City of Women Podcast

17/11/2023

Producer Menaka Raman always wanted to be one of the cool, sporty girls in her school.

As a child she’d play for hours on the street, but as she got older she found herself retreating indoors, a place she was told was ‘safer’. There would be consequences if she allowed herself to go outside.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/1EcqZUacBXjBA8EpSSEKzp
How does one reclaim their right to occupy public spaces to exercise or play? What happens when you do?

'Personal Best' traces the relationship women have with the streets as a place to move and play.

Our thanks to Mathangi, Aakanksha, Yamini and Kamala.

20/09/2023

How do you think her night went?

Listen to our latest episode 'School of Love' to find out.

05/09/2023

*** New Episode Alert***

Love is a many splendored thing. And so are b***y calls.

One intrepid woman shares her journey from not wanting a boyfriend, to considering arranged marriages to looking for love on dating apps. And while she doesn’t always find love, she does find lust.

Our thanks to Priyadarshini Gogoi, our fabulous guest interviewer for this episode. 

Content warning - this episode contains mature themes, listener discretion is advised.

Links to listen in our profile.



***ycalls

21/06/2023

Caption this!

decided to take some of our stickers on a walkabout in Mumbai last week.

12/04/2023

Girl fear, friendship, political upheaval, impulsive decisions with far reaching consequences, changing bodies and desires for freedom.

Kamila Shamsie's Best of Friends traces the friendship between Zahra and Maryam from the time they're children in Karachi through to adulthood in London. An evening that goes awry in their youth sets their plans for the future of course, and when we meet them again decades later they're powerful and successful women.

Kamila Shamsie conveys tumultuous teenage, female friendships with skill, and the desires and wants of young women perfectly. 

We especially enjoyed the parts where the characters think of 'girl fear' the fear that sets in to young women when they are out in public, a fear boys never have to experience in quote the same way.  

At what age did you first feel 'girl fear'?

Kamila Shamsie if you're reading this, we would LOVE to have you on our podcast! 

14/02/2023

Lowe, pyaar, kaadal, premam, ishq, mohabbat...

If you're sick and tired of all the hearts and flowers around February 14th, here's a different kind of love story.

A non love story.

A lust story?

An Afternoon Delight story?

https://open.spotify.com/episode/1X7SYXtGDeFTxApGrbDgCJ?si=7G6m1fjuQHmk3QuhaQH2Aw

23/11/2022

Manamiyangal is a novel by the Tamil poet and author Salma. Translated to English by Meena Kandasamy and published as Women Dreaming, it tells the story of a group of women in an unnamed village in Tamil Nadu whose lives are made even smaller by the rules laid down by their religion and the men who uphold them.

Women Dreaming is about women who have little control of their fate. Who have little say in their lives. Who have little use in dreaming. And yet Mehar, Sajida, Parveen and Amina dream. What do they dream of? And can those dreams ever come true?

Listen to Salma talk about dreams, dreaming and the things women have to do make those dreams come true in the latest episode of City of Women.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/7cb7yYBu6bODBxVwHa0AEV?si=Ii6rMx4ZRWyrWS2_BiZ5yg&utm_source=copy-link

16/11/2022

Salma is a Tamil author, poet, politician and activist. Her novel மனாமியங்கள் published in 2017 was translated to English by Meena Kandasamy and published as Women, Dreaming.

The book takes you into the inner world of women, women who have little opportunity to experience the world outside.

Salma spoke to us of the escape books have provided, her desire for freedom and how she transgressed the boundaries laid down for her. Plus a reading from her book.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/7cb7yYBu6bODBxVwHa0AEV?si=JRWEpAzPQDWG5Ic06O0tOQ&utm_source=copy-link

22/09/2022

***New Episode: Unfurling***

From hostel gates to Chamanlal: two women talk about their night outs in college.

A weekly ritual that begins with deciding where to go and that ends with an unfurling on the dance floor.

Listen here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5x5xBadp3VYyyU3hB3EaZO

Thanks to Yashaswini and Priyadarshini.

16/09/2022

A son remember's his mother's dreams, hopes and talents in this episode of City of Women.

What do they have to with Diego Maradona?

Listen to find out.

