The Belongg Literature Podcast Transistor (https://transistor.fm) https://feeds.transistor.fm/the-belongg-literature-podcast Home to our conversations with authors and experts about diverse and inclusive books focused on themes of gender, feminism, race, caste, disability, faith, prejudice, and belonging. The episodes are structured as separate sub-series and offer different ways of imaging themes of diversity and inclusion. @ Belongg Community Ventures Private Limited 4794f044-b19a-54b2-bbc7-181d3212bccc no Trailer | Introducing The Belongg Literature Podcast en Sat, 10 Feb 2024 01:32:28 +0530 Wed, 03 Dec 2025 05:46:22 +0530 https://img.transistor.fm/SUN8JX0Aycj0C5vwNuWHtm11Os5yUch4u0CiW3w-sj4/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:1400/h:1400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9zaG93/LzMxMzA5LzE2NTM5/Nzk4NzMtYXJ0d29y/ay5qcGc.jpg The Belongg Literature Podcast serial Belongg Home to our conversations with authors and experts about diverse and inclusive books focused on themes of gender, feminism, race, caste, disability, faith, prejudice, and belonging. The episodes are structured as separate sub-series and offer different ways of imaging themes of diversity and inclusion. Home to our conversations with authors and experts about diverse and inclusive books focused on themes of gender, feminism, race, caste, disability, faith, prejudice, and belonging. Belongg No No The Inclusive Bookshelf Ep 2 | Easterine Kire 2 2 2 2 The Inclusive Bookshelf Ep 2 | Easterine Kire full 72483afe-5517-45a3-a582-9faf6825312d https://share.transistor.fm/s/40b94ff5 In this episode, we speak to celebrated poet and author Easterine Kire. A majority of her writings are based in the lived realities of the people of Nagaland in north-east India. She draws intriguing parallels between the indigenous literatures of the world, and explores the importance of own voices and oral traditions of storytelling.

About the Guest:
Easterine Kire is known for groundbreaking, award-winning titles such as 'A Naga Village Remembered', 'A Terrible Matriarchy', 'When the River Sleeps', amongst others, and is the first Naga author to have published an English novel. Apart from writing, she also performs Jazz poetry with her band Jazzpoesi.
 
This series is hosted by Zinnia Sengupta, former literature collective associate at Belongg. Zinnia has always dreamed of making the world a kinder, more inclusive place than the one she was raised in. She has written for Pune Mirror, Verve, and other travel & lifestyle publications, and worked closely with several grassroots-level NGOs.


Books in the episode:

  1. The Palm Wine Drinkard by Amos Tutuola
  2. The Arrow of God by Chinua Achebe
  3. A House for Mr. Biswas by V.S. Naipaul

You can also listen to this and more by downloading Belongg’s app UnOther, spelt U_N_O_T_H_E_R which is available on both the Apple and Google app stores. To invite such experts to your organization for guest lectures or expert consultations, please also look at Belongg Circle, a platform that curates intersectional experts and makes it easy for a range of organizations to integrate such thinking in their work. 

]]> In this episode, we speak to celebrated poet and author Easterine Kire. A majority of her writings are based in the lived realities of the people of Nagaland in north-east India. She draws intriguing parallels between the indigenous literatures of the world, and explores the importance of own voices and oral traditions of storytelling.

About the Guest:
Easterine Kire is known for groundbreaking, award-winning titles such as 'A Naga Village Remembered', 'A Terrible Matriarchy', 'When the River Sleeps', amongst others, and is the first Naga author to have published an English novel. Apart from writing, she also performs Jazz poetry with her band Jazzpoesi.
 
This series is hosted by Zinnia Sengupta, former literature collective associate at Belongg. Zinnia has always dreamed of making the world a kinder, more inclusive place than the one she was raised in. She has written for Pune Mirror, Verve, and other travel & lifestyle publications, and worked closely with several grassroots-level NGOs.


Books in the episode:

  1. The Palm Wine Drinkard by Amos Tutuola
  2. The Arrow of God by Chinua Achebe
  3. A House for Mr. Biswas by V.S. Naipaul

You can also listen to this and more by downloading Belongg’s app UnOther, spelt U_N_O_T_H_E_R which is available on both the Apple and Google app stores. To invite such experts to your organization for guest lectures or expert consultations, please also look at Belongg Circle, a platform that curates intersectional experts and makes it easy for a range of organizations to integrate such thinking in their work. 

]]> Wed, 01 Jun 2022 22:10:18 +0530 Easterine Kire, Zinnia Sengupta Easterine Kire, Zinnia Sengupta 2833 In this episode, we speak to celebrated poet and author Easterine Kire. A majority of her writings are based in the lived realities of the people of Nagaland in north-east India. She draws intriguing parallels between the indigenous literatures of the world, and explores the importance of own voices and oral traditions of storytelling. In this episode, we speak to celebrated poet and author Easterine Kire. A majority of her writings are based in the lived realities of the people of Nagaland in north-east India. She draws intriguing parallels between the indigenous literatures of the wor northeast india, poetry, ethnicity, nature, gender, nagaland fiction No Reimaginings Ep 02 | Reimagining History 1 1 2 2 Reimaginings Ep 02 | Reimagining History full 162cb50d-7c0e-4bc0-86a2-b0e78a38682b https://share.transistor.fm/s/54a71abb Reimagining history: Rejecting a homogeneous past with Prof Manan Ahmed Asif, Prof. Chinnaiah Jangam and Archana Garodia Gupta. In this episode, our guests view history through different lenses and surface common truths as well as rich differences in our past. We will hear our guests exchange reflections about the multiplicity of historical narratives, the need to look to our past and the value of searching beyond mainstream sources.

About our Guests:

Prominent scholar Prof Manan Ahmed Asif  has  written extensively on South Asian history and currently teaches history at Columbia University. His books include, A Book of Conquest  and The Loss of Hindustan: The Invention of India.  


Prof. Chinnaiah Jangam's research focuses on the social and intellectual history of Dalits in modern South Asia. He is currently an Associate professor at Carleton University.  He is the author of much acclaimed, Dalits and the Making of Modern India.

A leading national quizzer,  Archana Garodia Gupta  has won the 'Champion of Champions' title from BBC's Mastermind India. She has written the popular historical anthology The Women Who Ruled India: Leaders. Warriors. Icons. and co-wrote The History of India for Children series for Hachette.

This series is hosted by Yoshita Srivastava, literature collective associate at Belongg. She believes inclusive representation is essential for a better future — empathy being key in dismantling prejudice. She is interested in exploring intersections of gender, sexuality, identity and culture studies, and has previously worked at media and social sector organizations.

You can also listen to this and more by downloading Belongg’s app UnOther, spelt U_N_O_T_H_E_R which is available on both the Apple and Google app stores. To invite such experts to your organization for guest lectures or expert consultations, please also look at Belongg Circle, a platform that curates intersectional experts and makes it easy for a range of organizations to integrate such thinking in their work. 

]]> Reimagining history: Rejecting a homogeneous past with Prof Manan Ahmed Asif, Prof. Chinnaiah Jangam and Archana Garodia Gupta. In this episode, our guests view history through different lenses and surface common truths as well as rich differences in our past. We will hear our guests exchange reflections about the multiplicity of historical narratives, the need to look to our past and the value of searching beyond mainstream sources.

About our Guests:

Prominent scholar Prof Manan Ahmed Asif  has  written extensively on South Asian history and currently teaches history at Columbia University. His books include, A Book of Conquest  and The Loss of Hindustan: The Invention of India.  


Prof. Chinnaiah Jangam's research focuses on the social and intellectual history of Dalits in modern South Asia. He is currently an Associate professor at Carleton University.  He is the author of much acclaimed, Dalits and the Making of Modern India.

A leading national quizzer,  Archana Garodia Gupta  has won the 'Champion of Champions' title from BBC's Mastermind India. She has written the popular historical anthology The Women Who Ruled India: Leaders. Warriors. Icons. and co-wrote The History of India for Children series for Hachette.

This series is hosted by Yoshita Srivastava, literature collective associate at Belongg. She believes inclusive representation is essential for a better future — empathy being key in dismantling prejudice. She is interested in exploring intersections of gender, sexuality, identity and culture studies, and has previously worked at media and social sector organizations.

You can also listen to this and more by downloading Belongg’s app UnOther, spelt U_N_O_T_H_E_R which is available on both the Apple and Google app stores. To invite such experts to your organization for guest lectures or expert consultations, please also look at Belongg Circle, a platform that curates intersectional experts and makes it easy for a range of organizations to integrate such thinking in their work. 

]]> Wed, 01 Jun 2022 22:10:29 +0530 Prof Manan Ahmed Asif, Prof. Chinnaiah Jangam, Archana Garodia Gupta, Yoshita Srivastava Prof Manan Ahmed Asif, Prof. Chinnaiah Jangam, Archana Garodia Gupta, Yoshita Srivastava 4063 Reimagining history: Rejecting a homogeneous past with Prof Manan Ahmed Asif, Prof. Chinnaiah Jangam and Archana Garodia Gupta. In this episode, our guests view history through different lenses and surface common truths as well as rich differences in our past. We will hear our guests exchange reflections about the multiplicity of historical narratives, the need to look to our past and the value of searching beyond mainstream sources. Reimagining history: Rejecting a homogeneous past with Prof Manan Ahmed Asif, Prof. Chinnaiah Jangam and Archana Garodia Gupta. In this episode, our guests view history through different lenses and surface common truths as well as rich differences in our non-fiction, women's history, religion, diverse history, caste, history No Reimaginings Ep 3 | Reimagining the Constitution 1 1 3 3 Reimaginings Ep 3 | Reimagining the Constitution full 4724f106-45e9-4419-87b4-9a877aebe097 https://share.transistor.fm/s/0d956b88 Reimagining the scope of the Indian Constitution with Prof. Arun Thiruvengadam, Arvind Narrain and Aakash Singh Rathore. In this episode, we speak to three guests who have approached the Indian Constitution through different lenses in their writing and scholarship. The three discuss the scope of the constitution in accommodating evolution of different identities, the state of the constitutional principles in today’s world and the changing idea of India.

About the Guests:
Dr. Arun K. Thiruvengadam is currently a Professor of Law at the National Law School, Bangalore. His teaching and research interests lie in the areas of Constitutional and Administrative law in India; Comparative constitutional law; Law and Development; Law and Politics in South Asia; and Welfare Rights. He is the author of The Constitution of India :A Contextual Analysis.

Arvind Narrain is a founding member of the Alternative Law Forum. He was part of the litigation team, which argued the constitutionality of Section 377 before the High Court and the Supreme Court. He is the author of Queer: "Despised Sexuality", Law, And Social Change.

Aakash Singh Rathore is a philosopher of international repute, author of eight books (including Ambedkar's Preamble: A Secret History of the Constitution of India) and has written for numerous international and national journals and dailies.

This series is hosted by Yoshita Srivastava, literature collective associate at Belongg. She believes inclusive representation is essential for a better future — empathy being key in dismantling prejudice. She is interested in exploring intersections of gender, sexuality, identity and culture studies, and has previously worked at media and social sector organizations.

You can also listen to this and more by downloading Belongg’s app UnOther, spelt U_N_O_T_H_E_R which is available on both the Apple and Google app stores. To invite such experts to your organization for guest lectures or expert consultations, please also look at Belongg Circle, a platform that curates intersectional experts and makes it easy for a range of organizations to integrate such thinking in their work. 

]]> Reimagining the scope of the Indian Constitution with Prof. Arun Thiruvengadam, Arvind Narrain and Aakash Singh Rathore. In this episode, we speak to three guests who have approached the Indian Constitution through different lenses in their writing and scholarship. The three discuss the scope of the constitution in accommodating evolution of different identities, the state of the constitutional principles in today’s world and the changing idea of India.

