Parallels Between the Plague and COVID-19 Pandemics feat. Prashant Kidambi

125 years ago, Bombay was hit by a deadly disease called 'the plague'. Nobody had seen anything like it, a large number of people were losing their lives everyday due to this disease, and the hospitals were full of patients in trying to combat it. The plague spread to other cities and localities as well. By the time it ended, more than a million people had lost their lives. The colonial administration, which ran Bombay at the time, took matters in their own hands and went about the task of containing the disease with clinical ruthlessness - crowded homes were demolished, people were displaced and entire areas were cleaned up. In the end, however, a newly laid out city emerged.

On this episode, host Sidharth Bhatia is joined by Dr. Prashant Kidambi, author of the book 'The Making of an Indian Metropolis: Colonial Governance and Public Culture in Bombay, 1890-1920' and Associate Professor of Colonial Urban History at the University of Leicester, to talk about how he traced the genesis and aftermath of the plague, a time when new roads, suburbs and a new way of living was born, and to explain the parallels between the Bombay plague of 1896 and the COVID-19 pandemic. Tune in for an amazing and informative conversation.

Check out Dr. Prashant's aforementioned book: https://www.amazon.in/dp/1138564710/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fabc_MUHZFbTWD6BGV

Follow Sidharth Bhatia on Twitter and Instagram @bombaywallah : https://twitter.com/bombaywallah and https://instagram.com/bombaywallah

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