The Hindu On Books

In this episode of On Book Podcast with The Hindu, we are joined by Yogesh Maitreya a leading independent Dalit publisher, writer and poet. 

We are discussing his memoir, ‘Water In A Broken Pot’- where he recounts his life journey growing up in a working-class family with meagre wages to starting publishing house - Panther's Paw Publication from the hostel room of Tata Institute of Social Sciences in 2017. The memoir is more than the story of his personal struggles. It is an introspective account of growing up in a casteist society that interrogates both his own self, his family, friends and the society at large. It questions the stereotypes that we have grown up with in the mainstream media, both films & books and how it leads to othering of an entire section of society.

The War Diary of Asha-san: From Tokyo to Netaji’s Indian National Army is based on the diary Asha-san wrote in Japanese while growing up in Japan during the World War II. The English translation published by HarperCollins, is not a simple memoir but a book rich in history that also tells the story of the Indian National Army and the freedom movement.  

At 17, she lived her dream -- of meeting Bose and joining the Rani Jhansi Regiment of the INA. As Lt. Bharati Asha Sahay Choudhury, the young girl learnt how to hold a rifle and shoot the enemy and what it meant to be fighting for the liberation of a country she had never seen but wanted to serve like a true patriot. Her adventurous journey from Japan to Thailand for the Army training, is no less than a thriller, says Tanvi.  

The Hiroshima-Nagasaki bombing and Subhash Bose’s death changed the course of Asha-san’s life as she returned to India in 1946. She now lives in Patna with her son, Sanjay Choudhury. The memories of her struggles and sacrifice would have been lost in the pages of her diary if she had not herself translated it into Hindi in 1973. Half-a-century later, her grand daughter-in-law, Tanvi Srivastava, has translated the Hindi diary into English and on 126th birth anniversary of Netaji (January 23), the book is a perfect gift from a family that was close to one of the greatest nationalist heroes.      

This is an interview with the translator Tanvi Srivastava.

In over more than 30 books about Russia, author Mark Galeotti has uncovered and explained the factors behind the rise of President Vladimir Putin, and his remarkable successes in wars, ranging from the attack on terrorism in Chechnya amid the post-Soviet chaos to the invasion of Ukraine last February. His latest book Putin’s Wars: From Chechnya to Ukraine follows a prescient 2019 book, We Need to Talk About Putin: How the West Gets Him Wrong, on why the world should have paid more attention to Moscow’s moves in the past few years.

Guest: Mark Galeotti

Host: Suhasini Haidar, Diplomatic Affairs Editor, The Hindu

Edited by Reenu Cyriac

‘Nation branding’ has replaced ‘nation building’ these days, Ravinder Kaur argues in her fascinating and provocative book, ‘Brand New Nation.’ She explains how India blends cultural and material factors to build its global identity, and how this branding efforts impact domestic politics.

As the title, Violent Fraternity: Indian Political Thought in the Global Age, suggests, Shruti Kapila’s latest book deals with fraternity, violence and sovereignty. Her core argument is that violence has not been as distant from India’s politics as we have been told. In this episode, Kapila talks about the role of violence in the making of the Indian republic. Zeroing in on the ‘power of ideas’ in instituting the political foundations of modern India, Kapila also looks at the role of Buddhism.

Host: Varghese K. George

In this episode we are in conversation with the former chairman of the National Security Advisory Board (NSAB) Shyam saran about his new book, How China sees India and the world and the authoritative view of India-China relationship.

Two years after the Galwan clashes on June 15-16, 2020, in which at least 20 Indian soldiers and four Chinese soldiers were killed, the government says it has still not ascertained why China amassed its troops in such large numbers at the border. In this episode, author Shyam Saran lists a number of reasons while also delving deep into the historic relationships between the two countries.

With dates, events and personality, this book sums up volumes of Chinese history, giving it a very comprehensive and uniquely Indian perspective as well. In this episode of the On Books podcast, we discuss some of the history but most importantly talk about what we can learn from China that will help up deal with this challenge today and in the future. 