On Spotify here: https://spoti.fi/3AXxGG3

01/09/2022

reads from Desperately Seeking Shah Rukh for podcast. For more of Shravana's musings on women, movies and Shah Rukh listen on here: https://apple.co/3AhQSOi

30/08/2022

"The new season of City of Women makes a natural segue into women’s literature to continue sharing quick nuanced stories about women navigating city life" Tanishka D'lyma writes about Season 3 of the City of Women podcast for MiD DAY.

Read the story here: https://www.mid-day.com/mumbai-guide/things-to-do/article/her-kind-of-city-23243406

The new season of City of Women makes a natural segue into women’s literature to continue sharing quick nuanced stories about women navigating city life

29/08/2022

Shrayana Bhattacharya kicks off a new kind of episode on our feed featuring authors talking about certain moments from their books.

Here's a small snippet of the wonderful conversation we had with her earlier this year. Entire episode on here:https://apple.co/3AhQSOi

(Photo credit Tara Kelton)

25/08/2022

to when we met economist and author Shrayana Bhattacharya and talked about movies, being single in coupled spaces and the fandom of SRK.

You can listen to parts of this conversation and to Shrayana read from her bestselling book Desperately Seeking Shah Rukh on our podcast feed now. Just click on the link in our profile.

23/08/2022

Literature has always been a source of joy and inspiration for us at City of Women and we wanted to find a way to express that love.

We bring to you a new kind of episode in which we talk to and hear from authors about certain moments in their books that explore how women inhabit the cities they live in.

In this episode we hear from Shrayana Bhattacharya, author of Desperately Seeking Shah Rukh about fights, friendship and the fandom of Shah Rukh.

Listen to Shrayana now on Apple Podcasts
https://apple.co/3AhQSOi

02/08/2022

***NEW SEASON LAUNCH***

Freezing water, bathrooms from hell and bras designed to torture. Being a part of the National Cadet Corps isn’t fun and games. But there’s also camaraderie, exploration and a certain kind of freedom. Two former cadets reminisce (and sing) about their NCC days.

****

Back in January, just before Republic Day we asked if any of our listeners had been a part of the NCC and had stories to share. Abhi and Swarna .sp marched up to their mics and sent us some wonderful memories about their days as cadets.

Thank you to Abhirami and Swarna for recording this conversation. 

Click on the link in our profile to listen to Cadets now, and make sure you subscribe to City of Women on your podcast app to listen to all the episodes of Season 3 as they release! 

At ease cadets! 

29/07/2022

tryst: a private romantic rendezvous between lovers.

How much effort does it take to plan a tryst? Where will you meet? What will you wear? What are you thinking about on your way? And after the tryst is done, did it feel like it was worth all the effort?

Coming soon on Season 3 of City of Women are tales of trysts.

Subscribe now on your favourite podcast app to listen to episode 1 when it drops on August 2, 2022.

https://linktr.ee/cityofwomenpodcast

27/07/2022

shenanigan: secret or dishonest activity or manoeuvring

also

shenanigan: silly or high-spirited behaviour; mischief.

In season 3 of City of Women we're bringing you stories filled shenanigans. Of both kinds.

https://linktr.ee/cityofwomenpodcast

Subscribe to City of Women now on your podcast app to listen to episode 1 when it drops on August 2, 2022.

25/07/2022

encounter: an unexpected or casual meeting with someone or something.

In season 3 of City of Women women share stories of encounters they've had in public spaces: good, bad and bizarre.

Subscribe to City of Women now on your podcast app to listen to episode 1 when it drops on August 2, 2022. http://linktr.ee/cityofwomenpodcast

19/07/2022

"How a podcast explores cities through women, their encounters and interactions in urban spaces."

Thank you for writing about our podcast and recent trip to Madurai, Joshua Muyiwa:

http://news9live.com/amp/lifestyle/how-a-podcast-explores-cities-through-women-their-encounters-and-interactions-in-urban-spaces-183389

The 'City of Women' podcast offers insights into the calculated strategies, backdoor negotiations, and often absurd lengths women go to have fun and feel free in their city.

28/06/2022

This Thursday we'll be at the Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS) Bangalore City Campus talking about city-based podcasts alongside the hosts of Slangaluru, The Feminist City and Ooru. Do come! Details in poster!

