BIC TALKS

Historian and Infosys Prize Winner Manu V. Devadevan talks about the life and work of MM Kalburgi. This episode is an edited audio discussion first aired as a BIC Streams livecast on August 30, 2020, on the anniversary of his untimely death in 2015. Born in a peasant family in 1938, Professor M.M. Kalburgi went on to become one of the most influential historians of Karnataka in the post-independence times, exploring the history of language, literature and religious life in pre-colonial Karnataka. In his lifetime, Kalburgi published more than 100 books, including monographs, essay collections and critical as well as popular editions of a wide range of literary works in Kannada. He is especially known for his seminal contributions to the study of Old Kannada and the vachana literature. MM Kalburgi was assassinated in 2015 at his residence in Dharwad, following the assassination of Narendra Dhabolkar in Pune in 2013. Manu Devadevan makes an assessment of Kalburgi's career and contribution to research on the history of precolonial Karnataka. He begins by reflecting upon the formative influences on the late professor, his research methods, and goes on to make an overview of his academic output, critically interrogating one of several theses that Kalburgi developed. Manu teaches History at the Indian Institute of Technology Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, and received the Infosys Prize in Humanities for the year 2019. He has published over a dozen books, and many works of poetry. BIC Talks is brought to you by the Bangalore International Centre. Visit the BIC website for show notes, links and more information about the guests.

Heritage practitioner-scholar Krupa Rajangam talks to host Pavan Srinath about how a noble effort like heritage conservation can end up displacing and inflicting everyday violence on people living in heritage zones. Krupa talks about how the World Heritage Site of Hampi has existed before, during and after the Vijayanagara period – and the region is home to over 60,000 residents today. Can modern-day residents of Hampi receive justice and rights, while heritage is also simultaneously conserved? Krupa Rajangam is a conservation architect with 20 years field-based conservation experience. As a doctoral scholar at the National Institute of Advanced Studies, she has just submitted her thesis on heritage as a form of governance, based on ethnographic engagement with Hampi. This episode also features perspectives from Ms. Ramya (name changed), a resident of Virupapura Gaddi near Hampi.) Krupa is Founder-Director of the Bangalore-based socially-engaged heritage collaborative Saythu that is led by conservation professionals. The group aims to promote conservation as an integrated inclusive social process, by bridging theory (academy), practice (field), and peoples' lived experiences, through various initiatives, projects, and teaching-learning engagements. BIC Talks is brought to you by the Bangalore International Centre. Visit the BIC website for show notes, links and more information about the guests.

Why are Indian city governments so weak and toothless? Is it because Indian has failed to implement the 74th Constitutional Amendment, or are there fundamental flaws with the amendment itself? Mathew Idiculla talks to host Pavan Srinath about how Indian cities need a new deal in the 2020s, with fresh imagination. Mathew explores the place of city governments in constitutional and legal regimes across the world, and how they are treated within India. Mathew Idiculla is a lawyer, researcher and writer whose work focuses on issues concerning Indian cities and their governance systems. He is a research consultant at the Centre for Law and Policy Research (CLPR) and previously worked with the School of Policy and Governance, Azim Premji University. Mathew has actively engaged with urban policymaking in multiple capacities and led the drafting of the Greater Bengaluru Governance Bill, 2018 for the Expert Committee on BBMP Restructuring. He writes frequently on various law and policy issues in the opinion pages of India's leading publications. BIC Talks is brought to you by the Bangalore International Centre. Visit the BIC website for show notes, links and more information about the guests.

