Ruchir Joshi on the Calcutta you don’t know

In this episode of The Sandip Roy Show, author Ruchir Joshi takes us back to Calcutta in the early 1940s — a time of political upheaval, global war, and cultural ferment. Set against the backdrop of Tagore’s death, Subhas Bose’s escape, the Quit India Movement, and the looming Bengal Famine, Joshi’s novel The Great Eastern Hotel captures a city on the brink of transformation. Sandip and Ruchir discuss why the years 1941 to 1943 were so pivotal, how Calcutta became a crossroads of empire and resistance, and how a diverse cast of characters, from elite Bengalis to British expatriates and street pickpockets, bring this charged moment to life.