Author in Conversation
Sushmita Pati in conversation with Gautam Bhan
22 July 2022 | 6:30 pm
Political scientist and author Sushmita Pati read and discussed her book, ‘Properties of Rent: Community, Capital and Politics in Globalising Delhi’, as part of the Author in Conversation sessions, on Friday, 22 July at 6:30 pm at the IIHS, Bengaluru City Campus.
The book is an ethnographically and conceptually rich work that presents new ways of thinking about land, labour and capital in urbanising India. She was in conversation with Gautam Bhan, Associate Dean, IIHS School of Human Development.
Watch the session here.
Public Texts with
Rohan Chakravarty
17 September 2021
The September edition of Public Text featured Rohan Chakravarty. In conversation with writer-editor Neha Dara, Rohan discussed his latest work ‘ Green Humour for a Greying Planet’ — a curated compilation of his comic works. They discussed the importance of environment and biodiversity communication, how humour can make science accessible and much more.
Public Texts with
Jairam Ramesh
20 August 2021
The August edition of Public Texts featured Jairam Ramesh with his latest work, ‘The Light of Asia: The Poem that Defined The Buddha’. The book delves into the fascinating story of Sir Edwin Arnold’s poem ‘The Light of Asia’, the way it shaped the contemporary understanding of the life and message of the Buddha and the literary, cultural, political and social history of the epoch. The session was moderated by IIHS Director Aromar Revi. They discussed Edwin Arnold’s poem in the context of the Buddha’s life and teachings, various scholarly interpretations of Arnold’s work and much more.
Watch the session here.
Public Texts with
Krupa Ge
16 July 2021
The July edition of Public Texts featured Krupa Ge with her debut novel, What We Know About Her. The book delves into the journey of two women separated in time and the lives they led. The session was moderated by Gautam Bhatia, who is a constitutional law scholar and author. They discussed the importance of recording women’s lives in greater depth, the lived experiences of Indian women, family conflicts and the ways in which we carry our pasts with us.
Public Texts with
Peggy Mohan
11 June 2021
The June edition of Public Texts featured Peggy Mohan with her latest work, Wanderers, Kings, Merchants: The Story of India through Its Languages. The book delves into the early history of South Asia to reveal how migration—external and internal—has shaped Indians and Indian languages from ancient times. Peggy was joined by eminent linguist and social scientist Anvita Abbi and economist Chinmay Tumbe, who has written extensively about migration in India and also moderated the discussion. They talked about how this book came about, the connection between language and migration, and some of the interesting discoveries Peggy made while researching this book.
Public Texts with
Menaka Raman
20 April 2021
The April edition of Public Texts featured Menaka Raman in conversation with Swarna Rajagopalan about her novel, Loki Takes Guard. They spoke about breaking gender stereotypes in sports, the importance of following your passion and writing about characters that you don’t necessarily like but learn to love.
In case you missed it, watch it
here.
Public Texts with
Paro Anand
15 December 2020
The December edition of Public Texts featured Paro Anand in conversation with Paromita Chakrabarti about her novel, Nomad’s Land. They spoke about displacement and violence in literary narratives, how stories shape children and more.
In case you missed it, watch it here.
Public Texts with
Taran Khan
10 November 2020
The November edition of Public Texts featured Taran N. Khan in conversation with Somak Ghoshal about her debut work, Shadow City: A Woman Walks Kabul. Taran talked about her travels to Kabul, exploring the city streets on foot, its forgotten history and more.
In case you missed it, watch it here.
Public Texts with
Revathi Suresh
Coming of Age Tales
Tuesday, 6 October 2020 | 6:30 PM
On October 6, 2020, Public Texts featured young adult author Revathi Suresh in conversation with fellow writer Shalini Srinivasan about her latest novel, ‘In Now & Then’ (1inchmargin, 2020). The author spoke about teenage friendships, love, identity, and their aspirations.
In case you missed it, watch it here.
Public Texts with
Nisha Susan
Tuesday, 8 September 2020 | 6 pm
On September 8, 2020, Public Texts hosted authors Nisha Susan and Krupa Ge about Nisha’s debut short story collection, ‘The Women Who Forgot to Invent Facebook and Other Stories, (Context, 2020). The author spoke about her characters, their lives imagined now, and how the Internet has reshaped the way we live and experience our cities.
In case you missed it, watch it here.
SCI-FUN
Writing about science for children
21 November 2019 | 6:00 pm
At the next Public Texts session titled ‘Sci-Fun: Writing about science for children’, Nandita Jayaraj and Roopa Pai will be in conversation with Aparna Kapur about their books, 31 Fantastic Adventures in Science (Puffin, 2019) and From Leeches to Slug Glue (Puffin, 2019) respectively. Their conversation will revolve around the challenges of writing about science for children. This session will be on Thu, 21 Nov from 6:00 pm onwards at the IIHS Bengaluru City Campus, Sadashivanagar. The event is free and open to the public. Please RSVP here as seats are limited. If you are unable to attend the event, you can watch the livestream here.
