Episodes
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My guest this episode is the distinguished Kumi Naidoo - a human rights and climate justice activist. Naidoo first began his journey at the age of 15 fighting against the then apartheid government in South Africa by organising school boycotts. He was arrested several times for civil disobedience and when the government imposed a state of emergency, he was forced to go underground and flee to the UK, where he became a Rhodes scholar.
He eventually returned to South Africa in 1990 when Mandela was released from jail, and went onto play a vital role in shaping the then African National Congress. His steadfast work in the human rights and justice sphere led him to become the first person from the global south to head Greenpeace International and later, Secretary General of Amnesty International.
From scaling oil rigs to protest against the fossil fuel industry to sitting down with the likes of Tony Blair, Angela Merkel and Putin, Naidoo has become one of the prominent voices in the climate justice movement.
He continues to represent Africans Rising for Justice, Peace, and Dignity as a Global Ambassador and currently holds the position of Distinguished visiting lecturer at Stanford University’s Center for Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law.
In this conversation, we discuss the tragic human crisis unfolding in Palestine to climate urgency and how the climate crisis is interlinked with human rights.
To learn more about Naidoo's work, please visit: https://www.kuminaidoo.net
You can reach me at [email protected] or on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/maharanitalks/
MUSIC: Lights by Sappheiros https://soundcloud.com/sappheirosmusic
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What is it like to be a woman scientist in India? Why don’t we see enough of them? If you’re quick to point the superstar ones, sadly they’re not always the norm. In fact, research has shown that women in academia are expected to be much more competent than their male counterparts to be considered for the same role.
It’s this bias that got Aashima Dogra and Nandita Jayaraj to start ‘The Life of Science’ web portal to document stories of regular women in science, and the systemic bias they fight in their everyday lives. Having began their journey in 2016, it has now given rise to their book ‘Lab Hopping: A Journey to find India’s Women in Science’. Backed by research, it makes the reader come to terms with unsettling facts plaguing Indian academia, when it comes to gender and caste diversity. In our conversation, we bring some of these issues to light and what can be done to remedy it.
To learn more about The Life Of Science or order the book, visit: https://thelifeofscience.com/
You can reach me at [email protected] or on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/maharanitalks/
MUSIC: Lights by Sappheiros https://soundcloud.com/sappheirosmusic
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Missing episodes?
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Artificial intelligence or AI is quite the buzzword these days. Many of us would not have missed the news pouring in about AI - sometimes it is promising and at times, it isn’t reassuring. But Ankush Sabharwal, founder and CEO of CoRover, believes AI is more than a buzzword. It is here to stay - simply because an average human is already relying on AI in ways that they don’t realise.
CoRover is a platform for conversational AI. The kind of AI Chatbot-as-a-service (CaaS) that we encounter through customer support with organisations. The company is also the brainchild behind AskSarkar, an app that helps citizens better access and resolve issues about government services; behind Indian Railways’ virtual assistant DISHA and also BharatGPT, our own version of ChatGPT that supports 12 Indian languages and over 120 foreign languages.
A graduate of BITS Pilani and IIM Calcutta, Sabharwal has over 15+ years experience in the SaaS space and is a member of the invite-only Forbes Technology Council. He has appeared on many media outlets offering his opinion on the fast paced growth of AI.
To learn more about CoRover, please visit: https://corover.ai/
You can reach me at [email protected] or on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/maharanitalks/
MUSIC: Lights by Sappheiros https://soundcloud.com/sappheirosmusic
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How often have you shared a digital artwork on social media to simply convey your thoughts on an issue?
The power of digital art to convey dissent or to protest has grown to become one of the most preferred ways to vent frustration or show solidarity. Its creation is not intended to sell (maybe that will soon change), but it does often cause one to react. A reason probably why many of these artists choose to be anonymous.
Smish Designs is a digital artist and illustrator whose work is a searing commentary on the socio-political events that happen in our country. Some of her designs have been used during protests such as the Hathras case and anti-CAA. In her first solo exhibition in 2021, Pati, Patni Aur Woke - her designs delved into the injustices often meted out to women in the institution of marriage as Smish asks if marriage is really a safe space for women?
But voicing one’s unfiltered opinion always comes at a cost - she has had to deal with threats, trolling, and even Instagram and Twitter taking down her posts.
As she becomes one of the well-known voices in India’s protest art culture, stay tuned to this interesting episode as we talk about her art, staying anonymous, protecting her mental health, the prevalence of protest art in the age of social media, role of artificial intelligence and much more!
