"When we are brought up in the West, we know all about how Greek ideas changed the world and we learn about the Silk Road...but to this day most people in the West are completely unaware of India’s contributions although they use these contributions everyday."
William Dalrymple definitely pitched his book better than I was attempting to. It's hard to sound intelligent in front of a historian that has the ability to do what so few can- explain to us in logical, practical terms the extremely complicated, beautiful, and delicate history of India, its many cultures, languages, religions, and what makes us so damn cool.
When I was invited to meet William at Harlan and Kathy Crow's home a few weeks back here in Dallas, I didn't expect that he would be asking me to DJ at his legendary farmhouse parties in Delhi (yes, I absolutely said yes).
I also didn’t think I would be looking at a collection of more than 10,000 books and more than 5,000 manuscripts, one of the most remarkable collections in the country outside of the Library of Congress.
And then there is the famous sculpture garden. But I digress.
William Benedict Hamilton-Dalrymple (I mean you gotta say his whole name) is an India-based Scottish multi-award-winning and bestselling historian as well as a curator, broadcaster and critic.
His latest, The Golden Road: How Ancient India Transformed the World (already a The New York Times best seller) discusses the ways in which India's ideas and influences spread and changed the world.
And why others get the credit for it. (Seriously, our people need to improve their marketing and PR skills).
Ideas such as the number zero, the basic rules of mathematics, and religious insights and ideas that are among the crucial foundations of our world. The big questions about what the world is, how it operates, why we are here and how we should live our lives. Buddhism. No big deal.
So William asks - why is the extraordinary diffusion of its influence not better and more widely known?
Those of you familiar with Dalrymple and his work I’m sure know that he has been interviewed countless amount of times. So my goal during our chat was to try to really understand his childhood. Who was William Dalrymple in high school? Who were his parents? Who would he be if it weren’t for those who he considered major influences in his life?
We talk about his Edwardian childhood, growing up the youngest of four brothers, and his 3rd parent, all of whom have shaped who he is today. We both make fun of Indian moms who seem to always spoil their sons, bond over our mutual love for his friend Aamir Khan, and which Bollywood star would play him in a movie. (Not hard to guess this one).
He discusses how India will soon be the 3rd most powerful economy in the world so it is about time we retrieve her proper history, I ask him what he believes is the greatest Indian export, he discusses what is currently making him Tuckered Out, and he talks about his new (mind-blowing) podcast, Empire.
As always, we exchange concert stories- his was seeing The Clash in Rome. I mean, c’mon.
We need a Part 2 to this podcast episode no doubt. This is a good one guys. And get the book. You'll feel much smarter after you read it.
Mom, this one is for you.
As always, I leave you with a song I’m currently obsessed with. This is a band I just discovered (through my brother) and I’ve been consuming their music all week.
Their songs take me back to early childhood- New Order, Information Society, OMD. Nation of Language is an American indie pop band that has managed to bring all the things I love about the genre in one big beautiful, hopeful, and sad sound- and it tugs at my heart strings every time.
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