On the 16th of January, 1961, a plane belonging to the Lucknow Flying Club climbed into the air on its own from Safdarjung aerodrome. Find out more in this episode…

On the 16th of January, 1961, a plane belonging to the Lucknow Flying Club climbed into the air on its own from Safdarjung aerodrome. Find out more in this episode…

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The plane that flew away without a pilot

News of the monkeypox virus’s spread in Europe in 2022 has alarmed people everywhere, but it is not a new virus. It had lurked in the rainforests of central and western Africa for centuries before scientists identified it in 1958. And though it causes severe disease it never became an epidemic. Find out why in this episode. Also learn about the first confirmed case of monkeypox in a human, and the 2003 outbreak of the disease in America.

News of the monkeypox virus’s spread in Europe in 2022 has alarmed people everywhere, but it is not a new virus. It had lurked in the rainforests of central and western Africa for centuries before scientists identified it in 1958. And though it causes severe disease it never became an epidemic. Find out why in this episode. Also learn about the first confirmed case of monkeypox in a human, and the 2003 outbreak of the disease in America.

How scientists found monkeypox, and why it's not a big threat

There are some politicians today who question Nehru’s patriotism and insinuate that he slighted the memory of Subhas Chandra Bose. Had Nehru really disliked Bose, would he have paid such a moving tribute to him in his first speech from the Red Fort? Find out what he said in this short episode…Check out my latest episode!

There are some politicians today who question Nehru’s patriotism and insinuate that he slighted the memory of Subhas Chandra Bose. Had Nehru really disliked Bose, would he have paid such a moving tribute to him in his first speech from the Red Fort? Find out what he said in this short episode…Check out my latest episode!

Did Nehru dislike Subhas Chandra Bose?

Yeshwant Rao Holkar, the young Maharaja of Indore, fell ill in Los Angeles sometime in 1938. Marguerite Lawler, the nurse who looked after him at Good Samaritan Hospital, stole his heart. A few months later he made her Maharani of Indore. Find out their story in this episode…Check out my latest episode!

Yeshwant Rao Holkar, the young Maharaja of Indore, fell ill in Los Angeles sometime in 1938. Marguerite Lawler, the nurse who looked after him at Good Samaritan Hospital, stole his heart. A few months later he made her Maharani of Indore. Find out their story in this episode…Check out my latest episode!

The American nurse who became Maharani of Indore

The British empire was hungry for sugar, and its new colony in Fiji had the soil and climate for bumper sugarcane yields. All it wanted was cheap labour, and so the ‘girmitiya’ system of bonded labour was born. It was a brutal system that sold many thousands of poor Indian men and women into undeclared slavery between 1879 and 1916. This episode is based on a first-person account by one of them

The British empire was hungry for sugar, and its new colony in Fiji had the soil and climate for bumper sugarcane yields. All it wanted was cheap labour, and so the ‘girmitiya’ system of bonded labour was born. It was a brutal system that sold many thousands of poor Indian men and women into undeclared slavery between 1879 and 1916. This episode is based on a first-person account by one of them

Girmitiyas: India’s forgotten sugar slaves in Fiji

By 1957, the government had allotted thousands of plots to individuals, but only a few hundred had been built. The resulting shortage of houses pushed up rents. But the plot owners had genuine reasons to delay construction. Find out in this episode…

By 1957, the government had allotted thousands of plots to individuals, but only a few hundred had been built. The resulting shortage of houses pushed up rents. But the plot owners had genuine reasons to delay construction. Find out in this episode…

Why rents were so high in Chandigarh in the 1950s

It was a city of government employees, and a place where you saw far more men than women. But 6-year-old Chandigarh had one positive distinction -- the highest literacy rate in the country. Find out more in this episode...

It was a city of government employees, and a place where you saw far more men than women. But 6-year-old Chandigarh had one positive distinction -- the highest literacy rate in the country. Find out more in this episode...

What was Chandigarh like in 1957?

If you look carefully at a block of private houses in Chandigarh, you will notice that each house is built inside a box or frame. Adjacent houses can have very different designs but their frames are uniform. There’s a reason for this. Find out in this episode.

Why Chandigarh’s private houses are built inside frames

In the 1950s, flush toilets were a novelty for most Indians, but in Chandigarh they were an essential part of even the smallest houses. However, you’ll be surprised that the kitchens of the first houses of Chandigarh were designed for chulhas, not gas stoves. Find out more in this episode…

In the 1950s, flush toilets were a novelty for most Indians, but in Chandigarh they were an essential part of even the smallest houses. However, you’ll be surprised that the kitchens of the first houses of Chandigarh were designed for chulhas, not gas stoves. Find out more in this episode…

Chandigarh: First Indian city with toilets for all

In the 1950s, the top government officers in Chandigarh earned 50 times more than the most junior employees, and their houses set near Sukhna Lake were built on 67 times bigger plots.

Chandigarh had a wide rich-poor gap from the start

The biggest challenge for Chandigarh’s designers was cost. They had to build each type of house to a very tight budget. And for the smallest house type, which was called Type 13, they had a strict allocation of Rs 3,250 per house. Find out how the architects overcame this challenge... #chandigarh #history #lecorbusier #urbanplanning

The biggest challenge for Chandigarh’s designers was cost. They had to build each type of house to a very tight budget. And for the smallest house type, which was called Type 13, they had a strict allocation of Rs 3,250 per house. Find out how the architects overcame this challenge... #chandigarh #history #lecorbusier #urbanplanning 

How Chandigarh’s architects made houses in Rs 3,250

The truth is, Chandigarh's houses are not alike. Even the old government houses were built in 13 styles for the 13 pay grades. However, the predominance of government housing in the 1950s and 1960s influenced the architecture of private houses too. That's why you can feel  a 'Chandigarh style' in City Beautiful. 

Why all houses in Chandigarh look alike

You might not like the interiors of Chandigarh's old government houses. They are certainly not fashionable. But don't blame the architects -- Pierre Jeanneret, Maxwell Fry and Jane Drew -- for the designs. They were based on the peculiar requirements of North Indian people in the 1950s (maybe it's time to rebuild them). Find out more in the next two minutes...

Why Chandigarh's government houses are so unfashionable inside

Chandigarh's houses look dull when compared with the high-rises of Gurgaon, but it's an unfair comparison. Chandigarh was built to a very tight budget in the 1950s and 1960s. In the next two minutes, find out why its houses had such small windows and were limited to just three floors...

Why Chandigarh's houses stop at three floors

A house in Chandigarh is worth its weight in gold, but there was a time when investing in the city felt like a big risk. There was nothing on the ground, not even a master plan. People who took the risk have been well rewarded. Their property values have grown many thousands of times. Find out more in the next two minutes...

Chandigarh: The best investment of 1948

Booksploring digs out tidbits from books written long ago. It's not textbook history but interesting things you probably have not heard about

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Booksploring

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