The Indian Edit

Such a delight to meet someone who continues to pursue a wide range of interests while specializing enough to be a University Professor! Usha Raman is Professor of Communication at the University of Hyderabad, Vice President of the International Association for Media and Communication Research, Editor of ‘Teacher Plus’ magazine, writer for ‘The Hindu’, and a core team member of the Hyderabad Literary Festival. Phew!

Usha shares her journalistic journey, her adventures in reading, writing, teaching and podcasting here on Episode 76. Her fantastic tips on what to listen to and read right now are not to be missed!

Listen now on your favorite podcast app, or at www.theindianedit.com and please take a second to rate us wherever you’re listening so the voices of these inspiring women can be heard all over the world!

SHOWNOTES FOR EPISODE 76:

Find Usha at her website, on instagram, her substack and Twitter: @usharaman

Usha’s Podcast Reading for our times and magazine Teacher Plus

The Hyderabad Literary Festival in late January

PODCAST TIPS:

How to Fail with Elizabeth Day - Usha recommends the Stanley Tucci and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie episodes

Empire podcast with Anita Anand and William Dalrymple

Amit Varma’s podcast The Seen and The Unseen: episode on with Urvashi Butalia is here

883 to Infinity (podcast by a Bombay and Karachi based duo)

BOOKS we discussed:

Sujata Massey’s Perveen Mistry books

Harini Nagendra’s books including the Bangalore Detectives Club

Siddhartha Mukherjee’s books

Agatha Christie’s And Then There were None audiobook read by Dan Stevens

Nora Ephron’s Heartburn read by Meryl Streep

Beloved read by Toni Morrisson

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett read by Tom Hanks

Questions? Comments? Get in touch @theindianeditpodcast on Instagram !

Special thanks to Varun Dhabe and the team @ Boon Castle / Flying Carpet Productions for audio post-production engineering!

Ready to cosy up your house this Fall? Boston-based interior designer Vani Sayeed joined me to share her love of art, textiles and design in this landmark Episode 75! Hear how Vani followed her doctor husband from India to the midwest, then San Francisco and finally to Boston, and managed to break into a notoriously closed industry in all these places as both an employee and independent designer. How did this JJ School of Arts trained designer keep going despite being an outsider? What’s the secret to creating layered, welcoming rooms? And the best places to eat and shop in Hyderabad?

Listen below or at www.theindianedit.com and please take a second to rate us wherever you’re listening so the voices of these inspiring women can be heard all over the world!

SHOWNOTES FOR EPISODE 75:

Find Vani and her studio on instagram and her website

BOOKS:

Haute Bohemians by Miguel Flores-Vianna

John Kerry's memoir on audio Every Day is Extra

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett

The Perfect Bath by Barbara Sallick

A Sense of Place: Houses on Martha's Vineyard and Cape Cod by Mark A. Hutker and Marc Kristal

Homer’s Odyssey on Audio

Wonderland by designer Summer Thornton

Social History of an Indian Caste: The Kayasths of Hyderabad by Karen Isaksen Leonard

HYDERABAD TIPS:

Designer Anand Kabra

Hand block prints by Sharmila Taneja on Facebook

Zardozi specialist Deena Azam on instagram

Falaknuma Palace

Golconda Fort

Questions? Comments? Get in touch @theindianeditpodcast on Instagram !

Special thanks to Varun Dhabe and the team @ Boon Castle / Flying Carpet Productions for audio post-production engineering!

Having lived across 3 continents (moving from Malawi to the UK and finally to New Zealand) and having had multiple fascinating careers, it’s no surprise my latest guest does not take NO for an answer! Join me in this chat with inspiring mother of two Ashia Ismail-Singer who has taken her passion for food and ‘can-do’ attitude to publishing TWO (traditionally published!) cookbooks while working full-time as a nurse, and now a real estate agent!

Listen below or at www.theindianedit.com and please take a second to rate us wherever you’re listening so the voices of these inspiring women can be heard all over the world!

SHOWNOTES FOR EPISODE 74:

Find Ashia on her beautiful website and instagram

BOOKS:

Ashia’s Table on Amazon.com

American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

One of my all time favorite books by NZ author Keri Hulme The Bone People

Together: Memorable Meals Made Easy [American Measurements] by Jamie Oliver

Questions? Comments? Get in touch @theindianeditpodcast on Instagram !

Special thanks to Varun Dhabe and the team @ Boon Castle / Flying Carpet Productions for audio post-production engineering!

