ARUNAVA KHASNOBIS · WRITING
Returning to a conversation through an essay
People, cinema, relationships, moral conflict and inner life—original essays and Arunava’s perspectives from selected podcasts.
01Bhishma’s vow: when duty becomes a silent prison
An expanded essay on how a noble vow can consume agency, protest and responsibility toward future generations.
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02Yudhishthira’s truth: is principle just when it refuses context?
Yudhishthira between the nobility of truth and the cost imposed on other lives.
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03Dharmayuddha: who owned the word dharma before the war began?
Claims, propaganda, civilian cost and the victor’s narrative before calling Kurukshetra a righteous war.
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04Shakuni: when political intelligence serves wounded memory
Humiliation, family loyalty, manipulation and revenge beyond the cardboard villain.
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05Hope between blood and dharma: answer or endurance?
Hope in an epic of war as the small capacity to rebuild relationship and memory after loss.
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06Mahabharata and modern politics: respect difference before analogy
The epic as a lens on power, loyalty, institutions and compromise—not a meme for current politics.
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07Workplace ego: does witnessing mean stepping away from responsibility?
From presentation panic to power: observing ego without turning awareness into passivity.
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08Ego and identity: demolish the room or open a window?
The need for identity, its narrowing force and the possibility of a more flexible self.
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09The evolution of Bengali cinema: not an album of glory, but a changing audience
Bengali cinema through changing technology, economics, performance and its relationship with the audience.
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10A child’s curiosity: do our answers kill the question?
Parental anxiety, performance culture and a safe space for questions, grounded in the Soul Connection episode.
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11After seeing the industry’s ugliness: can an artist preserve tenderness?
Rejection, hierarchy, survival and the distance between craft and self-worth, grounded in the Tota Roy Chowdhury conversation.
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12The note still has not landed: an artist’s long relationship with incompleteness
Listening, riyaaz and humility before a single note, grounded in the Haimanti Sukla conversation.
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13Finding one’s own voice under the guru’s shadow
Lineage, discipline, embodied knowledge and originality, grounded in Pt. Swapan Chaudhuri’s memories.
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14Performing for two people: does art shrink with its audience?
Empty seats, embarrassment, rehearsal and the ethics of attention, grounded in Soumya Mukherjee’s experience.
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15Beyond scripted questions: does a good interviewer know or listen?
Research, follow-up, ego and the craft of living conversation, grounded in Indrajit Lahiri’s critique.
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