BIC TALKS

Some histories vanish not by accident, but by design. In the wake of colonial rule, Forbidden Desire unspools a compelling narrative of how British imperial power erased India's far-reaching traditions of gender and sexual diversity. The book draws from feminist historiography, anthropology, South Asian queer theory, decolonial studies and the history of medicine and legislation to map the transformation of lives once lived in fluid, expressive spaces. Author Sindhu Rajasekaran invites us into archive after archive where nautch dancers, courtesans, trans and queer persons, ascetics and masculine women once existed beyond the binaries that later came to dominate. In conversation with Arundhati Ghosh, this discussion will trace how colonial authorities turned indigenous multiplicities into "criminals", folding ancient codes of desire into Victorian moral order: think of Section 377, the Contagious Diseases Act, and the Criminal Tribes Act. More than a simple critique, the evening offers a chance to reimagine our futures by reclaiming what we were taught to forget. In this episode of BIC Talks, Sindhu Rajasekaran is in conversation with Arundhati Ghosh. This is an excerpt from a conversation that took place in the BIC premises in Dec 2025. Subscribe to the BIC Talks Podcast on your favourite podcast app! BIC Talks is available everywhere, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Castbox, Overcast, Audible, and Amazon Music.

At a moment when democratic legitimacy rests on public trust, the role of the Election Commission demands urgent, sober reflection. This Constitution Day session examines the institution at the heart of India's electoral democracy: one tasked with ensuring free and fair elections for over 900 million voters. Yet recent concerns over voter-roll preparation, election scheduling, enforcement of the Model Code of Conduct, and responses to hate speech raise critical questions about its autonomy and constitutional resilience. Grounded in the original vision of an independent referee, the discussion considers whether today's political pressures and structural vulnerabilities call for renewed safeguards or a deeper reimagining of the Commission itself. An essential conversation for anyone seeking to understand how democratic institutions endure, and what it takes to protect them. In collaboration with: Daksh In this episode of BIC Talks, S Y Quraishi delivers a talk. This is an excerpt from a conversation that took place in the BIC premises in Nov 2025. Subscribe to the BIC Talks Podcast on your favourite podcast app! BIC Talks is available everywhere, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Castbox, Overcast, Audible, and Amazon Music.

A wobbling world tries to find its axis: fabrics tear, lands splinter, loved ones vanish, names fade. This session intertwines conversation and poetry, inviting audiences into the bold, shimmering world of Arundhathi Subramaniam's luminous new collection. The session will trace the arc through the sacred and the feminine, culminating in this celebration of fierce, unruly womanhood. Sumbramaniam's collection takes us through shifting landscapes, following the strides of extraordinary women. Women who vault over borders, stroll naked through history, tilt sideways into the unexpected, and sometimes walk entirely upside down. They blur the boundaries between the mundane and the magical, the remembered and the imagined, revealing a world waiting quietly within the old one. Welcome a world that demands new ways of being, new acts of courage, new freedoms! In this episode of BIC Talks, Arundhathi Subramaniam takes us through her book and her process. This is an excerpt from a conversation that took place in the BIC premises in Nov 2025. Subscribe to the BIC Talks Podcast on your favourite podcast app! BIC Talks is available everywhere, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Castbox, Overcast, Audible, and Amazon Music.

Meet Mohandas: experimenting, debating, and testing the ideas that would later define him as Mahatma. This conversation around The Dawn of Life, Prabhudas Gandhi's newly translated memoir, returns us to the ashram circles of South Africa, where Gandhi was still shaping the ideals that would one day define him. Translated into English for the first time by Hemang Ashwinkumar, recipient of the 2024–25 New India Foundation Translation Fellowship, the book revives a family archive both historical and deeply personal. Written by his young grandnephew who lived alongside him at Phoenix Settlement and Tolstoy Farm, the memoir offers an intimate portrait of shared labour and domestic routines, debates on diet and brahmacharya, experiments in simplicity, and the quiet discipline that shaped a philosophy. Here, Gandhi appears exacting yet tender, fallible yet searching, and alive in the small routines that forged his philosophy. In conversation with Nandini Nair of the New India Foundation, Hemang reflects on recovering overlooked histories and carrying a handwritten chronicle into the present; opening a rare window onto Gandhi in the making. The session will conclude with an audience Q&A. In collaboration with: The New India Foundation and Penguin In this episode of BIC Talks, Hemang Ashwinkumar is in a conversation with Nandini Nair. This is an excerpt from a conversation that took place in the BIC premises in Nov 2025. Subscribe to the BIC Talks Podcast on your favourite podcast app! BIC Talks is available everywhere, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Castbox, Overcast, Audible, and Amazon Music.

