Lit It Up With Rajeshwari Kalyanam: Recent Episodes
Rajeshwari Kalyanam
It's all about books, gossip, news update and happenings, interviews and reviews from the world of literature to lit you up in the true sense
Bloomsbury India has refused to publish a book 'Delhi Riots 2020: The Inside Story' and has caught itself between devil and the deep sea. Journalist, author and former editor of Times of India, Kingshuk Nag speaks about how the UK based publishing house mishandled the situation.
Gurugram based Garuda Publications will now be publishing the book.
Famous playwright from Japan Tozhikazu Kawaguchi has written a novel based on his award-winning play 'Before The Coffee Gets Cold' and my search for a book less than 100 pages took me back to Ruskin Bond's novella 'Looking for the Rainbow' his memoir of the time he spent with his father.
Introduction to Aravind Adiga's book Amnesty, extract from Cricket 2.0 about the origin of the T20 format and more from today's world of books on special Lock down edition of Lit It Up with Rajeshwari Kalyanam
Manu S Pillais session on #readinstead, Taslima's sequel to Lajja and Hyma Goparaju's Abandoned Daughter in today's edition of Lit It Up with Rajeshwari Kalyanam
Picture Courtesy: Week
A quick update on what's happening in the world of books ...stay tuned for regular updates and recommendations
When at Jaipur Literature Festival you not just enjoy listening to the authors you know and have read; you also discover some new and brilliant ones. Ruth Padel and her poetry was such a discovery for me. In this second part of her interview on the biography 'Beethoven Variations' she speaks about the tragedy on Beethoven's life when he goes deaf at 29, how he makes some of the best music during the time and his obsession with Sanskrit text Shakuntala.
One of my best interviews from Jaipur Literature Festival 2020 was of Ruth Padel who comes up with her own version of lyrical tribute to one of the greatest composers Beethoven. She explores his life and through her book 'Beethoven Variations: A Life in Poems' she sketches a tragic life story that left behind some of the best music to the world. Ruth also recites her poetry making this one of my best interactions.
Yet another amazing interview from the Jaipur Literature Festival where author, travel writer Katie Hickman talks about her book 'She-Merchants, Buccaneers and Gentlewomen: British Women in India' that once again brings to light the forgotten entities in the pages of history - Women
Frank Dikötter, Dutch historian who specialises in modern China released his latest book 'How to be a Dictator' which is surely not a guide, but an insight into what makes a dictator. He traces the identity and similarities and contracts in a handful of chosen dictators of the modern world and it surely includes Mao. His other books include Maos Great Famine and The Tragedy of Liberation.
Sarojini's Mother published by Penguin Random House is a novel set in Kolkata about a woman who comes to India looking for her biological mother and ends up with two women from two opposite ends of economic spectrum. Kunal Basu speaks about literary novel, how after his book Kalkatta, the city comes back into his novel and what makes the novelist in him.
Ann Cleeves, popular for her crime fiction, who also has her Vera Stanhope and Shetland series adapted as hit television series...speaks about the new detective Mathew Venn and Devin, the new setting for her novels
This is in continuation of KR Meera's conversation for this podcast at the Jaipurliteraturefestival2020
The Sahitya Akademi award winning author of The Hangwoman from Kerala, one of the most translated authors and strong voices for women speaks about her books and experiences that make her what she is
The fun to be with and fun to read author Howard Jacobson speaks about his latest release Live a Little and this whole business of book at JLF 2020
Journalist, writer Christina Lamb speaks on her new book on Nujeen Mustafa, who made her way from Syria to Germany on a wheel chair and she calls this a story of hope
He is from Assam, a Muslim who discovered his sexuality, found a way to deal with it and has turned an activist and started the Queer Muslim Project to tell stories from the community, and create an eco system for accepting the queer people as normal. I am at JLF, there's noise, there's distraction, glimpses of which you will see in my interviews, bit at the end of it all it is an enriching experience to say the least. And so has been my conversation with #rafiulalomrehman
One of the fictions many of us have come to believe is that the British ruled India for almost two centuries. But after the Battle of Plassey (1757), all they consolidated their hold over was a part of Bengal. Similarly, you suggest that when people talk of British rule, they forget that until the middle of the 19 century, it was run by the East India Company, a joint stock company. Has the role of this private company, whose representatives often acted on their own, been downplayed or gotten too muddled up with that of the British government? Dalrymples book Anarchy traces this huge trading company and its rise to power in his book Anarchy published by Bloomsbury
Lola Kitty of Channel V...now the Wonder Menon on Amazon Prime speaks with me at the beach side literature festival, KLF 2020, Calicut
Ashwin Sanghi will launch his book 'Vault of Vishnu' at the Jaipur Literature Festival 2020. He says with this book he is back to his storytelling form.
Myth, fantasy, adventure, suspense, science, history come together in Christopher Doyle's books to create what he calls Modern Day thrillers. After the successful launch of 'The Mahabharat Quest' he launched his second successful series published by Westland Publishers 'The Pataala Prophecy' with 'Son of Bhrigu'. With his second book in the series, 'Mists of Brahma' he managed to keep up the excitement with readers asking for more.