Grand Tamasha

“Episode 262: Nehru’s Debates,” (with Adeel Hussain and Tripurdaman Singh), The Seen and The Unseen (podcast), January 31, 2022. Tripurdaman Singh, Sixteen Stormy Days: The Story of the First Amendment of the Constitution of India. “Madhav Khosla on India’s Founding Moment,” Grand Tamasha, January 29, 2020.

Roshan Kishore, “Math of the economy: How to understand the Budget,” Hindustan Times, February 2, 2022.  Roshan Kishore, “Three questions which capture India’s medium-term economic challenge,” Hindustan Times, February 3, 2022. Poonam Gupta, “Budget steers clear of drama in complex economic environment,” Economic Times, February 2, 2022. Rohit Lamba and Raghuram Rajan, “Don’t Mimic China’s Economic Model,” Times of India, February 15, 2022.  

India’s Path to Power: Strategy in a World Adrift, Centre for Policy Research and Takshashila Institution. “The Biden-Modi Summit and the Future of U.S.-India Relations” (with Ashley Tellis), Grand Tamasha, September 22, 2021.  

Lant Pritchett, “Is India a Flailing State?: Detours on the Four Lane Highway to Modernization,” Harvard Kennedy School. Shruti Rajagopalan and Alex Tabarrok, “Premature Imitation and India’s Flailing State,” The Independent Review. Keshava Guha, “In Farmers vs Modi, A Big Lesson For Congress,” NDTV.com. Amit Varma, “Narendra Modi Takes a Great Leap Backwards,” Times of India. Amit Varma, “#9: Why Are My Episodes so Long?” The India Uncut Newsletter. Emergent Ventures, Mercatus Center at George Mason University. “The Seen and The Unseen” book project. Amit Varma, “We Are Fighting Two Disasters: Covid-19 and the Indian State,” Times of India. Amit Varma, “Lessons from an Ankhon Dekhi Prime Minister,” Times of India. W.S. Merwin, “Separation.”

K.X. Ronnie, “Interview, Shrayana Bhattacharya, author, Desperately Seeking Shah Rukh – “I’m a loud and proud feminist economist,” Hindustan Times, November 27, 2021. Devesh Kapur, Neelanjan Sircar, and Milan Vaishnav, “Introduction to e-Symposium: Urbanisation, gender, and social change in north India,” Ideas for India, December 6, 2021. Milan Vaishnav, “Women and work: How much does measurement matter?” Ideas for India, May 10, 2021. Ruth Pollard, “What a Bollywood Megastar Means for Women in India,” Bloomberg, December 9, 2021.  

In September 2020, India’s Parliament passed three farm reform bills that the government claimed would radically change the way in which agriculture was practised in the country. Yet, just over twelve months later, the same government announced its intention to repeal those laws—a major concession to large-scale, dogged protests launched by farmers in northern India. The repeal of the farm reform laws, hailed by many observers as a short-term victory for struggling farmers, has also raised complex questions about the future of agriculture in a rapidly urbanizing India. To consider some of these questions, Milan is joined on the podcast this week by Harish Damodaran. Harish is a Senior Fellow at the Centre for Policy Research in Delhi where he is enjoying a sabbatical from his day job as National Rural Affairs and Agriculture Editor at The Indian Express. Harish and Milan talk about the state of Indian agriculture, the motivations behind the farm reform laws, and the complex reasons the government eventually withdrew them. Plus, the two discuss the next stage of farmers’ demands and what this setback does to the larger push for agrarian reform.

We are nearly done with our sixth season of Grand Tamasha and we have been shamefully overdue in scheduling a news round-up for the Fall. To set things straight and to discuss the latest news coming out of India, Milan is joined on the podcast this week by Grand Tamasha regulars Sadanand Dhume of AEI and the Wall Street Journal and Tanvi Madan of the Brookings Institution. The three discuss the Modi government’s abrupt about-turn on the farm law bills, the perilous state of China-India relations, and new murmurs out of Delhi on the trade policy front. Plus, Tanvi, Sadanand, and Milan discuss three stories coming out of India that podcast regulars should be following.

Jayant Sinha, “How India Can Get to Net Zero Emissions,” Grand Tamasha, October 12, 2021.  Navroz Dubash, “Understanding India’s climate pledges,” Hindustan Times, November 12, 2021.  Navroz Dubash, “Unlocking climate action in Indian federalism,” Hindustan Times, August 11, 2021. 

Mukulika Banerjee, “Elections as Communitas,” Social Research, Spring 2011.  Mukulika Banerjee, “A small ‘feastie’ in a Republic’s anniversary,” Indian Express, January 26, 2020.  Pradeep K. Chhibber and Amit Ahuja, “Why the Poor Vote in India: 'If I Don't Vote, I Am Dead to the State,’” Studies in International Comparative Development, 2012.  Christophe Jaffrelot, “Narendra Modi and India's New Political System,” Grand Tamasha, October 5, 2021. 

“Rahul Pandita on Kashmir: ‘You can leave Kashmir but Kashmir never leaves you,’” Grand Tamasha, August 29, 2021. Adrian Levy, “Inside the Secret World of South Asia's Spies,” Grand Tamasha, October 26, 2021. Rahul Pandita, “Kashmir’s New Insurgency,” Open Magazine, October 22, 2021. Rahul Pandita, “The Usual Suspects,” Open Magazine, September 10, 2021.