The Seeker and the City
A life of ordinary pursuits
17 October 2019 | 6:00 pm
On 17 Oct 2019, author Roshan Ali was in conversation with Somak Ghoshal at the Public Texts session titled, ‘The Seeker and the City: A life of ordinary pursuits’. The session was based on Roshan Ali’s debut novel, Ib’s Endless Search for Satisfaction (Penguin, 2019), shortlisted for the 2019 JCB Prize for Literature. The novel is about living with a parent with mental illness and growing up in the city. The session was refreshingly honest and Roshan delved into his process of writing, his narrative style, getting shortlisted for prizes and coping with the city. If you missed it, watch it here.
No Easy Answers
How Children Learn and Grow
Thursday, 26 Sept 2019 | 6:00 pm
On 26 September 2019, educators Kamala Mukunda and Arjun Jayadev spoke at the Public Texts session titled, ‘No Easy Answers: How children learn and grow’. The session was based on the book, What Did You Ask At School Today? Book 2 (HarperCollins India, 2019) by Kamala Mukunda. The gathering was warm, friendly and full of laughter! There were 100 members in the audience, relaxed enough to join the conversation with questions like, ‘as a teacher, what do I do when I mess up?’ ‘Admit it! There will be many of those’, Kamala replied. The conversation also discussed the myth of the left-brain and creativity, how to use technology in classrooms and the idea of ‘brilliance’ in a child. If you missed it, watch it here.
India’s Yesterdays
Putting our past in context
Monday, 19 Aug 2019 | 6:00 pm
On Monday 19 August, IIHS hosted yet another full house at the Public Texts session with Manu S. Pillai and Prem Panicker. History buffs were all ears for the session titled, India’s Yesterdays: Putting our past in context. Other than his new book The Courtesan, the Mahatma and the Italian Brahmin (Westland, 2019), the chat delved into childhood, identity, nationalism, caste and the importance of seeing these in context. If you missed it, here are some photographs from the session and watch the full video here.
The Urban Treeverse: Stories of trees in cities
Thursday, 25 July 2019 | 6:30 pm
We had Harini Nagendra, Seema Mundoli and Rohini Nilekani sit down to talk about trees as memory keepers of cities, based on the book, Cities and Canopies (Penguin, 2019). Rohini suggested a Bengaluru Forum for Urban Forestry, Seema held a pop quiz on seeds and Harini spoke about not cutting mother trees. Head over to the IIHS YouTube Channel to watch this session.
Casting a Spell: Voices in feminist fantasy fiction
Public Texts session titled Casting a Spell: Voices in feminist fantasy fiction was held on Thursday, 20 June 2019 from 6:30 pm onwards at BCC. Click here for photographs from the session.
Shreya Ila Anasuya and Sukanya Venkatraghavan were in conversation with Shalini Srinivasan about their feminist fantasy collection, Magical Women (Hachette, 2019). They discussed the importance of feminist voices in fantasy fiction. The discussion included what feminism means to them and how fantasy lets them play God with their characters. Head over to the IIHS YouTube Channel to watch this session.
Where do Stories Come From? Writing for Children Through the Years
Public Texts session titled Where do Stories Come From? Writing for children through the years was held on Friday, 31 May 2019 from 6:30 pm onwards at BCC. Click here for photographs from the session.
Children’s books author Asha Nehemiah was in conversation with writer and editor Bijal Vachharajani. They discussed writing for children through the years with a focus on concepts, process and relevance. A variety of children’s books were available for purchase at the Lightroom bookstore pop-up shop at the event. Head over to the IIHS YouTube Channel to watch this session.
As part of this session the IIHS Library held a week-long children’s book exhibition from 27 to 31 May 2019 in the gallery space on campus. Readers of all ages browsed through the IIHS Library children’s book collection.
Slow and Steady: Talking about Sea Turtle Conservation in India
PublicTexts session titled Slow and Steady: Talking about sea turtle conservation in India was held on Thursday, 2 May 2019 from 6:30 pm onwards at BCC. Click here for photographs from the session.
Ecologist Kartik Shanker was in conversation with H S Sudhira, Director of Gubbi Labs about his book From Soup to Superstar: The Story of Sea Turtle Conservation along the Indian Coast (Harper Litmus, 2015). The session explored the slow and steady stride of sea turtles into India’s conservation story. Head over to the IIHS YouTube Channel to watch this session.
All Characters are Tamil: A Conversation about Tamil Culture, People and Politics
The March edition of Public Texts, All Characters are Tamil: A conversation about Tamil culture, people and politics, was held at BCC on Thursday, 21 March 2019 from 6:30 pm onwards.
A R Venkatachalapathy was in conversation with Ranjani Krishnakumar about his book Tamil Characters: Personalities, Politics, Culture (Pan Macmillan, 2018). The conversation unpacked contemporary Tamil Nadu through politicians, current events and policies. Head over to the IIHS YouTube Channel to watch this session.
