

Jaipur Bytes
Jaipur Literature Festival
Jaipur Bytes, the official podcast of the Jaipur Literature Festival, is your gateway to enriching and entertaining conversations featuring the finest thinkers, writers, speakers, and doers! Hosted by music programmer & broadcaster Sarthak Kaushik and writer & itihasology's founder, Eric Chopra, the podcast guarantees an eclectic mix of cross-genre discussions traversing diverse themes and ideas. With a constellation of the world's most eminent trailblazers, here's your chance to listen to authors, diplomats, historians, filmmakers, artists, and the unsung heroes of the arts.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Jun 22, 2019 • 55min
The Last Mughal
William Dalrymple transports us back to a bygone era of matchless splendour – the period of the last Mughal. This evocative session features readings by award-winning author and historian Dalrymple from his book The Last Mughal: The Fall of a Dynasty, Delhi, 1857 and the vocals of Vidya Shah celebrating the poignant and robust folk poetry of the time and ghazals of the Mughal court. This episode is a live session from #JLFBelfast2019.

Jun 21, 2019 • 45min
Footloose: The Travel Session
Pico Iyer, Christina Lamb, Carlo Pizzati and Monisha Rajesh in conversation with William Dalrymple. This episode is a live session from #ZEEJLFatBL2019.

Jun 20, 2019 • 32min
The Billionaires: Looking at the Indian Elite
James Crabtree and Avi Singh in conversation with Mukulika Banerjee. This episode is a live session from #ZEEJLFatBL2019.

Jun 20, 2019 • 53min
What Is Not Said: Celebrating the Short Story
Chris Power, Namita Gokhale and Navtej Sarna in conversation with Paul McVeigh. This episode is a live session from #ZEEJLFatBL2019.

Jun 19, 2019 • 49min
Guru Nanak: Traveller, Poet, and Philosopher
Navtej Sarna in conversation with Amrit Kaur Lohia. This episode is a live session from #ZEEJLFatBL2019.

Jun 19, 2019 • 45min
From Hieroglyphs to Emojis
David Levy, Irving Finkel and Michael Erdman in conversation with Pragya Tiwari. This episode is a live session from #ZEEJLFatBL2019.

Jun 17, 2019 • 41min
Amritsar and the Patient Assassin
Anita Anand and Kim A. Wagner in conversation with Navtej Sarna. Anita Anand’s The Patient Assassin tells the remarkable story of one Indian's 20 year quest for revenge, taking him around the world in search of those he held responsible for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre of 1919, which cost the lives of hundreds. Kim A. Wagner’s Jallianwala Bagh: An Empire of Fear and the Making of the Amritsar Massacre is a dramatic telling of the event and its aftermath situating the massacre within the 'deep' context of British colonial mentality and the local dynamics of Indian nationalism. In conversation with writer and former diplomat Navtej Sarna, they discuss this seminal moment in the history of the Indo-British encounter and its consequences for the Indian freedom struggle. This episode is a live session from #ZEEJLFatBL2019.

Jun 16, 2019 • 47min
Words Are All We Have
Anjali Joseph, Lijia Zhang and Romesh Gunesekera in conversation with Catharine Morris. Three writers speak about ways of seeing and recording, and how they navigate words across countries and cultures. Romesh Gunesekera is the acclaimed Sri Lankan-born British author and finalist for the Man Booker Prize. Award-winning Anjali Joseph has written three novels, including her recent The Living. China-born writer and journalist Lijia Zhang has written memorable books that include China Remembers, Socialism Is Great! and Lotus. In conversation with editor and writer Catharine Morris. This episode is a live session from #ZEEJLFatBL2019.

Jun 16, 2019 • 41min
Masala Shakespeare
Jonathan Gil Harris, Rachel Dwyer and Varsha Panjwani in conversation with Cary Sawhney. Shakespeare’s Indian avatar has taken deep root in Bollywood and popular culture. Poet and lyricist Gulzar along with directors Sanjay Leela Bansali and Vishal Bharadwaj have all taken inspiration from the Bard. A lively panel explores the profound resonance between Shakespeare’s craft and Indian cinema and cultural forms. Jonathan Gil Harris, professor of English at Ashoka University, Rachel Dwyer, professor of Indian Culture and Cinema at SOAS, and academic Varsha Panjwani, lecturer in Shakespeare at NYU London, in conversation with filmmaker and director of the London Indian Film Festival, Cary Sawhney. This episode is a live session from #ZEEJLFatBL2019.

Jun 16, 2019 • 48min
Game Changers: Cricket Country
Shashi Tharoor, Wajahat S. Khan, Romesh Gunesekera and Prashant Kidambi in conversation with Mukulika Banerjee. Cricket in South Asia has become a symbol of national identity and a surrogate battleground between competing nationalisms. Prashant Kidambi’s Cricket Country: An Indian Odyssey in the Age of Empire tells the story of the first all Indian cricket tour of Britain and Ireland and how the idea of India took shape on the cricket field. Emmy-nominated multimedia journalist Wajahat S. Khan has co-authored Game Changer, a riveting memoir of Shahid Afridi, one of modern cricket's most controversial and accomplished practitioners. Indian politician and bestselling author Shashi Tharoor and acclaimed Sri Lankan author Romesh Gunesekera have written extensively on the sport. In conversation with writer and academic Mukulika Banerjee, they speak of how cricket has helped fashion the imagined communities of both empire and nation. This episode is a live session from #ZEEJLFatBL2019.