The Literary City Explocity Podcasts

Nilanjana Roy is the girl who, as a child, ate books — in fact, she was known to have devoured them whole. This is obviously a reference to her book The Girl Who Ate Books, a paean to writing, writers and other such pursuit.

Nilanjana is, most recently, author of the novel, Black River and she is my guest on The Literary City and we will talk about her fascinating career, from her early love of reading and writing, which led to her becoming a respected voice in the literary world.

One of Nilanjana’s better known works is "The Wildings," a novel that tells the story of a community of cats who must band together to protect their home from a menacing force. But for me, it is the "The Girl Who Ate Books" — a memoir in which she reflects on her lifelong relationship with literature and evidently, the impact it has had on her life.

In addition to being a novelist, Nilanjana has been a journalist — and something that all journalists agree on is that it provides a certain respect for fact and a discipline of prose — and Nilajana's writing reflects this in spades. 

She is also a columnist for reputable publications and consequent to her being a literary commentator, she has views on the evolution of literature in India and her book, The Girl Who Ate Books showcases that side of her very well.

I enjoyed Black River mainly because it had a certain lyrical quality and a journalist’s eye for detail, all of which led to a murder mystery that is at once, a social commentary.
So much to talk to her about. Here she is, joining me from her home in New Delhi.

ABOUT NILANJANA ROY
Nilanjana S Roy is a writer, editor, columnist and compulsive reader. Born in Kolkata, she lives in New Delhi, a combination of cities that make her an expert on stray cats, homicides and brooding political dystopias. She is the author of Black River, a novel set in and around Delhi, the award-winning fantasy duology, The Wildings, and a collection of essays, The Girl Who Ate Books. She has edited three anthologies, including Our Freedoms, and writes a column on books for the Financial Times.

Buy Black River: https://amzn.to/40meahC

WHAT'S THAT WORD?!
Co-host Pranati "Pea" Madhav joins Ramjee Chandran in "What's That Word?!",  where they discuss the origin of the word, "NICKNAME".

WANT TO BE ON THE SHOW?
Reach us by mail: theliterarycity@explocity.com or simply, tlc@explocity.com.
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In the beginning of the episode, you will hear my guest Jeet Thayil read from his book, Names Of The Women — women whose paths crossed with Christ, and who, it is said, stayed by him during the crucifixion. And after.

I have been fortunate to read so many books since I started hosting this podcast. Each book is as wonderful and as compelling as the next. And then a book comes along, like Names Of The Women that holds the craft of writing to a higher standard.

Let me tantalizingly cycle back to that in a minute.
Penguin had sent me a copy of a book compiled and edited by Jeet — The Penguin Book Of Indian Poets — an almost 1000-page thick compendium of Indian poetry. The book was years in the making and I am sure it will be around years for the taking.

But when I had gone over to interview Jeet’s father, the famous journalist and author, TJS George, an earlier guest on this show, Jeet gave me a copy of Names Of The Women. And it gave me the chills in a way that very few books have done before. It is a hauntingly evocative story of the lives of those women.

Despite being less than 200 pages long, Names Of The Women is aching to be a book three times its length. The substance is such. And when you pack all that into 200 pages, it makes it powerful.

Thayil’s writing is a masterclass in narrative storytelling, rich with literary devices that enhance his already compelling craft.

So much for what I think about the book. Let’s talk to Jeet.

ABOUT JEET THAYIL
Jeet Thayil is the author of four novels and five collections of poetry. His essays,
poetry and short fiction have appeared in the New York Review of Books,
Granta, TLS, The London Magazine, The Guardian and The Paris Review,
among other venues. He is the editor of The Penguin Book of Indian Poets.

Buy Names of the Women: https://amzn.to/3kKdFPj
Buy The Penguin Book Of Indian Poets: https://amzn.to/41MT6lV

WHAT'S THAT WORD?!
Co-host Pranati "Pea" Madhav joins Ramjee Chandran in "What's That Word?!",  where they discuss the not-so-fun origins of the word, "FUN".

WANT TO BE ON THE SHOW?
Reach us by mail: theliterarycity@explocity.com or simply, tlc@explocity.com.
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It is said that you don’t rescue dogs. They rescue you. This saying reflects the connection we can have with our pets. Especially dogs, who are said to have had a relationship with humans for thousands of years.

When we adopt a dog, we think we're giving them a new lease on life, but in reality, they often give us so much more in return. Joy, comfort, companionship and a sense of purpose. They make us better humans. This idea of animals rescuing humans is the central theme in my guest Lynda Rutledge's brilliant novel, West with Giraffes.

The book follows the journey of Woodrow Wilson Nickel, or Woody, a seventeen-year-old boy who drove two giraffes cross-country from New York to the San Diego Zoo. This novel is based on a true story—events that happened in 1938. The two giraffes survive the high seas and braved a storm that almost killed them. Then they needed to be transported to the San Diego Zoo.
As Woody—and this travelling companion, the Old Man, navigate the challenges of the journey, the giraffes become not just his companions, but his teachers, showing him the beauty and grace of the world around him.

