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
Caption: Indian newspapers celebrate the Oscar win for the hit song Naatu Naatu. , Credit: Sandip Roy
Sandip Roy is getting nostalgic after Naatu Naatu wins an Oscar for best song in a film, and a real Indian production at that!

  • Added: Mar 14, 2023
  • Length: 06:00
Caption: Stalls set up to sell Holi colors in Kolkata. , Credit: Sandip Roy
It’s time to play Holi in India and Sandip Roy grabs a fistful of joy!

  • Added: Mar 07, 2023
  • Length: 06:00
Caption: The Limeric Lovers Publishers stall at the Kolkata Book Fair, Credit: Sandip Roy
If you think limericks just means Edward Lear, think again. The Limeric Lovers Publishers of Kolkata are devoted fans of limericks in Bengali, a lo...

  • Added: Feb 28, 2023
  • Length: 06:00
Caption: Andrew Sean Greer talks to Sandip Roy at the Kolkata Literary Meet., Credit: Sandip Roy
San Francisco's Andrew Sean Greer was in Kolkata recently to talk about Less is Lost, his sequel to his Pulitzer-winning novel Less. Sandip Roy sen...

  • Added: Feb 21, 2023
  • Length: 06:00
Caption: An artist's rendition of a woman moira or sweetmaker., Credit: Sandip Roy
Kolkata is famous for its love of books. And its love for sweets. And Sandip Roy just went to Jugal's Literature Festival - the  first ever literat...

  • Added: Feb 14, 2023
  • Length: 06:00
Caption: Cutouts of Pathaan characters at a movie theatre in Kolkata., Credit: Bishan Samaddar
Pathaan, the biggest Bollywood hit of recent times is being hailed as the return of its star Shah Rukh Khan. But a lot more is being read into its ...

  • Added: Feb 07, 2023
  • Length: 06:00
Caption: The Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival, Credit: Sandip Roy
Literary festivals have returned to the ground in full form for the first time since the pandemic. Sandip Roy sends an audio postcard from a litfes...

  • Added: Jan 30, 2023
  • Length: 06:00
Piece image
The French author Dominique LaPierre died recently and that made Sandip Roy think of the author's legacy on his hometown of Kolkata.

  • Added: Jan 24, 2023
  • Length: 06:00
Caption: The Ganga Voyager, a boat on a river cruise down the Ganga in India, Credit: Sandip Roy
The longest river cruise in the world is underway on it’s maiden voyage in India.

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: Jan 17, 2023
  • Length: 06:00
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: A Google search for chicken tikka masala, Credit: Sandip Roy
Unlike many of the people we lost in 2022 - Queen Elizabeth II, Lata Mangeshkar, Pele - Ahmed Ali Aslam might not have been a household name. But...

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: Jan 09, 2023
  • Length: 06:00
  • Purchases: 1
Piece image
It’s that time of the year again when dictionaries around the world try to sum up the year in a word or two.

  • Added: Jan 03, 2023
  • Length: 06:00
Caption: A Kolkata Christmas scene, Credit: Sandip Roy
In Bethlehem there was no room at the inn for baby Jesus. But in India there’s always room at the Christmas party.

  • Added: Dec 22, 2022
  • Length: 06:00
Caption: A rainbow cape at 2022 Kolkata Pride March., Credit: Sandip Roy
From the World Cup to Pride Parades, Kolkata is a city that loves to turn everything into a festival.

  • Added: Dec 20, 2022
  • Length: 06:00
Caption: Uttam Saha, founder of the Argentina Football Fan Club in Kolkata, Credit: Sandip Roy
Even though FIFA is a huge multi-national corporation, one fan in India is reminding everyone about the joys of fandom.

  • Added: Dec 13, 2022
  • Length: 06:00
Caption: The Christmas tree in San Francisco's Union Square, Credit: Sandip Roy
Returning for the first time since COVID, Sandip Roy finds a different San Francisco, one seemingly for lease.

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  • Added: Dec 05, 2022
  • Length: 06:00
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: A Messi birthday cake in Kolkata, Credit: Uttam Saha
India does not have a spot in World Cup football. But Kolkata, as usual, has two teams in the game.

  • Added: Nov 29, 2022
  • Length: 06:00
Caption: Merchandise of two famous characters from well known spinoffs, Credit: Sandip Roy
Why are there so many prequel spinoffs in the theaters and on streaming services right now? Sure, capitalizing on a franchise is one reason, but p...

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: Nov 15, 2022
  • Length: 06:00
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Gilded Buddha statue at Tawang Monastery in Arunachal Pradesh in India., Credit: Sandip Roy
While Buddhism as a religion was founded in India, only 0.7% of Indians describe themselves as Buddhist.

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: Nov 07, 2022
  • Length: 06:00
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: A billboard for Amul butter in India celebrating Rishi Sunak as the new British prime minister., Credit: @Amul_Coop on Twitter.
Some in India are over the moon that Rishi Sunak has become the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

  • Added: Nov 01, 2022
  • Length: 06:00
Caption: Statue to fallen soldier Jaswant Singh Rawat up in the Himalaya, Credit: Sandip Roy
October marks the 60th anniversary of the Indo-China war fought in the upper reaches of the Himalaya in 1962. It's not a war that ended in glory fo...

  • Added: Oct 24, 2022
  • Length: 06:00