Poet and scholar Amit Ranjan explores colonialism and diaspora through the story of two real-life men: a 19th century Australian in India and a descendant of indentured Indians in today’s Caribbean.

John Lang (1816-64), who was born in Australia and lived most of his adult life in India, waged a ceaseless battle against the British Empire in India with his words in his novels, his newspaper, and as a lawyer - primarily because he was a “currency lad” of convict heritage in Australia and he thought he had had enough.

Uncle Bobby’s (Kumar Ganshaw) ancestors came from Bihar, Eastern India to British Guyana in the early 20th century and struggled to keep their food and religion alive in the face of “the white man’s burden.” Uncle Bobby has lived on the water in the British Virgin Islands for 25 years now, hoping to crossover to the American Dream someday soon. He does not understand more than fifty words in Hindi, but still sings to his gods and goddesses for five hours everyday in that language with impeccable enunciation, pronunciation, percussion, and precision.

Speaker Bio:

Amit Ranjan is Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence at Florida International University (FIU) for 2021-22. He has a PhD, MPhil, and MA from JNU, Delhi; and a BA(Hons) in English from St. Stephen’s Collge, Delhi. His latest book about John Lang, a 19th century Australian writer, lawyer and journalist throws new light at British empire vis-à-vis characters of interlopers like the protagonist of the work.

Amit was a Fulbright scholar previously as well, in 2019, and in 2015-16, also at FIU. He has also been a recipient of Endeavour Fellowship of Australia, as also the Inlaks Research Grant, courtesy of which he was a Visiting Fellow at UNSW, Sydney in 2010. He was also delegate at Australia India Youth Dialogue, 2015; and a writer-in-residence at Sangam House Writers’ residency, 2010. He also held the honorary position of Australia Awards Ambassador for four years. He has taught literature at institutions like St. Stephen’s, Miranda House, JNU, Jamia Millia Islamia, and FIU.

Amit’s poems, short stories, and essays have been published in various journals like La Zaporogue, Anti Serious, Cold Noon, Muse India, The Equator Line, Joao Roque etc. Amit also has written four plays. His poetry collection Find Me Leonard Cohen, I am Almost Thirty(2018) has received very good reviews. In an earlier avatar, Ranjan was also a journalist hunting for uncanny stories of Delhi. Given his hunt for symmetries amongst cemeteries, he’s also been a walk leader in Delhi, as a pastime. Upcoming publications include a non-fiction work on Dara Shikoh; another collection of poems; and an academic work about colonial writers. Currently, he is also an Assistant Professor of English NCERT, New Delhi.