Divorce has been typically framed in Indian popular culture as available mainly to upper-class urban and Anglicised people with the financial means to pursue long-winded remedies in courts. In addition, Hindus have had specific obstacles to accessing divorce; among the various religion-based personal law systems, Hindu personal law was the last to legalise divorce. Critics have long framed divorce as anti-Hindu and a practice promoted by frivolous Westernised women. Escaping unwanted or abusive marriages has therefore been an uphill battle. What arguments did early proponents of divorce in the mid-twentieth century use to legalise divorce? How did they seek to show its acceptance in shastras? Author & Professor, George Washington University, Ashwini Tambe pursues these questions in this talk by looking closely at Marathi public culture, and specifically the longest running Marathi women’s magazine, Stree. She shares translated content from Stree— excerpts of letters to the editor, legal advice, and opinion pieces— to describe the arguments that facilitated the stronger social acceptance of divorce. Looking at Marathi public culture is important because a significant number of reformists and legislators who helped formalise Hindu women’s legal right to divorce at a national level (such as Chimnabai Gaekwad, Dr. Gopalrao Deshmukh and Dr. B.R. Ambedkar) were Marathi. Bombay Presidency and Baroda (ruled by Marathas) legalised divorce for Hindu women before the country as a whole did so. In effect, this episode of BIC Talks traces the itinerary of reformist ideas about divorce that gained prominence in the 1940s and then led to the national-level legalisation of divorce in the 1950s. Subscribe to the BIC Talks Podcast on your favourite podcast app! BIC Talks is available everywhere, including iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Castbox, Overcast and Stitcher.  

Amitav Ghosh’s new book, Smoke and Ashes: A Writer’s Journey Through Opium’s Hidden Histories is the story of how, under the aegis of the British Empire, India became the world’s largest producer of opium. It also traces the transformative impact that the opium trade had on India, China, Britain and the United States, with profound long-term consequences for the birth of the modern world, and of contemporary globalism. Many of the world’s  biggest corporations got their start in the colonial opium trade. But the opium economy also had significant effects influencing migration and settlement patterns, and touching upon millions of lives, including those of his own forefathers. Smoke and Ashes tells the story of how this common and deceptively humble plant has shaped the modern world, and the key part it is now playing in the unmaking of that world. It is at once a travelogue, a memoir and an excursion into history, both economic and cultural. In this episode of BIC Talks, the author Amitav Ghosh, speaks about the making and execution of his exciting book and, engages in a conversation with Ramachandra Guha, which took place in the BIC premises in July 23 2023. Subscribe to the BIC Talks Podcast on your favourite podcast app! BIC Talks is available everywhere, including iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Castbox, Overcast and Stitcher.

In 2015, students of the Film & Television Institute of India took the cinema to the streets with a strike. One of the first of the agitations that raged across India’s universities at that time, it defined the right to make and show films as central to freedom on the campus. The names of Eisenstein and Pudovkin, John Abraham, Tarkovsky and Ghatak, recited in slogans and displayed on banners, evoked a history of political cinema that had set itself against the might of India’s political establishment. This podcast series, commemorates that historic struggle, in these three episodes of John-Ghatak-Tarkovsky The third and final episode, A Hacker Cinema, looks at the recent histories of censorship, alongside the morphing of the moving image into streaming media, emphasising circulation, using memes, encouraging a new interactivity with its spectators, with significant aesthetic consequences on both filmmaking and the self-definition of a filmmaker. Subscribe to the BIC Talks Podcast on your favourite podcast app! BIC Talks is available everywhere, including iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Castbox, Overcast and Stitcher. Archival (in their own voices) Ritwik Ghatak, Mani Kaul, Kamal Swaroop, Saeed Akhtar Mirza, Gurvinder Singh, Vinod Khanna, Prateek Vats, U.R. Ananthamurthy, Amol Palekar, Prakash Jha, Alankrita Srivastava, Vijay Tendulkar, Nakul Singh Sawhney, Paul Mason, Manuel Castells, Rohith Vemula Performances (using voice cloning) Miss Ida Dickinson (1928), Mahatma Gandhi (1946), S.K. Patil (1951), Justice Mukul Mudgal (2013), Additional Solicitor General, Government of India (2015) In discussion: Lawrence Liang, Sudhanva Deshpande, Abhijit Gupta, G. Arunima, Ravi Sundaram, Sahana Manjesh, Shilpi Gulati, Nandini Sundar Texts cited: Shreya Singhal and Ors. v. Union of India, 2015 Report of the Film Inquiry Committee (1951): S.K. Patil, Chairman Indian Cinematograph Committee Report (1928) K. A. Abbas vs The Union Of India & Anr on 24 September, 1970 K.M. Sankarappa vs The Union of India, Karnataka High Court, April, 1990 Public comments sought on the Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill 2021, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting The Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill, 2023 Report of the Committee of Experts to Examine Issues of Certification Under the Cinematograph Act 1952, 2013 (Justice Mukul Mudgal Chair) Film soundtracks: Jukti Takko Aar Gappo (Ritwik Ghatak, 1974) Calcutta 71 (Mrinal Sen, 1972) Agraharathil Kazhuthai (John Abraham, 1977) Amma Ariyan (John Abraham, 1986) Open Cafe v2.5 (Naveen Padmanabha, 2012) Trimurti (Subhash Ghai, 1995) Kavita Gherao (Bombay Film Republic, Ben Friedman/Ashish Avikuntak, 1998) Muqaddar Ka Sikandar (Prakash Mehra, 1978) Chello Show (Pan Nalin, 2021) Om Dar-b-dar (Kamal Swaroop, 1988) Celluloid Man (Shiverndra Singh Dungarpur, 2012)

