Solitude, writing and the limits of sociability

We are shaped by the people we let into our lives -- and sometimes only realise this in hindsight. Ramachandra Guha joins Amit Varma in episode 440 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about some of the friends who changed his life. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out: 1. Ramachandra Guha on Amazon, Twitter and his own website. 2. Ram Guha Writes a Letter to a Friend -- Episode 371 of The Seen and the Unseen. 3. Ram Guha Reflects on His Life — Episode 266 of The Seen and the Unseen. 4. A Cricket Tragic Celebrates the Game — Episode 201 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ram Guha). 5. Taking Stock of Our Republic — Episode 157 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ram Guha). 6. Understanding Gandhi. Part 1: Mohandas — Episode 104 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ram Guha). 7. Understanding Gandhi. Part 2: Mahatma — Episode 105 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ram Guha). 8. The Last Liberal and Other Essays -- Ramachandra Guha's collection, which includes his essay on Dharma Kumar. 9. Patriots and Partisans -- Ramachandra Guha's collection, which includes his essay on Krishna Raj. 10. 'The real Chipko': How Shekhar Pathak wrote the first exhaustive, people's history of the movement -- Ramachandra Guha. 11. An Anthropologist among the Marxists and other Essays -- Ramachandra Guha's collection, which includes his essay on DR Nagaraj. 12. The Ecumenical Marxist -- Ramachandra Guha on Anjan Ghosh. 13. Land and Caste in South India -- Dharma Kumar. 14. Colonialism, Property and the State -- Dharma Kumar. 15. The Chipko Movement: A People's History -- Shekhar Pathak. 16. The Flaming Feet and Other Essays -- DR Nagaraj. 17. Ramachandra Guha's 2024 tribute to Andre Béteille. 18. Penelope Fitzgerald, Barbara Pym and Shirley Hazzard on Amazon. 19. Original Spin: Misadventures in Cricket -- Vic Marks. 20. Late Cuts: Musings on cricket -- Vic Marks. 21. The Gate of Angels -- Penelope Fitzgerald. 22. The Light in Winter -- Episode 97 of Everything is Everything. 23. Beyond A Boundary -- CLR James. 24. India After Gandhi -- Ramachandra Guha. 25. Time Out of Mind -- Bob Dylan. 26. From Strength to Strength — Arthur Brooks. 27. The Good Boatman: A Portrait of Gandhi -- Rajmohan Gandhi. 28. The Age of the Partial Outsider — Janan Ganesh. 29. The Book of Indian Essays -- Edited by Arvind Krishna Mehrotra. 30. Ranjit Hoskote is Dancing in Chains -- Episode 363 of The Seen and the Unseen. 31. The Life and Times of Gurcharan Das — Episode 425 of The Seen and the Unseen. 32. Salman Rushdie interviewed by Mishal Husain. 33. Joseph Anton: A Memoir -- Salman Rushdie. 34. Economic and Political Weekly. 35. The India Forum. 36. The Mantle of the Prophet -- Roy Mottahadeh. 37. ChatGPT's investigative work on unnamed Calcutta Marxist. 38. The Role of Rumour in History Writing -- Anjan Ghosh. 39. Who are the Guilty? -- Report on the 1984 riots by PUDR and PUCL. 40. Sharafat Hussain Khan, Latafat Hussain Khan, Shrikrishna Narayan Ratanjankar, Dinkar Kaikini, Malini Rajurkar, Radhika Mohan Maitra and Buddhadev Das Gupta. 41. The Call of Music -- Priya Purushothaman. 42. The Secret Master: Arun Kashalkar and a Journey to the Edge of Music -- Sumana Ramanan. Amit Varma runs a course called Life Lessons, which aims to be a launchpad towards learning essential life skills all of you need. For more details, and to sign up, click here. And have you read Amit's newsletter? Subscribe right away to The India Uncut Newsletter! It's free! Also check out Amit's online course, The Art of Clear Writing. Episode art: 'Koshy's' by Simahina.