Let's Talk About

The Bharatiya Janata Party is today the most dominant political force in India, with two consecutive landslide victories in the Lok Sabha and a march to power in several states. 

But what’s the backstory behind the BJP’s enduring rise, and who are the faces who cemented its formidable organisation?

Welcome to the first episode of Let’s Talk About: BJP, a series tracing the BJP’s origins, and the antecedents of its ecosystem, from the pre-independence era to the Jana Sangh and the birth of the party in 1980.

This is a sneak peek into the first episode. To listen to the full podcast, subscribe to Newslaundry. Pay To Keep News Free.

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सच्चिदानंद हीरानंद वातस्यायन अज्ञेय. जितना भारी भरकम नाम, उतना ही भारी भरकम व्यक्तित्व. अज्ञेय का जिक्र आने पर एक मूर्धन्य कवि, शैलीकार, कथा साहित्य को एक महत्त्वपूर्ण मोड़ देने वाले कथाकार, निबन्धकार, दिग्गज सम्पादक की छवि हमारे सामने आती है. लेकिन अज्ञेय का व्यक्तित्व इससे भी विराट और बहुआयामी था. अज्ञेय की लेखकीय पहचान से अलग उनका विद्रोही अतीत, क्रांतिकारी झुकाव, उनका सैन्य अतीत, उनका राजनीतिक झुकाव, उनका निजी जीवन इतना परतदार और विशद हैं, जिसे समग्रता में आज तक समेटा नहीं गया है. 

अज्ञेय के तमाम अनछुए पहलुओं को भारी-भरकम किताब की शकल में हमारे सामने लेकर आए हैं पत्रकार और लेखक अक्षय मुकुल. अक्षय की हालिया किताब ‘राइटर, रेबेल, सोल्ज़र, लवर- मेनी लाइव्स ऑफ अज्ञेय’, अज्ञेय की ज़िंदगी के तमाम अनदेखे पक्ष उजागर करती है. 

लेट्स टॉक अबाउट के इस अंक में हम बात करेंगे अक्षय मुकुल और उनके साथ ओम थानवी से. अज्ञेय के बहुत करीब रहकर काम करने का सौभाग्य रहा है ओम थनवी को. चार दशकों तक पत्रकारिता का अनुभव, हिंदी पत्रकारिता में मील का पत्थर रही जनसत्ता अखबार के संपादक पद से पदमुक्त हुए ओम थानवी के नाम अज्ञेय की जन्मशती के मौके पर एक ग्रंथनुमा पुस्तक अपने-अपने अज्ञेय का संकलन-संपादन का श्रेय है. 

तो अक्षय मुकुल और ओम थानवी के साथ लेट्स टॉक अबाउट अज्ञेय.

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Lets Talk About the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh is our three-part deep-dive podcast into the RSS and how it became the formidable force that it is.

This live session is in conversation with Abhinandan Sekhri, Shardool Katyayan, and Vijai Trivedi.

Tune into Let's Talk About the RSS here: https://www.newslaundry.com/podcast/lets-talk-about/lets-talk-about-rss

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In the third and final episode of this series, we pick up from where we left off – the blossoming of the RSS under its third chief, Balasaheb Deoras. Moving through the JP movement to the Emergency to the birth of the Janata Party, this episode tracks the role of the RSS across epochal moments in India’s history. 

From Deoras to Rajendra Singh to KS Sudarshan to Mohan Bhagwat, the episode moves into the 21st century, spanning the consolidation of the Hindutva establishment and Babri Masjid demolition, the first BJP-led union government, and the ascent of Narendra Modi. 

It also tries to answer a fundamental question: where will the RSS go from here?

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In episode 1 of this three-part series, we left off in 1947. After the horrors of Partition, political leaders across the spectrum were battling disenchantment among their followers. The RSS was no exception, but its work during Partition stood it in good stead. 

Then came the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, and the goodwill generated by the RSS came crumbling down.

How did the RSS pick itself up and what were its primary motivations at the time? What is the truth behind the conflicting narratives on Godse’s ties to the Sangh? And what changed between the Golwalkar years and the Deoras years that followed?

