This is a conversation with my grandparents, Mahesh and Sushila Sharma, or as I’ve called them affectionately all my life, nanaji and nanima. In this conversation we talk about their life stories, both of them are above the age of 85, born before India existed as a country. We talk about my great-grandfather’s journey from a village to starting a life in Agra, childhood memories, when my nanaji met people like Jawaharlal Nehru, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Indira Gandhi, his memories from 15th August 1947 when he was at the Red Fort listening to Prime Minister Nehru’s speech, and we also cover other stories from their lives.
This is a landmark 100th episode of Know Time. People close to me might already know this, but this episode has been 4 years in the making: ever since I started, I had parked a wish aside that if I make it to 100 episodes, I would like my 100th episode to be with my grandparents. In a way, this episode is the perfect representation of what this show stands for: it has always been about people’s stories, and I’ve always believed, I still believe with a passion, you can’t convince me otherwise, trust me people have tried, I’ve always believed that everyone has a story, everyone has something to share, something you can learn from, and the onus is on me, to ask the right questions.
This journey has not been easy. For the last four years I’ve pretty much said goodbye to a conventional social life, I’ve pretty much juggled two jobs, it’s like running a company while working a full-time job, it has meant recording on most weekends, staying in on Friday evenings to publish a new episode, giving up on latest movies or books or TV shows to spend that time researching on most weekdays. There’s been self-doubt always, especially on my commitment to value ideas and interesting stories over viral or click-bait content that I know will attract people much quicker. It’s been difficult, but I cannot stress how much of a privilege this has been for me. It’s a blessing, it’s an honour, it’s truly an honour. I know for a fact that every episode I’ve done, I’ve learnt something new about the world and myself, and if I just retain 1% from each episode, I know it’ll only make my life richer, it already has and I hope it does the same for you. Also, I hope conversations inspire you to also have these type of conversations with everyone around you: with a stranger, with family, with partners, with your parents, grandparents: I’m certain it’ll only bring you all closer, like it did for me.
It’s a blessing, it’s an honour and trust me, I’m going nowhere, I’m only getting started.
See you at 200!
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Producer & Host: Shalaj Lawania
TIMELINE
0:00 Introduction
6:50 Childhood Memories
10:06 Memories From Agra
13:24 Street Food In Agra
14:41 Places To Visit In Agra
17:34 Grandfather’s Story
30:42 Father’s Story
35:54 Memories From 15th August, 1947
38:09 Jawaharlal Nehru & Indira Gandhi
40:22 The War of 1971
44:57 Story From War of 1971
48:50 President Dr. Rajendra Prasad's Car
50:33 Movies
53:22 Cricket
54:28 Nanima’s Entry
56:03 Marriage
58:00 Advice
