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

On Episode 76 of #LearningStories we chat with Eshna Benegal. For Eshna, dance is her first love and everything else comes secondary. She has been training in two forms of Indian classical dance, Odissi and Kathak, for the last 17 years. She works as a freelance writer and video editor by day, and a dance teacher and practitioner by night. Her formal training is in filmmaking and her Substack, the Deep Cut, is a place where she combines her two loves of film and dance. The platform is a space where she analyses, critically appreciates and fangirls over dance on screen. This year, her obsession with dance becomes official as she prepares to do her masters in the field of dance research. She hopes that through her research and her physical practice she can explore how dance can create meaning off the stage and how the form can be a space where all man-made boundaries can come to rest. You can find her on Substack, Youtube and Instagram.

Timestamps:

(00:10) - Introduction and Background

(02:30) - What are your earliest memories of dance?

(02:53) - "Dance is one of my favourite things in the world"

(03:00) - How did Bollywood influence your love and passion for dance?

(03:40) - "There is this joy of moving to music"

(04:30) - What dance forms did you first learn?

(04:45) - "I started training for dance at the age of 10"

(04:50) - "My mother first put me in a music class"

(05:35) - "In school I was constantly being picked for the dance groups"

(06:00) - "I realized dance makes my brain sing"

(06:05) - What are the common Indian dance forms?

(06:30) - How did you find your first dance teacher?

(07:00) - "I started with Odissi and then also started Kathak six years laters"

(08:00) - What are the eight Indian classical dance forms? (Manipuri is the eighth one)

(08:40) - "Each dance form is different based on the region they come from"

(08:50) - "Many dance forms originated in temples"

(09:00) - How is Kathak different from the other dance forms?

(09:20) - What is the importance of the Natyashastra to Indian dance traditions?

(09:50) - "All these dance forms are made to tell stories"

(10:00) - What is the difference between narrative and non narrative dance?

(10:30) - "In Bharatnatyam you will hear Carnatic Music"

(10:35) - "In Kathak you will hear Hindustani Music"

(10:40) - How is Indian dance different from Western dance?

(11:55) - What is Odissi and what is its historical relevance to Orissa?

(13:40) - "Dance was like the theatre of that age"

(14:15) - What was the experience of watching dance performance in ancient royal courts?

(14:50) - "Dance was a way for people to commune to enjoy art"

(14:58) - "In the classical world there is a problem with the word entertainment"

(16:00) - Was dance used to comment about social and political realities of the time?

(16:40) - "Dance research was not very well documented"

(18:30) - What was the importance of religion, royalty and language in dance?

(21:30) - What were you curious about at school apart from dance?

(21:50) - "I went to an alternative education school in Bengaluru"

(22:30) - "My school would push us to question things"

(24:30) - What is the relationship between authority, teaching and art?

(25:50) - "I was very curious and enjoyed learning"

(26:40) - "I studied psychology, biology, history and art in high school?"

(27:00) - What can dance teach you about the world?

(29:00) - Why did you study film making for four years at university?

(32:00) - How was film and dance connected for you as an artist?

(32:40) - "I wanted to write or edit films in the long term"

(33:00) - What films did you watch at film school?

(35:00) - What films would you recommend to other film lovers?

(40:00) - What is unique about story telling in India?

(43:00) - How stories change in different contexts and mediums?

(45:00) - Tell us about your creative projects (youtube channel, podcast, newsletter)?

(50:12) - Why do you write about dance in cinema in your newsletter?

(55:00) - Closing Thoughts

On Episode 75 of #LearningStories we chat with Saqib Ahmad. He is from Lucknow, and is a working professional who considers himself to be a big time ‘Generalist’, balancing multiple passions—from dancing and cooking to fitness, sports, and gaming—throughout his life. He works as a manager at an insurance company in his day job. However, his love for books eventually took center stage, especially after launching his Instagram book review account, saqib_bookstafied. As his community grew, he gained recognition as a thoughtful critic, and their encouragement inspired him to write a story of his own. Saqib credits the completion of this book to them, marking the beginning of his journey as an author. His book is titled, 'Heartbreak - The Weight of One Goodbye'. You can find Saqib's reviews on Instagram at @saqib_bookstafied and purchase his book on Amazon.