What strikes me about West with Giraffes is how it channels the classic American novel style of writing and storytelling. It's a literary gem that will have you feeling like you're living in 1938 America, driving alongside Woody.

The parallels with Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird are impossible to ignore. Both novels explore themes of coming-of-age, social injustice, and the power of empathy, all set against the backdrop of a rapidly changing America.

While modern writing often reflects the times we live in and the technology we use, Lynda Rutledge proves in this novel that she has the ability to carry forward the tradition of great American authors like Harper Lee, John Steinbeck, and Mark Twain. Her writing is just as compelling.

She joins me from her home in Austin, Texas.

ABOUT LYNDA RUTLEDGE
Lynda Rutledge, a lifelong animal lover, has had the joy of petting baby rhinos, snorkeling with endangered turtles, and strolling with a tower of giraffes in her eclectic freelance career writing nonfiction for well-known publications and organizations while winning awards for her fiction. Her debut novel, Faith Bass Darling's Last Garage Sale, won the 2013 Writers League of Texas Book Award for Fiction and was adapted into a major 2019 French film starring Catherine Deneuve. She, her husband, and resident dog, live outside Austin, Texas. For more information, visit www.lyndarutledge.com   
Buy West With Giraffes: https://amzn.to/41b9igo

WHAT'S THAT WORD?!
Special guest Linda Persson joins co-host Pranati "Pea" Madhav and host Ramjee Chandran in "What's That Word?!",  where they discuss the interesting origins of the phrase, "TWO SHAKES OF A RAT'S TAIL".

WANT TO BE ON THE SHOW?
Reach us by mail: theliterarycity@explocity.com or simply, tlc@explocity.com.
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This interview was recorded live at Blossom Book House, Bangalore.

Many years ago I saw a TV commercial that stuck with me. It showed a montage—sepia tinted portraits of older couples, with rather interesting last names:

Alois and Klara Hitler
Beso Jughashvili and Ekaterine Geladze (Josef Stalin’s parents)
Andruta and Marie Ceausescu (parents of Nikolai Ceausescu, the genocidal leader of Romania.)
And a few similar others. And then the punchline “If only these people had heard of Trojan condoms.”

This commercial spoke a truth—that families are involved and responsible for the good ones and the monsters alike.

We have heard much of the campaigns and conquests and cruelties of world leaders and we have read stories of incidents that might have influenced their growing years. But history is rather quiet on the roles their mothers played. Yes, what about Mom? How did Mom mess with their heads?

The most definitive record of this truth—that is the family’s role in history—is written by Simon Seabag Montefiore in his book, "The World—A Family History". Simon’s book opens with the discovery of footprints. In 2013, a storm lashed the coast of eastern England in Norfolk at a village called Happisburg and uncovered these footprints. They found out that these footprints were left behind at least 850,000 years ago by a small group of humans and children— and that is the first evidence of a family.

A blurb in Simon’s book says that from the beginning of history through the present, the one thing that humanity has in common is family. The World—A Family History reveals how the family unit has driven history—from the prehistoric homo antecessors of Happisburg to the modern days—the Trump family included.

The book has such a huge span. In about 1300 pages it takes us through recorded history as we know it and in a never done before narrative, presents the history of the world through the families that have caused and created history in every corner of the world.

This book is nothing short of a modern day epic. To those who have not had the pleasure of reading Simon Sebag Montefiore, let me say that his narrative is not only deep but gripping. And don't let the size of the book fool you. It is unputdownable and call me if it doesn’t go faster than binge-watching Game of Thrones with as much guts, gore and sex.

I have been given the honour of bringing to you this prolific and hugely entertaining historian.

ABOUT SIMON SEBAG MONTEFIORE
Montefiore is the internationally bestselling author of prize-winning books that have been published in 48 languages. Catherine the Great & Potemkin, The Court of the Red Tsar, Young Stalin, Jerusalem: The Biography, and The Romanovs: 1613-1918. He is the author of the Moscow Trilogy of novels: Sashenka, Red Sky at Noon and One Night in Winter. He also wrote Written in History: Letters that Changed the World and Voices of History: Speeches that Changed the World.

You can get a special 20% discount at Blossom Book House on Church St in Bangalore.  Or you can it order it from them here:  The World: A Family History: https://explo.in/3Yy2UxN or better, here: https://explo.in/3XcUP0r.

WHAT'S THAT WORD?!
Co-host Pranati "Pea" Madhav joins Ramjee Chandran in "What's That Word?!",  where they discuss the interesting origins of the word, "CONDOM".

WANT TO BE ON THE SHOW?
Reach us by mail: theliterarycity@explocity.com or simply, tlc@explocity.com.
Or here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/theliterarycity
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There’s something primal about watching food shows on TV. Or any food show. Even restaurants that have a glass pane through which you can watch the chefs in the kitchen doing their thing. It engages your attention while they ham it up. No that’s not a pun.

The business of someone setting about chopping up ingredients and turning them into masterful creations of art–truly subliminal and soul stirring to watch on the couch, while you eat instant noodles, unmindful of the irony.

