BIC TALKS

As COVID-19 raged through Bangalore, the city’s crematoria and burial grounds were overwhelmed with the dead and their grieving kin. The hard labour of processing corpses as well as collective grief fell on Bangalore’s crematorium and cemetery workers. Overwhelmingly Dalit, city funerary workers are generationally condemned to labour under a social stigma that is designed to deprive them of dignity, regular wages, social security, advancement opportunities, and adequate housing. In this episode of BIC Talks, anthropologist Shreyas Sreenath interviews researcher and activist Swathi Seshadri. Swathi recently co-authored a report released by the All India Central Council for Trade Unions (AICCTU) detailing labor conditions at Bangalore’s crematoria and cemeteries. They discuss the significance of funerary work in holding together the fabric of our social, psychic, and spiritual lives, both in times of stability and crisis. They also speak about the various ways in which caste prejudice routinely degrades communities pushed into toiling with our dead. The full report can be accessed here.

On July 11, 2006 tragedy struck when a series of bombs went off along the Western line of the suburban train network in Mumbai killing and injuring commuters by the hundreds. In the investigations and arrests that followed, Abdul Wahid Shaikh was held as one of the twelve accused who were incarcerated for over 9 years as undertrials. In this episode of BIC Talks, teacher, lawyer and activist Abdul Wahid Shaikh speaks to journalist Praveen Swami about his imprisonment and walks us through details of the immediate aftermath of the blasts, the decade that followed and his book Begunah Qaidi which has been translated into English recently as Innocent Prisoners. This episode is bi-lingual, in Hindustani and English.  Abdul Wahid Shaikh is a school teacher, lawyer and activist. He works with the Innocence Network providing pro bono legal and investigative services to individuals seeking to prove innocence of crimes for which they have been convicted. His book Begunah Qaidi originally in Urdu has been translated into Hindi and English as Innocent Prisoners. Praveen Swami is an Indian journalist and author specialising on international strategic and security issues.

Writer-politician Muthuvel Karunanidhi is amongst the most important political figures India has ever seen. He was the chief minister of Tamil Nadu for five terms and leader of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) for over five decades. Still remembered for his fruitful career as a regional leader who helped in the formation of various coalition governments at Delhi, his contribution to Tamil history and culture has been invaluable. This episode of BIC Talks is about the meticulously researched and deeply engrossing book, Karunanidhi: A Life  that delves into the life and times of this unforgettable man. This conversation with author AS Panneerselvan and journalist Rohini Mohan explores how Karunanidhi became a sort of metaphor of modern Tamil Nadu, where language, empowerment, self-respect, art and literary forms and films coalesce to lend a unique vibrancy to politics. AS Panneerselvan is the Readers’ Editor of The Hindu, an independent internal news ombudsman functioning with clearly formulated Terms of Reference. Apart from being a regular columnist, he is also a journalism teacher and is an adjunct faculty of the prestigious Asian College of Journalism, Chennai. Rohini Mohan is a Bangalore-based independent journalist writing on human rights and politics.

Neha Sahgal, Associate Director, Pew Research Center walks us through the major new Pew Research Center survey of religion across India that has been subject to many analyses, opinion pieces and discussions in formal and informal settings. In this episode of BIC Talks, Impact Investor and co-founder of Bangalore Literature Festival, Srikrishna Ramamoorthy engages Neha in a conversation about what went into this gargantuan undertaking. The study, which was based on nearly 30,000 face-to-face interviews of adults conducted in 17 languages between late 2019 and early 2020 (before the COVID-19 pandemic), explores the role of religion in Indian public life. The study is part of a larger effort by Pew Research Center to understand religious change and its impact on societies around the world. Neha was also part of a panel discussion on the BIC Streams platform where the study was engaged with on a wide spectrum of approaches. This discussion is available to view on the BIC Youtube channel.

Ramachandra Guha has been an astute and lucid guide to Indian history, with an ability to paint both the broad canvas as well fill in the minute details. Most people know him as a columnist – sometimes controversial, but always insightful and engaging. But there is another side to him, that of the scrupulous historian and scholarly path breaker –  in the field of environmental history, the social history of Indian cricket, the history of the Indian republic, and in biographies of lesser-known figures like Verrier Elwin and very public figures like Gandhi. This episode of BIC Talks is a series of extracts from a Festschrift in honour of Ramachandra Guha, originally presented as a BIC Streams session based on A Functioning Anarchy, a collection of essays by historians, social scientists, ecologists and journalists- edited by Nandini Sundar and Srinath Raghavan- in appreciation of the scholar in Guha.

