On Episode 77 of #LearningStories we chat with Vikram Shah. Vikram is an independent editor and writer. He has previously worked as an associator editor at narrative journalism magazine FiftyTwo, as a copy editor at Mint Lounge and as a commercial lawyer at the firm Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer. He has also co-researched and co-written a non-fiction podcast called ‘Barefoot Boys’, about the football club Mohan Bagan’s unlikely win in a colonial football tournament. One of his short stories has been published in Mint Lounge and another is forthcoming in an anthology published by the administrators of the Deodar Prize for short fiction. You can find him on Substack and Linkedin.

Timestamps

(00:10) - Introduction and Background

(02:45) - Stories from your Childhood

(04:10) - "I grew up in Mumbai"

(04:20) - "Both my parents are doctors"

(06:00) - "I loved the Social Sciences"

(06:15)- "I loved learning about different places"

(06:45) - On Anthony Bourdain's Television Shows

(08:30) - On travelling with my parents in the summers

(09:30) - On my love for sports and football

(10:15) - On quizzing

(14:00) - What is your relationship to books?

(14:20) - "I was always a very interested reader as a kid"

(14:35) - "I used to get really excited about school book fairs"

(15:00) - On 'The Count of Monte Cristo' by Alexander Dumas

(18:00) - On 'Midnight's Children' by Salman Rushdie

(21:00) - On 'Chinaman: The Legend of Pradeep Mathew' by Shehan Karunatilaka

(24:00) - On 'Sly Company of People who Care' by Rahul Bhattacharya

(25:18) - "I used to read a lot in college"

(25:30) - On meeting authors in bookstores in London

(26:50) - On reading books about places you visit

(27:50) - "Over the last couple of years I haven't read as much"

(31:43) - On being a law student

(32:08) - "I did a five year law course at the National Law School in Bengaluru"

(32:45) - What was defining about studying law in Bengaluru?

(33:00) - "In the first few years you study a lot of Social Science subjects"

(35:30) - On constitutional law

(36:50) - On the socratic mode of learning in law classrooms

(37:10) - On how parents can influence your career decision

(40:30) - On your linguistic and cultural identity

(42:40) - "Kutchi is my father's language and Tamil is my mother's language"

(43:20) - "We spoke Hindi or English at home"

(44:20) - "My mother's father grew up in Kerala"

(44:30) - "I grew up with a cosmopolitan view of cities and cultures"

(46:30) - "I am curious about this country and the way it works"

(48:00) - Why did you transition from law to journalism and writing?

(49:25) - "There was always a sense that I wanted to work with words"

(49:40) - "I rarely read or write for leisure"

(50:00) - What was your first writing assignment?

(52:20) - On jobs to pay bills versus work that fuels your creativity

(54:00) - On your early writing jobs

(1:00:00) - On writing about Virat Kohli's cricket career

(1:14:00) - On writing a spy story titled, 'Kukri'

(1:26:00) - Film Recommendations

(1:29:30) - Television Show Recommendation

(1:32:30) - Podcast Recommendation

(1:34:50) - Musician Recommendation

(1:36:00) - Closing Thoughts

Guest Image Credit

M.S. Gopal from Mumbai Paused