After every live interaction or content piece she pursued, Tara Khandelwal, founder of city-based literary company Bound, was posed with the same reaction from her audience: ‘Tell me about the publishing industry,’ people would say. As an industry often equated with gatekeeping and in a formal context, Khandelwal thought a deconstruction was in order. In October 2020, Aishwarya Javalgekar, head of content at Bound, pitched the idea of The Book People, which has now materialised into a podcast and video series that comprises interviews with a cross-section of folks from the world of publishing.

Tara Khandelwal