Welcome to the Southasia Review of Books Podcast from Himal Southasian, where we speak to celebrated authors and emerging literary voices from across Southasia. In this episode, Shwetha Srikanthan, associate editor at Himal Southasian, speaks to Ari Gautier on his new short story collection, Nocturne Pondicherry, translated from the French by Roopam Singh (Hachette India, June 2024), and his novel, Lakshmi’s Secret Diary, translated by Sheela Mahadevan (Columbia University Press, September 2024). 

Blending philosophy, retellings of Southasian mythology, and the little-known history of French colonialism in Pondicherry, Lakshmi’s Secret Diary tells the fictionalised story of a temple elephant seeking to escape captivity. Through Lakshmi’s journey, where she encounters a colorful cast of animals, both real and mythical, Ari Gautier provides a searing critique of the caste system and colonial rule and sheds light on the paradoxes of human-animal relations in India, where animals are both abused and worshiped. 

In Nocturne Pondicherry, we see the city in altogether a different light. Ari’s immersive, dark and unsettling collection of short stories peels back layers of ghettoised Black Town where its ill-fated dwellers are at the mercy of caste oppression, anger, greed and lust. 

This episode is now available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud and Youtube.