about them.

This was the first episode of Bookasur, recorded late in 2019. It's very much a "pilot" episode, but I think it covers the kind of themes that you'll see in future episodes as well. 

Books featured: 

Full Disclosure: Blaft Publications has published my novella, Brown Boy, before. Aayakudi Murders, though, is a totally different project that I had no involvement in. 

--------

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

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

Before we get properly started, let me tell you what I want to do with this cool new podcast. 

What do we want to cover in the show? 

What new do we bring to the topic? 

And: why listen to me specifically? 

All this stuff, and it's only the trailer :) ! Look out for the first episode on 15th January, 2020. This is your new year resolution to read more, made easy for you.  

Don't forget to subscribe to keep updated!

-----

Read more about the podcast at it's page: https://www.psnissim.com/p/bookasur.html

Intro/Outro music: Jazz In Paris - Media Right Productions https://youtu.be/mNLJMTRvyj8