Four poets from Bangalore come together for an evening of poetry in English and Hindi, exploring how language moves across geographies, experiences, and ways of seeing. Their poems reveal how words can hold multiple realities, opening up Worlds Within Worlds through translation, memory, and imagination. The event will feature readings from Perennial: The Red River Book of 21st Century Hindi Poetry (Red River, 2025), edited by Sourav Roy and Tuhin Bhowal; So That You Know (HarperCollins, 2025) by Mani Rao; and The Book of Blue (Red River, 2024) by Atreyee Majumder. Together, these books offer distinct yet connected perspectives on how poetry continues to shape and question the world we inhabit. In this episode of BIC Talks, Atreyee Majumder, Sourav Roy and Tuhin Bhowal are in conversation with Mani Rao. This is an excerpt from a conversation that took place in the BIC premises in Oct 2025. Subscribe to the BIC Talks Podcast on your favourite podcast app! BIC Talks is available everywhere, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Castbox, Overcast, Audible, and Amazon Music.

What happens when one-sixth of humanity undertakes the world's most complex development experiment? In A Sixth of Humanity, renowned political scientist Devesh Kapur and former Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian unpack India's audacious journey of nation-building and economic transformation. Blending democracy, socialism, and liberalization in an unprecedented way, India has charted a "precocious" path to development—one that defies conventional models and continues to reshape global geopolitics and economics. Through this conversation, the authors reflect on India's unique development trajectory, the paradoxes that define it, and what it reveals about the future of large, diverse democracies. In this episode of BIC Talks, Devesh Kapur, Arvind Subramanian are in a conversation with Ramachandra Guha. This is an excerpt from a conversation that took place in the BIC premises in Oct 2025. Subscribe to the BIC Talks Podcast on your favourite podcast app! BIC Talks is available everywhere, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Castbox, Overcast, Audible, and Amazon Music.

Carrying the people and pulse of a city. Bengaluru Bus Stories is a conversation on how public transport weaves lives together by connecting neighbourhoods, opportunities, and communities across the city. Drawing from EQUIMOB, an international research collaboration between the Institute for Social and Economic Change, Utrecht University, Bangalore Bus Prayaanikara Vedike, and SAMVADA, the discussion explores how buses shape daily life, build connections, and remain vital to the city's social fabric. Moderated by Dr. Ranjana Raghunathan of Vidyashilp University, the panel brings together researchers and activists reflecting on their work with commuters and policymakers, reimagining Bengaluru's buses as true lifelines that are designed with care, inclusion, and dignity at the core. In this episode of BIC Talks, Shaheen Shasa, Sobin George and Prajwal Nagesh are in a conversation with Ranjana Raghunathan. This is an excerpt from a conversation that took place in the BIC premises in Oct 2025. Subscribe to the BIC Talks Podcast on your favourite podcast app! BIC Talks is available everywhere, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Castbox, Overcast, Audible, and Amazon Music.

