The Hindu On Books

‘The Braided River: A Journey Along the Brahmaputra’ is journalist-turned-author and Shillong native Samrat Choudhur's ode to his immediate neighbourhood. While the book pitches itself as travel, memoir and history rolled into one, it is in the latter two that it sparkles most.

The book is yet another in a long line of academic scholarship and non-fiction that make a fervent plea against damming up the Northeast, a push triggered primarily by a hydropower race with China and as yet unfounded fears about it diverting Brahmaputra water away from the source channels. Choudhury highlights the short shrift given to green compliances, often in the face of protests by locals, in order to fast-track projects that would cut up the Siang, Lohit and Dibang.

In this podcast, the author speaks to us about his experience writing the book.

Host: Abdus Salam, The Hindu

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Journalist Rasheed Kidwai's latest book “The House of Scindias - A Saga of Power, Politics and Intrigue” looks at the long-running Scindia dynasty whose story encompasses the Mughals, the British and the Gandhi dynasty in India. Whether on the same side or on opposing ideological poles, the Scindias have enjoyed long stints in public service and have seamlessly traversed the distance between royalty and democratic politics.

Kidwai’s book profiles the family , and speaks about the difficulty of writing candidly about people still active in public life. He recalls his personal interactions with family members, and the roles they have played in post-Independence politics. Kidwai also reveals who he thinks is the most fascinating Scindia for him.

Host: Nistula Hebbar, Political Editor, The Hindu

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In this episode, we are joined by Vijay Gokhale, a former Foreign Secretary and Ambassador to China, to talk about his new book “The Long Game: How the Chinese Negotiate with India”, which is being published on July 19, 2021. The book examines the history of how China has negotiated with India through the lens of six significant moments in the relationship, from India’s recognition of the PRC to the 1954 Tibet trade agreement to the Chinese recognition of Sikkim and the aftermath of the India-U.S. nuclear deal. We revisit some of those moments and more importantly, discuss what the lessons are for some of India’s contemporary problems with China.

Host: Ananth Krishnan, China correspondent, The Hindu

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We are joined by on this podcast by Manoj Kewalramani to talk about his new book "Smokeless War: China's Quest for Geopolitical Dominance".

Kewalramani, a fellow at The Takshashila Institution who studies China, provides perhaps the first detailed and granular account assessing China's strategic and political responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. The book focuses on Beijing's geopolitical strategies as it looked to turn around a crisis at home and criticism abroad into an opportunity for China. Has that strategy succeeded?

Host: Ananth Krishnan, China Correspondent, The Hindu

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In this episode, we are joined by Jairam Ramesh to discuss his new book, The Light of Asia: The Poem That Defined the Buddha. Ramesh, author, Member of Parliament, former Union Minister, and Congress leader, digs deep in his new book to bring out the fascinating story behind the epic 1879 poem, The Light of Asia by Sir Edwin Arnold, that took the world by storm and in some ways, brought the Buddha's storyto the world at the turn of the last century.

Ramesh's book is a biography both of the poem and of the man who wrote it, an Englishman who briefly lived in India, became a scholar of Sanskrit, was a voracious translator and later poet in his own right, and a man of contradictions, who had a deep affinity for Indian philosophy and literature, but was also a defender of empire. We discuss how and why Arnold's work came to influence an extraordinary range of 20th century figures from Gandhi and Nehru to C.V. Raman, and its continuing relevance today.

Host: Ananth Krishnan, China Correspondant, The Hindu

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Our guest today on the podcast is Ghazala Wahab, who's recently released book, Born a Muslim: Some Truths about Islam and India has created quite a stir, particularly in our present times. In contemporary politics, the debates and discussions around Hindus and Muslims are getting vitriolic and polarised and at the same time becoming more relevant. The author explains what it is to be a Muslim, a member of the largest religious minority in India today, and why the community lives in fear as prejudices persist.

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In this episode of The Hindu on Books, we are chating with Vijay Gokale who was the Former Foreign Secretary of India. In his last work 'Tiananmen Square: The Making of a Protest', Vijay discuss the Tiananmen Square protest that shook the power seats of China.

After 32 years, since the incident in Beijing, we are in conversation today with Vijay Gokhale, then a young diplomat serving in Beijing, who was a witness to the drama that unfolded. The events of that summer would not only set the course for China's politics but would also re-define its relationship with the world.

Host: Suhasini Haidar, The Hindu

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In this episode of The Hindu On Books Podcast, we are joined by Vinod Kapri, filmmaker and author, who speaks about his new book '1232 km: The Long Journey Home', published by HarperCollins. The book tells the story of the March 24, 2020 lockdown and its impact on the lives of millions, told through the stories of 7 young men. Left for themselves in Delhi, they undertake a perilous journey home - the distance they cover on bicycles gives the book its title - as they encounter incredible obstacles on their way, from police brutality to insults, and rely on the kindness of strangers to survive.

The book grew out of a documentary film project that followed their journey home last year, and through seven lives, paints a broader picture of how India - its government at every level, people and society at large - treat a group of people who are so essential in powering everyday life and industry in India's cities, yet face little gratitude for doing so.

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In this episode, we are joined by Shivshankar Menon, former National Security Adviser, Foreign Secretary and Ambassador to China, who traces the history and evolution of India’s foreign policy and place in the world in the new book, “India and Asian Geopolitics: The Past, Present.”

Going back into history, the book looks at the origins and evolution of India's foreign policy and view of the world, from how India's leaders, in the early years after Independence, crafted the foreign policy of a newly independent country, to how India navigated the Cold War and then the age of globalisation and rise of China.

It also examines India's present foreign policy challenges and how they may be best tackled. The author tells us why the country is served best when interconnected with the world and not by turning inward, although he fears we may now be headed in the wrong direction. The world, he says, is facing a hinge moment, and he explains why India needs to be clear-eyed in its vision of what it seeks in the international order, and particularly in crafting a new modus vivendi with China after the 2020 border crisis.

Also read | China tore up the modus vivendi in 2020, the LAC is now live: Shivshankar Menon

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In today’s episode we are in conversation with author Sanjaya Baru about his new book India’s Power Elite: Class, Caste and a Cultural Revolution.

The ascent of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the national arena has disrupted politics as we knew it and the BJPs’ subsequent dominance over political discourse has led sociologists and political commentators to find new idioms through which to document the changes that this brought about on the political and social sphere. In his book, Mr. Baru, a former media advisor to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh tries to capture not just the churn brought about by the 2014 general election and the decline of the Congress in the political sphere, but its impact on the social and cultural landscape, and the nuts and bolts that make up India’s elite.

Host: Nistula Hebbar, Political Editor, The Hindu

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