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If your family has ever felt like a soap opera you can't escape, this episode is for you.  For the finale of Season 9, Tara sits down with Karan Mahajan to discuss The Complex, a sweeping family saga set in Delhi across the 1980s and 90s. Through the rise and fall of the Chopra family, they unpack the emotional realities of marriage, the loneliness of immigration, family expectations, male inadequacy, and the uncomfortable question of how personal disappointments can evolve into political resentments. What happens when a marriage becomes the defining factor in a woman's future? And how do family loyalties survive affairs, betrayals, and decades of silence? Karan also talks about playing with the line between fact and fiction from the very first page, opening the novel with a supposedly "found" 100,000-word manuscript by the mysterious Mohit Chopra. Together, they explore how fictional families can help us understand real historical moments, from immigration and the Emergency's aftermath to the rise of Hindu nationalism. Karan takes us behind the scenes of a novel that took nearly a decade to reach readers: from a 500-page draft during the early months of COVID to separating himself from the characters before editing. Finally, he shares the advice he gives his students at Brown: write in conversation with your unconscious and never lose that sense of childish wonder that made you want to tell stories in the first place.  Press play to tune out of your family drama and into the Chopra family's. Books mentioned in this episode:  The Haunting of Hajji Hotak by Jamil Jan KochaiApplications for The Bound Publishing Course 2026 are now open. The Bound Publishing Course is a 3-month intensive course on book, magazine, and digital publishing. Through live sessions, workshops, and industry-facing projects, participants gain practical publishing skills and exposure to careers across the industry. Cohort size: 50 seatsFirst round of acceptances: 15th June 2026Applications are reviewed on a rolling bas‘Books and Beyond with Bound’ is the podcast where Tara Khandelwal and Michelle D’costa uncover how their books reflect the realities of our lives and society today. Find out what drives India’s finest authors: from personal experiences to jugaad research methods, insecurities to publishing journeys. Created by Bound, a storytelling company that helps you grow through stories. Follow us @boundindia on all social media platforms.

A love story, across timelines as one woman tries to reach the other through the words she left behind. In this episode, Tara sits down with Tarana Hussain Khan, writer and food historian, to talk about her novel The Courtesan, Her Lover and I, a book that moves between two women and their love stories separated by a century, bound together by letters that almost didn't survive. The conversation explores how Tarana first discovered Daag’s letters to Hijab in archival material and why Hijab became such an enigma to her. Through Hijab's story, they get into the larger world of Tawaifs and the extraordinary dichotomy of women who were the most culturally significant of their time, yet whose writings were lost, romanticised, or dismissed.  Through the parallel journeys of Hijab and Rukmini, a contemporary aspiring writer, they also unpack the realities of becoming a woman writer in India today, with Tarana reflecting her own insecurities of pursuing writing full-time and her relationships in Rukmini’s world and the ways women now have more agency and opportunities than the generations before them. Tarana also opens up about her process in fiction and non-fiction, and the emotional toll of delving into these stories. They discuss Tarana’s bold structural choice of writing Hijab's entire narrative in second person to let Rukmini speak directly to Hijab across centuries, questioning the silences left by history. Press play to be transported to a world of poetry, music and a love story of epic proportions.  Books mentioned in this episode:  Deg to Dastarkhan by Tarana HussainLast of the Earth by Deepa AnnaparaApplications for The Bound Publishing Course 2026 are now open. The Bound Publishing Course is a 3-month intensive course on book, magazine, and digital publishing. Through live sessions, workshops, and industry-facing projects, participants gain practical publishing skills and exposure to careers across the industry. Cohort size: 50 seatsFirst round of acceptances: 15th June 2026Applications are reviewed on a rolling bas‘Books and Beyond with Bound’ is the podcast where Tara Khandelwal and Michelle D’costa uncover how their books reflect the realities of our lives and society today. Find out what drives India’s finest authors: from personal experiences to jugaad research methods, insecurities to publishing journeys. Created by Bound, a storytelling company that helps you grow through stories. Follow us @boundindia on all social media platforms.