The Constitution promises freedom, but really, how free are we under its design? In 2025, India's Constitution turned seventy-five: a remarkable testament to endurance and adaptability. Yet, beneath its promise of liberty lies a constant negotiation of power. Gautam Bhatia examines the Constitution not just as a legal document, but as a dynamic terrain where visions of authority clash, intersect, and contend for supremacy. Central to this story is the drift toward centralisation: power increasingly concentrated in the union executive. While certain elements of this concentration are embedded in the Constitution's design, landmark Supreme Court judgments have, at key moments, accelerated the trend. This talk explores how these structures shape, channel, and sometimes constrain the possibilities for emancipation. Through a careful reading of the Constitution's text, history, and interpretations, Bhatia sheds light on the subtle (and often contested) mechanisms that govern India's democracy. A Q&A will follow, giving audiences a chance to engage with these questions of power, freedom, and the ongoing relevance of India's constitutional experiment. The Vijay Nambisan Trust: The Vijay Nambisan Trust was formed to perpetuate the cause of Humanities in its many spheres. The Vijay Memorial Lecture to be held every year is the first event to be sponsored by the Trust in partnership with the Bangalore International Centre. About Vijay Nambisan:One of the best poet-writers of his generation, Vijay Nambisan is known as much for his poetry and prose, as he is for his reclusiveness. He dropped out of IIT Madras in his fourth year of engineering to pursue his love for the written word. He won the first All India British Council Poetry Prize in 1988, worked for a number of years in the literary section of The Hindu and published collections of poetry and prose in his inimitable style. He was married to surgeon and novelist, Kavery Nambisan. In this episode of BIC Talks, Gautam Bhatia delivers a talk. This is an excerpt from a conversation that took place in the BIC premises in Oct 2025. Subscribe to the BIC Talks Podcast on your favourite podcast app! BIC Talks is available everywhere, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Castbox, Overcast, Audible, and Amazon Music.

dynamics in a society steeped in tradition and inviting us to contemplate not just the challenges facing Pakistan but also the boundless potential for change and understanding. This session delves deeper into their experiences, exposing the layers of tradition that shape societal norms, offering a compelling examination of the challenges and opportunities inherent in the region's sociopolitical landscape. In this episode of BIC Talks, Ruchi Ghanashyam and A R Ghanashyam will be in conversation with Latha Reddy. This is an excerpt from a conversation that took place in the BIC premises in Feb 2025. Subscribe to the BIC Talks Podcast on your favourite podcast app! BIC Talks is available everywhere, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Castbox, Overcast, Audible, and Amazon Music.

A cab in five minutes. Groceries in ten. Biryani in twenty. Who really powers your fast, effortless digital life? OTP Please! (Penguin Random House) uncovers the hidden human stories behind South Asia's booming app economy. Vandana Vasudevan takes readers into the lives of gig workers racing against the clock, small sellers navigating the algorithm, and the restless customers who keep tapping 'Order Now.' From India's hyperlocal delivery boys to Pakistan's ride-hail drivers, Nepal's app startups to Bangladesh's e-marketplace sellers, the book reveals the invisible ecosystem that fuels our digital ease – and the costs it quietly extracts. Vandana will be in conversation with Mekin Maheshwari, serial entrepreneur, early Flipkart leader, and Founder & CEO of Udhyam Learning Foundation, exploring the realities, challenges, and humanity behind the apps we use every day. An insightful morning unpacking the human side of technology, offering perspectives that linger long after the screen goes dark. In this episode of BIC Talks, Vandana Vasudevan will be in conversation with Mekin Maheshwari. This is an excerpt from a conversation that took place in the BIC premises in Oct 2025. Subscribe to the BIC Talks Podcast on your favourite podcast app! BIC Talks is available everywhere, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Castbox, Overcast, Audible, and Amazon Music.

What does it take to dream beyond your time—and make those dreams real? Vikram Sarabhai, founder of India's space programme, imagined communication satellites that would educate people when even a modest rocket launch seemed audacious. He envisioned agricultural complexes powered by atomic energy, sea water turned drinkable, and a modern India fuelled by science and creativity. But Sarabhai was more than a scientist—he co-founded the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, the National Institute of Design, the dance academy Darpana, and India's first textile research cooperative, ATIRA. He also ran a thriving pharmaceutical company and launched India's first market research organisation, ORG. As India navigates its twenty-first century aspirations, this session revisits the humane, imaginative, yet pragmatic vision of a man who built enduring institutions. Drawing from Vikram Sarabhai: A Life, author Amrita Shah offers an intimate portrait of a multifaceted genius whose legacy continues to shape India's present and future. After her talk, she will be in conversation with Jahnavi Phalkey, exploring the many lives and lasting vision of this extraordinary builder of modern India. In this episode of BIC Talks, Amrita Shah will be in conversation with Jahnavi Phalkey. This is an excerpt from a conversation that took place in the BIC premises in Oct 2025. Subscribe to the BIC Talks Podcast on your favourite podcast app! BIC Talks is available everywhere, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Castbox, Overcast, Audible, and Amazon Music.

