Welcome to the Southasia Review of Books Podcast from Himal Southasian, where we speak to celebrated authors and emerging literary voices from across Southasia. 

In this episode, Shwetha Srikanthan, assistant editor at Himal Southasian, speaks to the author Smriti Ravindra about her debut novel 'The Woman Who Climbed Trees' and the representation of the Madhesi community in the literary imagination of Nepal. 

The Nepali-Indian writer Smriti Ravindra is a Fulbright scholar and holds an MFA in creative writing from the North Carolina State University. Her fiction and journalism have been published in the United States and in India, and she is the author of The Woman Who Climbed Trees, a searing story of three generations of women and the challenges faced by them in traditional societies across India and Nepal. 

The novel begins with the story of a woman who climbed trees every night, and she gets labeled as a witch by her community. And the title also lets on, this is a story of women who break rules and will keep climbing trees despite the constraints of society weighing them down. With the lyrical use of folklore and mythology, Smriti Ravindra unravels the experiences of women who leave their parent’s homes after marriage, and in the process become strangers to their own selves, and outsiders in these settings. 

The story, set partly in the late 1980s and early 1990s of Kathmandu, also traces the major political transitions of Nepal, addressing questions of ethnicity and corruption, and in doing so, the book sheds light on the long-ignored topic of the Madhesi experience, particularly that of women, in Nepali literature – which we explore further in this conversation.

This episode is now available on 
Soundcloud: on.soundcloud.com/tnv3Tfpg39EG4sPC8
Spotify: spoti.fi/498g4Gv
Apple Podcasts: apple.co/3TxYgyF
Youtube: youtu.be/bX4IvY311-0

himalmag.com/podcast/smriti-ravindra-the-woman-who-climbed-trees-madhesi-women-identity-nepal-literature

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Southasia Review of Books is a podcast and a monthly newsletter that threads together our latest reviews and literary essays, with curated reading lists and all things books-related from Himal’s extensive archive. A special reading list curated by Smriti Ravindra will be featured in this month’s Southasia Review of Books Newsletter. You can subscribe to Himal’s newsletters here: bit.ly/HimalNewsletters

A new episode of the Southasia Review of Books Podcast will be available once every four weeks. If you like this episode, please share widely, rate, review, subscribe and download the show on your favourite podcast apps.

Southasia Review of Books Podcast #02: Smriti Ravindra on ‘The Woman Who Climbed Trees’

This Southasian Conversation looks at the costs of Reliance's wildlife ambitions, featuring conservationist M D Madhusudan, environmental lawyer Shibani Ghosh and journalist M Rajshekhar in conversation with Roman Gautam, Editor of Himal Southasian.

Led by Anant Ambani and supported by the Indian government, the Reliance conglomerate’s effort to shelter abused elephants has transmuted into an enormous wildlife centre – raising concerns over the sourcing of some animals as well as over India’s wildlife management. Here we dive deeper into the past and disturbing present of wildlife conservation in India and beyond.

Read M Rajshekhar's story 'The costs of Reliance’s wildlife ambitions' here: https://www.himalmag.com/politics/reliance-ambani-anant-elephants-wildlife-vantara-radhe-krishna-trust-greens

This online conversation was recorded on 4 April, 2024 at 7 PM IST.

You can listen to this conversation on Soundcloud, Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Youtube.

Southasian Conversation: The costs of Reliance's wildlife ambitions

Over the last many decades, India has taken pride in an election process that, while allowing close to a billion people to exercise their franchise, has always been largely free and fair. However, Narendra Modi’s government has taken a series of actions that have called the sanctity of the country's 2024 general elections into question. This includes a dubious scheme of electoral bonds that has allowed parties – Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party more than others – to raise funds from anonymous donors, as well as a reconstitution of the Election Commission that will likely favour the ruling party. The BJP has also dealt a hammer blow to the opposition by arresting two chief ministers on charges of corruption and freezing the largest opposition party’s assets. 

In this episode of State of Southasia, Nayantara Narayanan speaks to Aakar Patel on how hard-won gains in democratic processes including elections have been squandered by the Modi government at great cost to the Indian republic. They also discusswhat the opposition’s options are and what an unfree and unfair election in the world's largest democracy meansfor the rest of Southasia. 

State of Southasia releases a new interview every four weeks.

