"She takes ancient stories and makes them quite modern." Meant as a criticism, poet, playwright and bestselling author Nikita Gill takes the barb as a compliment. In this conversation, she talks about her latest book, Hekate, and why ancient stories resonate today.

From The Seas, a Poet Emerges:
She set sail from Mumbai to Madagascar with her merchant navy father, and it was there, at twilight, as local poets gathered, that she discovered the true power of verse: not just as an art form, but as a community builder and a form of protest.

The Gift of Invisibility:
Before becoming a literary success, Nikita worked as a cleaner and a caregiver. Both experiences, Nikita says, were instructive for her as a writer. They taught her about class, about race, and what it means to be invisible -- she calls it a “gift.”

Where’s Home?
Born in Belfast to Kashmiri and Punjabi parents, Nikita is familiar with lands that carry contentious histories. Having lived in many countries, she is at home in several places at once. Home doesn’t have to be a “physical” space. It’s where your people are.

The Difficult Woman:
Nikita reflects on the community she’s built around her poetry: how the hate comments have fuelled her ambition, what it means to be a "difficult" woman, how that surfaces in her work, and why her writing will always be sacred, and true to her.

Featured Clips in this episode:
Jaipur Literature Festival 2026 | Day 3 Highlights & Promo

Credits:

Host: Mallika Kapur

Mallika Kapur is an award-winning journalist and seasoned interviewer with over two decades of experience in television and live journalism. Across three countries and various impactful roles at CNN and Bloomberg, she has reported on major global events, including the London train bombings, the Indian Ocean tsunami and the Mumbai terror attacks. She also moderates news making panels at global forums, leading insightful conversations with the world’s top figures in business and culture.

Reach out on Instagram and LinkedIn

This is a Maed In India Production

Creative Director: Mae Mariyam Thomas
Project Manager: Shaun Fanthome
Sound Designer & Mix Engineer: Kartik Kulkarni
Producer: Rachna Sukuru
Assistant Producer: Karan Solanki
Sound Engineer: Nihar Temkar
Artwork: Alika Gupta

Bestselling author Christina Baker Kline takes chapters from our past and turns them into engrossing, unputdownable stories that, at times, leave us aghast. Her latest novel, The Foursome, draws on the remarkable true story of conjoined twins Chang and Eng Bunker. In her breakout bestseller, Orphan Train, she shines a light on children sent by rail to middle America to live with foster families. Across both, she explores themes of belonging, family, bringing alive the hidden lives that shape history.

The Children on the Trains
Christina talks about stumbling across one of America’s most overlooked histories – a quarter of a million children sent west on trains in search of new homes. She reflects on interviewing surviving riders, uncovering heartbreaking archival records, and why the story continues to resonate in a world still grappling with immigration, displacement, and belonging.

Extraordinary Lives and Ordinary Loves
Inspired by her own family history, Christina shares the remarkable true story of Chang and Eng Bunker, the world's most famous conjoined twins, and the sisters who married them.

The Accidental Bestseller
Christina discusses the remarkable reception of Orphan Train, admitting that she was initially embarrassed by its bestseller status. Reflecting on the pressures and privileges that come with commercial success, her greatest satisfaction still comes from connecting with readers one story at a time.

The Authentic Storyteller
In an age increasingly shaped by AI-generated content, Christina remains optimistic about the future of storytelling. She believes readers will always be drawn to stories that could only have been told by one particular person.

Featured Clips in this episode:
Orphan Trains Rescued New York's Homeless Children | History
The Dark History of the First 'Siamese' Twins - Guinness World Records
Book Review - ORPHAN TRAIN by Christina Baker Kline
NY Times Bestseller Christina Baker Kline Discusses Her Book "Orphan Train" at Woodstock Academy
Book Club Girl

Credits:

Host: Mallika Kapur

Mallika Kapur is an award-winning journalist and seasoned interviewer with over two decades of experience in television and live journalism. Across three countries and various impactful roles at CNN and Bloomberg, she has reported on major global events, including the London train bombings, the Indian Ocean tsunami and the Mumbai terror attacks. She also moderates news making panels at global forums, leading insightful conversations with the world’s top figures in business and culture.

Reach out on Instagram and LinkedIn

This is a Maed In India Production

Creative Director: Mae Mariyam Thomas
Project Manager: Shaun Fanthome
Sound Designer & Mix Engineer: Kartik Kulkarni
Producer: Rachna Sukuru
Assistant Producers: Karan Solanki, Aditi Sutar
Sound Engineer: Nihar Temkar
Artwork: Alika Gupta

Mohsin Hamid’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist became one of the defining novels of the post-9/11 world. Nearly twenty years later, he reflects on writing a story that captured disillusionment, migration and belonging. Is the story still relevant today? Perhaps, more than ever.