In 2015, students of the Film & Television Institute of India took the cinema to the streets with a strike. One of the first of the agitations that raged across India’s universities at that time, it defined the right to make and show films as central to freedom on the campus. The names of Eisenstein and Pudovkin, John Abraham, Tarkovsky and Ghatak, recited in slogans and displayed on banners, evoked a history of political cinema that had set itself against the might of India’s political establishment. This podcast series, commemorates that historic struggle, in these three episodes of John-Ghatak-Tarkovsky Episode 2, A Satyajit Ray Plastic Bangle, explores the consequences of a cinema that has turned increasingly elusive to regulation. With lightweight equipment for both making and showing films allowing filmmaking an unprecedented mobility, new possibilities emerged along with new challenges for regulatory authority. Subscribe to the BIC Talks Podcast on your favourite podcast app! BIC Talks is available everywhere, including iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Castbox, Overcast and Stitcher. Archival (in their own voices) Ritwik Ghatak, Mani Kaul, Kamal Swaroop, Saeed Akhtar Mirza, Gurvinder Singh, Vinod Khanna, Prateek Vats, U.R. Ananthamurthy, Amol Palekar, Prakash Jha, Alankrita Srivastava, Vijay Tendulkar, Nakul Singh Sawhney, Paul Mason, Manuel Castells, Rohith Vemula Performances (using voice cloning) Miss Ida Dickinson (1928), Mahatma Gandhi (1946), S.K. Patil (1951), Justice Mukul Mudgal (2013), Additional Solicitor General, Government of India (2015) In discussion: Lawrence Liang, Sudhanva Deshpande, Abhijit Gupta, G. Arunima, Ravi Sundaram, Sahana Manjesh, Shilpi Gulati, Nandini Sundar Texts cited: Shreya Singhal and Ors. v. Union of India, 2015 Report of the Film Inquiry Committee (1951): S.K. Patil, Chairman Indian Cinematograph Committee Report (1928) K. A. Abbas vs The Union Of India & Anr on 24 September, 1970 K.M. Sankarappa vs The Union of India, Karnataka High Court, April, 1990 Public comments sought on the Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill 2021, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting The Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill, 2023 Report of the Committee of Experts to Examine Issues of Certification Under the Cinematograph Act 1952, 2013 (Justice Mukul Mudgal Chair) Film soundtracks: Jukti Takko Aar Gappo (Ritwik Ghatak, 1974) Calcutta 71 (Mrinal Sen, 1972) Agraharathil Kazhuthai (John Abraham, 1977) Amma Ariyan (John Abraham, 1986) Open Cafe v2.5 (Naveen Padmanabha, 2012) Trimurti (Subhash Ghai, 1995) Kavita Gherao (Bombay Film Republic, Ben Friedman/Ashish Avikuntak, 1998) Muqaddar Ka Sikandar (Prakash Mehra, 1978) Chello Show (Pan Nalin, 2021) Om Dar-b-dar (Kamal Swaroop, 1988) Celluloid Man (Shiverndra Singh Dungarpur, 2012)