09/06/2022

Talking to women and listening to their stories is undoubtedly the highlight of our week. We recently spoke to author and researcher Aneela Zeb Babar for season 3 of City of Women.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CekqwQ8IDr9/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

31/05/2022

Hello! Are you a City of Women listener from Madurai? Our team is visiting Malligai Maanagar in June and we'd love to meet you, talk to you and listen to your stories. Leave a comment, tag a friend from the city or DM us and we'll reach out!

30/05/2022

We caught up with journalist, writer, researcher and teacher Sameera Khan to talk about helping strangers in public, being a bystander, loitering and where she loves to loiter!
Why Loiter

27/05/2022

Have you asked a stranger for directions and then found yourself in a situation you've never forgotten? Silly, funny, weird, heartwarming - we'd love to hear stories about this if you have one. (Wand wielding gnomes are not a pre-requisite.)

Tell us in the comments!

16/05/2022

It was such a pleasure taking over this brilliant podcast’s Instagram page for the day! Thank you so much for the invite ❤️ I sign off with three images.

1. A beautiful gift made by an incredibly talented friend of mine who gave me this as a gesture of true love. I shall treasure it forever.

2. A print sent to me with most love and affection from .dasari who is a fellow autorickshaw lover & so feels the feels very deeply.

3. I love taking selfies and I love autos. And obviously my fave genre of selfies are auto selfies. I took this one during Covid. The thing is that I wasn’t wearing the mask to prevent Covid; I was wearing it because wow the dust and hey it’s floral! Overall, the look signifies to me how there’s this “autorickshaw” getup we often resort to to save our skins, lungs and hairs.

Dust or no dust, sunshine or rain, Bangalore or Hyderabad, autos are best. ❤️

Thank you for indulging my auto-biography (hehehe) and hope you enjoyed this ride with me! ❤️

Signing off,

16/05/2022

Autorickshaws and style go together, don’t they? Here are some of the coolest autos I encountered during fieldwork!

******
Photo #1

Around 8pm, some day in February 2021.

I am waiting by the entrance of a popular new coffeeshop which is tucked away in a sylvan lane in posh Jubilee Hills. It’s always more fun calling for an auto in snobby spaces, so I happily order myself an Uber Auto. Wow, driver is nearby! And has not called me to ask what my drop off is. Whew (if you know, you know).

Anyway, to my utter delight, this beautifully lit chariot shows up to the entrance of the coffeeshop. I’m truly in awe of the bright blue, red, green lights just proudly & confidently making their presence felt in a parking lot full of sparkly sedans and SUVs.

Obviously, I can’t resist asking him all kinds of questions about the lights! Does he play music to go along with the mood of this auto? I mean, the auto is a mood!!

He tells me he had to uninstall the speakers in the back because some cops caught him one day and fined him. Apparently, autowallahs aren’t supposed to play music while driving. Why, I ask him. Noise pollution & distracted driving I think, he says. The sub-inspector that fined him said he was creating “nuisance”.

“Music for us, nuisance for police!”

Indeed, high volume systems and speakers have been the target of the traffic police due to their concerns around noise pollution. I think about all the times my friends happily listen to all kinds of music in their cool rides. Loudly. Unapologetically. But, as a cop told me, music from cars doesn’t “spill outside” the vehicle. Most of the times.

Either way, style makes its way through catchy little slogans, colourful lights, designs, flexi posters. Dotting the streets with a claim to the city, these snippets of style matter to those who dwell in these vehicles.

In Ramesh’s words, “I like the lights, it makes me feel different, stand out in the traffic. People take photos of my auto. I feel proud. Everyone in my neighbourhood knows me. The auto is the reason I’m famous.” Why these colors, I ask him.

He grins. “My wife chose them!” ❤️💚💙

—- text and photos by

16/05/2022

Autorickshaws and style go together, don’t they? Here are some of the coolest autos I encountered during fieldwork!

******
Photo #3

Around 8pm, some day in February 2021.

I am waiting by the entrance of a popular new coffeeshop which is tucked away in a sylvan lane in posh Jubilee Hills. It’s always more fun calling for an auto in snobby spaces, so I happily order myself an Uber Auto. Wow, driver is nearby! And has not called me to ask what my drop off is. Whew (if you know, you know).

Anyway, to my utter delight, this beautifully lit chariot shows up to the entrance of the coffeeshop. I’m truly in awe of the bright blue, red, green lights just proudly & confidently making their presence felt in a parking lot full of sparkly sedans and SUVs.