This episode contains discussions of sexual violence, human trafficking and child abuse. Please listen at your discretion. Have you ever read a headline, felt the rage to make a difference, but didn’t know where to start? But an 8-year-old girl acted on it and inspired millions to make a difference, no matter how small In this episode, Tara sits down with Sunitha Krishnan, founder of Prajwala, Asia's largest institution combating sex trafficking, and Padma Shri recipient, to discuss her memoir I Am What I Am. Over three decades, Sunitha and her team have rescued more than 32,000 survivors and prevented 18,000 children from entering the sex trade. This is the story behind all of that.  She traces her journey from a 17-year-old with no experience walking into red light areas to building one of the most sophisticated rescue and rehabilitation operations in the world. She talks about what a rescue actually looks like on the ground, speaks candidly about her own experience of gang rape at 15 and why she refused to let it become her entire identity.  From being beaten up and accused of kidnapping the very children she was rescuing, and when she had to spend 23 days in jail, the stories of her fearlessness are endless. Tara and Sunitha ji also get into the process of writing the book. She spent 13 days in a hotel room alone with her memories, writing for 14 hours every day. She spent two hours being violently ill as her body released what her mind had been holding for decades, but she didn't leave until every last memory was on the page.  Courage can also be contagious. Press play and maybe you’ll be inspired to take that step you might’ve been putting off.  Applications for The Bound Publishing Course 2026 are now open. The Bound Publishing Course is a 3-month intensive course on book, magazine, and digital publishing. Through live sessions, workshops, and industry-facing projects, participants gain practical publishing skills and exposure to careers across the industry. Cohort size: 50 seatsFirst round of acceptances: 15th June 2026Applications are reviewed on a rolling bas‘Books and Beyond with Bound’ is the podcast where Tara Khandelwal and Michelle D’costa uncover how their books reflect the realities of our lives and society today. Find out what drives India’s finest authors: from personal experiences to jugaad research methods, insecurities to publishing journeys. Created by Bound, a storytelling company that helps you grow through stories. Follow us @boundindia on all social media platforms.

If you’ve ever wished for food to transport you to new places, this episode is for you! In this episode, Tara sits down with Lavanya Lakshminarayan, international award-winning sci-fi author and game designer, to explore the world of Primus in Intergalactic Feast, a sequel to her Interstellar Megachef. They dig into her two-book series, where food is not just sustenance, but culture, conflict, memory and resistance all at once. Lavanya talks about how it all started with a bowl of rasam made by her grandmother during a bout of dengue, and a question that wouldn't leave her alone: who decides which foods matter?  Lavanya also dives into her elaborate process of building speculative worlds rooted in Indian food history, designing alien species and futuristic systems, and writing emotionally immersive sci-fi. From flowcharts that map out all the civilisations and systems to writing 120,000 words under an international deadline, she reveals her recipe for a bestseller that’s unmistakably Indian and universally loved.  Press play and maybe sit with a bowl of your comfort food before you do, because you are in for a feast! Books mentioned in this episode:  Interstellar Megachef & Intergalactic Feast by Lavanya LakshminarayanThe Hobbit by J.R.R. TolkienThe Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. TolkienApplications for The Bound Publishing Course 2026 are now open. The Bound Publishing Course is a 3-month intensive course on book, magazine, and digital publishing. Through live sessions, workshops, and industry-facing projects, participants gain practical publishing skills and exposure to careers across the industry. Cohort size: 50 seatsFirst round of acceptances: 15th June 2026Applications are reviewed on a rolling bas‘Books and Beyond with Bound’ is the podcast where Tara Khandelwal and Michelle D’costa uncover how their books reflect the realities of our lives and society today. Find out what drives India’s finest authors: from personal experiences to jugaad research methods, insecurities to publishing journeys. Created by Bound, a storytelling company that helps you grow through stories. Follow us @boundindia on all social media platforms.