In 2015, students of the Film & Television Institute of India took the cinema to the streets with a strike. One of the first of the agitations that raged across India’s universities at that time, it defined the right to make and show films as central to freedom on the campus. The names of Eisenstein and Pudovkin, John Abraham, Tarkovsky and Ghatak, recited in slogans and displayed on banners, evoked a history of political cinema that had set itself against the might of India’s political establishment. This podcast series, commemorates that historic struggle, in these three episodes of John-Ghatak-Tarkovsky Episode 1, The Cinema’s Expanded Afterlife, tells a longer cinematic history of a technological and political transformation. The age of film was born more or less after the First World War, signalling a new age of mass democracy. Ever since then, filmmakers have been in the line of fire as the cinema, standing in for a new public domain, has seen battles take place on the street, in courtrooms, and of course in movie theatres. Subscribe to the BIC Talks Podcast on your favourite podcast app! BIC Talks is available everywhere, including iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Castbox, Overcast and Stitcher. Archival (in their own voices) Ritwik Ghatak, Mani Kaul, Kamal Swaroop, Saeed Akhtar Mirza, Gurvinder Singh, Vinod Khanna, Prateek Vats, U.R. Ananthamurthy, Amol Palekar, Prakash Jha, Alankrita Srivastava, Vijay Tendulkar, Nakul Singh Sawhney, Paul Mason, Manuel Castells, Rohith Vemula Performances (using voice cloning) Miss Ida Dickinson (1928), Mahatma Gandhi (1946), S.K. Patil (1951), Justice Mukul Mudgal (2013), Additional Solicitor General, Government of India (2015) In discussion: Lawrence Liang, Sudhanva Deshpande, Abhijit Gupta, G. Arunima, Ravi Sundaram, Sahana Manjesh, Shilpi Gulati, Nandini Sundar Texts cited: Shreya Singhal and Ors. v. Union of India, 2015 Report of the Film Inquiry Committee (1951): S.K. Patil, Chairman Indian Cinematograph Committee Report (1928) K. A. Abbas vs The Union Of India & Anr on 24 September, 1970 K.M. Sankarappa vs The Union of India, Karnataka High Court, April, 1990 Public comments sought on the Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill 2021, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting The Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill, 2023 Report of the Committee of Experts to Examine Issues of Certification Under the Cinematograph Act 1952, 2013 (Justice Mukul Mudgal Chair) Film soundtracks: Jukti Takko Aar Gappo (Ritwik Ghatak, 1974) Calcutta 71 (Mrinal Sen, 1972) Agraharathil Kazhuthai (John Abraham, 1977) Amma Ariyan (John Abraham, 1986) Open Cafe v2.5 (Naveen Padmanabha, 2012) Trimurti (Subhash Ghai, 1995) Kavita Gherao (Bombay Film Republic, Ben Friedman/Ashish Avikuntak, 1998) Muqaddar Ka Sikandar (Prakash Mehra, 1978) Chello Show (Pan Nalin, 2021) Om Dar-b-dar (Kamal Swaroop, 1988) Celluloid Man (Shiverndra Singh Dungarpur, 2012)  

A large citizen survey was conducted in Bengaluru to better understand the everyday practices through which citizens effectively wield their rights. This is beyond conventional measures of voter turnout or generalisations about citizen participation in politics. The key takeaway is that the poor access the state through political participation and the rich through their influence and connections. It was also found that unlike the conventional celebration of participation as a citizenship-deepening activity, a substantial part of participation is associated with forms of brokerage that compromise democratic citizenship. In this episode of BIC Talks, political scientist Ashutosh Varshney presents the findings of the study and its implications for understanding the nature of urban democracy. Subscribe to the BIC Talks Podcast on your favourite podcast app! BIC Talks is available everywhere, including iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Castbox, Overcast and Stitcher.