The American Dream:
It was the gold standard of the American dream: an Ivy League education followed by a prestigious job in the corporate world of New York. Hamid lived that. Till his love affair with America dimmed.

The Monologue:
Mohsin takes us inside the novel’s most striking device: a one-sided conversation between Changez and an unnamed American stranger. He reflects on the power of silence, and why leaving gaps in storytelling forces readers to confront their own assumptions.

Homecoming:
At the heart of the conversation is the idea of home. Mohsin speaks about migration, reverse migration, and the complicated act of seeing your homeland through foreign eyes.

Beyond The Page:
From collaborating with Mira Nair on the film adaptation to reflecting on India-Pakistan relations today, Mohsin speaks about art, estrangement, and the possibility of reconnection.

Featured Clips in this episode:
9/11 - Reporter on camera as tower collapses
CNN 9/11 Live Coverage 9:30 AM - 9:45 AM
How the 1965 Immigration Act changed America
The Reluctant Fundamentalist - Official Trailer

Credits:

Host: Mallika Kapur

Mallika Kapur is an award-winning journalist and seasoned interviewer with over two decades of experience in television and live journalism. Across three countries and various impactful roles at CNN and Bloomberg, she has reported on major global events, including the London train bombings, the Indian Ocean tsunami and the Mumbai terror attacks. She also moderates news making panels at global forums, leading insightful conversations with the world’s top figures in business and culture.

Reach out on Instagram and LinkedIn

This is a Maed In India Production

Creative Director: Mae Mariyam Thomas
Project Manager: Shaun Fanthome
Sound Designer & Mix Engineer: Kartik Kulkarni
Producer: Rachna Sukuru
Sound Engineer: Nihar Temkar
Artwork: Alika Gupta

Vietnamese author Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai writes about war through the lives of those forever altered by it. In this conversation, she reflects on The Mountains Sing and Dust Child, the women and children caught in the aftermath of the Vietnam War, and the enduring impact of trauma across generations.

Prologue:
From traveling across Vietnam interviewing survivors to conversations with families still searching for loved ones decades after the war, Quế Mai reflects on the delicate balance between history and imagination in her writing.

The Women of Vietnam:
Quế Mai discusses the women who inspired her unforgettable characters, from the strength and sacrifice of Grandma Diệu Lan in The Mountains Sing to mothers in Dust Child forced to survive abandonment, shame, poverty, and impossible choices in the aftermath of war.

Bụi Đời (The Dust of Life):
Quế Mai speaks about the Amerasian children born during the war, the discrimination they faced, and the real-life reunions and heartbreak that inspired Dust Child.

Writing Without Fear:
From growing up in poverty and selling goods on the street to becoming an internationally acclaimed writer, Quế Mai reflects on vulnerability, censorship, courage, and why meaningful storytelling requires confronting both history and your own deepest fears.

Featured Clips in this episode:
50 years ago: CBS News report from Vietnam sparked U.S. outrage
Hanoi Hannah Radio Broadcast
“Life is cheap in the Orient” - Hearts and Minds Documentary

Credits:

Host: Mallika Kapur

Mallika Kapur is an award-winning journalist and seasoned interviewer with over two decades of experience in television and live journalism. Across three countries and various impactful roles at CNN and Bloomberg, she has reported on major global events, including the London train bombings, the Indian Ocean tsunami and the Mumbai terror attacks. She also moderates news making panels at global forums, leading insightful conversations with the world’s top figures in business and culture.

Reach out on Instagram and LinkedIn

This is a Maed In India Production

Creative Director: Mae Mariyam Thomas
Project Manager: Shaun Fanthome
Sound Designer & Mix Engineer: Kartik Kulkarni
Producer: Rachna Sukuru
Assistant Producer: Karan Solanki
Sound Engineer: Nihar Temkar
Artwork: Alika Gupta

Alka Joshi, author of the New York Times Bestseller, The Henna Artist, reflects on a body of work that feels like a personal tribute to her heritage. She opens up about the circumstances that led to her beloved trilogy and gives us a glimpse into what’s next for the author whose writing has become a love letter from India to the world.

A Life Reimagined:
At the heart of The Henna Artist lies a deeply personal question: what would Alka Joshi’s mother’s life have looked like, had she not gotten married at eighteen? She reflects on her relationship with her mother, with India in the 50s and 60s, and versions of her characters that never saw the light of day.

The Cultural Ambassador:
Alka was nine when she left India for America. For years, as she assimilated to life in the west, she kept one part of her identity quiet. Until she didn’t. India is front and center of her novels. Today, she stands as a cultural and historical ambassador for the country of her birth, and she's proud to show the world an India that's far more alive than the one a global audience usually gets to see.

Fragrance and Memories:
Alka talks about her third book in the trilogy, and why she chose to center it around perfumery. She takes us through a trip down memory lane, invoking memories through fragrances.