Obviously, I can’t resist asking him all kinds of questions about the lights! Does he play music to go along with the mood of this auto? I mean, the auto is a mood!!

He tells me he had to uninstall the speakers in the back because some cops caught him one day and fined him. Apparently, autowallahs aren’t supposed to play music while driving. Why, I ask him. Noise pollution & distracted driving I think, he says. The sub-inspector that fined him said he was creating “nuisance”.

“Music for us, nuisance for police!”

Indeed, high volume systems and speakers have been the target of the traffic police due to their concerns around noise pollution. I think about all the times my friends happily listen to all kinds of music in their cool rides. Loudly. Unapologetically. But, as a cop told me, music from cars doesn’t “spill outside” the vehicle. Most of the times.

Either way, style makes its way through catchy little slogans, colourful lights, designs, flexi posters. Dotting the streets with a claim to the city, these snippets of style matter to those who dwell in these vehicles.

In Ramesh’s words, “I like the lights, it makes me feel different, stand out in the traffic. People take photos of my auto. I feel proud. Everyone in my neighbourhood knows me. The auto is the reason I’m famous.” Why these colors, I ask him.

He grins. “My wife chose them!” ❤️💚💙

16/05/2022

No better moment to offer a note of absolute respect and love to Hyderabad’s Auto Rani, V Narayanamma!

I was insanely lucky to have met this firecracker of a personality during fieldwork in 2019. One of the handful of women autodrivers in Hyderabad, Narayanamma has been driving an autorickshaw for about fifteen years (and some) now.

Narayanamma laments how the state does not seem to care about encouraging more women to take up the profession of “autodrivering” (say, by offering training programs or special subsidies for purchase of autos).

She also, crucially, points to the lack of public toilets as an infrastructural issue that comes in the way of women taking up autodrivering as a profession, and how nobody cares about making the city more accessible to women on the move.

Mostly, she mocks the general cultural of shame around women taking up a “hard” profession like autodrivering which is so obnoxiously masculinized. She mocks the narrative or driving being hard (which she says is peddled by men so they can keep women out) because - in her words - “ask men to do childcare for a day and then they’ll know what’s hard!” Narayanamma tells me how lucky she has been to have a spouse who supports her love and passion for driving. And truly, she loves it. The way she couldn’t stop smiling while talking about driving for a living spoke volumes.

In her own efforts at making women take up the wheel (you can see my attempt in image 3, but I failed and also it wasn’t a serious attempt lol), she offers training to women who approach her. She tells me that there’s a lot of fear amongst women but also that there is a lot of enthusiasm — if only it can be quickly tapped by more freely available driver training programs for women.

More than anything, she wishes more women could experience the addictive pleasure of being on the road, of taking charge of the vehicle, of making decisions, of sensing autonomy, of earning a living through hard work, and of breaking into a profession that has long been dominated by men.

She is, indubitably, Hyderabad’s Auto Rani and a role model for many women including me! ❤️

—- text and photos by

16/05/2022

My feminist desire to reclaim the city, to move around unscathed, to access urban life with all its dramatic potentials, and to have fun is quite often contingent on the hard labor of working-class drivers.

*******

When I was doing fieldwork, I realized how many of the upwardly mobile, upper-caste women I talked with had this deeply paradoxical relationship with the transport labor of the city: on the one hand, they depended on autowallas, taxiwallas, bus drivers, chauffeurs for their smooth mobility across the city; and, at the same time, they viewed these same drivers with fear (of sexual harassment) and suspicion. This fraught relationship of physical proximity but social distance and mutual suspicion characterised the mobility of the women I talked with. It indicated the kind of everyday frictions that cities hold within them.

This is not to say that the women I talked with did NOT experience sexual harassment at the hands of auto or cabdrivers. They did. And that was traumatic to them. And does render cities unsafe. And by no means should that story be untold.

My point is that we cannot tell a story of women and mobility without taking into account the labor that makes it possible. Who gets policed and surveilled under my name? Who is automatically viewed as “sexual danger” under my name? Whose bodies are central to keeping cities moving and why are they demonized and marginalised in the stories of cities? These are some questions I’m thinking through…

But, for today, a salute to autowallahs who have indulged my curiosities and my transportation needs for far too long! ❤️

—- text by

16/05/2022

Today’s is all about my love (hi, I’m ) for autorickshaws. But let’s start with some context.