About the Guests:
Dr. Arun K. Thiruvengadam is currently a Professor of Law at the National Law School, Bangalore. His teaching and research interests lie in the areas of Constitutional and Administrative law in India; Comparative constitutional law; Law and Development; Law and Politics in South Asia; and Welfare Rights. He is the author of The Constitution of India :A Contextual Analysis.

Arvind Narrain is a founding member of the Alternative Law Forum. He was part of the litigation team, which argued the constitutionality of Section 377 before the High Court and the Supreme Court. He is the author of Queer: "Despised Sexuality", Law, And Social Change.

Aakash Singh Rathore is a philosopher of international repute, author of eight books (including Ambedkar's Preamble: A Secret History of the Constitution of India) and has written for numerous international and national journals and dailies.

This series is hosted by Yoshita Srivastava, literature collective associate at Belongg. She believes inclusive representation is essential for a better future — empathy being key in dismantling prejudice. She is interested in exploring intersections of gender, sexuality, identity and culture studies, and has previously worked at media and social sector organizations.

You can also listen to this and more by downloading Belongg’s app UnOther, spelt U_N_O_T_H_E_R which is available on both the Apple and Google app stores. To invite such experts to your organization for guest lectures or expert consultations, please also look at Belongg Circle, a platform that curates intersectional experts and makes it easy for a range of organizations to integrate such thinking in their work. 

]]> Wed, 01 Jun 2022 22:10:41 +0530 Arun Thiruvengadam, Arvind Narrain, Aakash Singh Rathore, Yoshita Srivastava Arun Thiruvengadam, Arvind Narrain, Aakash Singh Rathore, Yoshita Srivastava 3683 Reimagining the scope of the Indian Constitution with Prof. Arun Thiruvengadam, Arvind Narrain and Aakash Singh Rathore. In this episode, we speak to three guests who have approached the Indian Constitution through different lenses in their writing and scholarship. The three discuss the scope of the constitution in accommodating evolution of different identities, the state of the constitutional principles in today’s world and the changing idea of India. Reimagining the scope of the Indian Constitution with Prof. Arun Thiruvengadam, Arvind Narrain and Aakash Singh Rathore. In this episode, we speak to three guests who have approached the Indian Constitution through different lenses in their writing and sc No Gaze of the World & I Ep 1 | Madhumita Bhattacharya 3 3 1 1 Gaze of the World & I Ep 1 | Madhumita Bhattacharya full 056ef45d-9d74-4d76-9ffb-11f316e4f185 https://share.transistor.fm/s/837e6599 In this episode, we speak to Madhumita Bhattacharya, one of India’s few crime thriller writers. Madhumita talks to us about her journey as a writer, the trials and tribulations that led to the creation of 'Dirty Women', her latest novel and the need for stronger women characters in fiction.
 
About the Guest:
Madhumita Bhattacharya has written four murder mysteries - The Masala Murder, Dead in a Mumbai Minute, Goa Undercover, and Dirty Women. With an experience of working in the space of the newsroom, writing and editing across a wide range of subjects, Madhumita weaves in personal experiences of her work into her latest novel Dirty Women, a story about the investigation into the disappearance of a four-year-old Tara in 2002 in Calcutta. 


This series is hosted by Swati. Swati is a Social Design Practitioner, a researcher, and a podcaster. She has been working with the medium of audio for over 5 years, running a community radio station in Ahmedabad,  and has experimented with various forms of story-telling through different mediums. 

You can also listen to this and more by downloading Belongg’s app UnOther, spelt U_N_O_T_H_E_R which is available on both the Apple and Google app stores. To invite such experts to your organization for guest lectures or expert consultations, please also look at Belongg Circle, a platform that curates intersectional experts and makes it easy for a range of organizations to integrate such thinking in their work. 

]]> In this episode, we speak to Madhumita Bhattacharya, one of India’s few crime thriller writers. Madhumita talks to us about her journey as a writer, the trials and tribulations that led to the creation of 'Dirty Women', her latest novel and the need for stronger women characters in fiction.
 
About the Guest:
Madhumita Bhattacharya has written four murder mysteries - The Masala Murder, Dead in a Mumbai Minute, Goa Undercover, and Dirty Women. With an experience of working in the space of the newsroom, writing and editing across a wide range of subjects, Madhumita weaves in personal experiences of her work into her latest novel Dirty Women, a story about the investigation into the disappearance of a four-year-old Tara in 2002 in Calcutta. 


This series is hosted by Swati. Swati is a Social Design Practitioner, a researcher, and a podcaster. She has been working with the medium of audio for over 5 years, running a community radio station in Ahmedabad,  and has experimented with various forms of story-telling through different mediums. 

You can also listen to this and more by downloading Belongg’s app UnOther, spelt U_N_O_T_H_E_R which is available on both the Apple and Google app stores. To invite such experts to your organization for guest lectures or expert consultations, please also look at Belongg Circle, a platform that curates intersectional experts and makes it easy for a range of organizations to integrate such thinking in their work. 

]]> Wed, 01 Jun 2022 22:10:50 +0530 Madhumita Bhattacharya, Swati Madhumita Bhattacharya, Swati 2625 In this episode, we speak to Madhumita Bhattacharya, one of India’s few crime thriller writers. Madhumita talks to us about her journey as a writer, the trials and tribulations that led to the creation of 'Dirty Women', her latest novel and the need for stronger women characters in fiction. In this episode, we speak to Madhumita Bhattacharya, one of India’s few crime thriller writers. Madhumita talks to us about her journey as a writer, the trials and tribulations that led to the creation of 'Dirty Women', her latest novel and the need for s indian literature, gender, feminism No Gaze of the World and I Ep 2 | Ruth Vanita 3 3 2 2 Gaze of the World and I Ep 2 | Ruth Vanita full 0718ce92-95a3-46a9-9f6b-970b15787318 https://share.transistor.fm/s/1b872fbc In this episode, we speak to Ruth Vanita, an academic, an activist, and an author who has contributed immensely to literature around gender, sexuality, and culture. We speak to her about her book 'Dancing with the Nation: Courtesans of Bombay Cinema,' and explore her ground-breaking study of courtesan imagery in 235 films, throwing light on the role the courtesan figure played in shaping the modern Indian erotic, political and religious imagination.
 
About the Guest: 
Ruth Vanita co-founded India’s first nationwide feminist magazine called Manushi: A journal about Women and Society, which combined academic research and grassroots activism. An author of several books such as Gender, Sex and the City: Urdu Rekhti Poetry in India, Memory of Light, Love’s Rite: Same-sex Marriage in India and the West and Dancing with the Nation: Courtesans of Bombay Cinema, she has also translated many works of fiction and poetry from Hindi and Urdu to English. 


This series is hosted by Swati. Swati is a Social Design Practitioner, a researcher, and a podcaster. She has been working with the medium of audio for over 5 years, running a community radio station in Ahmedabad,  and has experimented with various forms of story-telling through different mediums.

You can also listen to this and more by downloading Belongg’s app UnOther, spelt U_N_O_T_H_E_R which is available on both the Apple and Google app stores. To invite such experts to your organization for guest lectures or expert consultations, please also look at Belongg Circle, a platform that curates intersectional experts and makes it easy for a range of organizations to integrate such thinking in their work. 

]]> In this episode, we speak to Ruth Vanita, an academic, an activist, and an author who has contributed immensely to literature around gender, sexuality, and culture. We speak to her about her book 'Dancing with the Nation: Courtesans of Bombay Cinema,' and explore her ground-breaking study of courtesan imagery in 235 films, throwing light on the role the courtesan figure played in shaping the modern Indian erotic, political and religious imagination.
 
About the Guest: 
Ruth Vanita co-founded India’s first nationwide feminist magazine called Manushi: A journal about Women and Society, which combined academic research and grassroots activism. An author of several books such as Gender, Sex and the City: Urdu Rekhti Poetry in India, Memory of Light, Love’s Rite: Same-sex Marriage in India and the West and Dancing with the Nation: Courtesans of Bombay Cinema, she has also translated many works of fiction and poetry from Hindi and Urdu to English. 


This series is hosted by Swati. Swati is a Social Design Practitioner, a researcher, and a podcaster. She has been working with the medium of audio for over 5 years, running a community radio station in Ahmedabad,  and has experimented with various forms of story-telling through different mediums.

You can also listen to this and more by downloading Belongg’s app UnOther, spelt U_N_O_T_H_E_R which is available on both the Apple and Google app stores. To invite such experts to your organization for guest lectures or expert consultations, please also look at Belongg Circle, a platform that curates intersectional experts and makes it easy for a range of organizations to integrate such thinking in their work. 

]]> Wed, 01 Jun 2022 22:11:00 +0530 Ruth Vanita, Swati Ruth Vanita, Swati 2638 In this episode, we speak to Ruth Vanita, an academic, an activist, and an author who has contributed immensely to literature around gender, sexuality, and culture. We speak to her about her book 'Dancing with the Nation: Courtesans of Bombay Cinema,' and explore her ground-breaking study of courtesan imagery in 235 films, throwing light on the role the courtesan figure played in shaping the modern Indian erotic, political and religious imagination. In this episode, we speak to Ruth Vanita, an academic, an activist, and an author who has contributed immensely to literature around gender, sexuality, and culture. We speak to her about her book 'Dancing with the Nation: Courtesans of Bombay Cinema,' and Indian literature, queer literature, lgbtq literature, queer history, sexuality, gender No The Inclusive Bookshelf Ep 1 | Urvashi Butalia 2 2 1 1 The Inclusive Bookshelf Ep 1 | Urvashi Butalia full 4ff5065d-29f8-4a87-aacb-1999965b0853 https://share.transistor.fm/s/28d00efc In this episode, we speak to Urvashi Butalia, an Indian feminist writer, publisher and activist. Urvashi tells us about her early encounters with inclusive literature, and how her reading journey has evolved with her feminism. She also talks about the importance of reading books that transcend and question boundaries of identity, and how reading is inherently a form of activism.

About the Guest:
Urvashi Butalia is known for her pioneering work in the women's movement of India, as well as for authoring books such as The Other Side of Silence: Voices from the Partition of India and Speaking Peace: Women's Voices from Kashmir. In 2003, she founded Zubaan Books, a feminist publishing house that is known for its pathbreaking and diverse work.

This series is hosted by Zinnia Sengupta, former literature collective associate at Belongg. Zinnia has always dreamed of making the world a kinder, more inclusive place than the one she was raised in. She has written for Pune Mirror, Verve, and other travel & lifestyle publications, and worked closely with several grassroots-level NGOs.


Books and authors in the episode: 

  1. Versions of the Heer-Ranjha saga
  2. Rajinder Singh Bedi
  3. Mahadevi Verma (Poetry, Shrankhala ki Kadiyaan)
  4. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
  5. Chandamama and Phantom comics
  6. Godaan by Premchand
  7. Nayantara Sehgal
  8. Anita Desai
  9. Kamla Markandaya
  10. Rukogi Nahi Radhika by Usha Priyamwada
  11. Amrita Pritam
  12. Krishna Sobti
  13. Mridula Garg
  14. Chitra Mudgal
  15. Gulshan Nanda
  16. Salma
  17. A Life Less Ordinary: A Memoir by Baby Haldar
  18. Shareer ki Jankari (About the Body) by 75 women from Rajasthan, published by Zubaan
  19. The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall
  20. Middlemarch by George Eliot
  21. Birth of the Maitreya by Bani Basu
  22. Difficult Women: A History of Feminism in 11 Fights by Helen Lewis
  23. Queeristan by Parmesh Shahani
  24. Kalpana Swaminathan’s detective fiction
  25. Karuna Ezra Parikh
  26. Peace Has Come by Parismita Singh


You can also listen to this and more by downloading Belongg’s app UnOther, spelt U_N_O_T_H_E_R which is available on both the Apple and Google app stores. To invite such experts to your organization for guest lectures or expert consultations, please also look at Belongg Circle, a platform that curates intersectional experts and makes it easy for a range of organizations to integrate such thinking in their work. 

