Jaipur Bytes

Pavan K. Varma and Pushpesh Pant in conversation. This episode is part of the Voices of Faith series for JLF Brave New World, presented by the Kamini and Vindi Banga Family Trust.

Pavan K. Varma and Pragya Tiwari in conversation. This episode is part of the Voices of Faith series for JLF Brave New World, presented by the Kamini and Vindi Banga Family Trust.

Pavan K. Varma and Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni in conversation. This episode is part of the Voices of Faith series for JLF Brave New World, presented by the Kamini and Vindi Banga Family Trust.

Devdutt Pattanaik in conversation with Ravi Jain and Miriam Fernandes. Presented by Why Not Theatre, Shaw Festival and Canadian Opera Company. Join us for a conversation with famed mythologist, author, and illustrator Devdutt Pattanaik and theatre artists and writers Ravi Jain and Miriam Fernandes for a deep dive into the world of the Mahabharata through the lens of Jain and Fernandes’ stage adaptation of the ancient text. The conversation will speak to the relevance and importance of these myths in our modern world and how these epic stories can help us unpack the chaos around us. Why Not Theatre’s new theatrical adaptation of the Mahabharata takes a modern twist on the ancient Indian epic, with the session also providing a sneak peek into the process of creating the show as well as its Bhagavad Gita mini-opera. Mahabharata was commissioned by the Shaw Festival and the World Premiere will be presented by the Shaw in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Canada. The Bhagavad Gita was developed with the support of a Creative Residency at the Canadian Opera Company. This episode is the audio version of a live online session from #JLFToronto2020.

Richard Ovenden and Vickery Bowles in conversation with Sharmila Sen. In Burning the Books, Richard Ovenden, the chief librarian of the Bodleian in Oxford, charts 3000 years of neglect and literary vandalism in libraries across the world and the consequences for human culture and the sum of human knowledge. Beginning with the library of King Ashurbanipal of the Assyrian empire, he journeys us through continents and centuries as he tells us of the history of books and ideas, and the libraries that house them. Vickery Bowles, City Librarian at the Toronto Public Library, speaks of what needs to be done in terms of public policy and funding to nurture and sustain the library system. In conversation with author and Editorial Director of Harvard University Press Sharmila Sen, they explore the inner life of the libraries. This episode is the audio version of a live online session from #JLFToronto2020.

A special story dramatisation with Rohini Vij, suitable for ages 10 to 12. Telling a story means more than just reading it out. It is a play of dramatic actions, voice modulations, and projection. In this episode of Kahaani Online, storyteller Rohini Vij not only tells you a heart-warming tale about a kind boy and his drum but also teaches you different tricks and tips so that YOU can tell YOUR story better! This episode is the audio version of a live online session from #JLFToronto2020.

The digital age is transforming how readers and audiences interpret and consume literary fiction. Ann Cleeves, Anosh Irani, Emma Donoghue, and Devyani Saltzman discuss the creative collaborations that enable the movement from script to screen and how text-driven narratives get transformed into dynamic scripts and immersive moving images. Bestselling author Ann Cleeves’ Vera Stanhope series has been dramatized onscreen as Vera and the Jimmy Perez novels as the series Shetland. Celebrated novelist and playwright Anosh Irani’s one-man show, Buffoon, won the 2020 Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Play, and his latest book is titled Translated from the Gibberish: Seven Stories and One Half Truth. Award-winning author Emma Donoghue’s book Room has been adapted into a movie and a play. Writer and curator Devyani Saltzman latest book is Shooting Water: A Memoir of Second Chances, Family, and Filmmaking. She is currently the Director of Public Programming at the Art Gallery of Ontario. This episode is the audio version of a live online session at #JLFToronto2020.

Shashi Tharoor and Simon Winchester in conversation with Supriya Nair. The making of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), under the editorship of James Murray and others, was a monumental 50-year task requiring thousands of volunteers. In his book, The Meaning of Everything: The Story of the Oxford English Dictionary, British-American author and journalist Simon Winchester, tells the story of the OED and its early editors. Winchester’s popular book, The Surgeon of Crowthorne, also tells the odd story of the murderer who contributed extensively from his prison cell. Renowned politician and author Shashi Tharoor’s latest book Tharoorosaurus covers the etymologies and eccentricities of the words in the English language. In conversation with Supriya Nair, they discuss the English vocabulary and this constantly evolving tome of lexicons. This episode is the audio version of a live online session from #JLFToronto2020.

What accounts for success or failure? Writer and philosopher Michael Sandel’s latest book The Tyranny of Merit: What's Become of the Common Good? looks deeper into the binaries that have brewed generations of anger, frustration, and polarization in America. Sandel’s timely book examines the need to recognize success in a manner that reaffirms the ethics of solidarity, humility and dignity. In a conversation with Anand Giridharadas (author of Winners Takes All), he challenges the atmosphere of meritocratic hubris and inequality, and stresses the need for the common good as a key to face the extreme challenges of our times. This episode is the audio version of a live online session at #JLFNewYork2020.

Luke Harding in conversation with Suhasini Haidar. In an era of kleptocratic governments and modernisation of communist era propaganda for the age of Facebook and Twitter, Luke Harding’s The Shadow State explores the alleged hidden war orchestrated by Russia to reshape the modern world. Detailing accounts of espionage, corruption, and KGB-style murders the book takes us through the murky waters of how deep the Russian roots run in this post Soviet world. In a conversation with Suhasini Haidar , Harding discusses this threat to America and the future of Western democracy. This episode is the audio version of a live online session from #JLFNewYork2020.