Hyderabad. It was a random nondescript day in the summer of 2004. I remember hailing an autorickshaw - hesitantly, nervously. I was 13 years old and on my way to a friend’s house for her birthday party and this was the first time I’d be taking an auto ALL BY MYSELF! I was all dressed up, a spaghetti top that my mother made me cover up with a shrug (just for the autorickshaw ride, of course 🙄).

What an adventure I thought it would be. The ride was short, the driver was nonchalant, and nothing particularly spectacular happened that day. And yet, I remember the rush of excitement when the autorickshaw was cruising on an empty flyover. I felt like an adult. Wow, look at me, moving around the city all by myself. My hair blowing in the wind (that I would later have to shampoo because wow the greasy dust of cities is stubborn), the shrug on my shoulders reminding me that I’m doing something “risky”, no cellphone to make me within parental reach, fun fun fun…

I never felt that surge of thrill with any other mode of transport. Something primal draws me to autorickshaws. I suppose it’s no surprise, then, that for my phd research, I decided to study (broadly, for I don’t wish to bore you) the politics of transportation and safety in Hyderabad. And, thus, I chatted with and interviews a LOT of autorickshaw drivers and took a LOT of autorickshaw photos.

So, join me on this trip down memory lane today, as I scour through my photo albums to rediscover several stories — of rides, of labour, of urban drama.

Link to article on interviewing autorickshaw driver Prem: https://agentsofishq.com/aap-karthe-mere-saath-sex/

12/05/2022

Good friends tell each other the truth about bad haircuts and recommend podcasts to listen to. If you've enjoyed listening to our show, tell a friend about us! (Just share this link with them https://linktr.ee/cityofwomenpodcast

11/05/2022

Last week we caught up with author Aanchal Malhotra to talk about her book Remnants of Separation, her writing process and her book In the Language of Remembering which has just been published.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CdUxeaaPax_/

28/03/2022

Start the week by expanding your vocabulary with the City of Women glossary. This week's entry is courtesy , a writer and editor based in Bangalore. It's amazing women how immediately become a sibling when they call out bad behaviour.
If you have an 'Aiyyo Chichi' story you'd like to share, tell us in the comments.

23/03/2022

Question of the week! We'd love to hear about the time you extended help to a woman you'd never met before. Alternatively, have you ever been offered help by a woman in a public space? Feel like sharing the story and saying thank you? Tell us in the comments!

21/03/2022

Hello! It's Monday and that means it's time to expand your vocabulary with the City of Women Glossary entry of the week.

This week's phrase is in Bangla and was shared by
Deepika Mahidhara when we spoke to her for our episode 'Guts'.

You should definitely listen to the episode to hear some of the other expletives and salty phrases Deepika blessed our ears with

https://open.spotify.com/episode/5KE8VTRLvYG3svVo9HN9j5

(And a special thank you to Sumana Mukherjee
who acted as profanity coach in the making of this entry.)

17/03/2022

Our team is on the road! This week we headed to Kochi and interviewed Bindu Nair, founder of Ela India about code switching in the context of dressing. Watch this space for updates!
https://www.instagram.com/p/CbKPkiIMpdN/

14/03/2022

Hello and welcome to this week's City of Women glossary entry.

Our episode Guts featured two kinds of dhairyam: gundu dhairyam and mano dhairyam, the latter contributed by Uma during our conversation with her.

You can listen to more from Uma on Guts here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5KE8VTRLvYG3svVo9HN9j5

Tell us, do you have an instance of displaying Mano dhairyam in your life? We'd love to know.

09/03/2022

These past few weeks we've been talking about clothes with so many women: favourite childhood outfits, how certain clothes make them feel, the moral policing of what women wear... the conversations have been fun, illuminating and thought provoking.

One thing we haven't discussed though is wardrobe malfunctions, specifically public ones! Do you have one you'd like to share? Anonymity guaranteed! Slide into our DMs and tell us! Or leave a comment below if you can laugh about it!

07/03/2022

Our next City of Women Glossary entry is Gundu Dhairyam. Contributed by Abhi Arumbakkam during a conversation about early morning runs in the city, and the kindness of strangers.

Listen to more from Abhi and other women on our episode Guts: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5KE8VTRLvYG3svVo9HN9j5