Episode notes:
Further reading from Himal’s archives:
The enduring personality cult of Narendra Modi: https://www.himalmag.com/politics/christophe-jaffrelot-gujarat-narendra-modi-bharatiya-janata-party-hindu-nationalism
With an unfree and unfair election, Pakistan prepares to repeat its past: https://www.himalmag.com/politics/pakistan-unfree-unfair-election-military-nawaz-sharif-imran-khan
State of Southasia #02: Ayesha Siddiqa on Pakistan’s stormy election and its message for the military: https://www.himalmag.com/podcast/ayesha-siddiqa-pakistan-election-2024-imran-khan-shebaz-sharif-pml-nawaz-military
In Bangladesh’s sham election, the only real contest is geopolitical: https://www.himalmag.com/politics/geopolitics-us-europe-china-india-sheikh-hasina-awami-league-2024-bangladesh-election
Prabir Purkayastha’s fight against two Emergencies in India – under Modi and Indira Gandhi
Every vote counts in Kashmir: https://www.himalmag.com/reviews/prabir-purkayastha-newsclick-arrest-emergency-india-indira-gandhi-narendra-modi

State of Southasia #03: Aakar Patel on the unprecedented threats to India’s election

Welcome to the Southasia Review of Books Podcast from Himal Southasian, where we speak to celebrated authors and emerging literary voices from across Southasia. In this episode, Shwetha Srikanthan, assistant editor at Himal Southasian, speaks to the Karachi-based author Taha Kehar about his latest novel No Funeral for Nazia. 

https://www.himalmag.com/podcast/taha-kehar-no-funeral-for-nazia-karachi-pakistan-literature-southasian-mystery-novels

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Rituals of mourning are a huge part of cultures across Southasia, but as a society we don’t often speak about grief and death. The decision about what happens to us after death is one of the most personal choices we make, and it might be rooted in family wishes, cultural expectations, religious traditions, personal preference, or all of the above. But in No Funeral for Nazia, a richly imagined mystery set in Karachi, the author Taha Kehar presents an intriguing alternative.   

In her final days, the protagonist Nazia writes a diary of instructions for her sister, Naureen, as well as six letters to be delivered after her death. There is to be no funeral, instead, only six invitees are asked to attend a party, including one mystery guest, where various truths and long-held grudges are revealed throughout the night and we witness the entangled relationships between these characters and Nazia. 

The story also traces gender and class dynamics in Karachi society as well as past and present events of Pakistani politics, giving us a sweeping glimpse of the country’s urban life – which we explore further in this conversation.

* 

Taha Kehar is a novelist, journalist and literary critic based in Karachi. A law graduate from SOAS, London, Taha is the co-editor of a multi-author anthology titled 'The Stained-Glass Window: Stories of the Pandemic from Pakistan'. Taha is also the author of three novels, Of Rift and Rivalry, Typically Tanya, and his latest, No Funeral for Nazia.

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Listen on Soundcloud: on.soundcloud.com/REg2ViHv83RpinXe8
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/4da4pdI
Apple Podcasts: apple.co/49LR1t6
Youtube: youtu.be/IQseJRik6V4

Southasia Review of Books is a podcast and a monthly newsletter that threads together our latest reviews and literary essays, with curated reading lists and all things books-related from Himal’s extensive archive. A special reading list curated by Taha Kehar will be featured in this month’s Southasia Review of Books Newsletter. You can subscribe to Himal’s newsletters here: http://bit.ly/sign-up-southasia-review-of-books-newsletter

A new episode of the Southasia Review of Books Podcast will be available once every four weeks. If you like this episode, please share widely, rate, review, subscribe and download the show on your favourite podcast apps.

Southasia Review of Books Podcast #03: Taha Kehar on Southasian mystery novels

Extreme heat has immense economic and social impacts in Southasia, an area that is most  vulnerable to heat, that is densely populated, and that has a large numbers of people living in poverty. Research says that extreme heat is here to stay and will likely only get worse. An analysis of the 2022 heatwave across India and Pakistan showed that human-induced climate change makes Southasian heatwaves 30 times more likely. 

In this episode of State of Southasia, Nayantara Narayanan speaks to Chandni Singh, a senior researcher at the Indian Institute for Human Settlements who works on climate change adaptation across Southasia. Singh talks about how the current Southasian experience of heat is unlike anything the region has seen in the past.

State of Southasia releases a new interview every four weeks.