Do you actually need a big personality online for your book to succeed? The answer might surprise you.  In this episode, Tara sits down with Naiyya Singh, Assistant General Manager of Marketing at HarperCollins India, to pull back the curtain on what it actually takes to get a book into the right hands.  They get into what a book marketing campaign really looks like and why fiction and nonfiction get treated completely differently. Naiyya tells us how plans have to adapt to news cycles and trends, and why an intimate launch of 20 people can be as significant as a packed auditorium.  Naiyya also breaks down the question of virality every author asks, as well as the other elements that go into marketing a book. From escape-room campaigns to intimate roundtable launches, they explore the creativity, unpredictability and occasional frustration of book marketing. They also dig into the resurgence of book clubs and why the best metric for a successful book has nothing to do with first-week sales.  If you are an aspiring book marketer or an author nervous for their launch, you don’t want to skip this chapter!  Press play to get the scoop on what really sells a book and why even the best ones take time.  Books mentioned in this episode:  The complex by Karan MahajanPolitics, Policy and Predictions: Views from the Front Row of Parliament by Derek O’BrienDream Count - Chimamanda Ngozi AdichieAssociation of Small Bombs by Karan MahajanThe Only City: Bombay in Eighteen Stories by Anindita GhoseLightning in a Shot Glass by Deepanjana PalDakini by K. Hari KumarThe Enclave by Rohit ManchandaAugust 17 by S. Hareesh, translated by Jayasree Kalathil The Complex by Karan MahajanGhost Eye by Amitav GhoshGone with the Wind by Margaret MitchellThe Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough Applications for The Bound Publishing Course 2026 are now open. The Bound Publishing Course is a 3-month intensive course on book, magazine, and digital publishing. Through live sessions, workshops, and industry-facing projects, participants gain practical publishing skills and exposure to careers across the industry. Cohort size: 50 seatsFirst round of acceptances: 15th June 2026Applications are reviewed on a rolling bas‘Books and Beyond with Bound’ is the podcast where Tara Khandelwal and Michelle D’costa uncover how their books reflect the realities of our lives and society today. Find out what drives India’s finest authors: from personal experiences to jugaad research methods, insecurities to publishing journeys. Created by Bound, a storytelling company that helps you grow through stories. Follow us @boundindia on all social media platforms.

What do you do when the person you love wants something you're not sure you can give? In this episode of Books & Beyond, Tara speaks with Rahul Singh, debut novelist and academic, about his book Unfolding, which follows two gay men navigating a long-term relationship where their expectations of love begin to diverge. The conversation moves through the emotional complexity of open relationships, and how the book holds space for desire without rushing to label or judge it. They also discuss the novel’s domestic world, where much of the story unfolds inside the home, and how class and gender shape the characters’ lives and choices. Rahul also shares the unusual journey of writing the book without a publishing contract, across multiple drafts and years of uncertainty, all while his parents still don’t know what the novel is really about. If you’ve ever struggled to stay on the same page in love, this one will stay with you. Books Mentioned in the Episode: Cobalt Blue by Sachin KundalkarFunny Boy by Shyam SelvaduraiThe Portrait of a Lady by Henry JamesApplications for The Bound Publishing Course 2026 are now open. The Bound Publishing Course is a 3-month intensive course on book, magazine, and digital publishing. Through live sessions, workshops, and industry-facing projects, participants gain practical publishing skills and exposure to careers across the industry. Cohort size: 50 seatsFirst round of acceptances: 15th June 2026Applications are reviewed on a rolling bas‘Books and Beyond with Bound’ is the podcast where Tara Khandelwal and Michelle D’costa uncover how their books reflect the realities of our lives and society today. Find out what drives India’s finest authors: from personal experiences to jugaad research methods, insecurities to publishing journeys. Created by Bound, a storytelling company that helps you grow through stories. Follow us @boundindia on all social media platforms.