On Episode 74 of #LearningStories we chat with Minaz Ansari. She is an architect, urban researcher, academic and writer. She is a keen traveller, art and history nerd, book and nature lover, and an incurable optimist. She is currently a professor at the Rizvi College of Architecture in Mumbai, India. She received her Bachelor in Architecture from Pune University and a Masters in Architecture (Urban Design) from the University of Mumbai. She is the author of 'Nesting in Nature', a monograph of an architect, 'Paani Party' a picture storybook and soon to be released 'The Heritage Handbook: A Walk Through Mumbai Suburbs'. She writes personal essays on her Substack newsletter titled, Spread Love, Only Love. You can find her on Instagram @minazansari , Substack- www.minazansari.substack.com, Facebook and LinkedIn.

On Episode 73 of #LearningStories we chat with Neha Garg. Neha is a communications strategist, podcast host, and founder of several heartfelt initiatives that blend purpose with creativity and care. With a strong background in advocacy, sustainability, and storytelling, she brings a deeply personal and grounded approach to everything she does—whether it's leading meaningful conversations on her podcast Parenthoot with Neha, building brand and communication units for impact sector organizations through her consulting services, or coaching professionals to align their work and identity through her leadership programs. Neha’s work is shaped by her belief in slow living, fairness, and emotional honesty. A mother to a spirited toddler and four beloved rescue dogs, she lives in Faridabad and finds her rhythm in composting, growing her own food, writing, and dreaming up kinder systems. At her core, Neha is always seeking joy in the everyday and meaning in the mess, while helping others do the same. You can find her on Youtube, Linkedin and Instagram.

On Episode 72 of #LearningStories we chat with Karthik. He has been writing poems, essays and stories since he was a in primary school growing up in Bengaluru. As a teenager, the allure of living the ‘good life’ got him to pursue Engineering and then Management. He worked at Warner Bros. India in Marketing and Distribution of films for nearly ten years before quitting the job and leaving Mumbai city. He returned to Bengaluru and enrolled into Azim Premji University for an MA in Education. For two years, he engaged with questions on equity, children’s wellbeing and the role of literature in classrooms. On graduating, he joined Gubbachi Learning Community – a Bangalore-based NGO that is working towards providing quality education to out-of-school children. Since 2023, Karthik has been writing the ‘Reading This World’ newsletter on Substack where he writes personal essays, social commentaries, short fiction, poems and also, personal essays as a response to films – the kind of writing he is now known for. You can find him on Substack.

On Episode 71 of #LearningStories we chat with Suverchala Kashyap. She is a seasoned educator, journalist and storyteller. Her training and educational qualifications include a M.Sc. Honours, B.Ed., M.Ed. and a Diploma in Journalism among other certifications. She began her career as a teacher at a residential boarding school and as a journalist for the Indian Express. She then spent 12 years as the founder principal of a school in Vadodara where she also taught Science and English. In 2013 she founded Intelliscape Edventures through which she conducted training programs in several countries. In 2019 she wore the entrepreneurial hat again and founder Parivartan: SK's Transformational Hub which is an educational consultancy focusing on changing the lives of students, parents and teachers. In addition to this she has written and published 4 books as an author and has won national recognition for her work in education. Today she is here to share her story and a talk about a few things she has learned and observed along the way. You can find her on Linkedin and Instagram.

On Episode 70 of #LeaningStories, we chat with Mansi Shah. She is the founder of Happy Feet Home Foundation. Founded in August 2014, this is a paediatric palliative care centre that offers free-of-cost emotional, psycho-social, educational/ vocational and nutritional support. To make this possible, they work closely with Lokmanya Tilak General Hospital, popularly known as Sion Hospital, to provide day-care services that enable the mental, nutritional, medical, educational, vocational and spiritual well-being of children under palliative care. Their services include a day care centre, a hospital outreach program, a community outreach program and a home care program. You can find them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.