Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata

Series produced by KALW

Caption: Sandip at the Grand Hotel in Nainital.
Sandip at the Grand Hotel in Nainital. 

Award winning writer, radio host, NPR contributor and novelist Sandip Roy brings his wit and insight to these personal audio diaries from his new life in his old home, India.

After ten years of hosting New America Now, Sandip Roy brings you a little bit of the story of the new India every week – a letter home from his other home.

"A lot has been written about the changing India," says Roy, "but reporting about a changing India is one thing. Living in it and dealing with a country where newspapers are still being launched instead of folding, internet rumors spark mass exoduses, and cricketers advertise skin-whitening creams called Fair and Handsome, that is another thing altogether."


471 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
Independence
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Caption: Sandip's mother Reba Roy who saw India become independent reads Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni's novel Independence set in those years., Credit: Sandip Roy
India celebrated its 77th Independence Day this week. Sandip talks to novelist Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni about the turbulent and traumatic years o...

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: Aug 15, 2023
  • Length: 06:00
  • Purchases: 1
Pink!
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Caption: The poster from the film “Rocky aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani” and a glimpse of a gift shop in Kolkata., Credit: Sandip Roy
Barbie has made the color pink a"thing," but in India a Bollywood film is even more pink and it celebrates a shade of pink called Rani Pink.

  • Added: Aug 08, 2023
  • Length: 06:00
Oppenheimer
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Piece image
One of the most memorable lines from Oppenheimer the film comes from the Hindu sacred text the Bhagavad Gita. Sandip explains our abiding cultural ...

  • Added: Jul 31, 2023
  • Length: 06:00
Barbie Land
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Piece image
The release of Barbie the movie seems the perfect excuse to look for the origins of patriarchy with science writer Angela D Saini.

Bought by RadioFreePalmer and PRX Remix


  • Added: Jul 25, 2023
  • Length: 06:00
  • Purchases: 2
The Nigiri Mountain Railway
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Caption: The Nigiri Mountain train, Credit: Sandip Roy
Sandip takes a ride back in time on the Nilgiri Mountain Railway, one of the oldest mountain railways in India and part of the UNESCO World Heritag...

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: Jul 12, 2023
  • Length: 06:00
  • Purchases: 1
Millets!
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Caption: The International Year of Millets shared the White House state dinner menu.
The White House state dinner for Indian prime minister Narendra Modi included for the first time millets as the main grain. And that caused quite a...

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: Jul 03, 2023
  • Length: 06:00
  • Purchases: 1
Tupperware Party
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Caption: A classic Tupperware Party ad
One of America’s iconic plastic storage devices is still coveted in India. Sandip Roy warmly remembers Tupperware!

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: Jun 23, 2023
  • Length: 06:00
  • Purchases: 1
Pride Then and Now
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Caption: The South Asian contingent at the San Francisco Pride Parade in 2016 and also the last time I was there during Pride. , Credit: Sandip Roy
At a time when June is celebrated as Pride month both in Kolkata and San Francisco, Sandip reflects on a what it took to reconcile both parts of on...

  • Added: Jun 21, 2023
  • Length: 06:00
Independent Chitra
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Caption: Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni with Sandip at the Kolkata Literary Meet in 2023., Credit: Sandip Roy
Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni is a beloved author now but when she started writing about her South Asian community in America in the 90s not everyone ...

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: Jun 13, 2023
  • Length: 06:00
  • Purchases: 1
An Indian Train Story
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Caption: Approaching train at sunset in India. , Credit: Sandip Roy
In the wake of the terrible train accident in eastern India Sandip remembers a gentler kind of train travel in India.

  • Added: Jun 06, 2023
  • Length: 06:00
Simply the Best
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Caption: The cover of Tina Turner’s album “Simply the Best”, Credit: Parlophone Records
Sandip Roy remembers Tina Turner as the only rockstar whose poster he put up in his bedroom as a boy in Kolkata.

  • Added: May 31, 2023
  • Length: 06:00
The River of Jabalpur
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Caption: Worshipping the river has become a new choreographed sound and light ritual for tourists. , Credit: Sandip Roy
River towns in India are often temple towns and come with their own rituals.

  • Added: May 22, 2023
  • Length: 06:00
Remembering Harry
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Caption: An old Harry Belafonte album cover in Kolkata., Credit: Photo by Bishan Samaddar
Harry Belafonte's death provoked an outpouring of mourning in India though many learned about his civil rights activism only through his obituaries.

Bought by KUFM - Montana Public Radio


  • Added: May 16, 2023
  • Length: 06:00
  • Purchases: 1
Coronation Quiche
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Caption: Sandip Roy has made a Coronation Chicken salad but has no plans to make a Coronation Quiche, Credit: Sandip Roy
The coronation of King Charles came with its own special dish - a coronation quiche. But Sandip Roy says that does not have quite the glamour of hi...

  • Added: May 09, 2023
  • Length: 06:00
Dalit History Month
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Caption: A poster supporting California proposition SB403, outlawing caste-based discrimination. , Credit: Sandip Roy
April was Dalit History Month in India. But even though caste-ism is officially outlawed in India, some of the old biases remain.

  • Added: May 02, 2023
  • Length: 06:00
Fading Beauties: Streetcars of Desire Pt. 2
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Piece image
Kolkata’s streets continue to clog with cars. The fate of an already established, cleaner transit option, teeters in the balance.

  • Added: Apr 18, 2023
  • Length: 06:00
Streetcars of Desire
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Caption: A parade of old streetcars in Kolkata led by a wooden watering car from 1924., Credit: Sandip Roy
Kolkata was the first city in India to have streetcars and the only city to still have them. And they carry within them a rich history of the city ...

  • Added: Apr 11, 2023
  • Length: 06:00
The Fontwala
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Caption: Some of the typefaces designed by Rajeev Prakash for Indian scripts., Credit: Sandip Roy
Responsible for typefaces of all slants and bolds, Rajeev Prakash is India’s Fontwala!

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: Apr 04, 2023
  • Length: 06:00
  • Purchases: 1
Where did my English muffin go?
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Caption: 2 avatars of Eggs Benedict from restaurants in India, both missing the English muffin., Credit: Sandip Roy
Where did my English muffin go from my Eggs Benedict?

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: Mar 28, 2023
  • Length: 06:00
  • Purchases: 1
The Elephant Whisperers
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Caption: A billboard in Kolkata celebrates the Oscar win for The Elephant Whisperers. , Credit: Sandip Roy
The short documentary Oscar win for The Elephant Whisperers is being widely celebrated in India because it's a first for India. But what will it me...

  • Added: Mar 21, 2023
  • Length: 06:00

Playlists That Feature This Series: