Be honest. When was the last time you logged off because you wanted to, not because your battery died?

In this brand new episode of Books & Beyond, Tara sits down with Anurag Minus Verma, influencer, writer, and podcaster, to trace how the Indian internet went from cyber cafes and Orkut scraps to algorithms that know us better than we do.

From going down random rabbit holes and getting emotionally invested in strangers we’ve never met, to collectively losing our minds over the next big controversy, it all points to the same question: when did being online become the default setting, and what has it done to us in the process?

Talking about his book The Great Indian Brain Rot, Anurag and Tara get into the TikTok ban and the madness around it, the influence of Sushant Singh Rajput, and why influencer fame doesn’t always mean anything outside the app. He also talks about why so many creators want to shift to film or TV, and how podcasts have suddenly become the format everyone wants in on.

If your day starts and ends with a screen, and “just five minutes” never means five minutes, this episode is for you!

So press play. Then maybe, just maybe, touch some grass.

Books and Documentaries mentioned in the episode:

1. Never Logged Out: How the Internet Created India's Gen Z by Ria Chopra
2. Morality TV and Loving Jehad by Paromita Vohra (2007)
3. Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion by Jia Tolentino
4. Mother Mary Comes to Me by Arundhati Roy
5. The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai
6. Kasapa by Manohar Shyam Joshi

Imagine spending five days of uninterrupted creativity in a serene, century-old Indo-Portuguese villa. Join an exclusive group of twelve writers for a transformative writing retreat. 5 seats left, apply now!

Learn more: https://boundindia.com/retreats/annual-writers-retreat

Apply now: https://tinyurl.com/46rhn7hz

‘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.

Is Mumbai still a city for everyone, or just for those who can afford it?

In this episode of Books & Beyond, Tara sits down with veteran journalist and author Sidharth Bhatia to discuss his latest book, Mumbai: A Million Islands. The book is not about the history of Marine Lines or the Gateway of India, but the thing that actually builds this city... PEOPLE!

Tara and Sidharth explore the bubonic plague of 1896, the transformation of Parel’s textile mills into high-end malls, and what it’s like for 28 families to build a rooftop community, hauling groceries, furniture, and even dead bodies up by rope. They discuss displacement of both slum and middle-class communities, the stories of activist Gauri Sawant and Kanthibai of Kamathipura, and how walking across the city reveals the hidden lives and stories that often go unnoticed.

Whether you’re a lifelong Mumbaikar or a curious outsider, this episode is a love letter and a critique that will make you question what it truly means to belong in Mumbai today.

Books and Documentaries mentioned in the episode:

1. Bachelor Girls by Shikha Makan (2016)
2. Manto: Selected Short Stories by Saadat Hasan Manto
3. Night in Bombay by Louis Bromfield

Imagine spending five days of uninterrupted creativity in a serene, century-old Indo-Portuguese villa. Join an exclusive group of twelve writers for a transformative writing retreat. 5 seats left, apply now!

Learn more: https://boundindia.com/retreats/annual-writers-retreat

Apply now: https://tinyurl.com/46rhn7hz

‘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 important love story in your life isn’t romantic at all?

In our brand new episode, journalist and author Deepanjana Pal talks about her novel, Lightning in a Shot Glass. It’s a witty, radical look at two Mumbai flatmates navigating love, life, and ambition on their own terms.

Tara and Deepanjana dive into why female friendships are often the real love stories of our lives and how having chosen family keeps us grounded. They challenge the notion of genre hierarchies while showing that love stories can be smart and fun.

Deepanjana also gets candid about the messier parts of life, from workplace politics and abuse of authority to age-gap and interfaith romance. By bringing these real-world messes into the conversation, she proves that fiction can be both joyful and deeply authentic at the same time.

If you’re looking to dive into something that's as smart and fun as it is unapologetically real, this episode is for you!

Books and TV Shows mentioned in the episode:

1. Younger (2015)
2. Four More Shots Please! (2019)
3. Call Me Bae (2024)
4. Fleabag (2016)
5. The Family Man (2019)
6. A Natural History of Dragons: A Memoir by Lady Trent by Marie Brennan
7. Beowulf: A New Translation by Maria Dahvana Headley
8. The Mere Wife by Maria Dahvana Headley
9. The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai
10. Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood

Imagine spending five days of uninterrupted creativity in a serene, century-old Indo-Portuguese villa. Join an exclusive group of twelve writers for a transformative writing retreat. 5 seats left, apply now!

Learn more: https://boundindia.com/retreats/annual-writers-retreat

Apply now: https://tinyurl.com/46rhn7hz

‘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 happens to “us” when we’re no longer the smartest beings on the planet?

In our brand new episode, technologist and global innovation leader Akshay Chopra discusses his debut novel After Us, exploring a world transformed by SUI, a self-aware, benevolent superintelligence that questions the very definition of life and humanity.

Tara and Akshay dive deep into the fascinating (and often terrifying) intersections of science and fiction, from the "Longevity Escape Velocity" that could grant us 400-year lifespans to why humans may never truly understand an AI’s motives, and how Akshay conceived SUI not as an invention, but as a fallible, evolving being.

The conversation goes on to explore why science fiction remains largely untapped in India, despite its wealth of technologists and storytellers, and how our fear of AI may stem from humanity’s own history of driving other species to extinction. Akshay also shares his journey of publishing his novel through Jaico and his shift from a "pretentious" writing style to a simplified narrative. By stripping away the jargon, he makes the looming reality of our future impossible to ignore.
If the AI takeover keeps you up at night, this episode is just for you!