It is generally believed that the indigenous vernacular education in India was oral, controlled by certain sections of the population and exclusive in nature. However, the archival data of 16,000 indigenous vernacular schools gives a very different picture. In 1813, the British Parliament earmarked 100,000 rupees a year for education in India. The colonial government did not utilise the amount. The British liberals collected the data on indigenous schools to urge the colonial government to spend on improving these schools. The data is diverse and covers the Madras, Bombay and Bengal Presidencies and North Western Provinces (Uttar Pradesh). It comprises nine linguistic groups – Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Marathi, Malayalam, Odia, Tamil, and Telugu. It was collected between 1819 and 1838 by British officials and civilians proficient in local vernaculars. William Adam, a Sanskrit and Bengali scholar, collected the data for Bengal and Bihar. He sat in the classrooms and observed the method of teaching. So we have first-hand information on classroom practices of both Sanskrit and Bengali schools of Bengal. Many Sanskrit Pundits continued to correspond with Adam in Sanskrit long after the data collection was over. A.D. Campbell, who collected the data for the Bellary district, was proficient in both Kannada and Telugu languages. This episode of BIC Talks which took place in early July 2023, by Parimala V Rao Historian & Professor, History of Education, Jawaharlal Nehru University covers access, curriculum, textbooks, school holidays, fees charged by the teachers and the colonial policy towards them. It will also address how education became exclusive by the end of the nineteenth century. Subscribe to the BIC Talks Podcast on your favourite podcast app! BIC Talks is available everywhere, including iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Castbox, Overcast and Stitcher.  

Much has been written and debated about the partition of India and the creation of Pakistan. It cost more than one million Hindu, Muslim and Sikh lives and bequeathed a legacy of suspicion, hatred and hostility. For many it was a blessing, for others a tragedy. For many it meant independence and freedom, for others loss of independence and change of the masters. It left millions traumatized. The violence unleashed before, during and after the independence movement keeps recurring in various forms – most notably, as religious extremism. 75 years on, the crisis on both sides of the border is deepening. The “two nations” are still struggling to define themselves as nations. Emergence of Bangladesh in 1971 as the third nation has challenged several myths. 75 years later, the negative fallout of that legacy is all there to see. It is time to bury the hatchet and build peace. Almost everyone agrees that a strong friendly relationship between these states is essential for their progress, welfare and security of their people. In this episode of BIC Talks, Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Stockholm University Dr. Ishtiaq Ahmed speaks on the need for peace between India and Pakistan. This episode is adapted from an event at the BIC Premises that took place in June 2023. Subscribe to the BIC Talks Podcast on your favourite podcast app! BIC Talks is available everywhere, including iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Castbox, Overcast and Stitcher.

Noted musician and scholar Satyasheel Deshpande, delves into and demystifies the music of his Guru, Padmavibhushan Pandit Kumar Gandharva in an illustrated talk. This rich, flavourful mehfil, in Hindi with some English, begins with a recording of Kumar Gandharva, the child prodigy, before moving on to include both speech and song that span the many facets of his musical personality and ideas as they evolved from the 1950s to 1992 when he passed away. Satyasheel Deshpande also shares anecdotes from his years with Kumar ji, who was a close friend of his father, the renowned musicologist Vamanrao Deshpande, visiting and staying at their culturally vibrant Walkeshwar home in South Mumbai along with other great musicians of the era. This episode of BIC Talks covers the following aspects of Kumar Gandharva's journey in music - Parampara, Raj-Vichar, Navsarjan, Gayaki and Bhavishya He is accompanied by his disciple and son, the performer, teacher and archivist of Hindustani Khayal music, Srijan Deshpande on vocal support and Rupak Kharvandikar on tabla. Subscribe to the BIC Talks Podcast on your favourite podcast app! BIC Talks is available everywhere, including iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Castbox, Overcast and Stitcher.

Former Kerala health minister KK Shailaja became a global icon because of her handling of the first phase of the COVID pandemic. In her memoir, My Life as a Comrade, she tells her story – from her childhood as a shy, fearful girl, her days as a school teacher where she learnt the art of managing difficult students to her entry into politics leading to a tenure as health minister where she dealt with two terrifying epidemics. In this episode of BIC Talks she tells the story of Kerala in post-independent India – how its Communist politics shaped her family and the state, and what makes the Kerala model so remarkable. KK Shailaja is in conversation with Journalist Indulekha and writer and editor Manju Sara Rajan. Subscribe to the BIC Talks Podcast on your favourite podcast app! BIC Talks is available everywhere, including iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Castbox, Overcast and Stitcher.