To listen to the full episode, subscribe to Newslaundry. If you’re not a subscriber, use the discount code LTA20 and get 20 percent off our annual plans (and score some free merchandise too)! This coupon code is only valid if you buy the subscription on our website.

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The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the fount of Hindutva, is arguably the most powerful and influential organisation in India. It's three years from turning 100 and its influence permeates all spheres, from politics to society.

But how did this behemoth come to be, and where is it likely to go?

Welcome to episode 1 of Let’s Talk About: RSS, hosted by Abhinandan Sekhri and Shardool Katyayan. 

In this episode, guests Rajshekhar and Indraneel join Shardool in talking about their personal journeys growing up in the Sangh – the camps they attended, the training over the years, and how their opinions have evolved over the years.

“I grew up inside a system where, from waking up till the end of the day, almost every single decision was centred around the daily activities of the shakha,” says Shardool. 

Rajshekhar says his realisation of the world outside led to his eventual disconnect with the RSS. Indraneel says, “The biggest shock was upon reading Noam Chomsky’s Manufacturing Consent. It was then I realised that you don’t have to worship the identity you come from."

Parallelly, this episode also explores the birth of the RSS in British India and the life of Keshav Hedgewar, the man who was the seed to what would eventually be the RSS’s tree. Featuring guest panellists like Hartosh Singh Bal, Hitesh Shankar, and Walter K Andersen, the episode pieces together the early days of the RSS, including the many challenges it faced in newly independent India.

Listen.

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The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the fount of Hindutva, is arguably the most powerful and influential organisation in India. It's three years from turning 100 and its influence permeates all spheres, from politics to society.

But how did this behemoth come to be, and where is it likely to go?

Welcome to episode 1 of Let’s Talk About: RSS, hosted by Abhinandan Sekhri and Shardool Katyayan. In this episode, Shardool and guests talk about their personal journeys growing up in the Sangh. Parallelly, this episode also explores the birth of the RSS in British India and the life of Keshav Hedgewar, the man who was the seed to what would eventually be the RSS’s tree. Featuring guest panellists like Hartosh Singh Bal, Hitesh Shankar, and Walter K Andersen, the episode pieces together the early days of the RSS, including the many challenges it faced in newly independent India.

Listen.

To listen to the full episode, subscribe to Newslaundry. If you’re not a subscriber, use the discount code LTA20 and get 20 percent off our annual plans (and score some free merchandise too)! This coupon code is only valid if you buy the subscription on our website.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Check out Part 1 of the conversation here.

In part two of this special edition of Let’s Talk About, the Newslaundry team of Abhinandan Sekhri, Raman Kirpal, Manisha Pande, Anand Vardhan, Shardool Katyayan, and Mehraj D Lone continue their conversation on religion, this time focusing on the intersection of religion and politics.

Abhinandan asks the panel whether it thinks mixing religion and politics is inevitable or desirable. He says politics has merely “replaced” religion while still keeping aspects of it intact. Manisha thinks religion is an important part of people’s lives and, therefore, “politics is always going to be a feature of it”.

Listen.

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In this special edition of Let’s Talk About, the Newslaundry crew of Abhinandan Sekhri, Raman Kirpal, Manisha Pande, Anand Vardhan, Shardool Katyayan, and Mehraj D Lone sit down for a freewheeling discussion about religion, its place and significance in our world.

Primarily, the theme is whether religion has done more good or more harm. 

Abhinandan and Mehraj both argue that religion has done more good than harm while the rest of the panel express mixed views.

Subscribe and avail our Independence Day offer: https://bit.ly/NewslaundryIDayOffer

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Feminism as a social, political and historical phenomenon has assumed many shapes and forms through the ages. But what does feminism mean in the Indian context? Can we chart out a linear history of the movement in India? 

India’s movement has its own complexities, varying in definition and scope across class, caste, and creed. Gender dynamics and power imbalances have been instrumental in the oppression of women, and suppression and punishment is a tool to curb “transgressions” and maintain the status quo. Women have not only challenged this forced subservience but have, in many instances, overturned these systems too.

So, the goal of this podcast is not to define feminism, but to examine India’s social structures and the feminist resistance to them at specific moments in history.

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