Close Encounters of Another Kind – Women and Development Economics
Book launch of ‘Close Encounters of Another Kind – Women and Development Economics’ by Dr. Devaki Jain was held on 10 September, 2018.
Aromar Revi, Founding Director of IIHS was in conversation with Padma Bhushan Dr. Devaki Jain, writer and feminist economist. Dr. Jain’s latest volume of essays brought together her various engagements with public policy, development economics and women. It examined the gender development mission that began in 1975 with the First World Conference of Women and went on to become the Women’s Decade, while simultaneously rooting itself in the reality of the Global South. In her newest work, Dr. Jain highlights the ways in which the design of public policy has ignored the lived experience offered in India as development.
The Movements of Movements – What Makes Us Move?
Jai Sen, the editor of The Movements of Movements – What Makes Us Move? Vol. 1 was in conversation with IIHS faculty Solomon Benjamin and with Madhu Bhushan, independent activist-writer-(re)searcher. He spoke about situating movements and uprisings in internationalism from grassroots to a global level. This event was held on 18 April 2018.
Health Inequities in India: A Synthesis of Recent Evidence
This book brings together a vast expanse of research on health inequities in India, identifies research gaps, proposes areas for future research on the subject, and discusses all the major documented axes of marginalisation. This event was held on 23 February 2018. For more details, please visit: http://www.healthinequity.com.
Dr. Upendra Bhojani (Faculty, Institute of Public Health and External Consultant, IIHS), was in conversation with the editors of the book, Sundari Ravindran and Rakhal Gaitonde and the other contributors to the volume: Dr. T K Sundari Ravindran (Professor, Shree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, Trivandrum), Dr. Rakhal Gaitonde (Centre for Technology and Policy (CTaP), Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai), Dr. C Priyadarshini (Assistant Professor, M S Ramaiah Medical College, Bangalore), Dr. Sudharshini Subramaniam (Assistant Professor, Madras Medical College, Chennai), Dr. Chitra Grace (Independent Researcher, Trivandrum) and Dr. Prashanth Nuggehalli Srinivas ( Faculty & India Alliance Fellow, Institute of Public Health, Bangalore)
Trashonomics: Solid Waste Management|A Simple Guide for Children
In this PublicTexts event, authors of ‘Trashonomics’ book by Solid Waste Management Round Table, Archana Kashyap and Claire Rao were in conversation with, Sowmya Reddy (Animal rights activist), Almitra Patel (SWM expert committee), Vani Murthy (SWM expert/urban farmer), Mansoor Gous (Recyclable waste manager/expert), Sandhya (BBMP Medical Officer Health)
The conversation was about creating awareness on waste management at a young age and how this book could act as a guide for everyone to understand, practice segregation, recycling and reusing of waste and to become responsible citizens of tomorrow. This event was held on 16 September 2016.
Ahmedabad: A City in the World
In this PublicTexts event, Jayaraj Sundaresan, Fellow, Bartlett Development Planning Unit, University College London was in conversation with Amrita Shah, Journalist, Writer and Visiting Faculty at the Centre for Contemporary Studies, IISc, on her recent book, Ahmedabad – A City in the World (Bloomsbury, 2015). This event was held on 4 February 2016.
Looking Away: Inequality, Prejudice and Indifference in New India
On 24 April 2015, author Harsh Mander was in conversation with Samar Halarnkar at the launch of his new book, Looking Away: Inequality, Prejudice and Indifference in New India analysed the many different fault lines which crisscross Indian society today.
Shadow Play
In this PublicTexts event held on 11 March 2015, Dr. Vimala Rama Rao, was in conversation with author Shashi Deshpande, about her recent novel, Shadow Play (Aleph Book Company, 2013), a masterful meditation on kinship, marriage, ambition and the changing face of urban India.
Bengaluru: Roots and Beyond
In this PublicTexts event, Sathya Prakash Varanashi, architect and convener of the INTACH, was in conversation with Maya Jayapal, urban historian and author of her recently released book Bengaluru: Roots and Beyond (Niyogi Books, 2014) on 24 April 2014. Maya Jayapal’s other publications include Old Singapore (Oxford University Press, 1992), Old Jakarta (Oxford University Press, 1993), Bengaluru: Story of the City (EastWest Books, 1997).
The Integral Nature of Things: Critical Reflections on the Present
In this PublicTexts event, Amlanjyoti Goswami was in conversation with Dr. Lata Mani, author, feminist historian and cultural critic, about her new book, The Integral Nature of Things: Critical Reflections on the Present (Routledge, 2013) on 12 December 2013. The book meditates on the interrelations and interconnections between drawing from literary theory, sociocultural analysis and cultural studies.
Because I have A Voice: Queer Politics in India
In the opening PublicTexts event, editors Arvind Narrain and Gautam Bhan of the book Because I have a voice: Queer Politics in India (Yoda Press, 2005) were in conversation with Mario D’Penha, historian and activist, on contemporary queer politics as well as writing and activism around sexuality on 11 October 2013.