To learn more about her work, you can check her work on:
https://www.instagram.com/smishdesigns/?hl=en
You can reach me at [email protected] or on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maharanitalks/
MUSIC: Lights by Sappheiros
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In many ways, Anjali Gopalan has been a torchbearer for the LGBTQIA+ community. She started Naz Foundation in 1994 to lead a dedicated fight against HIV/AIDS issues and defend those marginalised due to their sexuality. Naz Foundation is the original petitioner to challenge Section 377 criminalising homosexuality, an archaic law which was struck down by the Supreme Court four years back.
Honouring her persistent fight for equality, she has received the Knight of the Legion of Honour, one of the highest honours from the French Government in 2013, shortlisted for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005, named one of Time magazine’s Most Influential People in the World in 2012 and received the Woman Achiever Award from the Indian Government in 2007.
Join us as we talk about many issues concerning the queer community such as the ongoing same-sex marriage petitions in the Delhi High Court, expressing gender at work, rainbow washing by corporates and the way forward for the Indian queer community.
To learn more about The Naz Foundation, please visit: https://www.nazindia.org/
You can reach me at [email protected] or on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/maharanitalks/
MUSIC: Lights by Sappheiros https://soundcloud.com/sappheirosmusic
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The Bombay Canteen is considered as one of the most popular restaurants in the country and its food most sought out. It has been adjudged as The Best Restaurant in India in 2018 by Conde Nast Traveller and was also included in its list of 100 places in the world to eat. And as the restaurant’s former Executive Chef, Thomas Zacharias’ constant innovation of the Indian food became its pièce de résistance.
Through his latest venture, The Locavore, Chef Zacharias is keen to create a community around our rich Indian food legacy and in the process put the spotlight back on the best (and sometimes forgotten) regional dishes and cuisines. He’s among the forefront of people championing the cause of local ingredients and to ultimately, do good through food.
This is the 50th episode of Maharani Talks.
To learn more about The Locavore, please visit:
https://thelocavore.in
You can reach me at [email protected] or on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/maharanitalks/
MUSIC: Lights by Sappheiros https://soundcloud.com/sappheirosmusic
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As someone who has a keen interest in space, I’m very excited to finally feature Dr. Susmita Mohanty, spaceship designer and a serial space entrepreneur, who started India’s first private space startup, Earth2Orbit - at a time when the Indian space industry didn’t welcome private players. She had also previously founded MoonFront and LIQUIFER, worked briefly with NASA & Boeing and as a climate activist, visited both the Artic & Antarctica on invitation.
A protégée of Arthur C. Clarke, she has been featured in numerous publications such as Fortune, Vogue and Bloomberg.
Dr. Susmita has now started India’s first space think thank, Spaceport SARABHAI. As ISRO is solidifying its global presence and more private players are coming up in India, she shares interesting insights on how we need to steer the global space narrative to focus on explorations done in the Eastern hemisphere.
You can reach me at [email protected] or on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/maharanitalks/
MUSIC: Lights by Sappheiros https://soundcloud.com/sappheirosmusic
If you enjoy this podcast, please consider leaving a review on Apple Podcasts. It will take only a few moments of your time. https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast/maharani-talks/id1514769199
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Tech unions are considered a rarity in Silicon Valley. So, when Google employees announced the Alphabet Workers Union (AWU), named after Google’s parent company, it ended up becoming a catalyst for white collar workers to stand up against injustices in the workplace.
Raksha Muthukumar was one of the union’s earliest members and helped in its formation. A GeorgiaTech graduate, during her work stint with Google, she saw the growing discontent among employees over Google’s sexual discrimination practices, which led to the 2018 global walk out by Google employees, and over its ethical use of technology, which saw the forced exit of Dr. Timnit Gebru, a respected figure in ethical practice of AI.
In October last year, Raksha was named as one of the 18 tech activists to watch out for by Business Insider, along with the likes of Frances Haugen who exposed Facebook’s algorithm decisions. The union itself has been extensively covered by numerous publications such as Forbes, TechCrunch, and The New York Times. So what did it take to make it happen?
You can get in touch with Raksha at https://raksha.gay/
You can reach me at [email protected] or on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/maharanitalks/
MUSIC: Lights by Sappheiros https://soundcloud.com/sappheirosmusic
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Who make up the Indian newsrooms? Do journalists cover diverse voices?
Priyadharsini is the founder director of The Blue Club (TBC), a grassroots media organisation that amplifies stories of women from marginalised communities and the LGBTQIA. TBC is solely led by a team of members from such discriminated communities.