The Light of Asia is an epic poem by Sir Edwin Arnold that was first published in 1879. It is a narrative of the life and message of the Buddha. It quickly became a huge sensation and has continued to resonate powerfully across the world over the last century and a half. Weaving together literary, cultural, political and social history, author and parliamentarian Jairam Ramesh talks to author and independent consultant Radhika Chadha on how he managed to uncover and narrate the fascinating story of this deeply consequential and compelling poem that has shaped our thinking of an ancient sage and his teachings. Ramesh brings into this unusual narrative the life of the multifaceted poet himself who, among other things, was steeped in Sanskrit literature. Sir Edwin Arnold’s The Song Celestial, an English rendering of the Bhagavad Gita, was one of Mahatma Gandhi’s abiding favourites. Sir Arnold was also in many ways the man who shaped Bodh Gaya as we know it today.

In this episode of BIC Talks author Moin Mir and historian Rana Safvi discuss ‘The Lost Fragrance of Infinity’, a historical novel by Moin that glows with the essence of Sufism. In 1739, Qaraar Ali, a young craftsman from Delhi witnesses the destruction of his world as he has known it. His wondrous city where he found love, spirituality, the friendship of poets and philosophers becomes a desolate scorching hell. From the embers of his past, a journey begins; one which takes him into the depths of Sufi philosophy. Traversing spectacular landscapes of a fading Mughal Empire, a turbulent Central Asia and Persia, a culturally retreating Ottoman Empire and declining Spanish influence, Qaraar Ali finds hope in the sacred geometry of the Sufis through which he attempts at rebuilding his life and rediscovering love. A deeply passionate love story imbued with spirituality, acceptance, compassion and redemption, The Lost Fragrance of Infinity gives a much-deserved voice to Sufism and its contributions to humanity, art, mathematics, mysticism and science. This is an extract from an earlier BIC Streams live session conducted in collaboration with the International Music and Arts Society (IMAS). Moin Mir is a London based writer of Indian origin. He speaks regularly at international literature festivals on Sufism, history and travel writing. Rana Safvi is a passionate believer in India’s unique civilisational legacy and pluralistic culture which she documents through her writings, podcasts and videos.

‘Do I talk into this thing?’ These were the first words ever broadcast live, albeit inadvertently, by Mohandas Gandhi ahead of his speech to the USA. The year was 1931 and the location, London. Gandhi was in town as the sole representative of the Indian National Congress to attend the Second Round Table Conference. He was just weeks shy of his 62nd birthday. This episode adapted from a BIC Streams session with Chandrika Kaul in conversation with Jawhar Sircar focussed on Gandhi and radio, a subject that has been curiously neglected, both in studies of Gandhi and of broadcasting. Gandhi’s engagement with radio, the circumstances surrounding his broadcasts, and his interaction with broadcasters, were analysed to help situate the medium within the Mahatma’s media repertoire and evaluated its impact. Dr Chandrika Kaul, is Reader in Modern History at the University of St Andrews, Scotland, U.K. Jawhar Sircar retired in 2012, after four decades in the IAS — as India’s longest serving Culture Secretary. He was immediately appointed CEO of Prasar Bharati in charge of All India Radio & Doordarshan for five years.

Saadat Hasan Manto was born on 11 May, 1912 in Ludhiana. Bangalore International Centre and Bangalore Literature Festival marked the author and playwright’s birth month through a BIC Streams session with the Mary Richardson Professor of History at Tufts University, Ayesha Jalal and writer, columnist and translator of Manto’s non-fiction work, Aakar Patel. Drawing parallels to the times of partition characterised by turmoil and tragedy in which Manto - who has been described as a distressingly prophetic and daring writer - lived and wrote, this episode of BIC Talks speaks to the nuances of making sense of a maddening situation. Ayesha and Aakar in this free flowing exchange talk about politics, governance, literature, the will of the people and their sense of self being distilled in stories that have been told over ages. 

This conversation around understanding India’s investments in infrastructure links recent laws and practices relating to these projects, and provides an approach to these issues from a commercial and legal perspective. Author of the book, Investing in India’s Infrastructure and Energy Sectors, Prashanth Sabeshan, in this conversation with urbanist and policy researcher Champaka Rajagopal covers a wide range of points within the vast umbrella of infrastructure, including specific and generic legal issues that arise in certain core sectors such as electricity and renewables, airports, ports, and oil and gas, and the challenges faced by investors, developers, financiers and procurers. This conversation as a glimpse into the deeply researched book provides a primer to those who have an interest in understanding some of the practical and current commercial/legal issues and trends and relevant Indian government policies in these sectors. Prashanth Sabeshan has over 20 years of experience working as a lawyer working across commercial contracts, general corporate, infrastructure, electricity & renewables, oil & gas, ports, project finance, regulatory and policy advisory. Champaka Rajagopal is a visiting faculty with the School of Public Policy and Governance, Azim Premji University. She has worked on public and private sector projects in urban contexts, including formulation of policy, regulations, investment plans, master plans for green field townships and architecture of buildings.