Many conversations and

infinite cups of coffee…

VIDEOS

The Manthan Hall of Fame

“ RETHINKING TRADITION AND MODERNITY: REFLECTIONS ON ROMANTIC ANTI-CAPITALISM” :- VIREN MURTHY

| All The Talks, videos page | One Comment
Rethinking Tradition and Modernity: Reflections on Romantic Anti-Capitalism We often think of our societies and world as moving forward to greater levels of technology mobilized by capitalism. And yet, since...

“ MEMOIRS OF HYDERABAD’S FORGOTTON HERO ABID HASAN SAFRANI ” :-  CONVERSATION WITH ISMAT MEHDI & MOHAN GURUSWAMY

| All The Talks, videos page | No Comments
Memoirs of Hyderabad’s Forgotten Hero Abid Hasan Safrani Abid Hasan Safrani, a close associate of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, was a quiet revolutionary from Hyderabad who kept himself out of...

“ CASTE PRIDE ” :- MANOJ MITTA

| All The Talks, videos page | No Comments
Caste Pride Caste Pride is a radically new history of caste, based on previously unseen legislative and judicial records going back over two centuries. It traces battles for equality that...

“ DATA AND DISCONTENTS ” :- HIMANSHU

| All The Talks, videos page | No Comments
Data and its Discontents: An independent statistical system is as vital for democracy as a free press or an independent judiciary. The Indian statistical system had an enviable reputation of...

“ MANIPUR’S VIOLENCE AND THE ‘INSTITUTIONALISED RIOT SYSTEM’: THE LIMITS OF AN INTEGRATIONIST AND MAJORITARIAN AGENDA ” :- KHAM KHAN SUAN HAUSING

| All The Talks, videos page | No Comments
Manipur’s violence and the ‘institutionalised riot system’: The limits of an integrationist and majoritarian agenda The talk will examine the causes and nature of violence that has erupted in Manipur...

“BREAKING BARRIERS”:- K. MADHAVA RAO IN CONVERSATION WITH M. R. VIKRAM

| All The Talks, videos page | No Comments
Breaking Barriers: K. Madhava Rao in conversation with M.R. Vikram Breaking Barriers: The Story of A Dalit Chief Secretary are the memoirs of Kaki Madhava Rao who joined the Indian...

“EXPLAINING THE RISE OF (RIGHT-WING) POPULISM IN INDIA, RUSSIA, BRAZIL AND TURKEY” :-  CONVERSATION WITH DEEPANSHU MOHAN & ABHINAV PADMANABHAN

| All The Talks, videos page | No Comments
Explaining the rise of (Right-wing) Populism in India, Russia, Brazil and Turkey Waves of populist movements have been on the rise globally since the global financial crisis of 2008. The...

“LAND GUNS CASTE WOMAN: THE MEMOIR OF A LAPSED REVOLUTIONARY ” :- GITA RAMASWAMY

| All The Talks, videos page | 14 Comments
’ Land Guns Caste Woman: The Memoir of a Lapsed Revolutionary’ About the book 1980s. Ibrahimpatnam, Telangana, South India. Landless dalits are caught between a Reddy and a hard place....

“RECLAIMING OUR REPUBLIC” :- YOGENDRA YADAV

| All The Talks, videos page | No Comments
Reclaiming our Republic We are witnessing nothing short of a systematic dismantling of our republic. Is there a way out? What is the role and responsibility of political parties? And...

“GENERATIVE AI REVOLUTION: WHAT HAPPENS TO OUR REALITY WHEN AI CAN SPIN MANY SYNTHETIC REALITIES?” :- SUBBARAO KAMBHAMPATI

| All The Talks, videos page | No Comments
Generative AI Revolution: What Happens to our Reality When AI Can Spin Many Synthetic Realities? We are entering the brave new world of the so-called Generative AI, where AI systems...

“THE CHALLENGE OF CONTEMPORARY HISTORY ”:- RAMACHANDRA GUHA

| All The Talks, videos page | No Comments
The Challenge of Contemporary History To coincide with the publication of the third, revised, edition of India after Gandhi, Ramachandra Guha will speak on the challenges confronting a historian documenting...

“INDIA AS A LINGUISTIC CIVILISATION ” :- GANESH DEVY

| All The Talks, videos page | No Comments
India as A Linguistic Civilisation The talk ‘India as a Linguistic Civilisation’ will attempt to trace the many origins of Indian languages, their diverse historical trajectories and their contemporary inequalities...