At its heart, The Dark Hours of the Night is a story about girlhood under constraint, about how adolescence, desire, and freedom are shaped and stifled within the walls of a conservative household. Rabia's journey, woven together with the lives of her friends and cousins, illuminates the subtle negotiations, unspoken rebellions, and fragile solidarities that mark women's coming-of-age in a patriarchal world. The novel opens a conversation about the everyday intimacies of restriction and resistance: the ache of thwarted desire, the bonds of friendship, the weight of silence, and the difficult balance between compromise and courage. It asks what it means to grow up when the future has already been decided, and whether education, love, or even small acts of defiance can shift those boundaries. In this session, Subodh Sankar and Salma will reflect on these resonant themes, of gender, family, power, and the search for selfhood, that lie at the centre of The Dark Hours of the Night and across Salma's larger body of work. இரண்டாம் ஜாமங்களின் கதை என்பது கட்டுப்பாடுகளின் நடுவே வளரும் பெண் சிறுவயதின் கதை. இளமையின் ஆசைகள், சுதந்திரத்தின் கனவுகள் மற்றும் எதிர்பார்ப்புகள், ஒரு மரபுவழி குடும்பத்தின் சுவர்களுக்குள் எவ்வாறு கட்டுப்படுத்தப்படுகின்றன என்பதை இந்த நாவல் வெளிப்படுத்துகிறது. ராபியாவின் வாழ்க்கைப் பயணம், அவளது தோழிகள் மற்றும் சொந்தங்கள் இணைந்து, பெண்களின் வளர்ச்சிப் பாதையில் அமைதியான எதிர்ப்புகள், நுட்பமான சமரசங்கள், சொல்லப்படாத போராட்டங்கள் மற்றும் உறவுகள் எவ்வாறு உருவாகின்றன என்பதை சுட்டிக்காட்டுகிறது. இந்த நாவல் அன்றாட வாழ்க்கையில் காணப்படும் கட்டுப்பாடுகள் மற்றும் எதிர்ப்புகளைப் பற்றி உரையாடலைத் தொடங்குகிறது: நிறைவேறாத ஆசைகள், நட்பு பந்தங்கள், மௌனத்தின் சுமை, சமரசம் மற்றும் துணிச்சலின் இடைநிலைகள். எதிர்காலம் ஏற்கனவே தீர்மானிக்கப்பட்டிருக்கும் சூழலில் வளர்வது என்றால் என்ன, கல்வி, அன்பு அல்லது சிறிய எதிர்ப்புகள் கூட அந்த எல்லைகளை மாற்ற முடியுமா என்பதையும் கேட்கிறது. இந்த உரையாடலில், சுபோத் சங்கருடன் சல்மா, இரண்டாம் ஜாமங்களின் கதை மற்றும் தனது விரிவான படைப்புகளின் மையத்தில் இருக்கும் பாலினம், குடும்பம், அதிகாரம் மற்றும் தனித்தன்மை தேடல் போன்ற கருக்களை ஆராயவுள்ளனர். In collaboration with: Simon & Schuster India In this episode of BIC Talks, Salma will be in conversation with Subodh Sankar. This is an excerpt from a conversation that took place in the BIC premises in Sep 2025. Subscribe to the BIC Talks Podcast on your favourite podcast app! BIC Talks is available everywhere, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Castbox, Overcast, Audible, and Amazon Music.

Before the spotlights, who kept the women's game alive? In 2017, India's women cricketers came heartbreakingly close to a World Cup win at Lord's. That match lit a fire, changing how the country saw its women athletes, and laying the foundation for today's Women's Premier League – the first women's sports league to turn profitable even before a single ball was bowled. It's the first time since that iconic evening at Lord's that the Women's World Cup is set to be hosted in India. This session will celebrate those forgotten days when world cups in India were played in front of empty seats, even when the cricket itself was no less significant. Bringing these narratives to life are Karunya Keshav, Ananya Upendran, and Aayush Puthran. This is a chance to hear directly from some of the best storytellers on women's cricket. In collaboration with: Bookmark Bookmark is a dating app for readers, created by the founders of Cubbon Reads, where one swipes books, not looks. Through a virtual bookshelf and prompts, people can find book buddies across the world. In this episode of BIC Talks, Ananya Upendran and Karunya Keshav will be in conversation with Aayush Puthran. This is an excerpt from a conversation that took place in the BIC premises in Sep 2025. Subscribe to the BIC Talks Podcast on your favourite podcast app! BIC Talks is available everywhere, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Castbox, Overcast, Audible, and Amazon Music.