Are you one of those who cancel plans because you’re tired, then spend the next two hours feeling guilty about it? Let’s talk. In the latest episode of Books & Beyond, Tara chats with Ankur Warikoo about his new book Winning People Without Losing Yourself, and what it actually looks like to keep everyone happy all the time. Ankur talks about spending years trying to be the person everyone liked, and why that never really works out the way you think it will. They get into boundaries (especially with family), that turns into resentment when you don’t set them, and how often we end up breaking our own boundaries before anyone else does. They also talk about the idea that the right relationships in your 20s shouldn’t be a distraction, but an enabler, what really happens when you expect someone else to make you happy, and how most conversations fall apart when you’re only trying to get your point across. The episode touches on comparison in the age of the internet, and how easy it is to measure your life against what you see online. If you’ve ever felt like you’re doing a lot for people but still feeling off about it, this one is just for you. Books Mentioned in the Episode: Do Epic Shit by Ankur WarikooGet Epic Shit Done by Ankur WarikooBeyond the Syllabus by Ankur WarikooMake Epic Money by Ankur WarikooSapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah HarariRework by David Heinemeier Hansson and Jason FriedThe Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben HorowitzMindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol DweckApplications for The Bound Publishing Course 2026 are now open. The Bound Publishing Course is a 3-month intensive course on book, magazine, and digital publishing. Through live sessions, workshops, and industry-facing projects, participants gain practical publishing skills and exposure to careers across the industry. Cohort size: 50 seatsFirst round of acceptances: 15th June 2026Applications are reviewed on a rolling bas‘Books and Beyond with Bound’ is the podcast where Tara Khandelwal and Michelle D’costa uncover how their books reflect the realities of our lives and society today. Find out what drives India’s finest authors: from personal experiences to jugaad research methods, insecurities to publishing journeys. Created by Bound, a storytelling company that helps you grow through stories. Follow us @boundindia on all social media platforms.

If you've ever felt the pull of a new city and the desperate need to start over, keep listening. In this episode, Tara sits down with the award-winning author Rahul Bhattacharya to discuss his latest novel, Railsong. Writing about the freedom of a woman set in the 1970s, as a male author, is no small task. Rahul talks about Charu, a motherless daughter of a railway worker who flees to Bombay to build a life from scratch, on her own terms, in a country that's also figuring itself out. Together, Rahul and Tara explore the role of research in fiction to make the audience feel like it's their story. Rahul explains what it was like to navigate this Everywoman story and how the domestic and the political are never really separate, whether it's 1974 or now.  He talks about why the computer undid his ability to go deep and how Toni Morisson’s method inspired him to write his first draft of 133,000 words by hand.  Whether you are stuck in the train or traffic, this episode will surely help you escape to another world.  Books mentioned in this episode: The Rabbit Angstrom series by John UpdikeDesperately Seeking Shah Rukh: India's Lonely Young Women and the Search for Intimacy and Independence by Shrayana BhattacharyaPundits from Pakistan by Rahul BhattacharyaThe Sly Company of People Who Care by Rahul BhattacharyaApplications for The Bound Publishing Course 2026 are now open. The Bound Publishing Course is a 3-month intensive course on book, magazine, and digital publishing. Through live sessions, workshops, and industry-facing projects, participants gain practical publishing skills and exposure to careers across the industry. Cohort size: 50 seatsFirst round of acceptances: 15th June 2026Applications are reviewed on a rolling bas‘Books and Beyond with Bound’ is the podcast where Tara Khandelwal and Michelle D’costa uncover how their books reflect the realities of our lives and society today. Find out what drives India’s finest authors: from personal experiences to jugaad research methods, insecurities to publishing journeys. Created by Bound, a storytelling company that helps you grow through stories. Follow us @boundindia on all social media platforms.

