Stories From India's Lockdown

Joining us on today's episode is Krishna Prasanth. As you can see from his photo, Prasanth enjoys wearing different hats (pun intended). He is a consultant working with one of the Big4s, and when he is not doing that, he volunteers with CIVIC Bangalore, a civil society group striving to bring democracy to the grassroots level in urban Bangalore. Prasanth is a dear friend from Gokhale Institute. We usually engage in stimulating conversation, and I would like to think of this episode as one of them. We talk about working from home, the role of civil society in modern times and hope of changing our ways once the lockdown ends!

Today I chat with stand-up comedian Aditi Mittal! You can follow Aditi on Instagram @addymitzy for equal doses of comedy and exercise videos, and on twitter @awryaditi! You can also tune into her podcast, ‘Women in Labour’, a comedy podcast looking at why women are disappearing from India’s workforce, and ofcourse, do subscribe to her YouTube Channel! In this episode, Aditi tells us about how she made it to India right before the lockdown, why comedy generally happens in dark rooms, and what she is doing to be productive while being indoors

Today on the Podcast, we have with us Prof. Ashish Kulkarni, who teaches at the Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics in Pune, which also happens to be my alma mater. Fun fact is, Ashish has never taught me in a classroom setting, which I honestly regret, and only got to know him after my time at Gokhale. He is extremely well read and the wittiest, coolest professor I know, but most importantly, Ashish is a friend and a guide. I have also had the privilege of featuring on his podcast, back to college, which can be found on Anchor. Today we talk about tech assisted education and whether we should rethink year end evaluation for students who appear for their board exams!

Joining us today is K Sujatha Rao, former Health Secretary, Government of India. She is a retired IAS officer with 36 years of experience, 20 of which were in public health. During this time, Ms. Rao has held several positions at the federal and state levels, including Secretary WHO and Secretary National Aids Control Organisation. She has authored a book on India's health system called Do we care, providing an insiders perspective into the country's public healthcare system. On this episode, we talk about India's preparedness for fighting the virus and whether or not India is already experiencing community transmission of COVID19

Joining us on this episode is drummer extraordinaire, Darshan Doshi. Darshan is among the finest independent drummers in India, and plays drums for the among the best music producers and composers in Bollywood. He has toured extensively around the world with the likes of Salim Suleiman, Adnan Sami and Farhan Akhtar to name a few. He is also the founder of the Darshan Doshi Collective, a fusion band. Darshan talks about how he cannot wait to get back on stage for a gig and about the need of a social security net for live musicians.

Joining us on the first episode is Dr. Sanjaya Baru. Dr. Baru was media adviser to PM Manmohan Singh in UPA 1 and is a bestselling author, best known for his book The Accidental Prime Minister. Dr. Baru has been at the helm of some of the most premier newspapers in the country and continues to write extensively on subjects of economics, politics and foreign policy. Today we will talk to him about the macroeconomic impact of the Coronavirus on the Indian economy and the impact on global order