“Pan-gender to me means any gender expression that exists right now, I identify with in some way. So there are days where I feel more masculine, I feel more feminine, I feel non-binary. It depends on where I'm at internally. I don't like to limit myself to one gender. So pan-gender feels the most accurate.” — Sushma Saha

Energetic and inspiring, my latest guest Sushma Saha is one you don’t want to miss! Sushma shares coming out stories, acting drama, and what it was like playing a founding father in Roundabout Theatre’s new production of ‘1776’ opening now on Broadway!

Listen now below or at www.theindianedit.com and please take a second to rate us wherever you’re listening so the voices of these inspiring women can be heard all over the world!

SHOWNOTES FOR EPISODE 73:

Find Sushma on instagram

Buy tickets for 1776 on Broadway here

Read a terrific write-up of the play in the New York Times here

BOOKS:

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

1776 by David McCullough

Questions? Comments? Get in touch @theindianeditpodcast on Instagram !

Special thanks to Varun Dhabe and the team @ Boon Castle / Flying Carpet Productions for audio post-production engineering!

“If some teachers can create magic in the classroom, then why not all?”

Anju Saigal founded the non-profit CEQUE (pron. Seekhey) to upskill teachers in underprivileged communities in India after working in the education space for decades. Trained at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education and in field work through Pratham (one of India’s largest education focused non-profits), Anju shares how observing classroom teaching in action led her to create a non-profit focused on supporting and training teachers to improve the quality of education. Join us as India celebrates 75 years of independence to hear about the challenges and opportunities facing its youngest learners!

Listen now below or at www.theindianedit.com and please take a second to rate us wherever you’re listening so the voices of these inspiring women can be heard all over the world!

SHOWNOTES FOR EPISODE 72:

Find Anju at CEQUE’s website and on instagram

Learn more about Pratham

BOOKS:

Castaway Mountain: Love and Loss Among the Wastepickers of Mumbai by Saumya Roy

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

Questions? Comments? Get in touch @theindianeditpodcast on Instagram !

Special thanks to Varun Dhabe and the team @ Boon Castle / Flying Carpet Productions for audio post-production engineering!

“I was behind the desk, but my heart was really in the garden. So I tried to work as little as possible so that I could spend every free moment tending my garden.”

Curious about gardening and growing your own food in small spaces? Or how someone published THREE books in three years!!? Join me as Gardenerd founder and debut novelist Christy Wilhelmi shares how she pivoted from a desk job to following her passion for gardening and writing. Christy spills the dirt on composting, growing your own food, and how she wrote her book’s love interest with Dev Patel in mind on this latest episode!

Listen here or at www.theindianedit.com and please take a second to rate us wherever you’re listening so the voices of these inspiring women can be heard all over the world!

SHOWNOTES FOR EPISODE 71:

Find Christy at her website and on instagram

Get yourself a copy of her new novel Garden Variety here

Grow Your Own Mini Fruit Garden: Planting and Tending Small Fruit Trees and Berries in Gardens and Containers

Gardening for Geeks

Visit the Gardenerd Test Garden through Healing Gardens

BOOKS and SEEDS:

Black Flora: Profiles of Inspiring Black Flower Farmers + Florists by Teresa Speight

Now is the Time for Trees by Dan Lambe of the Arbor Day Foundation

Christy’s cucumber seed pick: Poona kheera!

Her current fave heirloom tomato varieties: Jaune Flamme and Azoychka

Questions? Comments? Get in touch @theindianeditpodcast on Instagram !

Special thanks to Varun Dhabe and the team @ Boon Castle / Flying Carpet Productions for audio post-production engineering!

Boston-based author Sena Desai Gopal is a long-time journalist and first-time novelist. She’s set her debut novel ‘The 86th Village’ in her ancestral village in Karnataka which has been devastated by flooding caused by the Upper Krishna dam project. Hundreds of villages have already been completely submerged, and Sena’s beloved hometown is next. She's taken her skills as a science and travel journalist to the world of fiction in creating what Criminal Element calls one of the “Most Anticipated Mysteries and Thrillers of 2022”.

Join me as Sena and I chat about her idyllic childhood in the village where her novel is set, what large mega-dams often mean for marginalized local communities, and her journalism work on beef exports from India, kebabs in Turkey and much more! Listen now on your favorite podcast app, Spotify or www.theindianedit.com and please take a second to rate us wherever you’re listening so the voices of these inspiring women can be heard all over the world!