If you decided to go analogue this year but still find yourself doomscrolling at 2 a.m., then this episode is for you. In this latest episode, Tara sits down with Ria Chopra, writer, influencer, and Youth Advisor to Google, to unpack what it really means to grow up with the internet, how it builds identity, memory, relationships and sometimes completely messes with all of it in her debut book, “Never Logged Out.”  Ria dives into the rebirth of antiquated notions of love through dating apps alongside the rise of trad wife content and femininity gurus. And then she questions the new norm for weddings and proposals, where we put on a show thanks to our ‘panopticon gaze’, trying to make it all ‘Instagram worthy.’ Ria also gets honest about what it means to build a writing career online, navigating how much of your life (and the lives of people around you) becomes content and how to stay authentic without feeling like you’re ‘selling your soul’ to the algorithm. Finally, they touch on some trends that might shape us, including AI influencers with millions of followers, the analogue revival (trend or genuine shift?), and why extreme gender polarisation online is something we should be paying closer attention to. Press play, and then maybe pause to check how you're actually using the internet. Books and documentaries mentioned in this episode:  The Anxious Generation by Jonathan HaidtDon’t Date Me, I’m Dalit by Christina DhanrajAlgo Speak by Adam AleksicInside the Manosphere by Louis Theroux (2026) Applications for The Bound Publishing Course 2026 are now open. The Bound Publishing Course is a 3-month intensive course on book, magazine, and digital publishing. Through live sessions, workshops, and industry-facing projects, participants gain practical publishing skills and exposure to careers across the industry. Cohort size: 50 seatsFirst round of acceptances: 15th June 2026Applications are reviewed on a rolling bas‘Books and Beyond with Bound’ is the podcast where Tara Khandelwal and Michelle D’costa uncover how their books reflect the realities of our lives and society today. Find out what drives India’s finest authors: from personal experiences to jugaad research methods, insecurities to publishing journeys. Created by Bound, a storytelling company that helps you grow through stories. Follow us @boundindia on all social media platforms.

What if the most defining moment of your career was the one you never planned? In this episode of Books & Beyond, Tara speaks with Dr. Ashok Ganguly, former Chairman of Hindustan Unilever, former Rajya Sabha member, and author of We Are Our Future. From failing in school to becoming a global business leader, Dr. Ganguly reflects on a life shaped as much by chance as by choice. He shares the idea that who we become is influenced long before we make conscious decisions; by our genes and our environment. Tara and Dr. Ganguly moves through different defining chapters of his life: an accidental interview that ended up shaping his career, the decision to return to India at a time when pursuing a life abroad was a dream for many, and his years navigating leadership and nation-building during a transformative period in India’s history. But beyond career and success, this episode is also a reflection of failure, the confidence instilled in him by his parents, the support of his wife, and the grief of losing her. It's really about how he makes sense of it all in hindsight. Tune in, there’s a lot to take away here.  Applications for The Bound Publishing Course 2026 are now open. The Bound Publishing Course is a 3-month intensive course on book, magazine, and digital publishing. Through live sessions, workshops, and industry-facing projects, participants gain practical publishing skills and exposure to careers across the industry. Cohort size: 50 seatsFirst round of acceptances: 15th June 2026Applications are reviewed on a rolling bas‘Books and Beyond with Bound’ is the podcast where Tara Khandelwal and Michelle D’costa uncover how their books reflect the realities of our lives and society today. Find out what drives India’s finest authors: from personal experiences to jugaad research methods, insecurities to publishing journeys. Created by Bound, a storytelling company that helps you grow through stories. Follow us @boundindia on all social media platforms.

