Every joke, facial expression, song and stick of furniture we inherit from those we lived with and loved tells its own story. Of continuity, of pasts and the present. Writers A.T. Boyle and Shinie Antony, who put together the collection exObjects, The Art of Holding On, Letting Go (Om Books), delve into the micro histories and macro memories of things left behind. The eleven authors have re-envisaged people, places and things lost, but certainly not forgotten. Join Vikram Sampath, whose late, beloved mother infused him with her love for classical music, and Shantanu Ray Chaudhuri, the editor of this volume, along with Boyle and Antony, as they talk about the hum and heart of belongings. Presented by: International Music & Arts Society In collaboration with: OM Books International In this episode of BIC Talks, AT Boyle, Vikram Sampath and Shinie Antony will be in conversation with Shantanu Ray Chaudhuri. This is an excerpt from an event that took place in the BIC premises in December 2024. Subscribe to the BIC Talks Podcast on your favorite podcast app! BIC Talks is available everywhere, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Castbox, Overcast, Audible, and Amazon Music

To find a rare bird is the ultimate dream of ornithologists and birdwatchers. But doing it requires a combination of skills including an understanding of habitats, animal behaviour and people skills as well as plain old good luck. But the ornithologists, naturalists and birdwatchers, who tracked down the most difficult to find birds of the Indian subcontinent, got lucky because they worked really hard at it. In this session authors Shashank Dalvi and Anita Mani will be in conversation with contributors to the book ‘The Search for India’s Rarest Birds‘, Atul Jain, Radhika Raj and Aasheesh Pittie  who will be speaking about the challenges of species discovery and what makes a bird ‘rare’. In addition, the session will explore conservation issues and solutions to prevent such rare species from going beyond the brink, as well as future directions on where the next raft of discoveries could come from. In collaboration with : Juggernaut, Indian Pitta and Center for Wildlife Studies In this episode of BIC Talks, Shashank Dalvi and Anita Mani are in conversation with Aasheesh Pittie, Radhika Raj and Atul Jain. This is an excerpt from a conversation that took place in the BIC premises in December 2024. Subscribe to the BIC Talks Podcast on your favorite podcast app! BIC Talks is available everywhere, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Castbox, Overcast, Audible, and Amazon Music.  

This talk will reflect on broad trends in the study of caste including debates and discussions drawing on poststructuralist, Marxist, and anthropological approaches which have tended to approach caste as a distinctive form of hierarchy and social distinction. This framing will help to illuminate the challenge of new approaches and intellectual formations, which center critical caste and Dalit studies, scholarship on anticaste thought, and studies of global caste. How does a politics of the present inflect social transformations of caste, as well as the resistance to its inequities? What are the potentials and the perils to studying caste through global fields of power and comparison? How might we bridge institutional logics and disciplinary constraints in effecting novel forms of critique? In this episode of BIC Talks, Anupama Rao delivers a talk. This is an excerpt from an event that took place in the BIC premises in December 2024. Subscribe to the BIC Talks Podcast on your favorite podcast app! BIC Talks is available everywhere, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Castbox, Overcast, Audible, and Amazon Music.

Did Rajaraja Chola, who built the world-renowned Brihadisvara temple in Tanjore, and Suryavarman II of Kambuja Desa (Cambodia), who built the world’s largest temple complex, Angkor Wat, erect these enduring marvels with a magic wand? Surely not. How did they nurture prosperity? What were the economic models that enabled them to leave the world awestruck? Sriram Balasubramanian’s sequel to the pathbreaking Kautilyanomics answers these questions by examining Common Era empires and kingdoms ranging from the Cholas, Pallavas, Pandyas and Vijayanagara to Southeast Asian kingdoms. Balasubramanian audaciously puts forward a novel, indigenous and sustainable framework called Dharmanomics—a function of Kautilyan Dharmic capitalism, of a Dharmic ecosystem driven by temples and Sreni (corporate guilds) Dharma—that spans thousands of years. It was put into practice much before the likes of Adam Smith and modern economic thinkers. Dharmanomics seeks to present a coherent and structured economic framework based on the idea of Dharma for at least 1500 years. In the session, Sriram Balasubramanian is in conversation with Vikram Bhat. This is an excerpt from a conversation that took place in the BIC premises in November 2024. Subscribe to the BIC Talks Podcast on your favorite podcast app! BIC Talks is available everywhere, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Castbox, Overcast, Audible, and Amazon Music.