]]> In this episode, we speak to Urvashi Butalia, an Indian feminist writer, publisher and activist. Urvashi tells us about her early encounters with inclusive literature, and how her reading journey has evolved with her feminism. She also talks about the importance of reading books that transcend and question boundaries of identity, and how reading is inherently a form of activism.

About the Guest:
Urvashi Butalia is known for her pioneering work in the women's movement of India, as well as for authoring books such as The Other Side of Silence: Voices from the Partition of India and Speaking Peace: Women's Voices from Kashmir. In 2003, she founded Zubaan Books, a feminist publishing house that is known for its pathbreaking and diverse work.

This series is hosted by Zinnia Sengupta, former literature collective associate at Belongg. Zinnia has always dreamed of making the world a kinder, more inclusive place than the one she was raised in. She has written for Pune Mirror, Verve, and other travel & lifestyle publications, and worked closely with several grassroots-level NGOs.


Books and authors in the episode: 

  1. Versions of the Heer-Ranjha saga
  2. Rajinder Singh Bedi
  3. Mahadevi Verma (Poetry, Shrankhala ki Kadiyaan)
  4. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
  5. Chandamama and Phantom comics
  6. Godaan by Premchand
  7. Nayantara Sehgal
  8. Anita Desai
  9. Kamla Markandaya
  10. Rukogi Nahi Radhika by Usha Priyamwada
  11. Amrita Pritam
  12. Krishna Sobti
  13. Mridula Garg
  14. Chitra Mudgal
  15. Gulshan Nanda
  16. Salma
  17. A Life Less Ordinary: A Memoir by Baby Haldar
  18. Shareer ki Jankari (About the Body) by 75 women from Rajasthan, published by Zubaan
  19. The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall
  20. Middlemarch by George Eliot
  21. Birth of the Maitreya by Bani Basu
  22. Difficult Women: A History of Feminism in 11 Fights by Helen Lewis
  23. Queeristan by Parmesh Shahani
  24. Kalpana Swaminathan’s detective fiction
  25. Karuna Ezra Parikh
  26. Peace Has Come by Parismita Singh


You can also listen to this and more by downloading Belongg’s app UnOther, spelt U_N_O_T_H_E_R which is available on both the Apple and Google app stores. To invite such experts to your organization for guest lectures or expert consultations, please also look at Belongg Circle, a platform that curates intersectional experts and makes it easy for a range of organizations to integrate such thinking in their work. 

]]> Wed, 01 Jun 2022 22:11:08 +0530 Urvashi Butalia, Zinnia Sengupta Urvashi Butalia, Zinnia Sengupta 3116 In this episode, we speak to Urvashi Butalia, an Indian feminist writer, publisher and activist. Urvashi tells us about her early encounters with inclusive literature, and how her reading journey has evolved with her feminism. She also talks about the importance of reading books that transcend and question boundaries of identity, and how reading is inherently a form of activism. In this episode, we speak to Urvashi Butalia, an Indian feminist writer, publisher and activist. Urvashi tells us about her early encounters with inclusive literature, and how her reading journey has evolved with her feminism. She also talks about the imp Indian literature, feminist publishing, gender, feminism, feminist fiction, fiction No The Inclusive Bookshelf Ep 3 | Danish Husain 2 2 3 3 The Inclusive Bookshelf Ep 3 | Danish Husain full 95082fa3-47f6-45fd-bd46-32263241311e https://share.transistor.fm/s/05ab2079 In this episode, we speak to Danish Husain, storyteller, actor, poet and theatre director, who has been instrumental in reviving 'Dastangoi,' the lost art of Urdu storytelling. With Danish, we explore the legacies of revolutionary writers such as Saadat Hasan Manto and Ismat Chughtai, and the importance of writing that unsettles the status quo and makes you question the way things are. Throughout the conversation, Danish invokes the poetry of stalwarts such as Ghalib and Faiz, and brings out the deeply syncretic nature of our cultural roots and everyday existence.

About the Guest:
Danish Husain is the founder of Qissebaazi, a platform that promotes storytelling in diverse languages. His love for poetry has manifested in the Poetrification project with actor Denzil Smith, and he also runs his own theatre company, Hoshruba Repertory, under which he has produced some brilliant plays like Chinese Coffee, Guards At The Taj and Qissa Urdu Ki Aakhiri Kitaab Ka. His acting repertoire includes films such as Newton, Dhobhi Ghat and Peepli Live, amongst others.
 
This series is hosted by Zinnia Sengupta, former literature collective associate at Belongg. Zinnia has always dreamed of making the world a kinder, more inclusive place than the one she was raised in. She has written for Pune Mirror, Verve, and other travel & lifestyle publications, and worked closely with several grassroots-level NGOs.

Books and authors in the episode: 

1. Dr. Rahi Masoom Reza’s Aadha Gaon
2. Edward Said’s Out of Place
3. Attia Hussain’s Sunlight on a Broken Column
4. Faiz Ahmad Faiz
5. Ismat Chughtai
6. Mirza Ghalib
7. Saadat Hasan Manto

You can also listen to this and more by downloading Belongg’s app UnOther, spelt U_N_O_T_H_E_R which is available on both the Apple and Google app stores. To invite such experts to your organization for guest lectures or expert consultations, please also look at Belongg Circle, a platform that curates intersectional experts and makes it easy for a range of organizations to integrate such thinking in their work. 

]]> In this episode, we speak to Danish Husain, storyteller, actor, poet and theatre director, who has been instrumental in reviving 'Dastangoi,' the lost art of Urdu storytelling. With Danish, we explore the legacies of revolutionary writers such as Saadat Hasan Manto and Ismat Chughtai, and the importance of writing that unsettles the status quo and makes you question the way things are. Throughout the conversation, Danish invokes the poetry of stalwarts such as Ghalib and Faiz, and brings out the deeply syncretic nature of our cultural roots and everyday existence.

About the Guest:
Danish Husain is the founder of Qissebaazi, a platform that promotes storytelling in diverse languages. His love for poetry has manifested in the Poetrification project with actor Denzil Smith, and he also runs his own theatre company, Hoshruba Repertory, under which he has produced some brilliant plays like Chinese Coffee, Guards At The Taj and Qissa Urdu Ki Aakhiri Kitaab Ka. His acting repertoire includes films such as Newton, Dhobhi Ghat and Peepli Live, amongst others.
 
This series is hosted by Zinnia Sengupta, former literature collective associate at Belongg. Zinnia has always dreamed of making the world a kinder, more inclusive place than the one she was raised in. She has written for Pune Mirror, Verve, and other travel & lifestyle publications, and worked closely with several grassroots-level NGOs.

Books and authors in the episode: 

1. Dr. Rahi Masoom Reza’s Aadha Gaon
2. Edward Said’s Out of Place
3. Attia Hussain’s Sunlight on a Broken Column
4. Faiz Ahmad Faiz
5. Ismat Chughtai
6. Mirza Ghalib
7. Saadat Hasan Manto

You can also listen to this and more by downloading Belongg’s app UnOther, spelt U_N_O_T_H_E_R which is available on both the Apple and Google app stores. To invite such experts to your organization for guest lectures or expert consultations, please also look at Belongg Circle, a platform that curates intersectional experts and makes it easy for a range of organizations to integrate such thinking in their work. 

]]> Wed, 01 Jun 2022 22:11:16 +0530 Danish Husain, Zinnia Sengupta Danish Husain, Zinnia Sengupta 3394 In this episode, we speak to Danish Husain, storyteller, actor, poet and theatre director, who has been instrumental in reviving 'Dastangoi,' the lost art of Urdu storytelling. With Danish, we explore the legacies of revolutionary writers such as Saadat Hasan Manto and Ismat Chughtai, and the importance of writing that unsettles the status quo and makes you question the way things are. Throughout the conversation, Danish invokes the poetry of stalwarts such as Ghalib and Faiz, and brings out the deeply syncretic nature of our cultural roots and everyday existence. In this episode, we speak to Danish Husain, storyteller, actor, poet and theatre director, who has been instrumental in reviving 'Dastangoi,' the lost art of Urdu storytelling. With Danish, we explore the legacies of revolutionary writers such as Saadat H poetry, urdu poetry, religion, urdu, literature, theatre, urdu No Reimaginings Ep 01 | Reimagining Love 1 1 1 1 Reimaginings Ep 01 | Reimagining Love full ecfcbf4b-f550-4a61-9c50-da8d25899404 https://share.transistor.fm/s/10f78471 Reimagining love: Breaking away from the normative with authors Sharif Rangnekar, Bishakh Som and Maia Kobabe. In this episode, we will hear our guests explore their relationship with community and found families, experience writing memoirs and the role of love in political, cultural and social discussions.

About the Guests:

Sharif Ragnekar is a well known journalist and advocates for LGBTQ+ rights at every possible platform. He is the Festival Director of the Rainbow Lit Fest and his memoir Straight to Normal: My Life As A Gay Man is one of the few pieces of writings that explores queer lives in India.

Artist and writer Bishakh Som’s comics work has previously appeared in several international journals and she is the author of two beautiful graphic narratives, Apsara Engine, a collection of eight short stories and Spellbound, a graphic memoir.

Maia Kobabe is an American illustrator and comic. Eir first full length book, Gender Queer: A Memoir,  was a winner of an Alex Award and Stonewall Book Award . The memoir presents a rare glimpse into the reality of life as a non-binary individual and has been translated into several languages.

This series is hosted by Yoshita Srivastava, literature collective associate at Belongg. She believes inclusive representation is essential for a better future — empathy being key in dismantling prejudice. She is interested in exploring intersections of gender, sexuality, identity and culture studies, and has previously worked at media and social sector organizations.

You can also listen to this and more by downloading Belongg’s app UnOther, spelt U_N_O_T_H_E_R which is available on both the Apple and Google app stores. To invite such experts to your organization for guest lectures or expert consultations, please also look at Belongg Circle, a platform that curates intersectional experts and makes it easy for a range of organizations to integrate such thinking in their work. 

]]> Reimagining love: Breaking away from the normative with authors Sharif Rangnekar, Bishakh Som and Maia Kobabe. In this episode, we will hear our guests explore their relationship with community and found families, experience writing memoirs and the role of love in political, cultural and social discussions.

About the Guests:

Sharif Ragnekar is a well known journalist and advocates for LGBTQ+ rights at every possible platform. He is the Festival Director of the Rainbow Lit Fest and his memoir Straight to Normal: My Life As A Gay Man is one of the few pieces of writings that explores queer lives in India.

Artist and writer Bishakh Som’s comics work has previously appeared in several international journals and she is the author of two beautiful graphic narratives, Apsara Engine, a collection of eight short stories and Spellbound, a graphic memoir.

Maia Kobabe is an American illustrator and comic. Eir first full length book, Gender Queer: A Memoir,  was a winner of an Alex Award and Stonewall Book Award . The memoir presents a rare glimpse into the reality of life as a non-binary individual and has been translated into several languages.

This series is hosted by Yoshita Srivastava, literature collective associate at Belongg. She believes inclusive representation is essential for a better future — empathy being key in dismantling prejudice. She is interested in exploring intersections of gender, sexuality, identity and culture studies, and has previously worked at media and social sector organizations.

You can also listen to this and more by downloading Belongg’s app UnOther, spelt U_N_O_T_H_E_R which is available on both the Apple and Google app stores. To invite such experts to your organization for guest lectures or expert consultations, please also look at Belongg Circle, a platform that curates intersectional experts and makes it easy for a range of organizations to integrate such thinking in their work. 