What if we told you that Bombay food isn't as local as you think? In this episode, Tara sits down with writer and journalist Pronoti Datta, author of In the Beginning There Was Bombay Duck, to unpack the delicious and deeply layered history of Bombay’s food. Pronoti and Tara trace the city’s culinary journey, from the Koli fishing communities and early tiffin rooms to colonial clubs, Irani cafes, Goan bakers, Udupi restaurants, and the rise of Indo-Chinese food. Along the way, they explore how migration, colonialism, urban planning, and even real estate have shaped what ends up on your plate today. They also get into why “Bombay cuisine” is actually a mashup of many different cultures, the surprising origins of everyday ingredients like potatoes and chillies, how Goan cooks shaped elite colonial kitchens, the disappearing food cultures you won’t easily find in restaurants and so much more! This conversation will make you hungry. Order something before you hit play. Books Mentioned in This Episode: Taj Mahal Foxtrot: The Story of Bombay's Jazz Age by Naresh FernandesCity of gold: the biography of Bombay by Gillian TindallApplications for The Bound Publishing Course 2026 are now open. The Bound Publishing Course is a 3-month intensive course on book, magazine, and digital publishing. Through live sessions, workshops, and industry-facing projects, participants gain practical publishing skills and exposure to careers across the industry. Cohort size: 50 seatsFirst round of acceptances: 15th June 2026Applications are reviewed on a rolling bas‘Books and Beyond with Bound’ is the podcast where Tara Khandelwal and Michelle D’costa uncover how their books reflect the realities of our lives and society today. Find out what drives India’s finest authors: from personal experiences to jugaad research methods, insecurities to publishing journeys. Created by Bound, a storytelling company that helps you grow through stories. Follow us @boundindia on all social media platforms.

What does it mean to feel at home? And what do you do when that feeling never quite arrives? In the latest episode of Books & Beyond, Tara Khandelwal sits down with journalist and author Rahul Pandita to discuss his novel Our Friends in Good Houses, a story about searching for home and a sense of belonging in a world where both can feel elusive. Drawing from decades of reporting in war zones, Rahul reflects on his journey as a journalist, the emotional weight of witnessing a conflict, and why he turned to fiction to express experiences that were perhaps too close to home. He shares stories from the field, from travelling with Maoist guerrillas in the forests of Bastar to reporting during the chaos of the Iraq war. Rahul explains the concept of “Ungrund”, or groundlessness, which became the seed of the novel. Along the way, he reflects on the craft of writing his novels and how fiction can reveal what journalism can’t. Tune in, and find out what “home” means to someone who is always on the move.  Books mentioned in the episode: 1. Murphy by Samuel Beckett Applications for The Bound Publishing Course 2026 are now open. The Bound Publishing Course is a 3-month intensive course on book, magazine, and digital publishing. Through live sessions, workshops, and industry-facing projects, participants gain practical publishing skills and exposure to careers across the industry. Cohort size: 50 seatsFirst round of acceptances: 15th June 2026Applications are reviewed on a rolling bas‘Books and Beyond with Bound’ is the podcast where Tara Khandelwal and Michelle D’costa uncover how their books reflect the realities of our lives and society today. Find out what drives India’s finest authors: from personal experiences to jugaad research methods, insecurities to publishing journeys. Created by Bound, a storytelling company that helps you grow through stories. Follow us @boundindia on all social media platforms.

Wait… ghosts were people once too! In this episode of Books & Beyond, Tara Khandelwal speaks with historian and writer Eric Chopra about his book Ghosted, which explores the haunted monuments of Delhi. But this episode isn’t just about spooky stories. Eric looks at the histories behind these legends, from the Lathwale Baba believed to inhabit the arches of Feroz Shah Kotla to the mysterious second grave inside the tomb of Jamali Kamali. Together, Tara and Eric wander through some of Delhi’s most fascinating monuments and the stories people continue to tell about them. They also talk about queer histories, forgotten royal claimants, the politics of heritage, and why people still leave letters for jinn when life’s problems feel too big. Rather than trying to prove whether ghosts are real, Eric looks at what these stories reveal about history and how people remember it. Press play, the ghosts of Delhi have stories to tell. Books and TV Shows Mentioned in the Episode: Fear Files (2012)Goosebumps (Novel Series)Vikram and VetalApplications for The Bound Publishing Course 2026 are now open. The Bound Publishing Course is a 3-month intensive course on book, magazine, and digital publishing. Through live sessions, workshops, and industry-facing projects, participants gain practical publishing skills and exposure to careers across the industry. Cohort size: 50 seatsFirst round of acceptances: 15th June 2026Applications are reviewed on a rolling bas‘Books and Beyond with Bound’ is the podcast where Tara Khandelwal and Michelle D’costa uncover how their books reflect the realities of our lives and society today. Find out what drives India’s finest authors: from personal experiences to jugaad research methods, insecurities to publishing journeys. Created by Bound, a storytelling company that helps you grow through stories. Follow us @boundindia on all social media platforms.