Between Gandhi and Savarkar lies the story of India's unresolved future. The future of India has long been caught between two irreconcilable visions. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and Vinayak Damodar Savarkar were not just men, but embodiments of two enduring ideologies: Hind Swaraj and Hindutva. Their contest was never merely personal; it was a struggle over what India could, and should, become. Partition was one gash on the body of the nation, its scars still visible. Can India afford new wounds? To even attempt an answer, we must return to the old antagonisms – between communities, yes, but also within Hindu society itself. Few rivalries have been as sharp, or as consequential, as that between Gandhi and Savarkar. Based on his new book, Hindutva and Hind Swaraj, this talk reflects on the unresolved gulf between Gandhi and Savarkar. Not as history, but as a question that remains open: can such differences ever be bridged, or are they the fault lines of India's future? In this episode of BIC Talks, Makarand R Paranjape delivers a talk. This is an excerpt from a conversation that took place in the BIC premises in Sep 2025. Subscribe to the BIC Talks Podcast on your favourite podcast app! BIC Talks is available everywhere, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Castbox, Overcast, Audible, and Amazon Music.

What happens when institutions bend, freedoms collapse, and silence rules? India once knew. Five decades may have passed, but the Emergency remains a stark reminder of how swiftly freedoms can be curtailed. In those 21 months, prisons filled, the press was silenced, and democratic institutions bent under the weight of authoritarian rule. The questions it leaves behind are urgent: what does this episode tell us about the fragility of democracy, and what echoes of it persist today? A new volume gathers reflections from scholars, writers, historians, journalists, and activists to probe this turbulent chapter and its continuing relevance. Joining the discussion are Peter Ronald de Souza, co-editor of the book, historian Janaki Nair, sociologist Chandan Gowda, and political scientist Rinku Lamba, in a conversation moderated by Thomas Abraham. In this episode of BIC Talks, Peter Ronald deSouza, Janaki Nair, Chandan Gowda and Rinku Lamba will be in conversation with Thomas Abraham. This is an excerpt from a conversation that took place in the BIC premises in Sep 2025. Subscribe to the BIC Talks Podcast on your favourite podcast app! BIC Talks is available everywhere, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Castbox, Overcast, Audible, and Amazon Music.

The Masterclass Hegemony, Revolt and Selfhood: India's Encounters with Languages explores three defining moments in India's linguistic journey: the arrival of Sanskrit, Persian, and English. Each language came from beyond India's borders, gained a foothold, and extended its influence across diverse cultures, communities, and tongues. Their dominance shaped not only communication but also identity, politics, and thought. Thus, becoming inseparable from the larger story of India itself. These lectures will trace how each language consolidated its power, how resistance took form, and how new voices emerged in the process. Strikingly, in every encounter, it was not the imperial language that endured, but the languages rooted in the soil (the desa, the nadu) that reshaped and redefined the cultural landscape. As we step into an uncertain digital future, this series asks whether India's linguistic resilience will once again carry it forward, as it has so often before. Language and Hegemony Explore how Sanskrit, Persian, and English reshaped India across centuries. Each entered from outside, claimed cultural power, and ruled the imagination, but India remained a linguistic civilization defined by diversity. This talk uncovers why language became both a tool of hegemony and the essence of India's selfhood. In this episode of BIC Talks, G N Devy delivers a masterclass. This is an excerpt from a conversation that took place in the BIC premises in Sep 2025. Subscribe to the BIC Talks Podcast on your favourite podcast app! BIC Talks is available everywhere, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Castbox, Overcast, Audible, and Amazon Music.