]]> Wed, 01 Jun 2022 22:11:23 +0530 Sharif Rangnekar, Bishakh Som, Maia Kobabe, Yoshita Srivastava Sharif Rangnekar, Bishakh Som, Maia Kobabe, Yoshita Srivastava 4114 Reimagining love: Breaking away from the normative with authors Sharif Rangnekar, Bishakh Som and Maia Kobabe. In this episode, we will hear our guests explore their relationship with community and found families, experience writing memoirs and the role of love in political, cultural and social discussions. Reimagining love: Breaking away from the normative with authors Sharif Rangnekar, Bishakh Som and Maia Kobabe. In this episode, we will hear our guests explore their relationship with community and found families, experience writing memoirs and the role o lgbtq, pride, novel, memoir, sec377, homosexuality, literature, books, sexuality, love, queer No Trailer | Introducing The Belongg Literature Podcast 1 1 1 1 Trailer | Introducing The Belongg Literature Podcast trailer 1e9e7c0c-92c2-4a55-9812-372561223edd https://share.transistor.fm/s/46d69b28 Home to our conversations with authors and experts about diverse and inclusive books focused on themes of  gender, feminism, race, caste, disability, faith, prejudice, and belonging. The episodes are structured as separate sub-series and offer different ways of imaging themes of diversity and inclusion. 


You can also listen to this and more by downloading Belongg’s app UnOther, spelt U_N_O_T_H_E_R which is available on both the Apple and Google app stores. To invite such experts to your organization for guest lectures or expert consultations, please also look at Belongg Circle, a platform that curates intersectional experts and makes it easy to for a range of organizations to integrate such thinking in their work. 

]]> Home to our conversations with authors and experts about diverse and inclusive books focused on themes of  gender, feminism, race, caste, disability, faith, prejudice, and belonging. The episodes are structured as separate sub-series and offer different ways of imaging themes of diversity and inclusion. 


You can also listen to this and more by downloading Belongg’s app UnOther, spelt U_N_O_T_H_E_R which is available on both the Apple and Google app stores. To invite such experts to your organization for guest lectures or expert consultations, please also look at Belongg Circle, a platform that curates intersectional experts and makes it easy to for a range of organizations to integrate such thinking in their work. 

]]> Fri, 03 Jun 2022 17:48:17 +0530 Belongg Belongg 57 Home to our conversations with authors and experts about diverse and inclusive books focused on themes of  gender, feminism, race, caste, disability, faith, prejudice, and belonging. The episodes are structured as separate sub-series and offer different ways of imaging themes of diversity and inclusion. 


You can also listen to this and more by downloading Belongg’s app UnOther, spelt U_N_O_T_H_E_R which is available on both the Apple and Google app stores. To invite such experts to your organization for guest lectures or expert consultations, please also look at Belongg Circle, a platform that curates intersectional experts and makes it easy to for a range of organizations to integrate such thinking in their work. 

]]> No Creating Diverse Worlds : Speculative Fiction Ep 1 | Fran Wilde 3 3 3 3 Creating Diverse Worlds : Speculative Fiction Ep 1 | Fran Wilde full 3152a1b9-23d8-4e7b-b59d-2f028cadf27f https://share.transistor.fm/s/5cafbbdb In conversation with award-winning SFF author Fran Wilde about representation of disability in fiction. Award-winning author Fran Wilde takes us through a journey of her works and inspiration. We discuss themes of representation in speculative fiction, and Fran comments on the inclusion of disability in her stories. The episode ends with a contemplation on the scope of SFF and acknowledgement of discriminatory troupes in depiction of disabled characters in fiction.  


About the Guest:

Fran Wilde's acclaimed short stories have appeared in Asimov's, Nature, and Beneath Ceaseless Skies. Aside from her writing career, she has worked as a science and engineering writer, as a programmer and game developer, as a sailing assistant, and as a jeweler's assistant. Her first novel, the high-flying fantasyUpdraft, was published by Tor in 2015, and won a Nebula and Compton Crook Award.Cloudbound andHorizon—the companion novels to Updraft—completed the trilogy in 2017. All are set in the Bone Universe. Her debut Middle Grade novel, Riverland, won the 2019 Nebula, was named an NPR Best Book of 2019.

Her novels and short stories have been finalists for six Nebula Awards, a World Fantasy Award, three Hugo Awards, three Locus Awards, and a Lodestar. Her latest The Ship of Stolen Words was published in June 2021. 

This series is hosted by Yoshita Srivastava, literature collective associate at Belongg. She believes inclusive representation is essential for a better future — empathy being key in dismantling prejudice. She is interested in exploring intersections of gender, sexuality, identity and culture studies, and has previously worked at media and social sector organizations.

You can also listen to this and more by downloading Belongg’s app UnOther, spelt U_N_O_T_H_E_R which is available on both the Apple and Google app stores. To invite such experts to your organization for guest lectures or expert consultations, please also look at Belongg Circle, a platform that curates intersectional experts and makes it easy for a range of organizations to integrate such thinking in their work. 

]]> In conversation with award-winning SFF author Fran Wilde about representation of disability in fiction. Award-winning author Fran Wilde takes us through a journey of her works and inspiration. We discuss themes of representation in speculative fiction, and Fran comments on the inclusion of disability in her stories. The episode ends with a contemplation on the scope of SFF and acknowledgement of discriminatory troupes in depiction of disabled characters in fiction.  


About the Guest:

Fran Wilde's acclaimed short stories have appeared in Asimov's, Nature, and Beneath Ceaseless Skies. Aside from her writing career, she has worked as a science and engineering writer, as a programmer and game developer, as a sailing assistant, and as a jeweler's assistant. Her first novel, the high-flying fantasyUpdraft, was published by Tor in 2015, and won a Nebula and Compton Crook Award.Cloudbound andHorizon—the companion novels to Updraft—completed the trilogy in 2017. All are set in the Bone Universe. Her debut Middle Grade novel, Riverland, won the 2019 Nebula, was named an NPR Best Book of 2019.

Her novels and short stories have been finalists for six Nebula Awards, a World Fantasy Award, three Hugo Awards, three Locus Awards, and a Lodestar. Her latest The Ship of Stolen Words was published in June 2021. 

This series is hosted by Yoshita Srivastava, literature collective associate at Belongg. She believes inclusive representation is essential for a better future — empathy being key in dismantling prejudice. She is interested in exploring intersections of gender, sexuality, identity and culture studies, and has previously worked at media and social sector organizations.

You can also listen to this and more by downloading Belongg’s app UnOther, spelt U_N_O_T_H_E_R which is available on both the Apple and Google app stores. To invite such experts to your organization for guest lectures or expert consultations, please also look at Belongg Circle, a platform that curates intersectional experts and makes it easy for a range of organizations to integrate such thinking in their work. 

]]> Thu, 18 Aug 2022 18:25:59 +0530 Fran Wilde, Yoshita Srivastava Fran Wilde, Yoshita Srivastava 2861 In conversation with award-winning SFF author Fran Wilde about representation of disability in fiction. In conversation with award-winning SFF author Fran Wilde about representation of disability in fiction. disability, speculative fiction, gender, fantasy, fiction No Creating Diverse Worlds: Speculative Fiction Ep 2 | Usman T Malik 3 3 4 4 Creating Diverse Worlds: Speculative Fiction Ep 2 | Usman T Malik full f0ea3135-f553-45eb-9795-7b7a08898f94 https://share.transistor.fm/s/0866259c Popular Pakistani SFF author Usman T Malik discuss his debut collection, Midnight Doorways: Fables from Pakistan. In this episode, Usman discusses themes of home, belonging and representation in his stories. We discuss the characteristics of South Asian SFF and the tradition of fantastical writing, myths and legends. Usman shares insights about Pakistani publishing industry and comments on the debate about appropriation in fiction.

About the Guest

Usman T. Malik is a Pakistani-American writer and doctor. His fiction has been reprinted in several years’ best anthologies, including the Best American Science Fiction & Fantasy series, and has been nominated for the World Fantasy Award, the Million Writers Award, and twice for the Nebula. He has won the Bram Stoker and the British Fantasy Awards. He is a co-founder of the Salam Award for Imaginative Fiction, which seeks to nurture science fiction writers of Pakistani origin.

This series is hosted by Yoshita Srivastava, literature collective associate at Belongg. She believes inclusive representation is essential for a better future — empathy being key in dismantling prejudice. She is interested in exploring intersections of gender, sexuality, identity and culture studies, and has previously worked at media and social sector organizations.

You can also listen to this and more by downloading Belongg’s app UnOther, spelt U_N_O_T_H_E_R which is available on both the Apple and Google app stores. To invite such experts to your organization for guest lectures or expert consultations, please also look at Belongg Circle, a platform that curates intersectional experts and makes it easy for a range of organizations to integrate such thinking in their work. 

]]> Popular Pakistani SFF author Usman T Malik discuss his debut collection, Midnight Doorways: Fables from Pakistan. In this episode, Usman discusses themes of home, belonging and representation in his stories. We discuss the characteristics of South Asian SFF and the tradition of fantastical writing, myths and legends. Usman shares insights about Pakistani publishing industry and comments on the debate about appropriation in fiction.

About the Guest

Usman T. Malik is a Pakistani-American writer and doctor. His fiction has been reprinted in several years’ best anthologies, including the Best American Science Fiction & Fantasy series, and has been nominated for the World Fantasy Award, the Million Writers Award, and twice for the Nebula. He has won the Bram Stoker and the British Fantasy Awards. He is a co-founder of the Salam Award for Imaginative Fiction, which seeks to nurture science fiction writers of Pakistani origin.

This series is hosted by Yoshita Srivastava, literature collective associate at Belongg. She believes inclusive representation is essential for a better future — empathy being key in dismantling prejudice. She is interested in exploring intersections of gender, sexuality, identity and culture studies, and has previously worked at media and social sector organizations.

You can also listen to this and more by downloading Belongg’s app UnOther, spelt U_N_O_T_H_E_R which is available on both the Apple and Google app stores. To invite such experts to your organization for guest lectures or expert consultations, please also look at Belongg Circle, a platform that curates intersectional experts and makes it easy for a range of organizations to integrate such thinking in their work. 

]]> Thu, 18 Aug 2022 18:26:14 +0530 Usman T Malik, Yoshita Srivastava Usman T Malik, Yoshita Srivastava 3331 In this episode, Usman discusses themes of home, belonging and representation in his stories. We discuss the characteristics of South Asian SFF and the tradition of fantastical writing, myths and legends. Usman shares insights about Pakistani publishing industry and comments on the debate about appropriation in fiction. In this episode, Usman discusses themes of home, belonging and representation in his stories. We discuss the characteristics of South Asian SFF and the tradition of fantastical writing, myths and legends. Usman shares insights about Pakistani publishing i fantasy, legends, literature, partition, religion, south asian, speculative fiction, short story No Creating Diverse Worlds : Speculative Fiction Ep 3 | Julian K. Jarboe 3 3 5 5 Creating Diverse Worlds : Speculative Fiction Ep 3 | Julian K. Jarboe full 6298dc87-fb11-4846-a351-c75ad507b36d https://share.transistor.fm/s/4084a056 In conversation with Julian K. Jarboe about their debut collection, Everyone on the Moon is Essential Personnel. Julian expands on what they mean by "mid-apocalyptic," a term used to describe their collection and what role do writers of speculative fiction play in a world that is turning increasingly dystopian. We then examine the scope of SFF and how one can explore issues of real world, such as climate crisis in their fiction. Julian ends with comments on queer and trans representation in SFF.

About the Book:
In this debut collection (Everyone on the Moon is Essential Personnel) of body-horror fairy tales and mid-apocalyptic Catholic cyberpunk, memory and myth, loss and age, these are the tools of storyteller Jarboe, a talent in the field of queer fabulism. Bodily autonomy and transformation, the importance of negative emotions, unhealthy relationships, and bad situations amidst the staggering and urgent question of how build and nurture meaning, love, and safety in a larger world/society that might not be “fixable.”This includes such tales as "The Nothing Spots Where Nobody Wants to Stay" and "The Seed and The Stone" as well as original fiction.

About the Guest:

Julian K. Jarboe  is a writer and artist from Massachusetts. They write short fiction, poetry, games, and stage plays, and their visual art typically incorporates text and audio. Everyone on the Moon is Essential Personnel their debut collection of short stories was awarded the 2021 Lambda Literary Award for LGBTQ Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror. 