Vasant Saberwal from the Centre for Pastoralism talks to Aarati Halbe about the life, livelihood and challenges of pastoral communities of India. Millions of people in India follow a pastoral way of life. They tend to a vast majority of millions of sheep, goats, camels, cows, buffaloes and other animals. While invisible to most city dwellers, they remain an integral part of Indian society and economy. Vasant and Aarati discuss how pastoral communities live today, and they explore themes of economic production, upward mobility and sustainability. They discuss how a pastoral mode continues to make eminent sense in the 21st century, even as the Indian State continues to erect barriers, both physical and legal. Vasant Saberwal is the Director of the Centre for Pastoralism and anchors the centre's research agenda. Vasant obtained his Master's degree in wildlife biology from the Wildlife Institute of India, and his PhD on the politics of shepherd access to grazing resources in the Himalayas, from Yale University. Between 1999 and 2004 he was part of Moving Images, where he co-directed a series of films on a range of environmental issues. Between 2004 and 2014 he worked at the Ford Foundation where he oversaw work on rainfed agriculture, pastoralism and the Forest Rights Act. He was the founding editor of the Journal Conservation and Society. His publications include Pastoral Politics; People, Parks and Wildlife; Battles over Nature; and Democratizing Nature. Visit his Google Scholar profile to read more. Aarati Halbe worked in Kachchh with Sahjeevan and the Centre for Pastoralism from 2013-2016 as the curatorial anchor and coordinator for the exhibition Living Lightly: Journeys with Pastoralists. Aarati has an MSc in Environment & Development from the London School of Economics. She currently works in corporate social responsibility and is based in Bangalore.

Narayan Ramachandran returns to BIC Talks to talk to host Pavan Srinath about how the US Fed's actions have given a breather for the Indian economy. Narayan gives a primer on the central banks of emerging markets, on the impact of the US Fed's recent announcements on India's economic recovery, and what India ought to do in order for its economy to flourish in the short, medium, and long term. On the previous episode (#46) of BIC Talks, Narayan had traced the 20th century history of the US Federal Reserve, and the importance of its latest announcement prioritising employment over inflation. Narayan Ramachandran is a columnist, emerging markets investor and polymath. Narayan writes a fortnightly column in Mint called A Visible Hand. He was here last on Episode 5 of BIC Talks, to discuss how the Indian banking crisis would meet the pandemic-led crisis this year.

Columnist and emerging markets investor Narayan Ramachandran talks to host Pavan Srinath about the US Federal Reserve and its monumental recent announcements. On August 27, Jerome Powell of the US Fed announced a shift indicating a primary focus on employment over inflation, a move that will impact not just the United States of America but India and the entire world. On Episode 46 of BIC Talks, Narayan traces the 20th century history of the US Federal Reserve, its defining mandate and focus, and how that have evolved over the decades. He then examines the recent developments in the light of the global financial crisis of 2008, and the COVID-19 pandemic-led economic crisis that the world is dealing with right now. With US unemployment at historic highs, Narayan discusses how the Fed's move could lead to an economic recovery in the US in 2021. Narayan will be returning to BIC Talks on Episode 47 to discuss the impact of the US Fed's actions on India, emerging markets and investors. If you have questions that you would like Narayan to address, you can now share them as a short recording, or type it out. Head on over to tiny.cc/bictalks46 or email us at bic@bangaloreinternationalcentre.org before 3pm, 2nd September, India time. We hope to have Narayan respond to your questions. Narayan Ramachandran is a columnist, emerging markets investor and polymath. Narayan writes a fortnightly column in Mint called A Visible Hand. He was here last on Episode 5 of BIC Talks, to discuss India's double trouble with a pandemic-led crisis meeting a festering banking crisis.

BIC Talks is pleased to present the first full episode of a brand new podcast, Scrolls and Leaves, on Pandemics and Borders. Scrolls & Leaves is a podcast featuring stories from the margins of history. Global events are usually explained through a mainstream gaze, and lack perspective from other societies, and experiences. Hosts Mary-Rose Abraham and Gayathri Vaidyanathan meander through little-known tales from history, science and cultures to contextualize the present. In this episode, the hosts and their collaborators walk listeners through compelling stories from the defining pandemic of the 19th century, Cholera. Featuring stories from India and elsewhere, the tales have chilling parallels to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Their first season is called Trade Winds. It explores themes centred in South Asia, from the time of Muziris more than 2000 years ago to European colonialism in the 20th century. Scrolls & Leaves podcast is an immersive audio experience and best experienced using headphones. It has been made in collaboration with the Archives at NCBS, the National Centre for Biological Sciences in Bangalore. Subscribe to the Scrolls and Leaves podcast to get notified on future episodes. BIC Talks is brought to you by the Bangalore International Centre. Visit the BIC website for show notes, links and more information about the guests.

