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For No Reason At All is a thinly fictionalised version of a very interesting and a very real story. High stakes and high intrigue—the story follows a young, feckless lobbyist, Solly Nilla, who is tossed into a situation that attracts the involvement of foreign interests including the embassies of France and the Soviet Union. And eventually, the direct involvement of then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and the President of India, R Venkataraman.

The Prime Minister must decide if he will standby locally developed technology or allow a government department to import technology from the Americans.

The novel is written in the genre of spy thrillers—pacy, tense, and funny to the point of hilarious. And it captures the New Delhi of the 1980s in the ambience of the Cold War and an omnipotent bureaucracy and a powerful national press. And the last phases of a sexually permissive era.

In this episode, Ramjee Chandran becomes a guest. The show is co-hosted by The Literary City co-host Pranati Madhav and guest host, Karthik Venkatesh, Executive Editor of Penguin.

Buy For No Reason At All here: https://amzn.to/3DWE1Hj. Or at your favourite bookshop anywhere.

ABOUT RAMJEE CHANDRAN

Journalist, author and media entrepreneur with decades of experience, he is the host of The Literary City podcast—on literature and books, featuring guests who include acclaimed authors; and The History of Bangalore podcast about the rich history of his home city, Bangalore.

He is currently working on his second book, The History of Bangalore—a scholarly work crafted as narrative history. This meticulously researched account spans the region's deep-rooted past, beginning in prehistoric times and tracing through epochs of transformation and cultural significance, traversing across its colonial heritage.

ABOUT KARTHIK VENKATESH

Author of "10 Indian Languages and How They Came to Be" and "10 Makers of the Indian Constitution: Stories of 10 Indians Who Shaped the Nation", Karthik Venkatesh grew up in Bangalore, speaking Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, English, Dakhani and Hindi. He tried to learn French but failed. He did learn Punjabi though. Once an MBA, he later studied education and taught English and History in a school. He now edits for a living and writes whenever the fancy strikes him. Karthik lives in Bangalore. On weekday mornings, he often runs. On weekends, he naps.

PRAISE

"Ramjee Chandran is among the most elegant writers we have. We are fortunate he has brought his talents to fiction. What writers want, above all, is material and this novel is what happens when a proper writer assembles his material."

—Aakar Patel, author and journalist"

"Debonair, stylish and uproariously witty, For No Reason at All reads like you have ringside tickets to the pandemonium of 1980s India—narrated to you alone, by the most sparkling of raconteurs"

—Anirudh Kanisetti, historian and author.

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We Indians often wear our heritage with pride, but how much of it do we truly understand?

William Dalrymple’s latest book, The Golden Road, charts the extraordinary journey of Indian ideas, knowledge, art, and religion as they shaped cultures across Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. In this episode we explore the Indosphere—where Indian culture thrived beyond its borders—and uncover how these rich exchanges left an indelible mark on world history.

William was my guest almost two years ago on this show. And now, I am honoured to have him back here today, to talk about this fascinating book that uncovers the lost glory of India—The Golden Road.

ABOUT WILLIAM DALRYMPLE
William Dalrymple is one of Britain’s great historians and the bestselling author of the Wolfson Prize-winning White Mughals, The Last Mughal, which won the Duff Cooper Prize, and the Hemingway and Kapuscinski Prize-winning Return of a King.
A frequent broadcaster, he has written and presented three television series, one of which won the Grierson Award for Best Documentary Series at BAFTA. He has also won the Thomas Cook Travel Book Award, the Sunday Times Young British Writer of the Year Award, the Foreign Correspondent of the Year at the FPA Media Awards, and been awarded five honorary doctorates. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, the Royal Asiatic Society and the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and has held visiting fellowships at Princeton, Brown and All Souls, University of Oxford. He writes regularly for the New York Review of Books, the New Yorker and the Guardian. In 2018 he was presented with the prestigious President’s Medal by the British Academy for his outstanding literary achievement and for co-founding the Jaipur Literature Festival. He is the co-host of chart-topping podcast Empire with Anita Anand. Dalrymple lives with his wife and three children on a goat farm outside Delhi.

Buy The Golden Road here: https://amzn.to/42aNNiD

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This special edition of The Literary City is a conversation about the transformative power of the arts—particularly the visual arts. Often misunderstood or overlooked, the arts hold the potential to nourish the mind and soul, offering cultural insights that resonate deeply with our lives today.

In this episode, guest host Kamini Sawhney sits in for Ramjee Chandran. She speaks to Dr. Alka Pande, a distinguished art historian, curator, teacher, and writer whose work spans over three decades. Known for her ability to make complex ideas relatable, Dr. Pande has delved into themes of gender identity, sexuality, and traditional arts, engaging audiences with her thought-provoking research and accessible storytelling.

In this episode, we also discuss her monumental project, 108 Portraits of Indian Culture & Heritage, an encyclopedic 14-volume series exploring the evolution of Indian art and aesthetics across disciplines like music, dance, sculpture, architecture, crafts, and photography.

Join us as we uncover the relevance and richness of Indian art through the lens of one of its most passionate champions.

ABOUT ALKA PANDE
Dr. Pande’s journey began at Punjab University, where she taught art history for over 20 years. Her academic path took her to London’s Goldsmiths, University of London, on the Charles Wallace award to study critical art theory. Upon returning to India, she revitalised the Visual Arts Gallery at the India Habitat Centre in Delhi, establishing it as a hub for modern and contemporary art. She has also contributed to the development of cultural spaces like the Bihar Museum, Udaipur City Palace, and Kanha Museum in Madhya Pradesh.

As an author, Dr. Pande is celebrated for exploring subjects often avoided, such as sensuality and eroticism in Indian art and culture. Her acclaimed works include Ardhanarisvara: The Androgyne Probing the Gender Within, Body Sutra, Shringara: The Many Faces of Indian Beauty, and Phallus: A Cultural History. Through her writing, she challenges colonial and voyeuristic narratives, presenting an authentic understanding of these themes in Indian culture.

ABOUT KAMINI SAWHNEY
Kamini Sawhney is a seasoned museum professional with nearly 15 years of experience. In 2022, she became the first Indian elected to the Board of CIMAM (International Committee for Museums and Collections of Modern Art).

Until April 2024, Sawhney served as the founding Director of the Museum of Art & Photography (MAP) in Bangalore, India's tech capital. Under her leadership, MAP redefined the museum experience for Indian audiences, emphasising inclusivity and accessibility. She also guided MAP’s digital-first launch in December 2020.

Previously, Sawhney headed the Jehangir Nicholson Art Foundation (2011–2019), one of India’s premier private collections of modern art, housed at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (CSMVS) in Mumbai. She has fostered collaborations with institutions like Tate (London), Foam (Amsterdam), Duke University (Durham), and the British Museum (London).

Sawhney’s work continues to bridge audiences and institutions, championing art as a space for dialogue, learning, and connection.

BUY 108 Portraits of Indian Culture & Heritage here: https://amzn.to/4gqwrTn

CONTACT US
Reach us by mail: theliterarycity@explocity.com or simply, tlc@explocity..com
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