This series is hosted by Yoshita Srivastava, literature collective associate at Belongg. She believes inclusive representation is essential for a better future — empathy being key in dismantling prejudice. She is interested in exploring intersections of gender, sexuality, identity and culture studies, and has previously worked at media and social sector organizations.

You can also listen to this and more by downloading Belongg’s app UnOther, spelt U_N_O_T_H_E_R which is available on both the Apple and Google app stores. To invite such experts to your organization for guest lectures or expert consultations, please also look at Belongg Circle, a platform that curates intersectional experts and makes it easy for a range of organizations to integrate such thinking in their work. 

 

]]> In conversation with Julian K. Jarboe about their debut collection, Everyone on the Moon is Essential Personnel. Julian expands on what they mean by "mid-apocalyptic," a term used to describe their collection and what role do writers of speculative fiction play in a world that is turning increasingly dystopian. We then examine the scope of SFF and how one can explore issues of real world, such as climate crisis in their fiction. Julian ends with comments on queer and trans representation in SFF.

About the Book:
In this debut collection (Everyone on the Moon is Essential Personnel) of body-horror fairy tales and mid-apocalyptic Catholic cyberpunk, memory and myth, loss and age, these are the tools of storyteller Jarboe, a talent in the field of queer fabulism. Bodily autonomy and transformation, the importance of negative emotions, unhealthy relationships, and bad situations amidst the staggering and urgent question of how build and nurture meaning, love, and safety in a larger world/society that might not be “fixable.”This includes such tales as "The Nothing Spots Where Nobody Wants to Stay" and "The Seed and The Stone" as well as original fiction.

About the Guest:

Julian K. Jarboe  is a writer and artist from Massachusetts. They write short fiction, poetry, games, and stage plays, and their visual art typically incorporates text and audio. Everyone on the Moon is Essential Personnel their debut collection of short stories was awarded the 2021 Lambda Literary Award for LGBTQ Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror. 

This series is hosted by Yoshita Srivastava, literature collective associate at Belongg. She believes inclusive representation is essential for a better future — empathy being key in dismantling prejudice. She is interested in exploring intersections of gender, sexuality, identity and culture studies, and has previously worked at media and social sector organizations.

You can also listen to this and more by downloading Belongg’s app UnOther, spelt U_N_O_T_H_E_R which is available on both the Apple and Google app stores. To invite such experts to your organization for guest lectures or expert consultations, please also look at Belongg Circle, a platform that curates intersectional experts and makes it easy for a range of organizations to integrate such thinking in their work. 

 

]]> Thu, 18 Aug 2022 18:26:26 +0530 Julian K. Jarboe, Yoshita Srivastava Julian K. Jarboe, Yoshita Srivastava 4028 In conversation with Julian K. Jarboe about their debut collection, 'Everyone on the Moon is Essential Personnel' In conversation with Julian K. Jarboe about their debut collection, 'Everyone on the Moon is Essential Personnel' speculative fiction, horror, lgbtq+ literature, gender, queer, fantasy, sci-fi No Creating Diverse Worlds: Speculative Fiction Ep 4 | Samit Basu 3 3 6 6 Creating Diverse Worlds: Speculative Fiction Ep 4 | Samit Basu full bf54c576-14dc-487b-8d42-287bab2ff4f6 https://share.transistor.fm/s/3aab684b Popular speculative fiction (SFF) author Samit Basu talks about his celebrated novel, Chosen Spirits, and the current state of SFF in India. In this episode, Samit Basu delves deep into the dystopian roots of his award-winning novel, Chosen Spirits. Samit incorporates several current concerns in his dystopian view of a futuristic New Delhi, like climate change, air pollution, breach of digital security, increasing class divide and communal unrest. We discuss the scope of dystopian writing for social commentary and the need to address pressing real life concerns in fiction. The episode ends with Samit sharing some much-needed advice to  aspiring SFF writers in India. 

About the Book:

Joey is a Reality Controller, in charge of the livestream of a charismatic and problematic celebrity in smog-choked, water-short, ever-transforming Delhi - a city on the brink of revolution, under the shadow of multiple realities and catastrophes - at the end of the 2020s.

When Joey impulsively rescues a childhood friend, Rudra, from his new-elite family and the comfortable, horrific life they have chosen for him, she sets into motion a chain of events — a company takeover, a sex scandal, a series of betrayals — that disintegrates not just their public and private selves, but the invisible walls that divide the city around them.

To find the lives they need, Joey and Rudra must reckon with people and forces beyond their understanding, in a world where trust is impossible, popularity is conformity, and every wall has eyes.

About the Guest:

Samit Basu is an Indian novelist, film director and screenwriter. Samit’s most recent novel, The City Inside, an anti-dystopian novel set in Delhi a decade from now, will be published by Tor.com in 2022. It was published in India as Chosen Spirits in 2020, was critically acclaimed, a bestseller in multiple categories in India, and shortlisted for The JCB Prize for literature. In books, Samit is best known for his fantasy and science fiction work. 

This series is hosted by Yoshita Srivastava, literature collective associate at Belongg. She believes inclusive representation is essential for a better future — empathy being key in dismantling prejudice. She is interested in exploring intersections of gender, sexuality, identity and culture studies, and has previously worked at media and social sector organizations.

You can also listen to this and more by downloading Belongg’s app UnOther, spelt U_N_O_T_H_E_R which is available on both the Apple and Google app stores. To invite such experts to your organization for guest lectures or expert consultations, please also look at Belongg Circle, a platform that curates intersectional experts and makes it easy for a range of organizations to integrate such thinking in their work. 

]]> Popular speculative fiction (SFF) author Samit Basu talks about his celebrated novel, Chosen Spirits, and the current state of SFF in India. In this episode, Samit Basu delves deep into the dystopian roots of his award-winning novel, Chosen Spirits. Samit incorporates several current concerns in his dystopian view of a futuristic New Delhi, like climate change, air pollution, breach of digital security, increasing class divide and communal unrest. We discuss the scope of dystopian writing for social commentary and the need to address pressing real life concerns in fiction. The episode ends with Samit sharing some much-needed advice to  aspiring SFF writers in India. 

About the Book:

Joey is a Reality Controller, in charge of the livestream of a charismatic and problematic celebrity in smog-choked, water-short, ever-transforming Delhi - a city on the brink of revolution, under the shadow of multiple realities and catastrophes - at the end of the 2020s.

When Joey impulsively rescues a childhood friend, Rudra, from his new-elite family and the comfortable, horrific life they have chosen for him, she sets into motion a chain of events — a company takeover, a sex scandal, a series of betrayals — that disintegrates not just their public and private selves, but the invisible walls that divide the city around them.

To find the lives they need, Joey and Rudra must reckon with people and forces beyond their understanding, in a world where trust is impossible, popularity is conformity, and every wall has eyes.

About the Guest:

Samit Basu is an Indian novelist, film director and screenwriter. Samit’s most recent novel, The City Inside, an anti-dystopian novel set in Delhi a decade from now, will be published by Tor.com in 2022. It was published in India as Chosen Spirits in 2020, was critically acclaimed, a bestseller in multiple categories in India, and shortlisted for The JCB Prize for literature. In books, Samit is best known for his fantasy and science fiction work. 

This series is hosted by Yoshita Srivastava, literature collective associate at Belongg. She believes inclusive representation is essential for a better future — empathy being key in dismantling prejudice. She is interested in exploring intersections of gender, sexuality, identity and culture studies, and has previously worked at media and social sector organizations.

You can also listen to this and more by downloading Belongg’s app UnOther, spelt U_N_O_T_H_E_R which is available on both the Apple and Google app stores. To invite such experts to your organization for guest lectures or expert consultations, please also look at Belongg Circle, a platform that curates intersectional experts and makes it easy for a range of organizations to integrate such thinking in their work. 

]]> Thu, 18 Aug 2022 18:26:39 +0530 Samit Basu, Yoshita Srivastava Samit Basu, Yoshita Srivastava 3075 Popular speculative fiction (SFF) author Samit Basu talks about his celebrated novel, 'Chosen Spirits,' and the current state of SFF in India. Popular speculative fiction (SFF) author Samit Basu talks about his celebrated novel, 'Chosen Spirits,' and the current state of SFF in India. dystopia, speculative fiction, climate crisis, internet, digital rights, Indian literature, books No Words of Belonging Ep 1 | Gyan Chaturvedi Talks Satire, Social Commentary & Translations 4 4 1 1 Words of Belonging Ep 1 | Gyan Chaturvedi Talks Satire, Social Commentary & Translations full 699df9ad-de99-4ba7-b601-8cabce5edec3 https://share.transistor.fm/s/62b6d649 Gyan Chaturvedi talks about Alipura, the English translation of his novel, Baramasi. Baramasi is part of the Bundelkhand trilogy.

Book Description:

The novel is set in village Alipura, Jhansi district in the late 1960s. The Dube family – widowed mother, four sons and a daughter – are inspired by their dreams. Their immediate aspiration is to find a husband for Binnoo, the only daughter of the house. But the boys have dreams as well – of wealth, political power, dacoity, romance, or even just passing the intermediate exam. A perennial bestseller since its Hindi publication (as Baramasi) in 1999, Alipura is beloved for its indelible characters, rambunctious plot, the way in which it leavens tragedy with humour and, above all, for its sense of place. With a wit both savage and tender, sparkling none but with affection for all, Gyan Chaturvedi gives a portrait of a family, an era and a region – Bundelkhand.


About the Author and Translator:

Dr. Gyan Chaturvedi is one of Hindi’s most acclaimed and best-loved contemporary novelists, known in particular for his satirical take on life. A cardiologist and internal medicine specialist by profession, he is also a popular columnist and has written scripts for film and television. Dr Chaturvedi was awarded the Padma Shri in 2015.

Salim Yusufji was a schoolteacher for fifteen years and an editor with Navayana. He is the editor of Ambedkar: The Attendant Details, a selection of reminiscences by people in close proximity to B R Ambedkar. He co-edited Battling for India: A Citizen’s Reader.

This episode is hosted by Yoshita Srivastava, literature collective associate at Belongg. She believes inclusive representation is essential for a better future — empathy being key in dismantling prejudice. She is interested in exploring intersections of gender, sexuality, identity and culture studies, and has previously worked at media and social sector organizations.

You can also listen to this and more by downloading Belongg’s app UnOther, spelt U_N_O_T_H_E_R which is available on both the Apple and Google app stores. To invite such experts to your organization for guest lectures or expert consultations, please also look at Belongg Circle, a platform that curates intersectional experts and makes it easy for a range of organizations to integrate such thinking in their work. 


]]> Gyan Chaturvedi talks about Alipura, the English translation of his novel, Baramasi. Baramasi is part of the Bundelkhand trilogy.

Book Description:

The novel is set in village Alipura, Jhansi district in the late 1960s. The Dube family – widowed mother, four sons and a daughter – are inspired by their dreams. Their immediate aspiration is to find a husband for Binnoo, the only daughter of the house. But the boys have dreams as well – of wealth, political power, dacoity, romance, or even just passing the intermediate exam. A perennial bestseller since its Hindi publication (as Baramasi) in 1999, Alipura is beloved for its indelible characters, rambunctious plot, the way in which it leavens tragedy with humour and, above all, for its sense of place. With a wit both savage and tender, sparkling none but with affection for all, Gyan Chaturvedi gives a portrait of a family, an era and a region – Bundelkhand.


About the Author and Translator:

Dr. Gyan Chaturvedi is one of Hindi’s most acclaimed and best-loved contemporary novelists, known in particular for his satirical take on life. A cardiologist and internal medicine specialist by profession, he is also a popular columnist and has written scripts for film and television. Dr Chaturvedi was awarded the Padma Shri in 2015.

