Itihaas 2.0

On the occasion of world radio day, this episode traces the evolution of the earliest broadcasting medium- Radio. It features Dr. Ujjwala Barve in conversation with Sneha Gore Mehendale where they do a succinct recap of the All India Radio (AIR). Dr. Barve talks about her own association with the AIR, its former glory, the challenges AIR faced on its way and its current, modern Avatar.

This episode moves away slightly from any history of cinema. It talks of history as depicted IN cinema. In the first part of this three-way conversation, a film-maker and a film scholar discuss various related issues. 'Historical fiction', the eternal struggle between the truth and artifice, when does a historical film become a historical film and much more.

Doordarshan (DD), India’s public service broadcaster is six decades old. And boy, what changes has Doordarshan seen during these years! From twice a week, educational broadcast to a 24- hour channels and a dense network of correspondents, DD has come a long way. This episode features ex-journalist and media academic Dr. Ujjwala Barve, talking of her memories of working with Doordarshan since early days, and the changes today.

The Ramadan special food offered in Mumbai's old by-lanes of Bhendi Bazaar and Muhammad Ali Road is a part of personal history of many people. As this area gets ready for massive renovation, we trace the memories of this place with a former resident and wonder how history will survive in this change.

Cinema is a ‘reflection of the society’, yes. And hence, it is also a moving document of our history. Indian cinema provides us innumerable glasses to look at the evolution of the society around us. This episode traces the evolution of settings of Hindi Cinema. From being village-centric to urban, to even being set in other countries, Hindi Cinema is slowly again becoming locally rooted, thereby completing a circle. Listen to the film critic and professor Ajit Duara discussing it.

Most of the food exchanges are so well assimilated that it is impossible to say that they once belonged somewhere else. In part two of the conversation with Keertida Phadke, we talk of food that is native to India but is shining and getting assimilated other countries and their culinary cultures.

Food is fluid. It moves with time, with people, with cultures. Food exchanges only enrich a culture and most of the food exchanges are so well assimilated that it is impossible to say that they once belonged somewhere else.

This episode traces food which is not technically ‘Indian’ in origin, but has been phenomenally ‘Indian’ized. In the first part of this two-part conversation Chef and food entrepreneur Keertida Phadke talks of some such items.

History is not always past events. Sometimes you also live in truly historic times, much like the current pandemic. As the vaccine for CoVid-19 becomes the new global quest, we here talk about this facet of the current times and future history- what are vaccine trials and why do they matter. Featuring on this episode is Dr. Snajay Mehendale, a noted epidemiologist and public health researcher.

The issue of Naxalism has plagued India for more than the past five decades with no solution in sight. This episode features journalist Siddharthya Roy in conversation with Sneha Gore Mehendale discussing the history, present and the relevance of Naxalism to contemporary India.

In the later half of the 1990s, the political situation in India became super unstable with no government being steady. India saw 4 elections in those 10 years. We discuss the elections of 1996,98 and 99 in this episode.