The Pivot:
A career in advertising. Then, full-time writing in her 60s. Alka reflects on this pivot, and how her age and experience aided the transition. And, how, if not for Reese Witherspoon, the book might not have seen global success.

Featured Clips in this episode:
1,000,000 Indians On The Move (1947)
Teesri Manzil Original Soundtrack by Saregama
Reese and Alka LIVE on @reesewitherspoon

 

Credits:

Host: Mallika Kapur

Mallika Kapur is an award-winning journalist and seasoned interviewer with over two decades of experience in television and live journalism. Across three countries and various impactful roles at CNN and Bloomberg, she has reported on major global events, including the London train bombings, the Indian Ocean tsunami and the Mumbai terror attacks. She also moderates news making panels at global forums, leading insightful conversations with the world’s top figures in business and culture.

Reach out on Instagram and LinkedIn

This is a Maed In India Production

Creative Director: Mae Mariyam Thomas
Project Manager: Shaun Fanthome
Sound Designer & Mix Engineer: Kartik Kulkarni
Producer: Rachna Sukuru
Assistant Producers: Karan Solanki, Aditi Sutar
Sound Engineer: Nihar Temkar
Artwork: Alika Gupta

What happens when Death tells a story about life? Twenty years after the publication of The Book Thief, Markus Zusak revisits the novel that transformed his career and became one of the defining works of contemporary fiction. He reflects on language, imagination, history, and the unlikely creative decisions that gave the book its singular voice and lasting impact.

A 20 year Legacy:
Markus Zusak was just twenty-seven when he began writing The Book Thief–young enough to be fearless, bold enough to take creative risks. The story he wrote remains relevant and draws new audiences even today.

The Tradesman:
Markus Zusak does not consider himself to be a literary genius. For him, writing is less about having a great imagination, and more about solving problems. He opens up about how family memories, wartime anecdotes, and fragments of real lives were woven together to create unforgettable characters.

Death, The Messenger:
One of literature's most distinctive narrators was almost abandoned. Markus recounts the long journey to finding Death's voice—from a dark, cynical observer to a character haunted by human beings and their capacity for both cruelty and beauty.

The Failurist:
Markus explains why he proudly embraces failure as part of the creative process. He reflects on how every version of The Book Thief that didn't work ultimately paved the way for the version that did—and why success is often built on a foundation of countless mistakes.

Featured Clips in this episode:

The Book Thief (2013) Official Trailer

The failurist: Markus Zusak at TEDxSydney 2014

Credits:

Host: Mallika Kapur

Mallika Kapur is an award-winning journalist and seasoned interviewer with over two decades of experience in television and live journalism. Across three countries and various impactful roles at CNN and Bloomberg, she has reported on major global events, including the London train bombings, the Indian Ocean tsunami and the Mumbai terror attacks. She also moderates news making panels at global forums, leading insightful conversations with the world’s top figures in business and culture.

Reach out on Instagram and LinkedIn

This is a Maed In India Production

Creative Director: Mae Mariyam Thomas
Project Manager: Shaun Fanthome
Sound Designer & Mix Engineer: Kartik Kulkarni
Producer: Rachna Sukuru
Assistant Producer: Aditi Sutar
Sound Engineer: Nihar Temkar
Artwork: Alika Gupta

Host Mallika Kapur sits down with some of the world’s most celebrated storytellers to revisit the works that define them. They return to abandoned drafts, imagine alternate endings, and explore one enduring question:

If you could do it again, what would the next edition hold?

Because a story is never truly done.

Author and poet Jeet Thayil’s work moves fluidly between fiction, poetry and memoir. He reflects on the Booker-prize shortlisted Narcopolis years after its release, the emotional intensity of writing it, and how his latest book The Elsewhereans marks a shift—from stories of addiction and survival to deeply personal explorations of family, memory and loss. 

 

Epigraph:

More than a decade after ‘Narcopolis’ first released, Jeet Thayil reflects on his relationship with the book today. He describes the process of writing the book as the opposite of catharsis, exploring how it made him reconcile with the city’s and his own traumatic past. 

 

Poet in Prose:

Jeet takes us into his creative process—how poetry shapes his sentences, why writing fiction demands a different discipline, and how he crafted one of literature’s most unforgettable long sentences. 

 

Elegy:
In The Elsewhereans, Jeet Thayil turns the conversation inward – writing about family, grief, and the passage of time. He opens up about the delicate balance of writing about loved ones, the responsibility that comes with it, and how the book has become a quiet memorial to his parents. 

 

Epilogue:

For Jeet, the role of the artist is simple yet profound: to connect. Whether through the troubled worlds of Narcopolis or the intimate reflections of The Elsewhereans, his work reaches readers in different ways — offering recognition, resonance, and a sense of shared humanity. 

