‘Use a fountain pen to write’
Chandrahas Choudhury in conversation with Rohit Chopra. The writer, critic, and blogger talks about the inspiration for his novel Arzee the Dwarf, the reasons why writing dialogue is a real test of a writer’s skill, and the need for aspiring writers to be promiscuous in their reading habits.
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“If you bake cookies for us, late fees magically disappear…”
Adam Pfahler in conversation with Rohit Chopra. The founder of Lost Weekend, a one-of-a-kind independent video rental store in San Francisco, talks about its history, the challenges of running an independent video rental store, and the store’s unique system of categorizing film.
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‘Communication is a vital element of change in any environment’
Professor Emile McAnany is the Walter E. Schmidt, S. J., Professor of Communication at Santa Clara University. In this conversation with Rohit Chopra, he discusses his research in the area of communication for development and social change, the contested understandings of development that have shaped the history of the field, and the challenges involved in enabling social change through communication.
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‘The book started out as a prank’
Mohammed Hanif is the author of the novel, A Case of Exploding Mangoes, a political satire and whodunit about the assassination of Pakistani president, General Zia. In this interview with Rohit Chopra, the writer, journalist, and graduate of the Pakistan Air Force Academy shares his thoughts about the curious and varied inspirations behind the novel, the challenge of having to overcome his journalistic training while writing the book, and his scepticism about the category of ‘South Asian’ writing.
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‘Digital diasporas are products of economic globalization’
Professor Radhika Gajjala, in conversation with Rohit Chopra. In the second interview in our series on new media and culture, the author of Cyber Selves: Feminist Ethnographies of South Asian Women reflects on cyberfeminism, online identities, and the relationship between culture and economics on the internet.
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‘As in life, so on keyboard’
Jazz pianist Stephen Merriman discusses his new CD, Modal Soul, and how his work as a psychotherapist informs his approach to composition and playing. “The art a person produces, in any area, always reflects one’s inner state, including not only one’s gifts and talents specific to the art form, but one’s orientation towards life in general,” he tells Rohit Chopra.
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‘Maoist rebels are mirrors of our own failings as a nation’
Sudeep Chakravarti, author of Red Sun: Travels in Naxalite Country, discusses the Maoist rebellion in India. “There is a crying need to mainstream it, tell the lay reader what is going on, shake ‘middle India’ out of its mall-stupor and diminish the delusions of grandeur of India’s lawmakers,” he tells Rohit Chopra. “The truth about this wrenching war has to be told.”
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‘Media must uphold human rights and social justice principles’
Professor Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na’im, in conversation with Rohit Chopra. The author of Islam and the Secular State addresses the role of media in upholding the principles of rights and social justice and the problems with embedded journalism.
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