The Masterclass Hegemony, Revolt and Selfhood: India's Encounters with Languages explores three defining moments in India's linguistic journey: the arrival of Sanskrit, Persian, and English. Each language came from beyond India's borders, gained a foothold, and extended its influence across diverse cultures, communities, and tongues. Their dominance shaped not only communication but also identity, politics, and thought. Thus, becoming inseparable from the larger story of India itself. These lectures will trace how each language consolidated its power, how resistance took form, and how new voices emerged in the process. Strikingly, in every encounter, it was not the imperial language that endured, but the languages rooted in the soil (the desa, the nadu) that reshaped and redefined the cultural landscape. As we step into an uncertain digital future, this series asks whether India's linguistic resilience will once again carry it forward, as it has so often before. Decline and Transformation Sanskrit reigned for millennia, Persian for centuries, English for decades. Yet, none endured unchallenged. Each gave way to the resilient desi-bhashas, rooted in the land and people. This lecture traces the rise, fall, and transformation of languages in India, and what these shifts reveal about power and imagination.

The Masterclass Hegemony, Revolt and Selfhood: India's Encounters with Languages explores three defining moments in India's linguistic journey: the arrival of Sanskrit, Persian, and English. Each language came from beyond India's borders, gained a foothold, and extended its influence across diverse cultures, communities, and tongues. Their dominance shaped not only communication but also identity, politics, and thought. Thus, becoming inseparable from the larger story of India itself. These lectures will trace how each language consolidated its power, how resistance took form, and how new voices emerged in the process. Strikingly, in every encounter, it was not the imperial language that endured, but the languages rooted in the soil (the desa, the nadu) that reshaped and redefined the cultural landscape. As we step into an uncertain digital future, this series asks whether India's linguistic resilience will once again carry it forward, as it has so often before. Language between Nationalism and Technology In today's charged climate, languages carry the weight of both nationalism and digital futures. This session asks how India's linguistic diversity will evolve in the twenty-first century, and whether the voices of many can thrive amid the pulls of technology, identity, and the search for cultural belonging. In this episode of BIC Talks, G N Devy delivers a masterclass. This is an excerpt from a conversation that took place in the BIC premises in Sep 2025. Subscribe to the BIC Talks Podcast on your favourite podcast app! BIC Talks is available everywhere, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Castbox, Overcast, Audible, and Amazon Music.

Trust is thin, history is long, and the consequences? Unforgiving. India and China share a long border and a longer shadow. Security risks and market hopes pull in opposite directions. In a world of shifting power, India must choose with care. This evening explores that choice through the ancient philosophical and logical Indian discipline of Purva Paksha. Each speaker first presents the other's case, fully and fairly, before offering their own. The aim isn't to score points, but rather, to see clearly: where trust frayed, where interests align, and where wisdom might guide policy. Expect a rigorous, humane conversation that values nuance over noise, and context over heat. If you've wondered how India can guard its borders while growing its future, this format offers you a chance to learn through respectful debate. For those who prize thoughtfulness, this is a rare chance! In collaboration with: Takshashila Institution In this episode of BIC Talks, Manoj Kewalramani will be in conversation with Pranay Kotasthane. This is an excerpt from a conversation that took place in the BIC premises in Sep 2025. Subscribe to the BIC Talks Podcast on your favourite podcast app! BIC Talks is available everywhere, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Castbox, Overcast, Audible, and Amazon Music.

Sundar Sarukkai's second novel published recently titled Water Days is a reflective look at the changes in his home city, Bangalore, how everyday life gets formed and what happens to the city insidiously and quietly. He explores migration and the changing social fabric, patriarchy, language, linguistic conflicts, power, and who gets to belong in the melting pot that is Bangalore. Water Days is not just a novel about a city; it is a novel about what it means to belong when everything around you is changing. Sarukkai does not romanticise Bangalore, but he listens carefully to it, and implores you to do so as well. Somak Ghoshal says of the novel in Mint: "Water Days is as much a call to reckon with the transformation of a city as an object lesson in empathy, observation, and community living. As urban India becomes divisive, unliveable, and intensely self-serving, it is chroniclers like Sarukkai who continue to do the work that no policy maker or political leader is doing – inspiring us with feelings to make us more concerned and caring citizens." In this episode of BIC Talks, Sundar Sarukkai will be in conversation with Stanley Carvalho. This is an excerpt from a conversation that took place in the BIC premises in Sep 2025. Subscribe to the BIC Talks Podcast on your favourite podcast app! BIC Talks is available everywhere, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Castbox, Overcast, Audible, and Amazon Music.