Salim Yusufji was a schoolteacher for fifteen years and an editor with Navayana. He is the editor of Ambedkar: The Attendant Details, a selection of reminiscences by people in close proximity to B R Ambedkar. He co-edited Battling for India: A Citizen’s Reader.

This episode is hosted by Yoshita Srivastava, literature collective associate at Belongg. She believes inclusive representation is essential for a better future — empathy being key in dismantling prejudice. She is interested in exploring intersections of gender, sexuality, identity and culture studies, and has previously worked at media and social sector organizations.

You can also listen to this and more by downloading Belongg’s app UnOther, spelt U_N_O_T_H_E_R which is available on both the Apple and Google app stores. To invite such experts to your organization for guest lectures or expert consultations, please also look at Belongg Circle, a platform that curates intersectional experts and makes it easy for a range of organizations to integrate such thinking in their work. 


]]> Thu, 18 Aug 2022 18:26:48 +0530 Gyan Chaturvedi, Yoshita Srivasatava Gyan Chaturvedi, Yoshita Srivasatava 3534 Gyan Chaturvedi talks about 'Alipura,' the English translation of his novel, 'Baramasi'. 'Baramasi' is part of the Bundelkhand trilogy. Gyan Chaturvedi talks about 'Alipura,' the English translation of his novel, 'Baramasi'. 'Baramasi' is part of the Bundelkhand trilogy. hindi literature, caste, gender, translation, hindi book, Indian literature No Words of Belonging Ep 2 | Arunava Sinha on the Scope & Future of Translations in India 4 4 2 2 Words of Belonging Ep 2 | Arunava Sinha on the Scope & Future of Translations in India full 6107fa18-be7f-4025-8748-6313f9851ff4 https://share.transistor.fm/s/381f607a Does inclusive literature in Indian languages give us an opportunity to speak more boldly of subjects that are otherwise not explored in as much depth through English language literature in India? Where do the lines exist and what is the scope of such literature?  Translated literature provides a window into the lives of others who are unlike us in some ways but like us in others. But what are some of the challenges involved in translation? How does a translator retain the nuances of the original text? Eminent translator Arunava Sinha attempts to answer some of these questions and talks about the evolution of translations in India. 


About the Guest:

Arunava Sinha is Associate Professor of Creative Writing at Ashoka University and co-director of Ashoka’s centre for translations. More than sixty of his translations have been published so far,  including Desire for Fire: Modern Bengali Poetry in Translation and the Akhtaruzzman Elias's Khwabnama, Anita Agnihotri’s The Sickle, Perumal Murugan’s Poonachi . He was the recent recipient of Vani Foundation Distinguished Translator Award 2022.

This series is hosted by Yoshita Srivastava, literature collective associate at Belongg. She believes inclusive representation is essential for a better future — empathy being key in dismantling prejudice. She is interested in exploring intersections of gender, sexuality, identity and culture studies, and has previously worked at media and social sector organizations.

You can also listen to this and more by downloading Belongg’s app UnOther, spelt U_N_O_T_H_E_R which is available on both the Apple and Google app stores. To invite such experts to your organization for guest lectures or expert consultations, please also look at Belongg Circle, a platform that curates intersectional experts and makes it easy for a range of organizations to integrate such thinking in their work. 

]]> Does inclusive literature in Indian languages give us an opportunity to speak more boldly of subjects that are otherwise not explored in as much depth through English language literature in India? Where do the lines exist and what is the scope of such literature?  Translated literature provides a window into the lives of others who are unlike us in some ways but like us in others. But what are some of the challenges involved in translation? How does a translator retain the nuances of the original text? Eminent translator Arunava Sinha attempts to answer some of these questions and talks about the evolution of translations in India. 


About the Guest:

Arunava Sinha is Associate Professor of Creative Writing at Ashoka University and co-director of Ashoka’s centre for translations. More than sixty of his translations have been published so far,  including Desire for Fire: Modern Bengali Poetry in Translation and the Akhtaruzzman Elias's Khwabnama, Anita Agnihotri’s The Sickle, Perumal Murugan’s Poonachi . He was the recent recipient of Vani Foundation Distinguished Translator Award 2022.

This series is hosted by Yoshita Srivastava, literature collective associate at Belongg. She believes inclusive representation is essential for a better future — empathy being key in dismantling prejudice. She is interested in exploring intersections of gender, sexuality, identity and culture studies, and has previously worked at media and social sector organizations.

You can also listen to this and more by downloading Belongg’s app UnOther, spelt U_N_O_T_H_E_R which is available on both the Apple and Google app stores. To invite such experts to your organization for guest lectures or expert consultations, please also look at Belongg Circle, a platform that curates intersectional experts and makes it easy for a range of organizations to integrate such thinking in their work. 

]]> Thu, 18 Aug 2022 18:27:03 +0530 Arunava Sinha, Yoshita Srivastava Arunava Sinha, Yoshita Srivastava 2067 In this episode, popular Indian translator Arunava Sinha discusses translations, Indian language literature and representation. In this episode, popular Indian translator Arunava Sinha discusses translations, Indian language literature and representation. translation, Indian literature, languages, Indian books, books No Words of Belonging Ep 3 | A Glimpse into the Lives of Underprivileged Lesbians with Maya Sharma 4 4 3 3 Words of Belonging Ep 3 | A Glimpse into the Lives of Underprivileged Lesbians with Maya Sharma full dad79b5b-4962-48f1-9f88-42a895b3e249 https://share.transistor.fm/s/7c0780ac Maya Sharma discussed her seminal book, Loving Women: Being Lesbian in Unprivileged India.

About the Book: 

Located within a personal journey of emergence from a space fraught with silences and half-truths, the book documents the life-stories of ten working-class queer women living in north India. In doing so, it dispels the myth that lesbians in India are all urban, westernized and come from upper and middle classes. These real-life narratives create a space for voices with little or no privilege, providing these women with an opportunity to share their lived realities with one another and with others. The stories effectively challenge the notion of women as sexual beings without agency, and it is hoped, will influence the women’s movement towards an inclusion of lesbian women in the movement.

About the Guest:

Maya Sharma, a feminist, is an activist in the Indian Women’s Movement. She has worked with several grassroot organizations. Her new book, “Footprints of a Queer History: Life Stories from Gujarat” features 11 case studies of LGBT women who she met in the course of her work with Vadodara’s Vikalp Women’s Group.

This series is hosted by Yoshita Srivastava, literature collective associate at Belongg. She believes inclusive representation is essential for a better future — empathy being key in dismantling prejudice. She is interested in exploring intersections of gender, sexuality, identity and culture studies, and has previously worked at media and social sector organizations.

You can also listen to this and more by downloading Belongg’s app UnOther, spelt U_N_O_T_H_E_R which is available on both the Apple and Google app stores. To invite such experts to your organization for guest lectures or expert consultations, please also look at Belongg Circle, a platform that curates intersectional experts and makes it easy for a range of organizations to integrate such thinking in their work.

]]> Maya Sharma discussed her seminal book, Loving Women: Being Lesbian in Unprivileged India.

About the Book: 

Located within a personal journey of emergence from a space fraught with silences and half-truths, the book documents the life-stories of ten working-class queer women living in north India. In doing so, it dispels the myth that lesbians in India are all urban, westernized and come from upper and middle classes. These real-life narratives create a space for voices with little or no privilege, providing these women with an opportunity to share their lived realities with one another and with others. The stories effectively challenge the notion of women as sexual beings without agency, and it is hoped, will influence the women’s movement towards an inclusion of lesbian women in the movement.

About the Guest:

Maya Sharma, a feminist, is an activist in the Indian Women’s Movement. She has worked with several grassroot organizations. Her new book, “Footprints of a Queer History: Life Stories from Gujarat” features 11 case studies of LGBT women who she met in the course of her work with Vadodara’s Vikalp Women’s Group.

This series is hosted by Yoshita Srivastava, literature collective associate at Belongg. She believes inclusive representation is essential for a better future — empathy being key in dismantling prejudice. She is interested in exploring intersections of gender, sexuality, identity and culture studies, and has previously worked at media and social sector organizations.

You can also listen to this and more by downloading Belongg’s app UnOther, spelt U_N_O_T_H_E_R which is available on both the Apple and Google app stores. To invite such experts to your organization for guest lectures or expert consultations, please also look at Belongg Circle, a platform that curates intersectional experts and makes it easy for a range of organizations to integrate such thinking in their work.

]]> Thu, 18 Aug 2022 18:27:12 +0530 Maya Sharma, Yoshita Srivastava Maya Sharma, Yoshita Srivastava 2061 Maya Sharma discussed her seminal book, 'Loving Women: Being Lesbian in Unprivileged India.' Maya Sharma discussed her seminal book, 'Loving Women: Being Lesbian in Unprivileged India.' lgbtq, Indian lgbtq+, queer rights, feminism, gender, rural India, field research, book No Words of Belonging Ep 4 | Nandana Dev Sen on Translating her Mother's Celebrated Poetry 4 4 4 4 Words of Belonging Ep 4 | Nandana Dev Sen on Translating her Mother's Celebrated Poetry full c4e7c813-5320-4f32-8625-50f90d6f8cd0 https://share.transistor.fm/s/15ffbd19 Nandana Dev Sen reads out and discusses the themes from 'Acrobat,' an English translation of her mother, Nabaneeta Dev Sen's widely celebrated Bengali poetry.

About the Book:

A radiant collection of poetry about womanhood, intimacy, and the body politic that together evokes the arc of an ordinary life. Nabaneeta Dev Sen's rhythmic lines explore the joys and agonies of first love, childbirth, and decay with a restless, tactile imagination, both picking apart and celebrating the rituals that make us human. When she warns, "know that blood can be easily shed by lips," her words tune to the fierce and biting depths of language, to the "treachery that lingers on tongue tips." At once compassionate and unsparing, conversational and symphonic, these poems tell of a rope shivering beneath an acrobat's nimble feet or of a twisted, blood-soaked umbilical cord – they pluck the invisible threads that bind us together.


About the Author & Translator:

Nabaneeta Dev Sen was an Indian novelist, academic, children’s author, and poet.  She taught at various universities, such as Harvard, Cornell, Columbia, and Jadavpur. She started her writing career with poems but later experimented with prose. Some of her notable works are Ami Anupam, Pratham Pratyay, Truck Bahoney Mac Mahoney, and Sita Theke Suru. Her works encompassed novels, poems, children’s books, travelogues, feminist writings, literary criticism, and essays. Though she predominantly wrote in Bengali, she was well-versed in several languages, such as French, German, and Hebrew. She received many awards, including the Padma Shri and the Sahitya Akademi Award. 

Nandana Dev Sen is an award-winning actor, writer, and child-rights activist. Nandana grew up in India, England, and America, and has acted in over 20 feature films from all three continents (and in multiple languages). She is the Ambassador for Child Protection for Save the Children India. Nandana is the author of six children's books. She frequently writes for newspapers and journals, and has edited and co-authored a bilingual book of her translations of her mother Nabaneeta Dev Sen's Bengali poetry, Make Up Your Mind.

This series is hosted by Yoshita Srivastava, literature collective associate at Belongg. She believes inclusive representation is essential for a better future — empathy being key in dismantling prejudice. She is interested in exploring intersections of gender, sexuality, identity and culture studies, and has previously worked at media and social sector organizations.

You can also listen to this and more by downloading Belongg’s app UnOther, spelt U_N_O_T_H_E_R which is available on both the Apple and Google app stores. To invite such experts to your organization for guest lectures or expert consultations, please also look at Belongg Circle, a platform that curates intersectional experts and makes it easy for a range of organizations to integrate such thinking in their work.

]]> Nandana Dev Sen reads out and discusses the themes from 'Acrobat,' an English translation of her mother, Nabaneeta Dev Sen's widely celebrated Bengali poetry.

