Nothing is Indian! Everything is Indian! | Episode 12 | Everything is Everything

Most of what we think of as quintessentially Indian originated elsewhere. So what? Culture is a khichdi -- and that's delightful!

Welcome to Episode 12 of Everything is Everything, a weekly podcast hosted by Amit Varma and Ajay Shah.

In this episode, Amit and Ajay talk about the amazing khichdi called culture -- and how food, clothes, language, architecture all evolve in a giant melting pot of influences. Just as salmon sushi is not from Japan, most Indian food is not from India, and that's fine. It doesn't matter where influences come from -- once they get here, they're ours!

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

00:00 Teaser and packaging
00:58 Introduction: Nothing is Indian. Everything is Indian
02:23 Chapter 1: Salmon sushi is not from Japan
06:07 Chapter 2: Indian food is not from India
17:18 Chapter 3: The Invasion of the Cavendish Banana
34:04 Chapter 4: Culture is a Khichdi
49:08 Chapter 5: Amit's Recco
52:50 Chapter 6: Ajay's Recco

USEFUL RESOURCES:

1. Amit on Twitter:   / amitvarma  
2. Ajay on Twitter:   / ajay_shah  
3. The Seen and the Unseen -- Amit's audio podcast: https://seenunseen.in/
(Also on all podcast apps. And YouTube, though less than 1% of listens come from here: https://www.youtube.com/@TheSeenAndTh...)
4. Ajay's organisation, XKDR Forum, on YouTube:    / @xkdr  
5. In Service of the Republic -- Vijay Kelkar and Ajay Shah: https://amzn.eu/d/hwGILb3
6. The Art of Clear Writing -- Amit's writing course: https://indiauncut.com/clear-writing/
7. How The Desperate Norwegian Salmon Industry Created A Sushi Staple -- Jess Jiang: https://tinyurl.com/3v69n4mt
8. The Indianness of Indian Food — Episode 95 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vikram Doctor):    • Ep. 95: The Indianness of Indian Food  
9. Pushpesh Pant Feasts on the Buffet of Life -- Episode 326 of The Seen and the Unseen:    • Ep 326: Pushpesh Pant Feasts on the B...  
10. We Are All Amits From Africa -- Episode 343 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Krish Ashok & Naren Shenoy):    • Ep 343: We Are All Amits From Africa  
11. A Scientist in the Kitchen — Episode 204 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Krish Ashok):    • Ep 204: A Scientist in the Kitchen  
12. The Columbian Exchange: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbi...
13. India: Cookbook -- Pushpesh Pant: https://amzn.eu/d/9kRodSv
14. Cooking the world’s oldest known curry — Soity Banerjee: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-i...
15. Did Frederick The Great Introduce The Potato To Germany? -- Matt Robinson: https://tinyurl.com/tmnjzs43
16. Against the Grain -- James C Scott: https://amzn.eu/d/iO3S54u
17. Caesar and Cleopatra -- George Bernard Shaw: https://amzn.eu/d/gHF0Ffr
18. Stage.in: https://stage.in/browse
19. When and where do great feats of architecture come about? -- Ajay Shah: https://blog.theleapjournal.org/2011/...
20. Make Me a Canteen for My Soul — Episode 304 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Sameer Seth & Yash Bhanage):    • Ep 304: Make Me a Canteen for My Soul  
21. The Refreshing Audacity of Vinay Singhal — Episode 291 of The Seen and the Unseen:    • Ep 291: The Refreshing Audacity of Vi...  
22. Narendra Shenoy and Mr Narendra Shenoy -- Episode 250 of The Seen and the Unseen:    • Ep 250: Narendra Shenoy and Mr Narend...  
23. Early Indians -- Tony Joseph: https://amzn.eu/d/gM6QMPU
24. Early Indians — Episode 112 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Tony Joseph):    • Ep. 112: Early Indians  
25. Who We Are and How We Got Here -- David Reich: https://amzn.eu/d/8LjrP1A
26. Alice Evans Studies the Great Gender Divergence — Episode 297 of The Seen and the Unseen:    • Ep 297: Alice Evans Studies the Great...  
27. Mayabono Biharini from BEDROOM by Somlata -- Rabindrasangeet busts genres:    • Mayabono Biharini from BEDROOM by Som...  
28. Sonnet 18 -- William Shakespeare: https://tinyurl.com/2suk7233
28. Sonnet 18 -- David Gilmour:    • David Gilmour Sonnet 18  
29. Sonnet 18 -- Akala:    • Hip-Hop & Shakespeare? Akala at TEDxA...  
30. Monkey Cuisine -- BBC Earth:    • Monkey Cuisine | Secret Wilderness: J...  
31. Wanderers, Kings, Merchants -- Peggy Mohan: https://amzn.eu/d/fFbFLm1
32. India Moving -- Chinmay Tumbe: https://amzn.eu/d/cWZdiFE
33. Understanding India Through Its Languages — Episode 232 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Peggy Mohan):    • Ep 232: Understanding India Through I...  
34. India = Migration — Episode 128 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Chinmay Tumbe):    • Ep. 128: India = Migration  
35. Varun Grover Is in the House — Episode 292 of The Seen and the Unseen:    • Ep 292: Varun Grover Is in the House  
36. Ajay recommends this Kefir grain: https://www.kefirwala.in/

Produced & edited by Vartika Singh:    / @vartikasingh7  .
Thanks to Gaurav Chintamani for helping with sound:   / gaurav_chintamani  
Chapter images by Simahina:   / i_am_simahina