90: Celina Baljeet Basra (Happy)

The Worm Hole Podcast

Charlie and Celina Baljeet Basra (Happy) discuss the experiences undocumented migrants to Western Europe face, French film director Jean Luc Goddard's seminal film Bande À Part, Indian talkshow Koffee With Karan, and Celina's particular usage of Umbrella, ella, ella, eh, eh, eh.

The Abduction Of Europe A review of 'Park', the 2017 exhibition curated by Celina Bande À Part Bruce Bégout's Le Park Uski Roti There are no clips of the discussed Koffee With Karan episode on YouTube, but if you've the right channel, it is from 7th November 2010

Where to find Celina online

Website || Twitter || Instagram

Where to find Charlie online

Website || Twitter || Instagram

Discussions

01:48 Why Celina wanted to tell this story: inspiration from a distant relatives' migration from India to Italy 05:24 Celina's highly unique narrative structure (fragmented) and how she used it to further achieve her aims 09:45 Would there have been a way for Happy's life to improve, if what happened to him at the end didn't happen? 12:07 The real riot of exploited migrants that was mentioned in the book 14:36 The character of Europe and the way Celina created a woman from a continent 19:32 The importance of the presence of Happy's family in the novel 21:20 The phrases of Italian vocabulary included that shows us where Happy is in his learning about his new life 24:35 Wonderland - the real one in Jalandhar and Celina's fictionisation of it 28:53 The inclusion of Jean Luc Goddard's Bande À Part 34:35 The inclusion of Indian talkshow Koffee With Karan 40:22 Why Celina included the other narrative voices of Harbir and Zhivago at the end 43:37 What's next

Photo credit: Lilian Scarlet.