In this episode, we are joined by Rahul Sagar, author of a new book that sheds light on how Indian thinkers in the 19th century viewed India’s place in the world and how their debates would leave a lasting impact on India’s strategic thought in the 20th century. “To Raise a Fallen People: How Nineteenth Century Indians Saw Their World and Shaped Ours” looks at the late 19th century as a critical but often ignored period in India’s intellectual history, but one that, as the author argues, would become a seminal moment in how Indians came to think about India’s place in the world as they wrestled with colonialism and other contemporary developments, from racism faced by Indians in South Africa to the devastating impact of opium trade on the economies of India and China.

Guest: Rahul Sagar, author of “To Raise a Fallen People: How Nineteenth Century Indians Saw Their World and Shaped Ours”

Host: Ananth Krishnan, China correspondent, The Hindu

Edited by Reenu Cyriac

In this episode of On Book Podcast with The Hindu, we are joined by senior journalist Rasheed Kidwai author of “Leaders, Politicians, Citizens- Fifty Figures Who Influenced India’s Politics”. Mr. Kidwai has been a journalist for over three decades while writing political columns for multiple publications, he is also a visiting fellow with the Observer Research Foundation. This book is an unusual anthology of public figures and Mr. Kidwai goes beyond the usual cradle to grave narrative. He dredges up their quirks, fears, insecurities, ambitions, and disappointments. From a fascinating account of the hold astrologer, Chandraswami had on international leaders including former Prime Minister of UK Margret Thatcher, to the original political strategist of India Arun Nehru, the book brings in an interesting mix of characters, some well-known and a few forgotten ones.

Guest: Rasheed Kidwai, journalist and author of “Leaders, Politicians, Citizens- Fifty Figures Who Influenced India’s Politics”

Host: Sobhana K. Nair

Edited by Ranjani Srinivasan

In this episode, we are joined by two distinguished scholars who have closely documented the changing social and political trends in India for close to half a century, Jan Breman and Ghanshyam Shah.

The two of them have come out with a new book, titled ‘Gujarat, Cradle and Harbinger of Identity Politics: India’s Injurious Frame of Communalism’, published by Tulika Books. This book, a collection of essays written during the period of Hindutva’s growth in Gujarat and beyond, is an attempt to answer why majoritarian politics found fertile ground in Gujarat, of all places.

In this edition of The Hindu On Books podcast, we speak with Breman and Shah about the history of communal politics in India, how it has evolved over the years, Gujarat’s role in its expansion, and whether it is changing the average India’s sense of nationhood and what it means to be an Indian.

Guest: Jan Breman, Professor Emeritus of Comparative Sociology at the University of Amsterdam and Honorary Fellow at the International Institute of Social History, Amsterdam and Ghanshyam Shah, retired Professor of Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, and was earlier Dr Ambedkar Chair Professor at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie.

Host: G. Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The Hindu

Edited by Reenu Cyriac

In this episode, we are joined by Shrayana Bhattacharya author of ‘Desperately Seeking Shah Rukh: India’s Lonely Young Women and The Search for Intimacy And Independence’. She is a technocrat who works with the World Bank as an economist. The genre-bending book maps the economic and personal trajectories - the jobs, desires, prayers, love affairs and rivalries of a diverse group of women. Deep adoration for actor Shahrukh Khan is the only unifying factor among these women. It talks about the hidden tax that working women have to pay. Breaking all the social science rules, the book talks about the economic burden of being a woman through individual stories. The reader gets to see and feel first-hand of the emotional cost of pay disparity, skewed labour markets and simply lack of freedom to choose. It took Ms. Bhattacharya 15-years to cover this longitudinal journey from the slums of Ahmedabad in 2006 where, as a young researcher she had gone for her first field trip.

Guest: Shrayana Bhattacharya, technocrat who works with the World Bank as an economist

Host: Sobhana K. Nair

Edited by Ranjani Srinivasan