About the Book:

A radiant collection of poetry about womanhood, intimacy, and the body politic that together evokes the arc of an ordinary life. Nabaneeta Dev Sen's rhythmic lines explore the joys and agonies of first love, childbirth, and decay with a restless, tactile imagination, both picking apart and celebrating the rituals that make us human. When she warns, "know that blood can be easily shed by lips," her words tune to the fierce and biting depths of language, to the "treachery that lingers on tongue tips." At once compassionate and unsparing, conversational and symphonic, these poems tell of a rope shivering beneath an acrobat's nimble feet or of a twisted, blood-soaked umbilical cord – they pluck the invisible threads that bind us together.


About the Author & Translator:

Nabaneeta Dev Sen was an Indian novelist, academic, children’s author, and poet.  She taught at various universities, such as Harvard, Cornell, Columbia, and Jadavpur. She started her writing career with poems but later experimented with prose. Some of her notable works are Ami Anupam, Pratham Pratyay, Truck Bahoney Mac Mahoney, and Sita Theke Suru. Her works encompassed novels, poems, children’s books, travelogues, feminist writings, literary criticism, and essays. Though she predominantly wrote in Bengali, she was well-versed in several languages, such as French, German, and Hebrew. She received many awards, including the Padma Shri and the Sahitya Akademi Award. 

Nandana Dev Sen is an award-winning actor, writer, and child-rights activist. Nandana grew up in India, England, and America, and has acted in over 20 feature films from all three continents (and in multiple languages). She is the Ambassador for Child Protection for Save the Children India. Nandana is the author of six children's books. She frequently writes for newspapers and journals, and has edited and co-authored a bilingual book of her translations of her mother Nabaneeta Dev Sen's Bengali poetry, Make Up Your Mind.

This series is hosted by Yoshita Srivastava, literature collective associate at Belongg. She believes inclusive representation is essential for a better future — empathy being key in dismantling prejudice. She is interested in exploring intersections of gender, sexuality, identity and culture studies, and has previously worked at media and social sector organizations.

You can also listen to this and more by downloading Belongg’s app UnOther, spelt U_N_O_T_H_E_R which is available on both the Apple and Google app stores. To invite such experts to your organization for guest lectures or expert consultations, please also look at Belongg Circle, a platform that curates intersectional experts and makes it easy for a range of organizations to integrate such thinking in their work.

]]> Thu, 18 Aug 2022 18:27:22 +0530 Nandana Dev Sen, Yoshita Srivastava Nandana Dev Sen, Yoshita Srivastava 2340 Nandana Dev Sen reads out and discusses the themes from 'Acrobat,' an English translation of her mother, Nabaneeta Dev Sen's widely celebrated Bengali poetry. Nandana Dev Sen reads out and discusses the themes from 'Acrobat,' an English translation of her mother, Nabaneeta Dev Sen's widely celebrated Bengali poetry. feminism, women writers, translations, bengali literature, books, poetry No Words of Belonging Ep 5 | Adhir Biswas Shares Snippets from his Life of Migration & Exile 4 4 5 5 Words of Belonging Ep 5 | Adhir Biswas Shares Snippets from his Life of Migration & Exile full a9bda8f3-0c97-4ef4-abef-660d93d03c60 https://share.transistor.fm/s/f89141a1 In this episode, we speak to Adhir Biswas and translator V. Ramaswamy about their book, 'Memories of Arrival'.

About the Book:

Translated for the first time into English, Memories of Arrival brings together four books of a migrant’s story of displacement and exile in one volume. Adhir Biswas, a Dalit, makes the subalterns gain some visibility. The author, though half-starved, gets an education. He finds possibilities, delighting in the city of Calcutta, making the most of what he can. He finds a place in the book world, finally emerging as the distinguished editor and publisher of Gangchil and Doel. Adhir Biswas writes quietly and tersely, with much unsaid, to depict a life where the past and the present keep coalescing with dreams of the old place and the dreaminess of the new land. His story has much in common with that of migrants who leave a village or a small town to come to a big city and live in its shadows.


About the Author and Translator:

Adhir Biswas began to write in 1976, aged twenty-two, contributing fiction and nonfiction to little magazines. He ran a bookshop for many years. Editorial Director, Gangchil Publications The first volume of his memoir won the Suprabha Majumdar Memorial Prize by the Bangla Academy of the Government of West Bengal in 2014.  

V. Ramaswamy took up literary translation of subaltern writing after almost two decades of social and grassroot activism in his city, Kolkata, for and with the labouring poor. He has translated The Golden Gandhi Statue from America: Early Stories, Wild Animals Prohibited: Stories / Anti-stories, and This Could Have Become Ramayan Chamar’s Tale: Two Anti-Novels, by Subimal Misra, and the novel The Runaway Boy, by Manoranjan Byapari. He was awarded the inaugural Literature Across Frontiers – Charles Wallace India Trust fellowship in 2016.

This episode is hosted by Yoshita Srivastava, literature collective associate at Belongg. She believes inclusive representation is essential for a better future — empathy being key in dismantling prejudice. She is interested in exploring intersections of gender, sexuality, identity and culture studies, and has previously worked at media and social sector organizations.

Please note this episode is partly in Bengali and the Bengali parts are then translated for the listeners who don't speak the language. 

You can also listen to this and more by downloading Belongg’s app UnOther, spelt U_N_O_T_H_E_R which is available on both the Apple and Google app stores. To invite such experts to your organization for guest lectures or expert consultations, please also look at Belongg Circle, a platform that curates intersectional experts and makes it easy for a range of organizations to integrate such thinking in their work. 

]]> In this episode, we speak to Adhir Biswas and translator V. Ramaswamy about their book, 'Memories of Arrival'.

About the Book:

Translated for the first time into English, Memories of Arrival brings together four books of a migrant’s story of displacement and exile in one volume. Adhir Biswas, a Dalit, makes the subalterns gain some visibility. The author, though half-starved, gets an education. He finds possibilities, delighting in the city of Calcutta, making the most of what he can. He finds a place in the book world, finally emerging as the distinguished editor and publisher of Gangchil and Doel. Adhir Biswas writes quietly and tersely, with much unsaid, to depict a life where the past and the present keep coalescing with dreams of the old place and the dreaminess of the new land. His story has much in common with that of migrants who leave a village or a small town to come to a big city and live in its shadows.


About the Author and Translator:

Adhir Biswas began to write in 1976, aged twenty-two, contributing fiction and nonfiction to little magazines. He ran a bookshop for many years. Editorial Director, Gangchil Publications The first volume of his memoir won the Suprabha Majumdar Memorial Prize by the Bangla Academy of the Government of West Bengal in 2014.  

V. Ramaswamy took up literary translation of subaltern writing after almost two decades of social and grassroot activism in his city, Kolkata, for and with the labouring poor. He has translated The Golden Gandhi Statue from America: Early Stories, Wild Animals Prohibited: Stories / Anti-stories, and This Could Have Become Ramayan Chamar’s Tale: Two Anti-Novels, by Subimal Misra, and the novel The Runaway Boy, by Manoranjan Byapari. He was awarded the inaugural Literature Across Frontiers – Charles Wallace India Trust fellowship in 2016.

This episode is hosted by Yoshita Srivastava, literature collective associate at Belongg. She believes inclusive representation is essential for a better future — empathy being key in dismantling prejudice. She is interested in exploring intersections of gender, sexuality, identity and culture studies, and has previously worked at media and social sector organizations.

Please note this episode is partly in Bengali and the Bengali parts are then translated for the listeners who don't speak the language. 

You can also listen to this and more by downloading Belongg’s app UnOther, spelt U_N_O_T_H_E_R which is available on both the Apple and Google app stores. To invite such experts to your organization for guest lectures or expert consultations, please also look at Belongg Circle, a platform that curates intersectional experts and makes it easy for a range of organizations to integrate such thinking in their work. 

]]> Thu, 18 Aug 2022 18:27:30 +0530 Adhir Biswas, V. Ramaswamy, Yoshita Srivastava Adhir Biswas, V. Ramaswamy, Yoshita Srivastava 3829 In this episode, we speak to Adhir Biswas and translator V. Ramaswamy about their book, 'Memories of Arrival'. In this episode, we speak to Adhir Biswas and translator V. Ramaswamy about their book, 'Memories of Arrival'. caste, translation, bengali literature, language, Indian language, dalit, publishing, migration, partition No Words of Belonging Ep 6 | Radhika Gupta & her Secret to Success in ‘Limitless’ 4 4 6 6 Words of Belonging Ep 6 | Radhika Gupta & her Secret to Success in ‘Limitless’ full af10a53a-2a7f-490b-92ff-7cb85cfb8c4c https://share.transistor.fm/s/e310c731 One of the youngest India CEO, Radhika Gupta share her journey to success in new book, Limitless.

About the Book:

In Limitless, Radhika Gupta, one of the youngest CEOs in India's financial services sector and creator of the viral YouTube video 'The Girl with a Broken Neck', offers straight-talking advice on how you can multiply your chances at achieving success. It begins, she says, by investing in the most valuable asset you possess: YOURSELF.

Drawing on personal experiences of overcoming adversity and attaining success – her own and those of other achievers – Radhika's deeply inspiring stories and sharp, practical counsel will provide you with all the motivation you need to discover self-confidence and live your best life.

About the Guest:

Radhika Gupta is MD & CEO, Edelweiss Mutual Fund. She is one of the youngest CEOs in corporate India and the only female head of a major asset management company. A graduate of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, a hedge fund manager and an entrepreneur, she has been listed by Fortune and Business Today among India's 'Most Powerful Women in Business' and by Economic Times in their list of 'India's Hottest 40 Young Business Leaders'. Her video 'The Girl with a Broken Neck' has inspired lakhs of viewers.

This episode was hosted by Lasya Nadimpally, former Partnerships and Community Manager at Belongg. Lasya is a former journalist and editor who has worked for leading Indian media houses covering politics, human rights, social justice, law and policy, culture and travel.

You can also listen to this and more by downloading Belongg’s app UnOther, spelt U_N_O_T_H_E_R which is available on both the Apple and Google app stores. To invite such experts to your organization for guest lectures or expert consultations, please also look at Belongg Circle, a platform that curates intersectional experts and makes it easy for a range of organizations to integrate such thinking in their work. 

 

]]> One of the youngest India CEO, Radhika Gupta share her journey to success in new book, Limitless.

About the Book:

In Limitless, Radhika Gupta, one of the youngest CEOs in India's financial services sector and creator of the viral YouTube video 'The Girl with a Broken Neck', offers straight-talking advice on how you can multiply your chances at achieving success. It begins, she says, by investing in the most valuable asset you possess: YOURSELF.

Drawing on personal experiences of overcoming adversity and attaining success – her own and those of other achievers – Radhika's deeply inspiring stories and sharp, practical counsel will provide you with all the motivation you need to discover self-confidence and live your best life.

About the Guest:

Radhika Gupta is MD & CEO, Edelweiss Mutual Fund. She is one of the youngest CEOs in corporate India and the only female head of a major asset management company. A graduate of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, a hedge fund manager and an entrepreneur, she has been listed by Fortune and Business Today among India's 'Most Powerful Women in Business' and by Economic Times in their list of 'India's Hottest 40 Young Business Leaders'. Her video 'The Girl with a Broken Neck' has inspired lakhs of viewers.

This episode was hosted by Lasya Nadimpally, former Partnerships and Community Manager at Belongg. Lasya is a former journalist and editor who has worked for leading Indian media houses covering politics, human rights, social justice, law and policy, culture and travel.

You can also listen to this and more by downloading Belongg’s app UnOther, spelt U_N_O_T_H_E_R which is available on both the Apple and Google app stores. To invite such experts to your organization for guest lectures or expert consultations, please also look at Belongg Circle, a platform that curates intersectional experts and makes it easy for a range of organizations to integrate such thinking in their work. 

