We’d Like A Word hosts Paul Waters and Jonathan Kennedy interview stars of Indian and Irish literature and film making at the 2024 Jaipur Literature Festival at the British Library in London. (It’s possible that Paul repeatedly refers to it as the Jaipur Literary Festival, but let’s not quibble.) Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts.
We hear from:
The man who is at every Indian gathering worth attending, JLF organiser Sanjoy Roy.
Nazia Erum, author of Mothering A Muslim.
Dr Sunny Singh and Yasser Usman on the captivating appeal of Bollywood and Hindi films.
Diplomat Vikas Swarup, author of Q & A – which became the movie Slumdog Millionaire – and other novels.
Irish author Liz Nugent, whose novel Strange Sally Diamond has been topping book charts.
I
ndian film director Shekhar Kapoor, whose movies include Elizabeth, Bandit Queen and the iconic Mr India. Brace yourself for startling revelations.
WHO IS JONATHAN KENNEDY? WHY IS HE STILL HERE? AND WHERE IS STEVYN COLGAN? Jonathan was Director of Arts in India for 5 years for the British Council. He’s been everywhere in India and knows everyone there involved in culture. He was also for 12 years the Executive Director of Tara Arts, looking at the world through a South Asian lens. Jonathan does some India and South Asian episodes of We’d Like A Word with us. We’ll drop them in every now and then. Steve will be back soon.
In this special We’d Like A Word India episode at the Khushwant Singh Literary Festival, co-hosts Paul Waters & Jonathan Kennedy (standing in for Stevyn Colgan) hear ideas from top authors of fiction, non-fiction, memoir and poetry, and other experts. WARNING – one of our interviewees (Farrukh Dhondy) gets a bit sweary. Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts. (Details on illustrious guest presenter and guests below.)
WHO IS JONATHAN KENNEDY? WHY IS HE HERE? AND WHERE IS STEVYN COLGAN? Jonathan was Director of Arts in India for 5 years for the British Council. He’s been everywhere in India and knows everyone there involved in culture. He was also for 12 years the Executive Director of Tara Arts, looking at the world through a South Asian lens. Jonathan does some India and South Asian episodes of We’d Like A Word with us. We’ll drop them in every now & then. Normal service will be resumed with Steve and Paul shortly.
Our guests on this WLAW KSLF episode include:
Harinder Singh, who with The Singh Twins & Gopinder Kaur has created the book Jewels of Sikh Wisdom.
Pinky Lilani, cook, networker extraordinaire, founder of Asian Women of Achievement, and author of Some Kind of Wonderful. (This is the worst angle for a photo, but as you can see, Pinky looks good from any angle.)
Farrukh Dhondy, author, playwright, media executive and activist – who writes about his bookish relationship with the notorious serial killer Charles Sobraj.
Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi and her debut novel, The Centre. (She was kept busy signing copies of her book.)
Sisters Shirin and Marina Wheeler, who write separately about their parents – Shirin on her father, the iconic journalist Charles Wheeler – Witness to the Twentieth Century. And Marina on her mother, Dip – The Lost Homestead – My Mother, Partition and the Punjab.
Poet Imtiaz Dharker on her latest collection, Shadow Reader.
Aneysha Minocha, founder and CEO of Quantaco.AI, the green tech, clean tech carbon-reducing start-up that’s grabbing attention. And Akshat Rathi, author of Climate Capitalism, also senior reporter for Bloomberg news and host of the Zero podcast on climate change.
So what is the Khushwant Singh Literary Festival? The Indian version happens in breathtakingly spectacular surroundings inside the military cantonment in Kasauli, Himachal Pradesh, in the foothills of the Himalayas. Paul did a session with Amitav Ghosh at it.
This recording is at the London spin-off at the Brunei Gallery at SOAS – the School of Oriental and African Studies. Khushwant Singh was one of India’s most prolific authors, a scholar, journalist, iconoclast & dubbed “the most honest man in India.” The festival is keen to promote closer ties between India & Pakistan; equal opportunities for women worldwide; and disseminate the values of democracy, tolerance, compassion in a world that is increasingly more polarised.
And the festival shop even sold at least one copy of Paul’s book, Blackwatertown. Look at his happy little face…