An Oxfam India report in 2019 shows how badly skewed representation of varied communities is in our newsrooms. A case in point - the report states that of the 121 newsroom leadership positions across newspapers, TV news channels, news websites, and magazines under study, 106 are occupied by journalists from the upper castes. The need to lessen this lacuna and louden such oft-ignored voices is the objective of The Blue Club.
Priyadharsini is also a documentary filmmaker and has brought out films such as Go, Get Education, a short film based on the revolutionary 19th century feminist and social reformer, Savitribai Phule and #dalitwomenfight. It brings to light rape atrocities Dalit women face in Haryana and was screened at the 38th session of United Nations Human Rights Council, Geneva.
While stating the Oxfam Report in the podcast, I mistakenly mention of the total number of newsroom leadership positions as 101, which is not correct. It is a total of 121 newsroom leadership positions as stated by the Report. The error is regretted.
You can reach me at Maharani Talks on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/maharanitalks/
To learn more about The Blue Club:
https://www.theblueclub.org
You can read more about the Oxfam India Report 2019 here:
https://www.oxfamindia.org/sites/default/files/2019-08/Oxfam%20NewsLaundry%20Report_For%20Media%20use.pdf
MUSIC: Lights by Sappheiros https://soundcloud.com/sappheirosmusic
If you enjoy this podcast, please consider leaving a review on Apple Podcasts. It will take a only few moments of your time. https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast/maharani-talks/id1514769199
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I’ve been of the opinion that death penalty is justified for those convicted of heinous crimes. But in doing so, am I completely isolating the perpetrator and their actions to this one crime? Does the onus of the death penalty fall majorly on those marginalised in our society?
My guest this episode is Dr. Anup Surendranath. He is the Executive Director of Project 39A and an Assistant Professor of Law at National Law University in Delhi. Project 39A’s Death Penalty India report is the first empirical research done on capital punishment, the way it is administered in India and about those who live on death row. The Centre also offers pro bono legal aid for these convicts.
In this episode, we talk about:
The socio-economic and caste profile of those who often get the death penalty Understanding the mental health of convicts on death row Does death penalty really deter crimes? Can our legal system support capital punishment? Prisoners convicted of terror activities If death penalty is abolished, will people lose faith in our judiciary?To know more about Project 39A, please visit: www.project39a.com
You can reach me at Maharani Talks on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/maharanitalks/
MUSIC: Lights by Sappheiros https://soundcloud.com/sappheirosmusic
If you enjoy this podcast, please consider leaving a review on Apple Podcasts. It will only take a few moments of your time. https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast/maharani-talks/id1514769199
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Dr. Revathi, or Kutti Revathi as she is often known as, is my first guest on the podcast that I’m talking to for the second time. The last time I spoke to her was a decade ago, and the issues that mattered to her then matter even today. She is a prominent Tamil poet, writer and lyricist whose works have largely centered on body politics and oppression.
Her second work, Mulaigal (Breasts), published in 2002, that spoke about female sexuality and the use of Tamil words like mulaigal and yoni (vagina) enraged certain sections of the society (read male writers) that they called for Revathi’s book to be burnt followed by threats and discussions about her morality. But Revathi has since then gone on to publish more works and also started Panikkudam (Amniotic Sac), first Tamil feminist magazine.
Revathi received Sigaram 15: Faces of Future award for literature from India Today and was one of the four women poets whose works were translated into English to highlight its prominence by Harper Collins. She has also penned lyrics for A.R.Rahman.
In this episode, we talk about many pertinent topics such as:
- Why women's bodies are constantly regulated
- How regional poetry is a tool to dissent
- Meeting legendary poet Mahasweta Devi and what she learnt from her
- Regional poets in India vs. poets who write in English
- How translation has helped bring the issue of body politics resonate further
- Working as first time lyricist with A.R.Rahman
MUSIC: Lights by Sappheiros https://soundcloud.com/sappheirosmusic
Check out Maharani Talks on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maharanitalks/
If you enjoy this podcast, please consider leaving a review on Apple Podcasts. It will take just a few moments of your time. https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast/maharani-talks/id1514769199
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Can you remember the time when the topic of love and marriage was discussed around you, the issue of caste was never brought up?