What does it take to build a Michelin-starred restaurant when you arrive in New York heartbroken and broke? In the latest episode of Books & Beyond, Tara sits down with Suvir Saran, the chef behind Devi; the first Indian restaurant in North America to receive a Michelin star, to talk about his memoir Tell My Mother I Like Boys. But this episode isn’t just about food. From growing up in Delhi feeling “othered,” to becoming one of the world’s first openly gay chefs, to being left on a New York sidewalk by his first love with Tiffany rings still in his pocket, Suvir speaks candidly about racism, heartbreak, illness, a 20-year relationship that shaped him, and the difficult decision to return to India at 53 and begin again. Tara and Suvir also unpack what it really took to make Indian cuisine “chic” in New York before it was trendy, why he chose not to villainise the people who hurt him, the story behind his 27-page acknowledgements (yes, 27!), and how the title came to be. This episode looks at the messy side of building a career and a life, the risks, the reinventions, and the moments that force you to grow up fast. If you’ve ever felt out of place or caught between two worlds, this episode will stay with you. Applications for The Bound Publishing Course 2026 are now open. The Bound Publishing Course is a 3-month intensive course on book, magazine, and digital publishing. Through live sessions, workshops, and industry-facing projects, participants gain practical publishing skills and exposure to careers across the industry. Cohort size: 50 seatsFirst round of acceptances: 15th June 2026Applications are reviewed on a rolling bas‘Books and Beyond with Bound’ is the podcast where Tara Khandelwal and Michelle D’costa uncover how their books reflect the realities of our lives and society today. Find out what drives India’s finest authors: from personal experiences to jugaad research methods, insecurities to publishing journeys. Created by Bound, a storytelling company that helps you grow through stories. Follow us @boundindia on all social media platforms.

What if the most powerful character in the Mahabharata was a boatwoman? In this episode of Books & Beyond, Tara sits down with debut author Rupeen Popat to explore his novel Satyavati, a bold retelling of the Mahabharata’s origin story through the eyes of a woman history forgot. Satyavati begins as a ferrying boatwoman, but her courage and resilience transform her into the queen who steered the fate of kingdoms. Rupeen takes us behind the scenes of his lifelong fascination with Indian epics, sharing his research process, stepping into the shoes of Satyavati, and deep dives that brought this book and the morally complex world of Hastinapur to life. From Bhishma’s unbreakable vows to Ganga’s enigmatic actions, the episode explores the conflicts, morally grey areas, and leadership lessons these timeless stories hold for readers today. He also opens up about his publishing journey with Jaico, what makes Indian mythology different than Western, and hints at the next books in the series that will shine a light on other overlooked characters. If you’ve ever wondered what really shapes history, or simply love epic storytelling, you won’t want to miss this episode. Books and TV shows mentioned in the episode: Mahabharat (1988)Game of Thrones (2011)The Lord of the Rings (Film trilogy)How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie  Applications for The Bound Publishing Course 2026 are now open. The Bound Publishing Course is a 3-month intensive course on book, magazine, and digital publishing. Through live sessions, workshops, and industry-facing projects, participants gain practical publishing skills and exposure to careers across the industry. Cohort size: 50 seatsFirst round of acceptances: 15th June 2026Applications are reviewed on a rolling bas‘Books and Beyond with Bound’ is the podcast where Tara Khandelwal and Michelle D’costa uncover how their books reflect the realities of our lives and society today. Find out what drives India’s finest authors: from personal experiences to jugaad research methods, insecurities to publishing journeys. Created by Bound, a storytelling company that helps you grow through stories. Follow us @boundindia on all social media platforms.