Just how old is the oldest whodunnit from India? Who were the first writers of detective fiction in this country? And who were their inspirations? How did India get her first detective department?

Find out in this episode of the desi detective show.

Host: Suparna Chatterjee (www.suparnachatterjee.com)

Instagram : thedesidetectiveshow

and

soup_and_chat

Music by B. Prasanna and Khurshed Batliwala

Instagram: b_prasanna

and

khurshedbatliwala

Numerous fictional detectives have been born in India. But in fame and popularity, none come close to Satyajit Ray’s Feluda. Today I take a look at Feluda stories with a new gaze, not as a young child reading them for the first time, but as an adult who has had the benefit of having read many many detective novels since, to try and understand why Feluda stories enjoy the kind of popularity that they do, decades after they were first created.

Host: Suparna Chatterjee (www.suparnachatterjee.com)

Instagram: thedesidetectiveshow

soup_and_chat

Guest: Mir Afsar Ali (@mirafsarali)

Feluda theme music played by Gourab Das @gourabex
Podcast theme music by @b_prasanna and @khurshedbatliwala

They have been sleuthing for more than a 100 years - in Mughal courts and in Rajput palaces, in the crooked by lanes of Benaras and the bustling cities of Calcutta and Bombay, in the tea gardens of Darjeeling, in the deserts of Rajasthan. Sometimes dressed in dhotis and sherwanis, and sometimes in salwar kurtas and nine-yard sarees.

These are the desi detectives.

After all, who says a deerstalker is a must for solving crime? A turban would do just as well.

Welcome to the desi detective show - the podcast that explores the history and the mystery behind the best detective stories from the Indian subcontinent.

Host: Suparna Chatterjee (www.suparnachatterjee.com)

Instagram : thedesidetectiveshow

and

soup_and_chat

Music by B. Prasanna and Khurshed Batliwala

Instagram: b_prasanna

and

khurshedbatliwala