I'm just going to say it. As terrible as I feel admitting to it, no less writing it, there is a voyeuristic intrigue to uncovering the depravity human beings are capable of. It’s no wonder that the world of true crime has an allure that draws in researchers and helpless crime junkies alike.
Ask me what crime podcasts I’ve been listening to, and I can tattle off at least 20 — no prompts needed. It was in the isolation of the pandemic that I discovered my love for podcasts. Deep in the abyss of a podcast binge, my Spotify playlist stumbled upon two voices that sounded a lot more like mine than I was used to. What do I mean by that? I mean brown voices that spoke Indian English and had Indian names.
Acting on preconceived notions I held about Indian podcasts, I nearly switched to a different one when I heard one of the hosts say, “I am obsessed with this case.” Obsessed? Case? Is she me? Am I her? I guess we’ll never know.
And so, I listened on. I didn’t know it then, but I had just discovered what’s become one of my favourite podcasts - ‘The Desi Crime Podcast’.
A Star(let) Was Born
In 2020, the two hosts Aryaan and Aishwarya were, by no stretch of imagination, professional podcasters. They were two unlikely college students, couped up in their university dorm, stuck in a country far away from home. One was a true crime aficionado, the other a strategic thinker, and both were good orators. They pooled all their savings, from 3 jobs each, to buy the best equipment money could buy. And thence, The Desi Crime Podcast was born.
As we sat down for an exclusive conversation with Aishwarya and Aryaan, they were quick to point out that the podcast was intended to fill a gap in the Indian market for podcasts. For a country known for its love of stories, there’s a surprising dearth of skilful storytelling and quality production when it comes to Indian crime-based podcasts.
As literature and legend attests to, India has had sleuths galore. From Feluda to Byomkesh Bakshi, India has had a historic love for investigative storytelling, one that hasn’t necessarily translated to the supply of this demand. When speaking about what was of utmost importance for them at the time of recording their first episode, Aryaan and Aishwarya mentioned how important quality control was for them. As Aishwarya expressed, self-reflectively, of her experience listening to Indian podcasts, “It’s a weird feeling to listen to your own accent and find it jarring.”
How did they set the context for the desi-ness of their podcast? Well, as it happens, the first case they covered did it for them. Far preceding the Netflix documentary, ‘House of Secrets’ it was The Desi Crime Podcast team that brought the Burari case to light. According to Aishwarya, it was an uncanny amalgamation of true crime and the supernatural: both fundamentals of the quintessential Indian story.
Candour Lies In The Ears of the Beholder
Now, here’s the thing: you may take all the offence you must, to me saying this, but stories and ideas come a dime a dozen. It’s only those that are actively worked upon that ever truly come to matter. And, that’s what we admire about these two young entrepreneurs: they had an idea, and they did something about it.
This podcast makes no tall claims of activism. As Aaryan candidly stated, “With the crux being entertainment, how do you package it in an informational way?” Yet, there are certain ethical guardrails they hold themselves to. They aim to deliver each case with the somber empathy it deserves, to ensure the highest degree of accuracy they can muster, and to tell the stories of both the victim and the perpetrator. As Aaryan says on the podcast as well, “Explanation is not justification.” It’s no surprise, then, that even family members of victims have reached out to them to express their appreciation for the nuance with which the cases are covered.
Some Toil, Some Trouble
They aren’t critics and they are definitely not journalists. Rather, these two Desi Crime Podcasters are contemporary Indian storytellers. And The Desi Crime Podcast, as they would describe it, is “English familiarity with Indian nostalgia.”
You can follow the Desi Crime Podcast here.
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