“AFTERNESS: HOME AND AWAY” :- ASHOK GANGULY IN CONVERSATION WITH RICHARD SALDANHA

| All The Talks, videos page | No Comments
About the book: Former Hindustan Unilever chairman Ashok Ganguly invites readers to journey with him as he looks back fondly on his life. The story spans eighty years of his...

“THE PROMISED LAND: INDIA’S NATIONAL EDUCATION POLICY 2020 ” :- RAM RAMASWAMY

| All The Talks, videos page | No Comments
The Promised Land: India's National Education Policy 2020 The NEP 2020 was a long overdue assessment of the state of education in India. Crafted by a diverse group of experts,...

“DATA AND IT’S DISCONTENTS” :- RUKMINI S

| All The Talks, videos page | No Comments
The Promised Land: India's National Education Policy 2020 The NEP 2020 was a long overdue assessment of the state of education in India. Crafted by a diverse group of experts,...

“TOGETHER WE RISE: FROM POVERTY TO PROGRESS IN OUR VILLAGES” :- M.R. SHARAN

| All The Talks, videos page | No Comments
Together We Rise: From Poverty to Progress in Our Villages Poverty alleviation is among the most pressing socioeconomic policy concerns today. Can the poor come together to help each other...

“THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA’S SECULAR CREDENTIALS” :- KALPANA KANNABIRAN IN CONVERSATION WITH ALOK PRASANNA KUMAR

| All The Talks, videos page | No Comments
Constitution of India's Secular Credentials This talk will be moderated by Alok Prasanna Kumar of Vidhi While “secularism” remains present in the Preamble of the Constitution, as a principle, it...

“FIRST AJAY GANDHI MEMORIAL LECTURE – DEMOCRACY AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS: A NEGLECT TO BE ADDRESSED ” :- DR. PALANIVEL THIAGA RAJAN

| All The Talks, videos page | No Comments
Join us as on 17th September for the very first Ajay gandhi Memorial Lecture, by Dr Palanivel Thiaga Rajan Talk - Democracy and Local Governments: A neglect to be addressed...

“ENTRENCHING IMPUNITY, PEDDLING JUSTICE FOR RAPE: A CASE FOR FEMINIST CIVIL LIBERTIES” :- VRINDA GROVER

| All The Talks, videos page | No Comments
Entrenching Impunity, Peddling Justice for Rape: A Case for Feminist Civil Liberties Vrinda Grover Advocate, Supreme Court of India Vrinda Grover is a lawyer, researcher and human rights activist based...

“NETAJI: THE MORTAL END OF AN IMMORTAL HERO” :- SUMERU ROY CHAUDHURY IN CONVERSATION WITH AKHIL BAKSHI

| videos page | No Comments
Netaji- The Mortal End of an Immortal Hero The life of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose has passed into the realms of legend. His brilliant mind and magnetic personality, boundless courage...

“WHY LIBERAL DEMOCRACY IS NECESSARY FOR INDIAN DEVELOPMENT” :- RAGHURAM RAJAN

| All The Talks, videos page | No Comments
Why Liberal Democracy is necessary for Indian Development Raghuram Rajan Raghuram Rajan is the Katherine Dusak Miller Distinguished Service Professor of Finance at the University of Chicago’s Booth School. He...

“THE SECULAR COURT AND THE FREEDOM OF RELIGION” :- SUHRITH PARTHASARATHY

| All The Talks, videos page | No Comments
The Secular Court and the Freedom of Religion How far must courts in India go in interpreting matters of religious faith? Should judges at all be concerned with religion? These...

“WEAPONIZATION OF GLOBAL CONNECTIVITY”:- CV SYED AKBARUDDIN

| All The Talks, videos page | No Comments
WEAPONISATION OF GLOBAL CONNECTIVITY The talk will draw attention to issues that are new; have no established global frameworks for states to work with; and are posing challenges that States...

“COMMISSIONER FOR LOST CAUSES“ :- CONVERSATION WITH ARUN SHOURIE

| All The Talks, videos page | No Comments
The Commissioner for Lost Causes The new book by Arun Shourie, The Commissioner for Lost Causes, discusses his innings at The Indian Express. A comprehensive account of dramatic incidents like...

“INDIA’S SEAFOOD INDUSTRY: BOON OR BANE“:- SIDDHARTH CHAKRAVARTY

| All The Talks, videos page | No Comments
India’s Seafood Industry: Boon or Bane ? Until India’s independence, unlike the forest regions that came under colonial extraction mechanisms, the coasts remained largely neglected. But soon after independence, India...