I had no better example than when my partner and I had bought the kids in our apartment building a ton of firecrackers for Deepavali. They had great fun on the street. Suddenly, at 8pm, total silence. They were gone. Bags of fireworks lay unattended on the sidewalk, the starter candles drooping.

And where had all these pre-teen children gone? To watch Masterchef on TV.

For many of us, watching cooking shows or reading about food is a form of escapism. It transports us to far-off lands and exotic cuisines, allowing us to experience new flavors and dishes without leaving home.

But there's more to our love of food literature than just the escapism it provides. Food brings people together. Reading about it gives us a sense of connection. Sharing a meal is a fundamental human experience, and reading about food allows us to share in that experience–even vicariously. By reading about the foods of different regions and countries, we gain insights into their customs, cultures and traditions. So much history and indeed, social anthropology there.

On this podcast—after months of dealing with authors who have written about the ravages of war and politics and poetry’s melancholic joy—today I feel as happy as a predictable late light TV talkshow host who is about to cook Christmas turkey with Martha Stewart.

Except that my guest today is closer to Julia Child, the famous author of cookbooks and host of TV and radio shows in the US. You might remember that Meryl Streep played Julia Child in the movie Julie and Julia.

My guest is Karen Anand, one of India’s best known food personalities. Author of some 30 books and host of TV shows since the mid-1980s Karen has brought class to the industry in India. She is widely respected and—to my knowledge—chefs of all persuasions are known to court her opinion and her approval.

Her most recent book is intriguingly titled “Masala Memsahib” and it is a wonderful journey through giving us a window into food across India. Her expertise is honed from years of practice and her prose is that of an imaginative writer. And I am eager to talk to her about the book and about her life. So here she is. Karen Anand, welcome to The Literary City.

ABOUT KAREN ANAND
Karen Anand is widely accepted as one of India’s first food gurus. A prolific author with some 30 books published, she has been a TV host on popular food shows.  Karen received the prestigious Food & Spirit Award (Trophée de l’Esprit Alimentaire) for Culture from the French Government. In 2019, she won the French Ambassadors Travel Writers Award.

Buy Masala Memsahib: https://amzn.to/3hkNywB

WHAT'S THAT WORD?!
Co-host Pranati "Pea" Madhav joins Ramjee Chandran in "What's That Word?!",  where they discuss the interesting phrase, "CHERCHEZ LA FEMME".  Plus they are joined by celebrity chef, Abhijit Saha.

WANT TO BE ON THE SHOW?
Reach us by mail: theliterarycity@explocity.com or simply, tlc@explocity.com.
Or here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/theliterarycity
Or here:  https://www.instagram.com/explocityblr/

When the government exempted media from the lockdown, logically, this was to ensure that the media could do its job—which was to bring information and news to the people who were sequestered in their homes.

My guest today did just that. She is Barkha Dutt, one of India’s best known journalists. Barkha decided that she was going to bring information to the people. True to her wont, she did not do this by halves. She stepped out and travelled across the country with a small team of colleagues.

Over about three months, she with her team logged over 30,000 kms—that’s a shade under 19000 miles—travelling over surface in every available transport just to meet people.

Of course a tragedy like this brings out the best and the worst in people and Barkha was witness to all of it. Appropriately, her book is titled Humans Of Covid.

Everywhere she went, she logged the stories of the worst off among us. These stories are deeply human and capture the essence of how we cope when nature turns against us.

The medical fraternity cared for the living. Barkha met people who cared for the dead. People who put their own religions behind them and even temporarily adopted the faith of those who needed to be cremated. They gave the dead the dignity that the pandemic had taken from them.

At one point this journey turned deeply personal for Barkha. She lost her father to COVID. But she soldiered on and the result is this compelling book. A historical account, oral histories of the most disadvantaged; their grief, sometimes their hubris, often their humanity.

As a journalist Barkha has covered some of the biggest stories in the nation. Of the many, she mentions that her eventful career was bookended by the war in Kargil in 1999 and the Covid crisis in 2021.

In what was a staid and almost pedagogic profession—as journalism in India used to be—she was one of the new breed of TV journalists, aggressive with an eye on one prize alone...the story.

I had the privilege to host a live session with Barkha at the recent Bangalore Literature Festival and doubly my privilege now to welcome her as my guest today.

ABOUT BARKHA DUTT
Barkha Dutt is one of India’s foremost broadcast journalists. After two decades with NDTV, she is now the Founder-Editor of Mojo Story, an independent digital media platform. A columnist for The Washington Post, she has received more than fifty national and international awards, including the Padma Shri.

Buy To Hell and Back: Humans of COVID: https://amzn.to/3urdvgH

WHAT'S THAT WORD?!
Co-host Pranati "Pea" Madhav joins Ramjee Chandran in "What's That Word?!",  where they discuss the interesting word, "DEADLINE".

WANT TO BE ON THE SHOW?
Reach us by mail: theliterarycity@explocity.com or simply, tlc@explocity.com.
Or here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/theliterarycity
Or here:  https://www.instagram.com/explocityblr/