Shrayana Bhattacharya, author of "Desperately Seeking Shah Rukh"

At first glance, the book I’m talking about today seems like the ultimate odd-couple pairing – a insightful analysis of the condition & economic prospects of women in India, combined with the adoration of a national movie icon. However, as it turns out, these two subjects might not be so disparate after all.

Today I had the pleasure of speaking with Shrayana Bhattacharya, an Indian economist about her 2021 book, Desperately Seeking Shah Rukh. The book follows Shrayana’s time spent collecting data on women’s ambiguously defined and chronically undervalued employment across India. Over time, she started to notice a thread common to many of the women and girls she spoke to: a love for a certain Bollywood superstar called Shah Rukh Khan – a love which she in fact shared. Unlike other male action movie stars in India who are big on muscle and short on emotion, Shah Rukh, with his sad, gentle eyes, slighter frame, and willingness to help his cinematic leading ladies peel carrots and wash dishes, has struck a unique chord with the country’s women.

A lack of financial freedom and bodily autonomy hangs over the lives of the women Shrayana talks to – eighty percent of Indian women need approval from a family member to go outside the home to visit a health centre (171), and three in five adolescent girls feel unsafe in public places (196), she tells us. However, what shines through this text is the off-the-charts wattage of respect and affection with which she tells their stories – allowing both the harsh realities of these women’s day-to-day lives and their playful, pragmatic crush on a good-looking movie star to exist simultaneously.

Even though the book is a rigorous and detailed sociological analysis, the writing is accessible, fun and witty. It would be a perfect read for someone who is interested in feminism, economics and politics, but who might equally be a little apprehensive about approaching the drier tomes that tend to populate non-fiction bestseller lists.

Books mentioned in the episode:

• One book about India (non-fiction): (50.10) Dreamers: How Young Indians are Changing the World, Snigdha Poonam, about the dreams of various segments of Indian youth.
• One book about India (fiction): (51.55) Ghachar Ghochar, Vivek Shanbhag (translated by Srinath Perur), a family rags to riches story set in Bangalore.
• Favourite book I’ve probably never heard of (52.33): The Higher Education of Geetika Mehendiratta, Anuradha Marwah a coming of age story about a young girl.
• Best book she’s read in the last 12 months (53:22): Sakina’s Kiss, Vivek Shanbhag (translated by Srinath Perur), (54.01) 
• Book she has found disappointing in the last 12 months (54.10): She found a whole genre disappointing – nonfiction accounts of very powerful men writing about themselves and the economy, vanity trip stories about themselves and how they became powerful
• Desert Island Book (55.24): The Odd Woman and the City, Vivian Gornick, a memoir about friendship and aging, set in New York City, published in 2015
• Book that changed her mind (56.15): Future Sex: A New Kind of Free Love, Emily Witt, a guide to modern sexuality, published in 2016

⁠⁠Find Shrayana:

Instagram: ⁠@bshrayana

Twitter: @bshrayana

Buy her book: https://amzn.eu/d/2YpWR4A

Follow me ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@litwithcharles⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for more book reviews and recommendations!