A Nation of Stories: An Oral History of India

When was the last time you attended a bar talk about the life of citizens in pre and post independent India told through personal micro-histories and material memory?

In our upcoming lecture, Malvika Bhatia will share stories of citizens who have witnessed life in pre-Independent India as well as the subsequent formative nation-building years. The stories go well beyond the political climate of the time. Citizens tell us about their personal lives, their social lives, about the culture and community in which they grew up, and how times have changed. The speaker will also discuss how personal memories bring depth and emotion to India’s history. Through CAI’s oral history projects, she and her team record eyewitness accounts and collect everyday artefacts to preserve lived experiences that textbooks overlook.

The Citizens' Archive of India preserves India's past through personal micro-histories. The archive is a digital oral history collection that records personal histories and material memory of ordinary people who have seen India's evolution over the years, with a view to creating a publicly accessible archive. The collection comprises 700 recorded hours of interviews and over 5,500 documents and objects in 14 languages. The archive is accessed by a wide range of users, such as scholars, authors, filmmakers, and school students as young as four years old.

CAI's flagship Generation 1947 Project captures voices of people born before Independence, documenting how ordinary citizens experienced the Second World War, the Freedom Movement, Independence and Partition, and post-Independence life. Other projects include Dilli Ki Khirki, chronicling the history of a village in the heart of posh South Delhi, and Soboicar, highlighting the west coast’s Catholic communities that settled in South Mumbai.

In this talk, Malvika will share many moving and diverse stories: from teenagers joining the fight during the Second World War, to a child's first experience with a telephone. Personal recollections of simple childhood pleasures, women’s liberation, and a burgeoning new nation reveal how history is both political and profoundly human. The talk will emphasize oral history’s value in adding nuance, showing that even conflicting memories are vital pieces of the national mosaic. Each story — of struggle, resilience, or everyday life — helps build a more complete portrait of the nation.

About the Speaker: Malvika Bhatia is a museum and heritage professional, and an oral historian. She is also the Director of the Citizens' Archive of India. She spent the initial part of her career working in museum education, and subsequently built audio guides for heritage sites and neighbourhoods in India and internationally. Since 2017, she has been building The Citizens' Archive of India from the ground up. Malvika believes History is best taught through storytelling and does just that through her work.

What to Expect:

📜⌛ 60 minute lecture about the life of citizens in pre and post independent India through personal micro-histories and material memory

🎤 30 minutes of interactive Q&A with the speaker

👋 30 minute mixer with the speaker and other participants

🍺 One complimentary Moonshine Mead or Regular Mocktail/Hot Drink and a snack is included with your ticket

🤩 Avail "happy hour" benefits from Woodside Inn from 4 pm to 8 pm

Pint of View Mumbai is inspired by the Lectures on Tap and Pint of Science communities, and we're taking this format across 10+ major cities in India and counting! It’s where big ideas meet bar tables.

Event Details:

📅 Sunday, 18 January 2026 | 4 pm to 6 pm

📍 Woodside Inn Bandra (How to get here?)

💰 Ticket link in bio

🎫 Limited to 75 attendees only

💰 Early bird pricing available for first 5 tickets

Disclaimer: Ticket holders must be of legal drinking age (21 and above).

At Pint of View Mumbai, curious minds gather over drinks to explore cutting-edge ideas and to unravel the threads of human culture. It’s the perfect way to spend your weekend - stimulating your mind, meeting people who think like you (or challenge how you think), and learning something you’ll definitely talk about all week.

See you at the lecture!

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