Host Mallika Kapur sits down with some of the world’s most celebrated storytellers to revisit the works that define them. They return to abandoned drafts, imagine alternate endings, and explore one enduring question:

If you could do it again, what would the next edition hold?

Because a story is never truly done.

Author and poet Jeet Thayil’s work moves fluidly between fiction, poetry and memoir. He reflects on the Booker-prize shortlisted Narcopolis years after its release, the emotional intensity of writing it, and how his latest book The Elsewhereans marks a shift—from stories of addiction and survival to deeply personal explorations of family, memory and loss.

Epigraph:

More than a decade after ‘Narcopolis’ first released, Jeet Thayil reflects on his relationship with the book today. He describes the process of writing the book as the opposite of catharsis, exploring how it made him reconcile with the city’s and his own traumatic past.

Poet in Prose:

Jeet takes us into his creative process—how poetry shapes his sentences, why writing fiction demands a different discipline, and how he crafted one of literature’s most unforgettable long sentences.

Elegy:
In The Elsewhereans, Jeet Thayil turns the conversation inward – writing about family, grief, and the passage of time. He opens up about the delicate balance of writing about loved ones, the responsibility that comes with it, and how the book has become a quiet memorial to his parents.

Epilogue:

For Jeet, the role of the artist is simple yet profound: to connect. Whether through the troubled worlds of Narcopolis or the intimate reflections of The Elsewhereans, his work reaches readers in different ways — offering recognition, resonance, and a sense of shared humanity.

Credits:

Host: Mallika Kapur

Mallika Kapur is an award-winning journalist and seasoned interviewer with over two decades of experience in television and live journalism. Across three countries and various impactful roles at CNN and Bloomberg, she has reported on major global events, including the London train bombings, the Indian Ocean tsunami and the Mumbai terror attacks. She also moderates news making panels at global forums, leading insightful conversations with the world’s top figures in business and culture.

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This is a Maed In India Production

Creative Director: Mae Mariyam Thomas

Project Manager: Shaun Fanthome

Sound Designer & Mix Engineer: Kartik Kulkarni

Producer: Rachna Sukuru

Sound Engineer: Nihar Temkar

Artwork: Alika Gupta

When Deepa Mehta began filming Water in Varanasi, India, protesters burned the sets and forced production to a halt. The film, the final chapter in her trilogy exploring fire, earth, and water as metaphors for social realities across the Indian subcontinent, was eventually made in Sri Lanka. Twenty years later, Mehta and actor Lisa Ray look back on what they built, what it cost, and why the story still matters.

Critics’ Choice

Deepa Mehta and Lisa Ray reflect on what it meant to commit fully to a story about women on the margins and why the film continues to move audiences around the world. As Lisa Ray puts it, it was made with such sincerity that people could feel it — “it was the little indie film that could.”

Close-Up:

Deepa described making Water without an agenda; Lisa described surrendering to the role rather than performing it. Here, they focus on the process — how the film was made, the close-knit community that formed around it, and what it felt like to work in a simpler time, when no one retreated to their trailer between takes.

The Edit

This conversation moves across memory, politics, identity, and time with two of the most influential women in Indian cinema thinking aloud together.

Epilogue

Twenty years on, Water is no longer met with outrage or political defence. As Deepa puts it, it feels like a truth that never dies, it’s still finding new audiences, still landing where it needs to.

Featured Clips in this episode:

79th Academy Award Nominations

Credits:

Host: Mallika Kapur

Mallika Kapur is an award-winning journalist and seasoned interviewer with over two decades of experience in television and live journalism. Across three countries and various impactful roles at CNN and Bloomberg, she has reported on major global events, including the London train bombings, the Indian Ocean tsunami and the Mumbai terror attacks. She also moderates news making panels at global forums, leading insightful conversations with the world’s top figures in business and culture.

Reach out on Instagram and LinkedIn

This is a Maed In India Production

Creative Director: Mae Mariyam Thomas

Project Manager: Shaun Fanthome

Sound Designer & Mix Engineer: Kartik Kulkarni

Producer: Rachna Sukuru

Sound Engineer: Nihar Temkar

Artwork: Alika Gupta