BIC TALKS

418. Ghost-Eye

Narratives illuminate what often lies just out of sight. In this exciting conversation, Amitav Ghosh discusses his latest book, Ghost-Eye, with writer Anjum Hasan, tracing the hidden histories and environmental undercurrents that shape human lives. Moving between folklore and the contemporary world, the discussion explores how landscapes remember, how ecological forces linger beneath the visible, and how storytelling can recover what modern life trains us to ignore. Hasan's thoughtful questioning bring out the novel's deeper concerns: the fragile relationship between people and place, the quiet violence of erasure, and the role of curiosity in resisting indifference. Together, they reflect on how narrative can sharpen our awareness of a planet in flux, and why attentiveness to history, to ecology, and to the unseen, matters now more than ever. A chance to hear directly from one of the most compelling literary voices about the inspirations behind his work and the urgent questions it raises. Presented by: Bangalore Literature Festival, Harper Collins In this episode of BIC Talks, Amitav Ghosh in conversation with Anjum Hasan. This is an excerpt from a conversation that took place in the BIC premises in Jan 2026. 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.

417. Who Owns India's Past?

Just outside Madurai, beneath the scorching southern sun, the excavations at Keeladi have unsettled long-held ideas about India's ancient history. Since its discovery in 2014, the site has emerged as one of the country's most contested digs: celebrated by some as evidence of a thriving urban civilisation in South India, and questioned by others as political mythmaking. In her book The Dig, journalist and author Sowmiya Ashok traces this journey from serendipitous find to cultural flashpoint, traveling from Iron Age Tamil Nadu to Harappan Rakhigarhi, revealing how battles over the past shape our understanding of India's layered identity today. Sowmiya will be joined by archaeometallurgist Dr. Sharada Srinivasan whose pioneering work has brought to light insights into ancient mining and metallurgy, having also worked on Iron Age-Early Historic sites especially in Tamil Nadu. They will be in conversation with Pooja Prasanna, of The News Minute. Together they will explore how archaeology, science, and power intersect: revealing an ancient diversity that continues to shape contemporary India. In this episode of BIC Talks, Sowmiya Ashok and Sharada Srinivasan will be in conversation with Pooja Prasanna. This is an excerpt from a conversation that took place in the BIC premises in Jan 2026. 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.

416. The Trial that Shook Britain

A courtroom drama that shook an empire. In 1945, three Indian National Army officers stood trial for treason against the British Crown. Shah Nawaz Khan, Prem Sahgal and Gurbaksh Dhillon were convicted. Then something unexpected happened; events that would accelerate the transfer of power and expose cracks in both British authority and Congress strategy. While Congress built its reputation on passive resistance, at this critical moment it applauded and capitalized on the INA's use of force. What does this contradiction reveal about the final phase of India's independence struggle? How did a legal proceeding meant to assert British control instead demonstrate its fragility? Ashis Ray will discuss his latest book, The Trial that Shook Britain, which uncovers how this court martial became a catalyst for independence. Ray's research unearths material that historians have largely overlooked, throwing new light on a decisive juncture where courtroom drama became political dynamite. Following the talk, Ray will be in conversation with Siddharth Raja. In this episode of BIC Talks, Ray will be in conversation with Siddharth Raja.. This is an excerpt from a conversation that took place in the BIC premises in Jan 2026. 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.

415. Why Doesn't Patriarchy Die?

This conversation will shift your understanding of power, and of possibility. In this session Rahila Gupta will examine how male dominance persists across radically different societies from theocracies to democracies, dictatorships to socialist states. Her co-authored book Planet Patriarchy asks what makes patriarchy so resilient, and where feminism is not just surviving but genuinely thriving. In conversation with Ashwini Jaisim, content strategist and editor, the session centres on a revelation: a little-known women's revolution in Rojava, Northeast Syria. Here, women are building a bottom-up democracy rooted in multi-ethnic inclusivity and ecological sustainability. It's a radical reimagining of power that challenges everything we think we know about governance and gender. Concluding with an audience Q&A, this session invites you to rethink power, resilience, and the possibilities of feminist futures, one where gender equality isn't an afterthought but the foundation. In this episode of BIC Talks, Rahila Gupta is in conversation with Ashwini Jaisim. 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.

414. Queer Journeys

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.