Author Archives: Indira Chowdhury

Memories, Memorabilia and Memorable interviews: Talking to Mithoo Coorlawala

I hear Mithoo Coorlawala’s voice before I actually see her. It was 26 March 2009 and I had just finished giving a talk hosted by the Mohile Parikh Centre  at the National Centre for Performing Arts in Mumbai. My talk titled, “Collective Memory, Institutional Archives and the Writing of Contemporary History” was based on theContinue reading “Memories, Memorabilia and Memorable interviews: Talking to Mithoo Coorlawala”

Traversing Geographies of Memory: Interviewing family members

Interviewing family members is messy. The interview does not stay confined to the questions one asks. Indeed, it spills into stories that the person wants to share, inviting you to look through surfaces you thought were opaque, provoking you to stare hard until your surprised eye comes to rest on shapes whose unrecognisable contours changeContinue reading “Traversing Geographies of Memory: Interviewing family members”

Oral History and the Mirror of Time: My encounter with PVK

“I was born on a birthday that nobody will forget – April 1.st” He chuckled. “And at a time which nobody will forget,” he continued, laughter bubbling. “Char sou bis – you know the Indian Penal Code!” He was referring to Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code that specifically deals with cheating. Originally draftedContinue reading “Oral History and the Mirror of Time: My encounter with PVK”

Of lost dreams and wandering artefacts: A life story interview with an artisan

I see the dreams of Gangaramji many days before I actually meet him. Though I don’t yet know that these are his dreams when I look at the intricate wood carvings on the doors and windows of my friend’s house on top of a hill in Satoli, Uttarakhand. I don’t yet know his name, butContinue reading “Of lost dreams and wandering artefacts: A life story interview with an artisan”

“Don’t ask about that”: Memory and Difficult Emotions in Oral History

I first met Professor Pabitra Kumar Maitra on 2 April 2003. I had just started my interviews with Obaid Siddiqi, the scientist who founded the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS). But his institution had a longer history as Siddiqi started the Molecular Biology Group at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Bombay inContinue reading ““Don’t ask about that”: Memory and Difficult Emotions in Oral History”