Kalki Koechlin Presents ‘My Indian Life’ a Brand New Podcast from BBC World Service

A brand new podcast from BBC World Service called ‘My Indian Life’ has launched on 4 August. The presenter in the Podcast is none other than Bollywood Actor Kalki Koechlin and she would be unraveling real stories of the Indian youth.

Kalki Koechlin would be presenting a ten-part series which tells us what it is to be a young Indian in the 21st century. She would be covering inspiring stories of the youth of India and some pretty offbeat topics. Topics that probably would be a taboo to you and me. Kalki says that some stories of young India would be “uplifting but some are pretty raw.” Some stories would be hard to listen to. That said, all the stories that would be share matter to the youth of India.

Besides covering compelling stories from India, the series would also cover issues facing young people around the world. ‘My Indian Life’ would cover topics on sexual abuse, harassment, caste discrimination, victim shaming, body insecurity and the controversial subject of sex education. The first part of the series has already been launched today and Kalki Koechlin brings us an amazing story of a young Indian man Eshan Hilal, a belly dancer.

Eshan Hilal is trying to be true to his real identity however in the process he has to put up a mighty fight against his family. To put it simply, it is a father-against-son story. A story about individuality versus cultural norms. Eshal Hilal, 25, is a Delhi based belly dancer, a 'femanate' who comes from an orthodox Muslim background. His father is dead against Eshan’s passion of dancing and finds it difficult to accept his feminine persona. Even Hilal’s extended family treated him like a defected piece and labeled him as a ‘Prostitute’ and a ‘Hijra’ (Eunuch.)

What happened to Eshan Hilal’s dreams of pursuing dance and did his parents accept his femanate identity? To know more on Eshan, listen to the podcast here. ‘My Indian Life’ would also bring us a story of a woman and how she played a crucial role in India’s space mission to Mars. The series would unravel another story of a musician’s determination to succeed against all odds.  A new episode will be launched every week on Saturday and this series will have ten episodes.

Podcasting gaining ground in India

Kalki Koechlin says that over the years, there has been a change in trend in how we access content. Newspapers and magazines have been replaced by websites, books have been replaced by e-readers, videos are being streamed on Youtube, Netflix etc and audio being played on music apps. Audio content is increasingly in demand among the Indian youth. One can see the number of youngsters glued to their smartphones with their earphones plugged in. Keeping these factors in mind, this podcast was created.

Speaking of her own childhood, Kalki recollects fond memories of her mother listening to music on a radio which was the size of two bricks then. Her mother would turn to the radio to get all her queries answered, to hear Bollywood songs and news. Kalki recollects that when her father was away on business, her sister, mother and she would get into the bed and listen to ‘Hawa Mahal’ a very popular programme, in those days. Things have changed so much since then. Podcasting in India is new but it does have a lot of potential to grow as the Indian youth is ready to grow and explore. By launching this new podcast series, BBC is setting new standards and interestingly redefining the way we access audio content.