Episode notes:
Further reading from Himal’s archives:

As India’s election heats up, soaring temperatures from climate change find little mention in mainstream media: https://www.himalmag.com/politics/india-election-rising-temperatures-heatwaves-risks-climate-change-journalism-mainstream-legacy-media

Nepal’s unescapable trap of migration, farming and climate change: https://www.himalmag.com/politics/nepal-himalaya-migration-rural-farming-agriculture-climate-change

INTERVIEW: COP28, the transition from fossil fuels and the Loss and Damage fund: https://www.himalmag.com/podcast/cop28-dubai-climate-change-net-zero-simon-evans

Climate change in Bangladesh is driving a dengue outbreak in winter: https://www.himalmag.com/video/climate-change-dengue-outbreak-in-winter-bangladesh

Primacy and absence of climate change: https://www.himalmag.com/excerpt/primacy-and-absence-of-climate-change-bangladesh-threatening-dystopias-excerpt-2021

Chipko to climate change: https://www.himalmag.com/reportage/chipko-to-climate-change-2021

State of Southasia #04: Counting the costs of another historic heatwave in Southasia

Welcome to the Southasia Review of Books Podcast from Himal Southasian, where we speak to celebrated authors and emerging literary voices from across Southasia. In this episode, Shwetha Srikanthan, assistant editor at Himal Southasian, speaks to the Siliguri-based poet, writer and essayist Sumana Roy about her latest book 'Provincials: Postcards from the Peripheries'. 


In Southasian literature, it seems that there might not be any other way to see the province except in contrast to the city. So much has been said about cosmopolitanism, but what of provincialism? 

Growing up in Siliguri, a sub-Himalayan town in Bengal, Sumana Roy’s experiences have marked her understanding of the provincial reader’s life: including the sense of belatedness, and the desire for pleasure in language. There’s a constant search for writings that bring other worlds to the provincial readers’ lives but also for glimpses of lives similar to theirs. 

In a series of “postcards” from the peripheries of Southasia and beyond, with writings ranging from Rabindranath Tagore to William Shakespeare, Bhakti poets to the Brontës, Sumana introduces us to the imaginative world of those who have celebrated provinciality. She challenges the dominance of the metropolis to reclaim the dignity of provincial life and challenges the imaginary barriers we tend to put between the rural and urban. 

Sumana Roy is a poet, writer, essayist and editor based in Siliguri. She is the author of several published texts, including her latest 'Provincials' (2024), 'How I Became a Tree' (2017), 'Missing' (2018), 'My Mother’s Lover and Other Stories' (2019), and two poetry collections, 'Out of Syllabus' (2019) and 'VIP: Very Important Plant' (2022).

Episode notes: https://www.himalmag.com/podcast/sumana-roy-provincials-postcards-southasian-peripheries-tagore-bengal-siliguri-literature

Listen to the episode on Soundcloud: on.soundcloud.com/ZRR39EPSLv3Ptqa38
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3UQD9IR
Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/44SPnFd
Youtube: youtu.be/yDxo2G_f0X8 

Southasia Review of Books is a podcast and a monthly newsletter that threads together our latest reviews and literary essays, with curated reading lists and all things books-related from Himal’s extensive archive. A special reading list curated by Sumana Roy will be featured in this month’s Southasia Review of Books Newsletter. You can subscribe to the newsletter here:bit.ly/sign-up-southasia-review-of-books-newsletter. A new episode of the Southasia Review of Books Podcast will be available once every four weeks. If you like this episode, please share widely, rate, review, subscribe and download the show on your favourite podcast apps.

Southasia Review of Books Podcast #04: Sumana Roy on literature from the Southasian provinces

In this episode of State of Southasia, Nayantara Narayanan speaks to Laxmi Murthy, a senior journalist and the editor of the report, about the important role of the media and the struggles of journalists working in crisis conditions in an especially important year for the region, when several countries in Southasia are holding elections. (Disclosure: Laxmi Murthy is a Contributing Editor for Himal Southasian.)

State of Southasia releases a new interview every four weeks.

State of Southasia #05: Journalism in crisis across Southasia

Welcome to the second edition of the Himal Fiction Fest, where we celebrated Southasian fiction in translation. Southasia’s rich literary tradition spans hundreds of languages, cultures, regions and traditions – and translators play a vital role in bringing these works the exposure and recognition they deserve, and connect. 

To kick off the festival, we hosted an online reading of translated stories originally written in Bangla, Farsi, Hindi, Nepali, Punjabi and Tamil by their translators. These stories are published on our website. This was followed by a panel discussion on the future of Southasian fiction in translation, which featured the prize-winning translators Daisy Rockwell, Musharraf Ali Farooqi and Jayasree Kalathil, as well as the leading literary agent Kanishka Gupta. 

The event was held in partnership with the Armory Square Prize for Southasian Literature in Translation. The 2024 prize finalists read excerpts from their translations before the announcement of this year’s winner.