Can Indian companies start providing period leave for women, following Zomato and others' lead? Radhika Radhakrishnan talks to Padmini Ray Murray about this important aspect of making workplaces better for women. Menstruation, menopause, mental health, all remain taboo or distorted topics of conversation in much of India. Radhika and Padmini explore the arguments for, and against period leave, and make a case for why they are an important step in the right direction. Radhika Radhakrishnan is a feminist researcher, doing qualititative research on the intersections of gender, sexuality, technology, and politics. She is currently a researcher at the Internet Democracy Project. She writes for various national media publications and journals, and hosts talks and podcasts on feminist issues. She tweets at @so_radhikal. Dr Padmini Ray Murray is the founder of Design Beku, a feminist collective that endeavours to place an ethics of care at the heart of digital and design practice. Her recent publications explore the implications of the digital for the feminist archive and protest in India, focusing on how corporate online spaces, commit and perpetuate epistemological violence against the marginalised. She tweets at @praymurray and is on Instagram at @padminirm. BIC Talks is brought to you by the Bangalore International Centre. Visit the BIC website for show notes, links and more information about the guests.

Deborah Moggach, BAFTA nominated author and script writer, talks to novelist Jaishree Misra on Episode 43 of BIC Talks. This is a part of the #WorldLit series of conversations in collaboration with the Bangalore Literature Festival. Did you know that Deborah Moggach's book 'These Foolish Things' was based in Bangalore? This was made into the movie The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and became Jaipur's gain! Deborah talks to Jaishree about this book, its screen adaptation and what it involved to. They also discuss Deborah's screenplay adapting Jane Austen's 'Pride and Prejudice' for the 2005 film starring Kiera Knightley, for which Deborah was nominated for a BAFTA. They go on to discuss other successful books like 'Tulip Fever' and 'The Carer' and what it means to be the 'invisible' writer behind successful movies and TV dramas. Deborah Moggach has written 20 novels, many of which she adapted into TV dramas. She has also written short stories, screenplays and a stage play. Her latest novel, The Carer, was published in 2019. An OBE and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, she lives in London and Wales. Jaishree Misra has written eight novels published by Penguin and HarperCollins, including the best-selling Ancient Promises and Rani. Her most recent book is a light non-fiction account of building a writer's studio by the sea in Kerala. She is currently on a writing sabbatical and on the board of Vahani Scholarships. For more on science behind the Tulip fever, do listen to Episode #19 of BIC Talks with Pranay Lal: Virus Rhapsody. More BIC Talks episodes from the BIC-BLF #WorldLit series include #29 with Pico Iyer and Samanth Subramaniam, and #24 with Chetan Bhagat. BIC Talks is brought to you by the Bangalore International Centre. Visit the BIC website for show notes, links and more information about the guests

Harish Narasappa and Sarayu Natarajan explore the wide-ranging implications of judicial delays on Indian society, delve into why delayed justice is such a pernicious problem, and talk about how it can be addressed. Sarayu and Harish discuss themes explored in the recent book Justice Frustrated: The Systematic Impact of Delays in India, edited by Shruthi Vidyasagar, Shruthi Naik and Harish Narasappa. Harish Narasappa is a lawyer and co-founder of Daksh India, a not-for-profit organisation based in Bangalore. Since 2014, Daksh has been running the Rule of Law project, to evaluate judicial performance and in particular, to study the problem of pendency of cases in the Indian legal system. Harish is also the founding partner of the law firm, Samvad Partners. Harish has extensive experience in advising on cross-border mergers and acquisitions, banking, corporate financing, private equity, projects, regulatory, and dispute resolution matters. He is also a member of the Karnataka Election Watch and National Election Watch. Sarayu Natarajan is a political scientist with a background in law, and Founder of the Aapti Institute. She also hosts the Ganatantra Podcast on politics in India. She has a PhD in Political Science from King's College London, a Master's in Public Policy from the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) at Columbia University, and an arts and law degree from the National Law School of India University, Bangalore (NLSIU). BIC Talks is brought to you by the Bangalore International Centre. Visit the BIC website for show notes, links and more information about the guest.