“WHY ARE INDIAN WOMEN NOT EMPLOYED ? “ :- ASHWINI DESHPANDE

| All The Talks, videos page | No Comments
Dropping out, Being pushed out, or Can't get in? - Why women in the Indian labour force are few and declining Women's labour force participation rate has been stubbornly low...

“THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE CRISIS” :- B. VENKATESH VARMA

| All The Talks, videos page | No Comments
B Venkatesh Varma B. Venkatesh Varma was a student of Vidyaranya, Hyderabad Public School, Nizam College and Jawaharlal Nehru University; He served in the Indian Foreign Service between 1988 and...

“REBELS AGAINST THE RAJ” :- RAMACHANDRA GUHA IN CONVERSATION WITH RUKMINI BANERJI

| All The Talks, videos page | No Comments
Rebels against the Raj Rebels against the Raj tells the little-known story of seven people who chose to struggle for a country other than their own. Foreigners to India who,...

“HATE SPEECH IN INDIA” :- JUSTICE MADAN LOKUR

| All The Talks, videos page | No Comments
Hate Speech in India The presentation will dwell on hate speech in general and how the courts have reacted or failed to react to complaints; the response or lack of...

“PEOPLE’S RIGHT TO INFORMATION IN INDIA”:- ANJALI BHARADWAJ

| All The Talks, videos page | No Comments
Peoples' Right to Information in India The Right to Information Act, passed in 2005, guarantees the citizens of India the right to question their government, and ensures that people no...

“INDIA’S WAR ON TERRORISM”:- N. C. ASTHANA

| All The Talks, videos page | No Comments
India’s War on Terrorism Acts of terror need to be distinguished clearly from purely criminal activities, however heinous they be. In criminal activities, the targets are individuals or the society....

“CULTURAL HETEROGENEITY AND HISTORY: REFLECTIONS FROM TELANGANA”:- BHANGYA BHUKYA

| All The Talks, videos page | No Comments
Cultural Heterogeneity and History: Reflections from Telangana Telangana is known for its cultural heterogeneity from the early historical period. Being a gateway to south India, it witnessed many political and...

“INDIA’S NGOS: WHAT’S IN STORE?”:- MS SRIRAM

| All The Talks, videos page | No Comments
INDIA’S NGOS: WHAT’S IN STORE Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) or NGOs as they are more commonly referred to are in the news due to the renewed screening process for registration...

“THE CHALLENGE OF WATER CONVERSATION”:- KALPANA RAMESH

| All The Talks, videos page | No Comments
THE CHALLENGE OF WATER CONSERVATION The challenge for water conservation is complex and urgent. It is imperative to believe in the ability to get tangible quickly, to hold both the...

“BANGLADESH AT 50: CAUGHT IN THE DEMOCRACY-DEVELOPMENT DILEMMA”:- MAHFUZ ANAM

| All The Talks, videos page | No Comments
BANGLADESH AT 50: CAUGHT IN THE DEMOCRACY-DEVELOPMENT DILEMMA Bangladesh has made significant economic progress in the last decade and half. The recent UN resolution marking Bangladesh’s graduation from Least Developed...

“BANGLADESH AT 50: FROM BASKET-CASE TO A BASKET OF INNOVATIONS”:- MUSHTAQUE CHOWDHURY

| All The Talks, videos page | No Comments
Bangladesh at 50: From basket-case to a basket of innovations When Bangladesh became independent in 1971, skeptics were unsure about its future as a nation. Now fifty years on, the...

“THE CUMULATIVE BRUTALISATION OF A NATION”:- AVAY SHUKLA

| All The Talks, videos page | One Comment
THE CUMULATIVE BRUTALISATION OF A NATION In any political dispensation, an ideology based on religious discrimination and majoritarianism is an abomination. When such an ideology is sought to be implemented...

“CANCER: THE LITTLE YOU NEED TO KNOW”:- SENTHIL J RAJAPPA

| All The Talks, videos page | No Comments
CANCER: THE LITTLE YOU NEED TO KNOW Why does one get cancer? Is it just bad luck or do we know the exact reasons? What should we do to detect...

“REDESIGN THE WORLD”:- SAM PITRODA

| All The Talks, videos page | No Comments
REDESIGN THE WORLD “Redesign the World” outlines the new world’s vision with a clear focus on the planet and its people. It is based on the unyielding recognition that we...

“FUELLING INDIA: DISCOVERING THE LIVES OF INDIAN TRUCK DRIVERS FIRST-HAND”:- RAJAT UBHAYKAR

| All The Talks, videos page | No Comments
Fuelling India: Discovering the lives of Indian truck drivers first-hand Truck drivers... We've never really given them much thought. In many ways, they exemplify the marginalized wheels that keep India...