SHOWNOTES FOR EPISODE 70:

Find Sena at her website and on instagram

Get yourself a copy of The 86th Village on Bookshop.org and on Amazon.com

Hear more about dams from the BBC or the hilarious and sharp Queer Eye star Jonathan Van Ness on “Are Dams Cute… Or Not So Cute? with Professor Heather Randell” on the Getting Curious podcast

Sena’s recipes from Peru

BOOKS and MORE:

Rebel Queen by Michelle Moran

The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy

Books by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Immigrant Daughter: Stories You Never Told Me by Catherine Kapphahn

“A witty, gentle, original and very modern quest for the magical (not the mythical) in Britain’s landscape, which both made me laugh and moved me.” - Robert Macfarlane

I was delighted to have this chance to speak with writer Jini Reddy about her yearning to connect with the landscape of Britain, her adopted homeland, which resulted in her delightful and thought-provoking book ‘Wanderland’. Jini’s been writing on travel, nature, and spirituality for many years and shares her journey from a snow-loving childhood in Canada to Mother Teresa’s home in Calcutta to her writing and exploring life in UK.

Join me as Jini shares how a strange encounter alone at the top of a mountain in France led her down the journey of ‘Wanderland’, how she approaches solo travel, and how diverse voices are (finally) re-shaping the travel writing genre! Listen now on your favorite podcast app or at www.theindianedit.com and please take a second to rate us wherever you’re listening so the voices of these inspiring women can be heard all over the world!

SHOWNOTES FOR EPISODE 69:

Find Jini at her website and on instagram

Wanderland: Shortlisted for the Wainwright Prize and Stanford Dolman Travel Book of the Year Award

Wild Times: Extraordinary Experiences Connecting with Nature in Britain

BOOKS and MORE:

Spirit Run: A 6,000-Mile Marathon Through North America's Stolen Land by Noe Alvarez

If you enjoy podcasts to do with gardens and the natural world, don’t miss Cultivating Place.

My chat with Jennifer Jewell on the Cultivating Place podcast:

Cultivating Place: The Indian Edit, with Nitasha Manchanda

An absolute delight to speak with a young Nepali entrepreneur working on TWO start-ups! Join me in this chat with Ishu Dhakras, co-founder of lifestyle brand Ne Nepal and marketing manager of restaurant group Burma Burma! Ishu grew up in Nepal, was educated in the US, and is now based between Bombay and Kathmandu. Loved hearing how she tried many start-up ideas before landing on the winning one with jewellery and home goods handmade in Nepal. Hear how she and co-founder Tulja Kedia wanted to offer Nepali customers a handmade alternative to the glut of cheap products made in China, while creating fair employment for Nepali ceramic and metal working artisans.

Listen here or at www.theindianedit.com and please take a second to rate us wherever you’re listening so the voices of these inspiring women can be heard all over the world!

SHOWNOTES FOR EPISODE 68:

Find Ishu at the Ne Nepal website and on instagram

Try restaurants Burma Burma or order from their pantry

BOOKS and MORE:

Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time by Greg Mortsensen

Pregnant King by Devdutt Pattanaik

The Nutmeg's Curse: Parables for a Planet in Crisis by Amitav Ghosh

The Glass Palace by Amitav Ghosh

In an Antique Land by Amitav Ghosh

My chat with Jennifer Jewell on the Cultivating Place podcast:

Cultivating Place: The Indian Edit, with Nitasha Manchanda

Questions? Comments? Get in touch @theindianeditpodcast on Instagram !

Special thanks to Varun Dhabe and the team @ Boon Castle / Flying Carpet Productions for audio post-production engineering!

Ever wanted to gather your family’s recipes to celebrate and pass on your unique home culture? My latest guest Sri Bodanapu took a lengthy Word doc and turned it into a beautiful, glossy, bound cookbook for her own family and has now started a company to help you do the same! Founder of Heirloom Project Co., Sri shares her journey into motherhood, nutrition consulting, and now entrepreneurship on this latest episode. Hear how she helps people turn a nostalgic longing for childhood and place into a tangible family heirloom.

Listen below or at www.theindianedit.com and please take a second to rate us wherever you’re listening so the voices of these inspiring women can be heard all over the world!

SHOWNOTES FOR EPISODE 67:

Find Sri at the Heirloom Project website and on instagram

Sri’s podcast Big Little Choices

BOOKS and MORE:

One Night on the Island by Josie Silver

The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi

Questions? Comments? Get in touch @theindianeditpodcast on Instagram !

Special thanks to Varun Dhabe and the team @ Boon Castle / Flying Carpet Productions for audio post-production engineering!