A quick Google search on this issue will throw up a spate of news about inter-caste marriages and the incessant battles couples often face. The latest Pew Research findings that came out in June 2021 confirmed exactly this - we are shackled by societal expectations when choosing our mate. ⠀
This important conversation around our obsession with caste in matters regarding love and marriage that Jyostna Siddharth’s work, Project Anti-Caste, Love finds prominence. She is an actor, activist and India Lead for Gender at Work, and also founder of Dalit Feminism Archive. ⠀
Jyotsna, who has a Masters in Development Studies and Social Anthropology and a recipient of Chevening Scholarship, talks about how her personal experiences shaped the Project, and her own intersectionality as a Dalit Queer woman.
Some of the topics we discuss about:
How inter-caste relationships help break up society binaries Being raised by her mother, a prominent Dalit activist, Rajni Tilak Discrimination in academic circles Why the Savarna #MeToo movement is a Dejavu movement for Dalit women Portrayal of marginalised communities in the media and moviesYou can check out Project Anti-Caste, Love at:
https://www.instagram.com/projectanticastelove/
Check out Maharani Talks on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/maharanitalks/
MUSIC: Lights by Sappheiros https://soundcloud.com/sappheirosmusic
If you enjoy this podcast, please consider leaving a review on Apple Podcasts. It will only take a few moments of your time. https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast/maharani-talks/id1514769199
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There has been much talk about diversity and inclusion in the workplace, galvanised by the growing clout of social media.But how much of that translates for the transgender community?
Recently, Karnataka became the first state government in India to reserve 1% of all government jobs for the transgender community. A significant move, considering that many transgender individuals, abandoned by their families and robbed of their dignity and livelihood, are forced to beg and/or become sexual workers to make ends meet.
It is to ensure a better socio-economic standing for trans people that Neelam Jain started Periferry, an organisation that works to skill and find employment solely for the trans community. And in the process, help corporates/startups diversify their workforce by supporting the LGBTQIA+ inclusion.
Since its inception in 2017, Periferry has helped place over 190 trans people and upskilled over 300, and worked with companies such as Wipro, Accenture, HP, Goldman Sachs and others to sensitise their work culture.
You can reach out to Neelam Jain at www.periferry.com
Check out Maharani Talks on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/maharanitalks/
MUSIC: Lights by Sappheiros https://soundcloud.com/sappheirosmusic
If you enjoy this podcast, please consider leaving a review on Apple Podcasts. It will take a few moments of your time but will go a long way to support independent podcasters like me. https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast/maharani-talks/id1514769199
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If you’re a person with a vagina, be it binary or non binary, using public toilets has always been an icky experience. So what do we do? We either go long hours not peeing, hover over the toilet or in the worst case scenario, try to wipe the toilet seat.
When Deep Bajaj noticed how his wife and his mother struggled through these problems, even through pregnancy and arthritis, he decided to do something about it and came up with PeeBuddy - India’s first portable, disposable and environment friendly FUD (female urination device) that enables women to stand and pee. And he patented the product in 2015.
From often being shown the door during the early days to getting trolled for talking about women’s hygiene issues, PeeBuddy has now sold about 2 million units and over the years, Deep has brought out other products under Sirona Hygiene. For his innovation, he has won National Entrepreneurship Award, ET Innovation Award and listed under well known 40 under 40 lists.
To learn more about PeeBuddy and other female hygiene products, visit: www.thesirona.com
MUSIC: Lights by Sappheiros https://soundcloud.com/sappheirosmusic
Check out Maharani Talks on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maharanitalks/
If you enjoy this podcast, please consider leaving a review on Apple Podcasts. It will take a few moments of your time but will go a long way to support independent podcasters like me. https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast/maharani-talks/id1514769199
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This episode is the second part of my conversation with Nikesh Murali, writer and creator of the acclaimed podcast, Indian Noir.
Before you listen to this episode, hope you’ve already checked out the prequel to this conversation where Nikesh and I talk about Indian Noir becoming a Spotify exclusive, podcasts and social media, the audio boom, mental health during the pandemic and his initial years of struggle as a writer.
Check out Indian Noir at:
https://www.indiannoir.com
Check out Maharani Talks on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/maharanitalks/
MUSIC: Lights by Sappheiros https://soundcloud.com/sappheirosmusic
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I’m thrilled to share with you all that Maharani Talks has completed a year!
And one of the first podcasters I reached out to is Nikesh Murali, who has been supportive from day one. So I'm really excited that I finally got to sit down with him and have a wonderful discussion about his incredible work as a writer, voice actor and as the creator behind Indian Noir, an acclaimed chart topping podcast that tells thrilling crime and horror stories. And has now become a Spotify exclusive! Indian Noir has been featured in publications such as Harper’s Bazaar, India Today, The Statesman, The News Minute among many others.