The event took place on Monday, 10 June 2024

Featured in the fest:

My Sister, Life (excerpt) by Mahmudul Haque, translated from Bangla by Shabnam Nadiya and Mahmud Rahman

Insects (excerpt) by Fauzia Rafique, translated from Punjabi by Haider Shahbaz


Unknown by Mayilan G Chinnappan, translated from Tamil by Kalyan Raman

Chowmein by Durga Karki, translated from Nepali by Sandesh Ghimire

Lord Almighty, Grant Us Riots! by Anil Yadav, translated from Hindi by Vaibhav Sharma

One Day Forever... (excerpt) by Lina Rozbeh Haidari, translated from Farsi by Laila Ghezal Azimi

Himal Fiction Fest 2024: The future of Southasian Fiction in Translation

Welcome to the Southasia Review of Books Podcast from Himal Southasian, where we speak to celebrated authors and emerging literary voices from across Southasia. In this episode, Shwetha Srikanthan, assistant editor at Himal Southasian, speaks to Siddhartha Deb about his novel 'The Light at the End of the World' and his latest book, 'Twilight Prisoners: The Rise of the Hindu Right and the Fall of India'. 


'The Light at the End of the World', Siddhartha Deb’s first novel in fifteen years, reinvents Southasian fiction for our time. 


The novel, beginning and ending in a dystopian future of authoritarianism and climate disaster, blurs the lines between realism and speculative fiction. It captures the puzzle of contradictions that is modern India today, and traces it back to the many moments of apocalypse in the Subcontinent’s history. At its core, the story is also about how certain tragedies and certain kinds of violence are repeated. 


Over the past decade and a half, India has pivoted from a seeming success story, revealing itself to be a stranger than fiction-dystopia. In his recently published collection of essays, 'Twilight Prisoners', Siddhartha paints a damning picture of these darkest of turns in India’s recent past. It is a powerful exploration of the rise of Hindu Nationalism and its impact on dissenting voices and marginalised communities. And most importantly, it’s a timely reminder that those who resisted and are resisting – India’s twilight prisoners if you will – are not forgotten. As long as there is resistance and remembrance, there is still hope. 


Born in Shillong, in northeastern India, Siddhartha Deb lives in Harlem, New York. His fiction and nonfiction have been longlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award, shortlisted for the Orwell Prize, and been awarded the Pen Open prize. His journalism and essays have appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, The New Republic, Dissent, The Baffler, N+1, and The Caravan.


Episode notes:

This episode is now available on Soundcloud: on.soundcloud.com/LoWvGocG7fDagxrQ7 
Spotify: spoti.fi/3KKdxsf
Apple Podcasts: apple.co/3KMugLF
Youtube: youtu.be/s8QAJGgY6zc

Southasia Review of Books podcast #05: Siddhartha Deb on India’s macabre new realities

At Screen Southasia, we host monthly online screenings of compelling documentaries from the region, including Nepal, India, Kashmir, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bhutan, Tibet, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Maldives and Sri Lanka. We present a diverse range of films, both classic and new, that showcase the unique cultures, histories and perspectives of Southasia. 

Screen Southasia is a partnership between Himal Southasian and Film Southasia.

Film: Split Ends
Country: Nepal
Released: 2016
Q and A with director: 7 JUNE 2024 (FRIDAY)
Time: 6 pm IST, 6:15 pm NPT, 5:30 pm PKT


Synopsis:
A barbershop becomes a place of refuge for Nepali migrants who travel to Portugal in search of the European dream.

About the director:
Rajan Kathet is a filmmaker based in Kathmandu working in both fiction and documentary films. Rajan's first feature documentary, "No Winter Holidays," premiered in the International First Feature Competition section of Sheffield DocFest 2023 and is the winner of the NATIVA Award at Alternativa Film Awards 2023 in Kazakhstan. His short fiction work, "Bare Trees In The Mist (2019)," was screened at several international film festivals, including the Toronto International Film Festival 2019, Tampere Film Festival, HKIFF, Encounters Film Festival, Dharamshala IFF, and Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia.

Rajan collaborates with national and international filmmakers through his production company, Salpa Films. He has worked on projects such as the Taiwanese feature documentary “After The Snowmelt” by Yi-Shan Lo, which premiered at Visions du Réel 2024, and the TV documentaries "In the Land of Machines" by Heo Chul-nyung (South Korea), "Home Street Home" by Alan Lau for Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK), and "A Himalayan Endgame" by Deepak Chaturvedi (India), all of which are in post-production.

Rajan is also engaged in film education and mentors young filmmakers through his involvement in local film schools and filmmaking workshops. He regularly contributes to the Kathmandu International Mountain Film Festival DocLab.

Screen Southasia: Q/A on 'Split Ends' with filmmaker Rajan Kathet

Podcasts and audio clips from Himal Southasian, the region's pioneering magazine of politics and culture.

Southasia Review of Books Podcast #04: Sumana Roy on literature from the Southasian provinces

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