The media is a cornerstone of Indian democracy, often called the “fourth pillar” for its role in supporting constitutional values. Yet today, trust in the media is eroding amid technological upheaval, shifting revenue models, political polarization, and the powerful rise of social media and artificial intelligence. As these forces reshape how information flows, can the media still serve as a guardian of our constitutional ideals? And who, if anyone, will defend the independence and integrity of the media? This session is the third in the series titled ‘We the People’ to celebrate 75 years of our Constitution. As part of this series, DAKSH, in collaboration with BIC, is organising a series of lectures and panel discussions on various aspects of the Constitution. In collaboration with: Daksh In this episode of BIC Talks, Barkha Dutt delivers a talk. This is an excerpt from a event that took place in the BIC premises in November 2024. Subscribe to the BIC Talks Podcast on your favorite podcast app! BIC Talks is available everywhere, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Castbox, Overcast, Audible, and Amazon Music.

The text of Kuvempu’s epic Kannada novel, Malegalalli Madumagalu (1967), and the recent translation, Bride in the Hills by Vanamala Viswanatha (Penguin Random House, 2024), will be discussed by an eminent panel of scholars, writers and the translator. Set in 1893 in the Malnad region of the Western Ghats with its majestic Sahyadri ranges, dense forests, and river Tunga, Kuvempu’s Malegalalli Madumagalu (Bride in the Hills) describes the saga of not one young woman but many, of varied hues, who aspire for love and fulfilment in marriage, in a self-serving, male feudal order. An organic network of interrelated stories, the well-known Kannada writer Devanoora Mahadeva locates the novel in the epic tradition of the Mahabharata and Tolstoy’s War and Peace. This woman-centric text weaves together the touching plight of young couples in love, such as Gutti and Timmi, from a Dalit community living on the ghats; Aita and Pinchalu, migrant labourers from below the ghats, and Mukundayya and Chinnamma from the land-owning Shudra caste. Fired from within by their love – the most powerful agent of change – these young people seek a life of freedom and dignity, leading to the transformation of the larger community. Their heartening stories are juxtaposed against the travails of hapless Nagakka and scheming Venkatanna, sickly Deyi and brute Chinkra, and gullible Kaveri and lecherous Devayya. All of them are, in different ways, up against the repressive regimes of the decadent landlords, who manipulate traditional feudal practices as well as the modern apparatus of a colonial state.  True to its claim as an epic novel, Kuvempu’s text with its multiple narrative strands vividly enacts its mission statement in the epigraph: “Here, no one is important; no one is unimportant; nothing is insignificant!” Every sentient and insentient thing – the degenerate Chinkra, orphan Dharmu, Huliya the dog, Biri the cat, the evergreen forest, the Hulikal Peak – has a place and a purpose in this narrative. Imbued with an ecological consciousness, the novel offers a veritable biodiversity register of the Malnad region. Kuvempu presents a ‘view from below’, a subaltern perspective which also takes in the world of the wealthy and powerful. Winner of the first Sahitya Akademi award in 1955 and the Jnanpith in 1967, Kuvempu (Kuppali Venkatappa Puttappa 1904-1994) inaugurated the non-brahmin era in modern Kannada writing. Kuvempu’s versatile oeuvre includes a vast body of poetry, plays, novels, children’s writing, essays and an autobiography. While his poetic epic ‘Shri Ramayana Darshanam’ is a radical rewriting of the Valmiki epic drawing from the Jaina tradition, the two novels, The Kanur House (made into a film by Girish Karnad) and Bride in the Hills, are modern novels set in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Inspired by Tolstoy’s expansive canvas and Tagore’s unique Indian ethos, this first significant Shudra writer and an iconic figure in Kannada culture, has sculpted an entirely regional epic novel in Bride in the Hills. Image Credits Book Cover: MS Murthy and Jay Gosney Header: A Malnad Landscape, Photo courtesy Girish Kasaravalli Photo of Amit Chaudhuri by Richard Lofthouse/University of Oxford In collaboration with Rashtrakavi Kuvempu Pratishthana, Kuppali (Devangi, Thirthahalli, Shivamogga) In this episode of BIC Talks, Vanamala Viswanathan, Rajendra Chenni, Amit Chaudhuri and Arvind Narrain will be in conversation. This is an excerpt from a conversation that took place in the BIC premises in November 2024. Subscribe to the BIC Talks Podcast on your favorite podcast app! BIC Talks is available everywhere, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Castbox, Overcast, Audible, and Amazon Music.

