2.8: Parmesh Shahani - Writing A Genre-Bending Business Book On LGBTQ Rights

Find out how he balanced research, personal stories, Bollywood masala, and more to write a business book that will change the way we think about work-places.

Tara and Michelle talk to Parmesh Shahani, whose latest book “Queeristan: LGBTQ Inclusion in the Indian Workplace” is described as ‘part memoir, part manifesto’. He shares the challenges of writing a book for multiple audiences - queer and straight, business and non-business. 

Find out how he turned his business book into a Bollywood masala film - spicing up the numbers and facts with real stories and personal experiences. He talks about the power of excel sheets in structuring his book. Michelle loves Parmesh’s references, from Simmi aunty in Indian Matchmaking to the coveted coffee hamper from Koffee with Karan. Tara calls it a business book unlike anything she has ever read before! 

'Books and Beyond with Bound' is the podcast where Tara Khandelwal and Michelle D'costa of Bound talk to some of the best writers in India and find out what makes them tick.

Parmesh Shahani is Vice President at Godrej Industries Ltd. He is a passionate advocate for LGBTQ inclusion in corporate India. He is the author of “Gay Bombay: Globalization, Love and (Be)Longing in Contemporary India” and “Queeristan: LGBTQ Inclusion in the Indian Workplace”.  He has been a TED Senior Fellow, a Yale World Fellow, and a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader. He is a member of the FICCI taskforce on diversity and inclusion and a board member of KHOJ International Artists’ Association.

Mentions: Sachin Kundalkar’s Cobalt Blue translated by Jerry Pinto, Nisha Susan’s The Women Who Forgot to Invent Facebook & Other Stories, Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar’s My Father’s Garden, Michiel Baas’ Muscular India: Masculinity, Mobility & the New Middle Class, Sharanya Manivannan’s poetry.

You can get your copy of his book here: 

https://www.amazon.in/Queeristan-LGBTQ-Inclusion-Indian-Workplace/dp/9389648149 

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‘Books and Beyond with Bound’ is the podcast where Tara Khandelwal and Michelle D’costa uncover how their books reflect the realities of our lives and society today. Find out what drives India’s finest authors: from personal experiences to jugaad research methods, insecurities to publishing journeys. Created by Bound, a storytelling company that helps you grow through stories. Follow us @boundindia on all social media platforms.