As a writer, Nikesh’s work spans close to two decades with a prolific body of work that includes a multi-award winning, Amazon bestselling short story collection 'The Killing Fields', and the novel, 'His Night Begins', which earned him the tag of the 'most hardboiled of Indian crime writers' from World Literature Today Journal. He won the Commonwealth Short Story Prize for the Asian region in 2011.
As one of the early players of the Indian podcast industry, Nikesh talks about Indian Noir’s place in the Indian horror/crime genre, the evolving scene of the podcast industry in the country and many more interesting topics.
Check out Indian Noir here:
https://www.indiannoir.com
Check out Maharani Talks on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/maharanitalks/
MUSIC: Lights by Sappheiros https://soundcloud.com/sappheirosmusic
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I remember when I watched Delhi Crime, it was gut wrenching, and took me back to the time when news reports were trickling in about Jyoti Singh’s gruesome rape and death. The show gave me a chance to understand how the Delhi Police went about nabbing all those involved.
The hard hitting docu-drama was awarded the International Emmy Award in November last year, becoming the first show from India to win an Emmy. But the show was initially declined by Netflix. It’s this need to champion independent voices that Apoorva Bakshi is most passionate about as her role as a producer. She has also spearheaded National Award winning movies such as Shut Up Sona and Leeches.
As one of the youngest producers in South Asia, she is the co-founder of Golden Karavan and Managing Partner at Project Fuel. Apoorva talks about why she chose Richie Mehta’s Delhi Crime and the rise of OTT platforms in pushing independent production.
Check out Maharani Talks on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/maharanitalks/
MUSIC: Lights by Sappheiros https://soundcloud.com/sappheirosmusic
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In 2014, Arjun Bahl and Thanish Thomas along with three of their co-founders, Hanif Kureshi, Giulia Ambrogi and Akshat Nauriyal, went to Shahpur Jat in New Delhi with a few artists and decided to paint the walls with art that was both vibrant and relayed a story or a message.
With that, St+art India Foundation was formed and soon snowballed into a national movement that would propel street art in the country. The not-for-profit organisation’s idea to get art out of the galleries and away from elitist control was welcomed by scores of people as their reach grew to cover 25 cities, six art districts, 21 festivals and over 500 local and intentional artists.
St+art India is not the first street art movement in India but no other cause grew to the national significance it has. So how did the founders manage to do that?
Check out St+art India Foundation:
https://www.instagram.com/startindia/
Check out Maharani Talks on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/maharanitalks/
MUSIC: Lights by Sappheiros https://soundcloud.com/sappheirosmusic
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When Amrita Samant decided to pursue her passion and take up maternity and child photography back in 2013, little did she realise she would help open up a whole new industry in India, paving the way for many more such photographers.
Over the years, Amrita has done over 1400 shoots spread across different countries, won multiple international awards and scaled up to leading an all-women’s team. Through her photography, she has run campaigns to highlight the importance of breastmilk donation for babies in intensive care unit.
From a portrait photographer to having grown to a family documentary photographer, Amrita has also shot for many personalities including actor Sameera Reddy and cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin. So what was it like to be among first movers in this industry and what does she want her work legacy to be?
The article referring to Anne Geddes is by ArtNet News.
https://news.artnet.com/art-world/anne-geddes-profile-1849401
To check out Amrita's work, please visit:
www.mommyshotsbyamrita.com
Check out Maharani Talks on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/maharanitalks/
MUSIC: Lights by Sappheiros https://soundcloud.com/sappheirosmusic
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When Varun Sheth was keen to go abroad after his graduation, he tried to raise funds for his education through crowdsourcing from his relatives and thereby, did his first ever crowdfunding campaign. And this was even years before he co-founded Ketto, along with his co-founders Zaheer Adenwala and Kunal Kapoor.
As the first mover in the industry, the eight year old company has become a trusted name for making your donations count. And to actually knowing if it benefitted someone. Ketto (from ‘key to tomorrow’) has successfully raised over Rs. 1100 cr through two lakh fundraises and has a database of more than 55 lakh donors.
Numbers play a critical role for crowdsourcing and notching up these big figures wasn’t an easy task for Varun, whose idea was once rejected by investors over and over again when he started the company in 2012. So how did he stay the course? What got him convinced that Indians will donate on an online platform? Let's find out from Varun Sheth on this week’s episode of Maharani Talks.
You can check out Ketto here: https://www.ketto.org
Check out Maharani Talks on Instagram here:
https://www.instagram.com/maharanitalks/?hl=en
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