 

Credits: 

 

Host: Mallika Kapur

 

Mallika Kapur is an award-winning journalist and seasoned interviewer with over two decades of experience in television and live journalism. Across three countries and various impactful roles at CNN and Bloomberg, she has reported on major global events, including the London train bombings, the Indian Ocean tsunami and the Mumbai terror attacks. She also moderates news making panels at global forums, leading insightful conversations with the world’s top figures in business and culture.

 

Reach out on Instagram and LinkedIn

 

This is a Maed In India Production

 

Creative Director: Mae Mariyam Thomas

Project Manager: Shaun Fanthome

Sound Designer & Mix Engineer: Kartik Kulkarni

Producer: Rachna Sukuru

Sound Engineer: Nihar Temkar

Artwork: Alika Gupta

When Deepa Mehta began filming Water in Varanasi, India, protesters burned the sets and forced production to a halt. The film, the final chapter in her trilogy exploring fire, earth, and water as metaphors for social realities across the Indian subcontinent, was eventually made in Sri Lanka. Twenty years later, Mehta and actor Lisa Ray look back on what they built, what it cost, and why the story still matters.

 

Critics’ Choice

Deepa Mehta and Lisa Ray reflect on what it meant to commit fully to a story about women on the margins and why the film continues to move audiences around the world. As Lisa Ray puts it, it was made with such sincerity that people could feel it — “it was the little indie film that could.”

 

Close-Up:

Deepa described making Water without an agenda; Lisa described surrendering to the role rather than performing it. Here, they focus on the process — how the film was made, the close-knit community that formed around it, and what it felt like to work in a simpler time, when no one retreated to their trailer between takes.

 

The Edit

This conversation moves across memory, politics, identity, and time with two of the most influential women in Indian cinema thinking aloud together.

 

Epilogue

Twenty years on, Water is no longer met with outrage or political defence. As Deepa puts it, it feels like a truth that never dies, it’s still finding new audiences, still landing where it needs to.

 

Featured Clips in this episode:

79th Academy Award Nominations

 

Credits: 

 

Host: Mallika Kapur

 

Mallika Kapur is an award-winning journalist and seasoned interviewer with over two decades of experience in television and live journalism. Across three countries and various impactful roles at CNN and Bloomberg, she has reported on major global events, including the London train bombings, the Indian Ocean tsunami and the Mumbai terror attacks. She also moderates news making panels at global forums, leading insightful conversations with the world’s top figures in business and culture.

 

Reach out on Instagram and LinkedIn

 

This is a Maed In India Production

 

Creative Director: Mae Mariyam Thomas

Project Manager: Shaun Fanthome

Sound Designer & Mix Engineer: Kartik Kulkarni

Producer: Rachna Sukuru

Sound Engineer: Nihar Temkar

Artwork: Alika Gupta

Lara Love Hardin lost everything. Writing helped her find her way back. In this conversation, the author of the New York Times bestseller  and Oprah’s book club pick reflects on The Many Lives of Mama Love, a memoir of addiction, incarceration, motherhood, and recovery. She talks  about reading as her first addiction, writing as a survival tool within prison walls, and what it takes to tell the truth without softening it for the page.

 

Author’s Note:

Lara traces her earliest attachment to books, long before prescription drugs or heroin, framing literature as both refuge and obsession.

 

Margins

Lara reflects on what it means to carry a past without being defined by it. Addiction, prison, motherhood, and authorship are all layers that make her who she is. 

 

The Spine

Lara speaks about prison as a place where every woman had a “superpower”. Hers 

was writing. By helping other inmates with their correspondence, writing got her through her darkest days. 

 

Footnotes:

The conversation goes  beyond the book. Lara speaks about re-entering the workforce after incarceration, the barriers women face, and her work today as a ghostwriter, literary agent, and co-founder of the Gemma Project. She considers what Mama Love could not yet include — a quieter chapter defined by steadiness, work, and rest.

 

Featured Clips in this episode:

Oprah selects "The Many Lives of Mama Love" as newest book club selection

Message from Lara Love’s sons for Oprah

Credits: 

 

Host: Mallika Kapur

 

Mallika Kapur is an award-winning journalist and seasoned interviewer with over two decades of experience in television and live journalism. Across three countries and various impactful roles at CNN and Bloomberg, she has reported on major global events, including the London train bombings, the Indian Ocean tsunami and the Mumbai terror attacks. She also moderates news making panels at global forums, leading insightful conversations with the world’s top figures in business and culture.

 

Reach out on Instagram and LinkedIn

 

This is a Maed In India Production

 

Creative Director: Mae Mariyam Thomas

Project Manager: Shaun Fanthome

Sound Designer & Mix Engineer: Kartik Kulkarni

Producer: Rachna Sukuru

Editorial Assistance: Devanshi Chandak

Sound Engineer: Nihar Temkar

Artwork: Alika Gupta