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Books and Authors

Books and Authors

By: Hindustan Times - HT Smartcast
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 In this podcast, National Books Editor Manjula Narayan tells you about books, authors and their journeys. This is a Hindustan Times production, brought to you by HT Smartcast Art Literary History & Criticism Social Sciences
Episodes
  • Of public chaos and amateur Indians stranded on islands of privilege

    Of public chaos and amateur Indians stranded on islands of privilege
    Aug 21 2025
    "I feel India's politics is the revenge of the poor; it's why things are the way they are. They might not look at it as a violent act but it emerges from some kind of violence against us, the middle class. Whatever politicians do, usually there is local support. So it's a peep into human nature. We were always paying a price to escape India. Now, it costs a lot of money to fully escape. Now, it seems even if you pay 200 crores for a flat, you can't escape the air! We look much poorer than we are while most nations look much richer than they are. Unconsciously, India has developed an optical device to comfort the poor to whom public places belong. If there's too much order in India it would upset the poor. India's public chaos is the only thing going for them; it kind of resembles their lives. What the elite wants is some kind of aesthetics, which they are unable to persuade the political class to execute" - Manu Joseph, author, Why The Poor Don't Kill Us; The Psychology of Indians talks to Manjula Narayan about urban chaos, poverty being relative, and why intellectuals are invariably wrong Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    47 mins
  • Of Hawa Hawai and writing for his life

    Of Hawa Hawai and writing for his life
    Aug 15 2025
    "People know about what sometimes happens to girls growing up in the kotha; but no one knows what happens to boys. Nobody's written about it as such so I thought I might as well do it. A kotha for tawaifs is not a place for sex work. There aren't really any pimps. If they turn up at the gates in the evening it's to usher in patrons for the song and dance, the entertainment, not for soliciting sex. The kotha is run entirely by women. As they know the world outside, they know how to protect their young ones. It is a protective bubble. But then, you grow up and see that the world is not as kind as your mother who is doing so much to keep you away from those elements. My mother would not dance in front of me because she did not want me to be influenced by her art. She wanted me to focus on my studies. So I used Sridevi on television to be my role model, to teach me the dance that my mother was denying me because she wanted a better life for me. Whether it was being the naagin from Nagina or thunder thighs in Tohfa, back then, Sridevi was everywhere. I looked at her and said she's my guru, my masterni, my mother! Even now, there isn't a day when I don't think of Sridevi. The tawaifs enjoyed my performances and clapped when I danced but it was different at boarding school, being a queer schoolboy. But education gave me the voice of privilege that I didn't have. Now, I'm lucky that my profession became my therapy. Writing healed me"- Manish Gaekwad, author, Nautch Boy; A Memoir of My Life in the Kothas, talks to Manjula Narayan about growing up surrounded by courtesans, unlearning the false sense of privilege he picked up at boarding school, and the power of writing Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    53 mins
  • Homage to the fruit of the gods

    Homage to the fruit of the gods
    Aug 8 2025
    "In India, in the Philippines, and in the Caribbean, in places where the mango grows, it's viewed with universal adoration. We Americans are good at thinking that we have the best of everything; but not mangoes! We get these mangoes that look really good but they're more like an apple! It was a real aha! moment when we realised that we don't have the best mangoes!" Constance L Kirker and Mary Newman, authors, Mango; A Global History talk to Manjula Narayan about everything from Harappan mango curry and the fantastically expensive Miyazaki mangoes of Japan to the Gujarati dentist who ships Alphonso mangoes out to the Indian diaspora in the US, and how Americans generally think that unless mangoes are red, they aren't ripe enough to be eaten! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 hr and 4 mins
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