Books, Movies, and TV shows mentioned in the episode:

1. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
2. Black Mirror (2011)
3. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari
4. Her (2013)
5. Star Trek (2009)
6. Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky
7. The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari by Robin Sharma
8. Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda
9. Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam by Omar Khayyam
10. A Sound of Thunder by Ray Bradbury
11. Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke
12. Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke
13. Interstellar (2014)
14. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

12 writers, 5 days

A transformative writing experience nestled in a serene century old Indo-Portuguese villa.

Learn more: https://boundindia.com/retreats/annual-writers-retreat

Apply now: https://tinyurl.com/46rhn7hz

‘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 actually curate a literary festival?

We’re back! Season 9 of Books & Beyond kicks off with Tara and Aishwarya spilling the tea on their latest project: curating the Literature Section for the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival 2026!

This episode is a deep dive into the madness of curation. Why is Aishwarya obsessed with color-coded Excel sheets? Why is Tara picking out "apples" for a festival? And how many "healthy skirmishes" does it take to build a schedule from scratch?

From the magic of reading Kafka in Marathi to the courage it takes to launch a debut novel, tune in for an exclusive peek into the heart of a mammoth arts festival!

12 writers, 5 days

A transformative writing experience nestled in a serene century old Indo-Portuguese villa.

Learn more: https://boundindia.com/retreats/annual-writers-retreat

Apply now: https://tinyurl.com/46rhn7hz

‘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.

Would you keep writing if your agent told you "not yet" for ten straight years?

In this episode of Books & Beyond, Tara sits down with NYT bestselling author Alka Joshi to discuss her latest novel, Six Days in Bombay.

Alka reveals the incredible decade-long journey behind her debut, The Henna Artist, from a relentless agent who kept saying the book wasn’t ready, through years of tireless revisions, to the "perfect timing" that landed her in Reese Witherspoon’s Book Club.

But for Alka, the story started much earlier. She shares her personal journey of navigating prejudice as an Indian in America; an experience that once forced her to leave her heritage behind, until she finally chose to embrace it all to tell her mother’s story.

She also takes us behind the scenes of her new book; how she purposefully traveled to cities like Prague, Paris, and Florence to "live" the world of her novels before meticulously reconstructing the 1937 world portrayed in Six Days in Bombay.

Tara and Alka also dive into their shared love for historical fiction, their top book recommendations, and the real-life incredible women who inspired her most beloved characters.

Tune in now to hear firsthand about Alka Joshi’s fascinating road to publishing and her life as a storyteller!

Books Mentioned in the Episode:

1. The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
2. A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
3. Red Azalea by Anchee Min
4. Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
5. Stories from Tagore
6. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
7. The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai
8. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
9. The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese
10. Railsong by Rahul Bhattacharya
11. Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan

Imagine spending five days of uninterrupted creativity in a serene, century-old Indo-Portuguese villa. Join an exclusive group of twelve writers for a transformative writing retreat. 5 seats left, apply now!

Learn more: https://boundindia.com/retreats/annual-writers-retreat

Apply now: https://tinyurl.com/46rhn7hz

‘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.

You don't need a playbook to become a leader, your instincts are your guide.

In the latest episode of Books & Beyond, Roopa Kudva, author of Leadership Beyond the Playbook, joins Tara to challenge the formulaic approach to leadership. Instead of giving you a 10-step plan, Roopa hands the steering wheel to you.

They dive into why true leadership can’t be squeezed into neat frameworks and why the real growth happens when you start looking inward. Roopa shares her own evolution, from asking for a career-changing role to her transition into becoming the CEO of Crisil.

They also explore leadership styles, authentic vs. inauthentic communication, and the science of resilience, including how to build it within yourself and across your organisation.

Whether you’re taking your first step up or navigating a major transition, this episode is an empowering reminder that you are in the driver’s seat and get to decide the leader you want to be.

Books mentioned in the episode:

1. Personal History by Katharine Graham

Authors mentioned in the episode:

1. P.G. Wodehouse
2. Agatha Christie

Imagine spending five days of uninterrupted creativity in a serene, century-old Indo-Portuguese villa. Join an exclusive group of twelve writers for a transformative writing retreat. 5 seats left, apply now!

Learn more: https://boundindia.com/retreats/annual-writers-retreat

Apply now: https://tinyurl.com/46rhn7hz

‘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.

Ever wondered what it takes to go from crunching numbers to creating worlds that millions of readers dive into?

In the latest episode of Books & Beyond, Amish Tripathi shares the ups, downs, and behind-the-scenes of his journey from the 9-to-5 grind to bestselling author. From juggling a full-time job while writing Immortals of Meluha, to being one of the few authors in India who can write full time, he spills it all.

Get a peek into his unique writing process: constant reading, letting characters “speak” to him, and rewriting until the story feels just right. He also shares insights for aspiring writers on how to navigate the journey of writing while staying true to their craft and managing the realities of the profession.

Whether you’re an aspiring author or just curious about the magic behind bestselling books, this episode is packed with insights, inspiration, and the twists and turns of Amish’s writing journey.

Tune in now and dive into the mind of one of India’s most celebrated authors!

Books mentioned in the episode:

1. Ponniyin Selvan by Kalki Krishnamurthy
2. Banbhatta Ki Atmakatha by Hazari Prasad Dwivedi
3. Ramayana by Valmiki
4. Mahabharata by Maharishi Ved Vyasa

Imagine spending five days of uninterrupted creativity in a serene, century-old Indo-Portuguese villa. Join an exclusive group of twelve writers for a transformative writing retreat. 5 seats left, apply now!

Learn more: https://boundindia.com/retreats/annual-writers-retreat

Apply now: https://tinyurl.com/46rhn7hz

‘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.