Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata

Series produced by KALW

Caption: Sandip at the Grand Hotel in Nainital.
Sandip at the Grand Hotel in Nainital. 

Award winning writer, radio host, NPR contributor and novelist Sandip Roy brings his wit and insight to these personal audio diaries from his new life in his old home, India.

After ten years of hosting New America Now, Sandip Roy brings you a little bit of the story of the new India every week – a letter home from his other home.

"A lot has been written about the changing India," says Roy, "but reporting about a changing India is one thing. Living in it and dealing with a country where newspapers are still being launched instead of folding, internet rumors spark mass exoduses, and cricketers advertise skin-whitening creams called Fair and Handsome, that is another thing altogether."


459 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
Superman Immigrant
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Caption: Sandip at the Grand Hotel in Nainital.
Sandip takes a different view of this very "American" super hero.

Bought by PRX Remix and KUOW


  • Added: Jun 18, 2013
  • Length: 04:30
  • Purchases: 2
A "silent" rally in Kolkata against rape.
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Caption: Protesters at College Square in Kolkata, India, Credit: Sandip Roy
Sandip Roy takes us to the rally in Kolkata where thousands marched against the rash of violent rapes in the state of Bengal.

Bought by WEZU and PRX Remix


  • Added: Jun 25, 2013
  • Length: 04:30
  • Purchases: 2
Mandela's long goodbye
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Caption: Nelson Mandela, Credit: omg.com
Sandip Roy believes that Nelson Mandela has yet one more lesson to teach the world.

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: Jul 02, 2013
  • Length: 04:30
  • Purchases: 1
Elderly Respect in India
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Caption: LK Advani, Credit: lkadvani.in
Recently, the BJP Party had an "All About Eve" moment.

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: Jul 10, 2013
  • Length: 04:30
  • Purchases: 1
A telegram for you...
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Caption: Central Telegraph Office in Kolkata, Credit: Sandip Roy
The telegram was 163 years old in India, and only recently has the reliable old machine been put away.

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: Jul 16, 2013
  • Length: 04:30
  • Purchases: 1
Saundhi Mitti (Monsoons)
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Caption: Flooded Streets, Credit: Sandip Roy
Sandip Roy experiences some nostalgia for the monsoons of his childhood.

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: Jul 23, 2013
  • Length: 04:30
  • Purchases: 1
Suzette Jordan does the unthinkable!
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Caption: Suzette Jordan, Credit: Sandip Roy
Recently the Park Street rape victim did something almost unthinkable in India. She revealed her identity.

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: Jul 30, 2013
  • Length: 04:30
  • Purchases: 1
Purple bag nostalgia
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Caption: Music World closes, Credit: Sandip Roy
Sandip finds himself oddly nostalgic, for a noisy purple bag.

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: Aug 06, 2013
  • Length: 04:30
  • Purchases: 1
Dark and Beautiful
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Caption: Dark is Beautiful Campaign
Shah Rukh Khan is probably the biggest star in India right now. And if one of his newest ads is to believed the secret of his success is the Fair a...

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: Aug 12, 2013
  • Length: 04:30
  • Purchases: 1
Radical Skeletons
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Caption: Anirvan & Barnali during a tour, Credit: Sandip Roy
It turns out that a community best known for winning spelling bees also has some radical skeletons in its closet.

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: Aug 19, 2013
  • Length: 04:30
  • Purchases: 1
India's most wanted phone
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Caption: Police officials escort a suspect (C), in the gang-rape of a female photographer, from a crime branch unit station in Mumbai., Credit: First Post
The most wanted cellphone in the country belongs to someone no one had heard of a week ago - a 21-year-old resident of Central Mumbai. The phone’s...

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: Aug 26, 2013
  • Length: 04:30
  • Purchases: 1
Teacher's Day
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Caption: Father Bouche and class, Credit: Sandip Roy
September 5th is "Teacher's Day" in India, and Sandip Roy remembers one of his.

Bought by WAMC Northeast Public Radio and PRX Remix


  • Added: Sep 03, 2013
  • Length: 04:30
  • Purchases: 2
Remembering Sushmita
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Caption: Sushmita Memorial, Credit: Sandip Roy
Sushmita Banerjee pled a full life. Full of danger, trying to make a difference in this world. This week Sandip Roy remembers her legacy.

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: Sep 10, 2013
  • Length: 04:30
  • Purchases: 1
Miss America isn't fair enough… for Indians
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Piece image
The fixation with being of 'fair' complexion would hurt Miss Davuluri - in India.

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: Sep 17, 2013
  • Length: 04:30
  • Purchases: 1
I Love You Box
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Caption: The Lunchbox Poster, Credit: Lunchbox the movie
Sandip Roy finds love, in the new movie "The Lunchbox."

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: Sep 24, 2013
  • Length: 04:30
  • Purchases: 1
Modi the Magnificent
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Caption: Boy in Modi mask
Sandip Roy takes in the theater of Modi's first large scale political rally in New Delhi.

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: Oct 08, 2013
  • Length: 04:30
  • Purchases: 1
Unbearable Durga
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Caption: A Pandal at Durga Puja, Credit: Sandip Roy
Sandip Roy makes his way throughout the madness that is Durga Puja.

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: Oct 15, 2013
  • Length: 04:30
  • Purchases: 1
The sound of old India, now available!
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Piece image
Sandip Roy discovers the very old recordings of the Archive of Indian Music.

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: Oct 22, 2013
  • Length: 04:30
  • Purchases: 1
Sandip Roy is haunted by boots!
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Caption: Jewelry Box movie poster
"Ghosts" in India are different in more than just their name.

Bought by New Hampshire Public Radio and PRX Remix


  • Added: Oct 28, 2013
  • Length: 04:30
  • Purchases: 2
The Gulabi Gang
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Piece image
Sandip Roy talks with documentary filmmaker Nishtha Jain about her film "the Gulabi Gang."

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: Nov 04, 2013
  • Length: 04:30
  • Purchases: 1

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