India Booked Trailer

In the first episode, India Booked talks to Manimugdha Sharma, News Editor and author of Allahu Akbar: Understanding the Great Mughal in Today's India. Listen to discover about mughals, akbars, nationalism and how bollywood gets Akbar wrong.

Manimugdha Sharma is a quizzer, a journalist, and holds an interest and education in history. In Allahu Akbar, he combines his love and knowledge of the past, to give us an interesting oral account of what Akbar represents in today's times. We discuss Akbar's ruthless achievements in warfare, his political savviness and how media agenda setting and the (mis)representation of matters has not changed through times. We also touch upon the subject of secularism and discuss if Akbar was the statesman he's made to be and ask the pertinent question: should the present be judged by the yardstick of the past? Listen in to find out!

 In the second episode, travel through a Christian village in Meghalaya, meet the Kolkata-based Jewish community and feast on the 56-course feast at Jagannath as India Booked talks to Varud Gupta, author of the cookbook-cum-travelouge Bhagwaan Ke Pakwaan. Listen to discover what he has to share on the connections between faith and food in the communities of India and how they are trying to preserve their culinary cultures.

Varud Gupta is an NYU graduate in Finance. He has also penned Chhotu, a coming-of-age graphic novel set against the Partition. Bhagwaan ke Pakwaan, which loosely translates to Food of the Gods, captures stories of what different cultures have to offer around their famous recipes. Listen now to find out how food, faith, and community are interwoven in India and how the stories came together in the book.

Invisible Man, the seminal work (controversies and shortcomings included) talking about the Indian transmasculine network, is an important work for bringing the community's voice to the fore. In this episode of India Booked, Ayushi speaks to author Nandini Krishnan on how the book came to be, what the interview process looked like, how India's socio-religio-political realities play out within the network, the friction that the book caused after being released, and much, much more. Tune in now!

Bad Money, the latest book of Vivek Kaul is an important title for the way its author discloses the history of the Indian Economy and Banking system we never knew about, and discusses why it is important to be aware of where your money goes. 

In this episode of India Booked, Ayushi Mona discusses with him what constitutes bad money, what the transition has been like from the banking systems in the past to the current ones, and how important is it to know where your money is safe and unsafe. In this episode, he also unfolds how bad money affects the economy, layer by layer and shares with the listeners his recommendations on books related to economy and other structures. Tune in!

In Truck De India!, journalist Rajat Ubhaykar embarks on a 10,000 km-long, 100% unplanned trip, hitchhiking with truckers all across India. On the way, he makes unexpected friendships; listens to highway ghost stories; discovers the near-fatal consequences of overloading trucks; documents the fascinating tradition of truck art in Punjab; travels alongside nomadic shepherds in Kashmir; encounters endemic corruption repeatedly; survives NH39, the insurgent-ridden highway through Nagaland and Manipur; and is unfailingly greeted by the unconditional kindness of perfect strangers.

Imbued with humour, empathy, and a keen sense of history, Truck De India! is a travelogue like no other you've read. It is the story of India, and Indians, on the road.

Listen to Rajat Ubhaykar in the fifth episode and take a journey. Horn Ok Please

In Bulletproof, journalist and author Teresa Rehman goes beyond statistics and looks at documentary evidences, and shows us how conflict impacts women, children, health etc. A first-of-its-kind account, Bulletproof is the story of a female combat journalist and her encounters with insurgency from north-east India.

In this episode of India Booked, Rehman speaks to Ayushi Mona about her experiences of being a journalist and author, and also shares the story behind the title of the book, how challenging and eventually traumatic it is to report in some of the most under-reported regions without any support system, why it's important to still do so, and much more. Listen now!

Essayist, short-story writer, and author of 'House of Nails', and 'Fire Girl', Sayantani Dasgupta speaks to Ayushi Mona about her childhood experiences – from being an avid-reader to enjoying the dynamics of Delhi, from getting emotional to evolving as a person who places everything in contexts, from what moved her about Delhi to books that you should read, and more. Tune in now. 

"Fire Girl," is her debut collection of essays, where she examines her personal story against the history, religion, popular culture and mythology of South Asia and her current home in the American West.