 

]]> Thu, 18 Aug 2022 18:27:39 +0530 Radhika Gupta, Lasya Nadimpally Radhika Gupta, Lasya Nadimpally 1521 One of the youngest India CEO, Radhika Gupta shares her journey to success in new book, 'Limitless.' One of the youngest India CEO, Radhika Gupta shares her journey to success in new book, 'Limitless.' disability, gender, women leaders, Indian book, corporate, non-fiction No Words of Belonging Ep 7 | A Satirical Look at Indian Village Life with Luc Leruth 4 4 7 7 Words of Belonging Ep 7 | A Satirical Look at Indian Village Life with Luc Leruth full d2c4a721-3746-42c9-aa4d-ccc99d39acaa https://share.transistor.fm/s/c81fa940 In this episode, Luc Leruth discusses his novel, Rumble in a Village and explores themes of caste politics, economic distress and social dynamics in rural India.

About the Book:

While the murder mystery is one thread of the story, we follow Anil, the upper caste NRI protagonist,  as he bumbles along through Palanpur, making friends and mistakes. He is determined to help the villagers by bringing modern amenities and development to the village. This leads him on a sometimes confusing, yet eye-opening journey through the myriad complexities of northern India—the politics of different caste groups (the Thakurs, the Muraos, the Dalits), jealousy, corruption, bureaucratic nightmares, poverty, gender disparity, power struggles and the turmoil of a village divided.

Rumble in a Village starts out as a murder mystery but the narrative soon broadens into an entertaining and insightful fictional look at life in an Indian village. Peopled with colourful characters such as the seemingly innocent Babu who befriends Anil and starts working for him; the village headman, Rampal; Kishan Lal, who teaches Anil about farming and life in Palanpur; Captain, an army man who drops mysterious hints about the murder and much else; Ashok Kumar, the lawyer who helps Anil make sense of the property he has inherited; the beautiful and dedicated teacher, Smita; the obnoxious police superintendent, BKS; and many others (including a bad tempered billy-goat), the novel, based on Jean Drèze’s observations as a young researcher in a real-life village, paints a compelling portrait of the darkness and light that invest the lives of  villagers in northern India.

About the Authors:

Luc Leruth has published short stories and several novels, including La Machine Magique (Gallimard, 2004), a story set in Jaipur during the time of the construction of the Jantar Mantar. He is a mathematician (trained in astronomy) and has a PhD in economics. He studied at the Indian Statistical Institute (New Delhi) in the 1980s and is currently teaching at the University of Essex. Leruth has also published extensively in scientific journals. He has travelled all over the world and lived in India, Fiji, the US, Gabon, Ghana, and the Philippines. He is active in the private sector, in the area of corporate governance and transparency, as well as in various groups of economists involved in public policy. He married Sumita (Rekha), an Indian professor of TESOL who passed away in 2013. Rumble in a Village is written in her memory.

Jean Dreze, a development economist, did his PhD at the Indian Statistical Institute (New Delhi) in the early 1980s and is currently Visiting Professor at Ranchi University. He has lived, worked, and travelled far and wide in India over the last forty years. He has made influential contributions to development economics and public policy, with special reference to India. His recent books include An Uncertain Glory: India and Its Contradictions (with Amartya Sen) and Sense and Solidarity: Jholawala Economics for Everyone. Drèze is also active in various campaigns for social and economic rights as well as in the worldwide movement for peace and disarmament.

This series is hosted by Yoshita Srivastava, former literature collective associate at Belongg. She believes inclusive representation is essential for a better future — empathy being key in dismantling prejudice. She is interested in exploring intersections of gender, sexuality, identity and culture studies, and has previously worked at media and social sector organizations.

You can also listen to this and more by downloading Belongg’s app UnOther, spelt U_N_O_T_H_E_R which is available on both the Apple and Google app stores. To invite such experts to your organization for guest lectures or expert consultations, please also look at Belongg Circle, a platform that curates intersectional experts and makes it easy for a range of organizations to integrate such thinking in their work. 


 

]]> In this episode, Luc Leruth discusses his novel, Rumble in a Village and explores themes of caste politics, economic distress and social dynamics in rural India.

About the Book:

While the murder mystery is one thread of the story, we follow Anil, the upper caste NRI protagonist,  as he bumbles along through Palanpur, making friends and mistakes. He is determined to help the villagers by bringing modern amenities and development to the village. This leads him on a sometimes confusing, yet eye-opening journey through the myriad complexities of northern India—the politics of different caste groups (the Thakurs, the Muraos, the Dalits), jealousy, corruption, bureaucratic nightmares, poverty, gender disparity, power struggles and the turmoil of a village divided.

Rumble in a Village starts out as a murder mystery but the narrative soon broadens into an entertaining and insightful fictional look at life in an Indian village. Peopled with colourful characters such as the seemingly innocent Babu who befriends Anil and starts working for him; the village headman, Rampal; Kishan Lal, who teaches Anil about farming and life in Palanpur; Captain, an army man who drops mysterious hints about the murder and much else; Ashok Kumar, the lawyer who helps Anil make sense of the property he has inherited; the beautiful and dedicated teacher, Smita; the obnoxious police superintendent, BKS; and many others (including a bad tempered billy-goat), the novel, based on Jean Drèze’s observations as a young researcher in a real-life village, paints a compelling portrait of the darkness and light that invest the lives of  villagers in northern India.

About the Authors:

Luc Leruth has published short stories and several novels, including La Machine Magique (Gallimard, 2004), a story set in Jaipur during the time of the construction of the Jantar Mantar. He is a mathematician (trained in astronomy) and has a PhD in economics. He studied at the Indian Statistical Institute (New Delhi) in the 1980s and is currently teaching at the University of Essex. Leruth has also published extensively in scientific journals. He has travelled all over the world and lived in India, Fiji, the US, Gabon, Ghana, and the Philippines. He is active in the private sector, in the area of corporate governance and transparency, as well as in various groups of economists involved in public policy. He married Sumita (Rekha), an Indian professor of TESOL who passed away in 2013. Rumble in a Village is written in her memory.

Jean Dreze, a development economist, did his PhD at the Indian Statistical Institute (New Delhi) in the early 1980s and is currently Visiting Professor at Ranchi University. He has lived, worked, and travelled far and wide in India over the last forty years. He has made influential contributions to development economics and public policy, with special reference to India. His recent books include An Uncertain Glory: India and Its Contradictions (with Amartya Sen) and Sense and Solidarity: Jholawala Economics for Everyone. Drèze is also active in various campaigns for social and economic rights as well as in the worldwide movement for peace and disarmament.

This series is hosted by Yoshita Srivastava, former literature collective associate at Belongg. She believes inclusive representation is essential for a better future — empathy being key in dismantling prejudice. She is interested in exploring intersections of gender, sexuality, identity and culture studies, and has previously worked at media and social sector organizations.

You can also listen to this and more by downloading Belongg’s app UnOther, spelt U_N_O_T_H_E_R which is available on both the Apple and Google app stores. To invite such experts to your organization for guest lectures or expert consultations, please also look at Belongg Circle, a platform that curates intersectional experts and makes it easy for a range of organizations to integrate such thinking in their work. 


 

]]> Thu, 18 Aug 2022 18:27:48 +0530 Luc Leruth, Yoshita Srivastava Luc Leruth, Yoshita Srivastava 2022 In this episode, Luc Leruth discusses his novel, 'Rumble in a Village' and explores themes of caste politics, economic distress and social dynamics in rural India. In this episode, Luc Leruth discusses his novel, 'Rumble in a Village' and explores themes of caste politics, economic distress and social dynamics in rural India. caste, rural India, satire, social commentary, Indian book, Indian literature No Words of Belonging Ep 13 | Smashing the Patriarchy with Sindhu Rajasekaran 4 4 8 8 Words of Belonging Ep 13 | Smashing the Patriarchy with Sindhu Rajasekaran full 490dccf2-f531-4639-af37-cd2415b63b8a https://share.transistor.fm/s/0a59680b About the Book:

Centred around the bold voices of millennials and Gen Zs, Smashing the Patriarchy explores how young Indian women from diverse backgrounds ingeniously overcome the patriarchy in their everyday lives. 

From beauty, body politics, and sexuality, to caste, power, and the paradox of choice, the book explores a wide range of women’s issues and draws important connections between these. In the chapter ‘On Beauty’ the author examines why women pursue or reject mainstream beauty standards and the real-life repercussions of their choices. ‘Ishq in the Times of Tinder’ considers the conundrum that is love and what women want (and don’t want) from partnerships. The chapter ‘Women at Work’ focuses on how young hyper-informed (and tech-savvy) women have shifted work culture across industries. ‘Demystifying the Feminine’ examines how women across the socio-cultural spectrum define and express femininity. ‘Society, Sanskar, and Choice’ dives into society’s conception of honour and the backlash dissenting women face when they go against the norm. 

About the Guest:

Sindhu Rajasekaran is the author of a novel, Kaleidoscopic Reflections, which was nominated for the Crossword Book Award, and a collection of short stories, So I Let It Be. Her essays, poetry, and fiction have appeared in international publications and anthologies. She has a master’s degree in creative writing from the University of Edinburgh. 

This episode is hosted by Yoshita Srivastava, former literature collective associate at Belongg. She believes inclusive representation is essential for a better future — empathy being key in dismantling prejudice. She is interested in exploring intersections of gender, sexuality, identity and culture studies, and has previously worked at media and social sector organizations.

You can also listen to this and more by downloading Belongg’s app UnOther, spelt U_N_O_T_H_E_R which is available on both the Apple and Google app stores. To invite such experts to your organization for guest lectures or expert consultations, please also look at Belongg Circle, a platform that curates intersectional experts and makes it easy for a range of organizations to integrate such thinking in their work. 


]]> About the Book:

Centred around the bold voices of millennials and Gen Zs, Smashing the Patriarchy explores how young Indian women from diverse backgrounds ingeniously overcome the patriarchy in their everyday lives. 

From beauty, body politics, and sexuality, to caste, power, and the paradox of choice, the book explores a wide range of women’s issues and draws important connections between these. In the chapter ‘On Beauty’ the author examines why women pursue or reject mainstream beauty standards and the real-life repercussions of their choices. ‘Ishq in the Times of Tinder’ considers the conundrum that is love and what women want (and don’t want) from partnerships. The chapter ‘Women at Work’ focuses on how young hyper-informed (and tech-savvy) women have shifted work culture across industries. ‘Demystifying the Feminine’ examines how women across the socio-cultural spectrum define and express femininity. ‘Society, Sanskar, and Choice’ dives into society’s conception of honour and the backlash dissenting women face when they go against the norm. 

About the Guest:

Sindhu Rajasekaran is the author of a novel, Kaleidoscopic Reflections, which was nominated for the Crossword Book Award, and a collection of short stories, So I Let It Be. Her essays, poetry, and fiction have appeared in international publications and anthologies. She has a master’s degree in creative writing from the University of Edinburgh. 

This episode is hosted by Yoshita Srivastava, former literature collective associate at Belongg. She believes inclusive representation is essential for a better future — empathy being key in dismantling prejudice. She is interested in exploring intersections of gender, sexuality, identity and culture studies, and has previously worked at media and social sector organizations.

You can also listen to this and more by downloading Belongg’s app UnOther, spelt U_N_O_T_H_E_R which is available on both the Apple and Google app stores. To invite such experts to your organization for guest lectures or expert consultations, please also look at Belongg Circle, a platform that curates intersectional experts and makes it easy for a range of organizations to integrate such thinking in their work. 


]]> Thu, 18 Aug 2022 18:27:55 +0530 Sindhu Rajasekaran, Yoshita Srivastava Sindhu Rajasekaran, Yoshita Srivastava 2361 We talk to Sindhu Rajasekaran about her latest book, 'Smashing the Patriarchy: A Guide for the 21st-Century Indian Woman.' We talk to Sindhu Rajasekaran about her latest book, 'Smashing the Patriarchy: A Guide for the 21st-Century Indian Woman.' gender, femenism, patriarchy, queer rights, LGBTQ+, sexuality No