Ravi Bapna and Anindya Ghose, in their new MIT Press book Thrive: Maximizing Well-being in the Age of AI take on the challenge of demystifying AI for the layperson using examples from everyday life. Their hope is that by giving citizens agency and understanding in shaping AI we can get the most out of this newest industrial revolution. Join Ravi Bapna in conversation with Narayan Ramachandran as they chart their way through the ‘House of AI,’ a framework that provides a holistic perspective of the different pillars and layers of AI. They will discuss the role of generative AI versus traditional AI, what barriers companies face in adopting this technology, how we should think about the future of work and reskilling the workforce, and what an agentic future looks like where AI will augment human intelligence and capacity. In this episode of BIC Talks, Ravi Bapna in conversation with Narayan Ramachandran. This is an excerpt from a conversation that took place in the BIC premises in November 2024. Subscribe to the BIC Talks Podcast on your favorite podcast app! BIC Talks is available everywhere, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Castbox, Overcast, Audible, and Amazon Music.

As conflict erupts in West Asia, the consequences are rippling across the globe, threatening to reshape the international order in ways not seen in decades. This session will bring together experts to explore the geopolitical, economic, and security implications of this crisis for the world and, for India. With deep insights from Ranjan Mathai, former Foreign Secretary and Ambassador to Israel, and Latha Reddy, former Deputy NSA, the discussion will be moderated by Stanly Johny of The Hindu. A Q&A with the audience will follow. In this episode of BIC Talks, Ranjan Mathai and Latha Reddy are in conversation with Stanly Johny. This is an excerpt from a conversation that took place in the BIC premises in September 2024. Subscribe to the BIC Talks Podcast on your favorite podcast app! BIC Talks is available everywhere, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Castbox, Overcast, Audible, and Amazon Music.

By the canons of orthodox social science, countries like India are not supposed to have an environmental consciousness. They are, as it were, “too poor to be green.” In his new book, Speaking with Nature, Ramachandra Guha challenges this narrative by revealing a virtually unknown prehistory of the global movement set far outside Europe or America. Long before the publication of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring and well before climate change, ten remarkable individuals wrote with deep insight about the dangers of environmental abuse from within an Indian context. In strikingly contemporary language, Rabindranath Tagore, Radhakamal Mukerjee, J. C. Kumarappa, Patrick Geddes, Albert and Gabrielle Howard, Mira, Verrier Elwin, K. M. Munshi, and M. Krishnan wrote about the forest and the wild, soil and water, urbanisation and industrialisation. Positing the idea of what Guha calls “livelihood environmentalism” in contrast to the “full stomach environmentalism” of the affluent world, these writers, activists, and scientists played a pioneering role in shaping global conversations about humanity’s relationship with nature. Spanning more than a century of Indian history, and decidedly transnational in reference, this book offers rich resources for considering the threat of climate change today. In this episode of BIC Talks, Ramchandra Guha is in conversation with Harini Nagendra. This is an excerpt from a conversation that took place in the BIC premises in September 2024. Subscribe to the BIC Talks Podcast on your favorite podcast app! BIC Talks is available everywhere, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Castbox, Overcast, Audible, and Amazon Music.

In 2018, Rahul Bhatia left his job as an investigative reporter to understand the necessity of the Aadhaar project. But over time, as he explored its roots, questions about citizenship and belonging began to grow louder in public life, culminating in extreme violence in New Delhi. As this happened, he discovered that India’s technological identity project was linked to a cultural identity project over a century old. These investigations culminated in The Identity Project, a journey through the slow burn of Indian democracy, and a record that connects the past and present to offer the first thorough account of how cultural imperatives are guiding the country’s direction. He describes the religious, societal, and technological changes that have brought India to a point at which a nationalist mindset that challenges democracy and human rights is spreading fast, all in an effort to bind the multiethnic, multilingual, and multicultural country into a single identity. Through a character-driven narrative informed by on the ground reporting, he investigates the history of disinformation in India, and looks at how justice works in the aftermath of riots. What emerges is a timely portrait of a country struggling to define its identity. Editor and journalist Prem Panicker will discuss the book with Rahul Bhatia. They will talk about the book’s journey, the process of reporting, and about finding the language to report on recent history. A Q&A session with the audience will follow. Presented by: Contxt In this episode of BIC Talks, Rahul Bhatia is in conversation with Prem Panicker. This is an excerpt from a conversation that took place in the BIC premises in October 2024. Subscribe to the BIC Talks Podcast on your favorite podcast app! BIC Talks is available everywhere, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Castbox, Overcast, Audible, and Amazon Music.