Category: Conversations
-
Western Media Narratives on India: In Conversation with Umesh Upadhyay
Coming from Rupa Publications, Western Media Narratives on India: From Gandhi to Modi explores how cultural imperialism influences the Third-World nations. ‘Media in the hands of the former colonizers that wish to maintain their sway has become a tool to dictate people’s thoughts. Focussed on India, this narrative spans from the nation’s independence in 1947…
-
Traders and Tinkers: In Conversation with Maitrayee Deka
Some young shoppers – a generation of people brought up on a steady diet of Amazon, where just about anything and everything in the world can be ordered at the click of a button and delivered to your home the next day – might never have known the magic of trawling the narrow lanes of…
-
Dream Super-Express: In Conversation with Jessamyn Abel
One of the most iconic cultural symbols of Japan – one that also underlines its prowess with advanced technologies and engineering expertise – is the Bullet Train, which has been ferrying people across Japan since the 1960s. In her book Dream Super-Express: A Cultural History of the World’s First Bullet Train, Professor Jessamyn Abel takes…
-
Spreading Joy: In Conversation with Joy Alukkas
When the world’s favourite jeweller tells the story of his life, the world sits up to listen. Or rather, in this case, read. Spreading Joy is the story of Joy Alukkas, the man who heads the ‘Joyalukkas’ jewellery brand, which is present in 11 countries around the world, with a chain of more than 150…
-
The Final Farewell: In Conversation with Minakshi Dewan
Despite its inevitable eventuality, most of us find it difficult to talk about ‘death’ and the rites and rituals associated with the passing of a loved one. Given that death is almost always associated with a deep sense of loss, suffering and pain for those who are left behind, perhaps the human brain is hardwired…
-
Swapna Liddle and the 14 Historic Walks of Delhi
Delhi is a veritable treasure trove of history – few other cities in India can boast of having such a grand collection of iconic historical monuments from different eras. Over the centuries, rulers came and went, empires were made and destroyed, dynasties witnessed glory and were then reduced to dust. Today, the kings and emperors…
-
AI Rising: In Conversation with Leslie D’Monte and Jayanth N Kolla
AI is everywhere these days. It’s the hot new thing that everyone talks about. Most are excited about AI’s potential to change and revolutionise the way we do most things. Many are also fearful – about AI’s long-term potential to cause harm if adequate checks and balances are not put in place. What happens if…
-
My Life With Books: Shubhabrata Marmar
With close to 16 million units sold in financial year 2022-23, India is one of the biggest two-wheeler markets in the world – we love our scooters and motorcycles like few other countries anywhere else on the planet. Sixteen million units. That’s a lot of buying decisions. That’s millions of people deciding what to buy…
-
Anjaly Thomas: There Are No Gods in North Korea
As regular readers may have noticed, we have a particular penchant for travel books here at BooksFirst. Cars, motorcycles, aircraft, ships, boats, bicycles, trains, buses and, heck, if there’s absolutely nothing else, then even travel on foot – if it has anything to do with packing up, going somewhere, having a bit of an adventure…
-
Cobalt Red: In Conversation with Siddharth Kara
An author, researcher and activist on modern slavery, Siddharth Kara is a British Academy Global Professor and an Associate Professor of Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery at Nottingham University in the UK. His trilogy of books on slavery in modern times includes Sex Trafficking: Inside the Business of Modern Slavery (2009), Bonded Labor: Tackling the…