India's past, told through public obsessions.
A Century Of Stories treats Indian history as a living set of habits, institutions and obsessions. Episodes move from BCCI television rights and women's cricket to Kannauj perfume, tea, coffee, kabaddi and couture, with guests who bring lived detail to big cultural shifts.
PRESS PLAY
A Century Of Stories frames modern India as a set of stories hiding in plain sight. A cup of tea, a kabaddi raid, a sari, a cricket broadcast or the smell of rain on dry earth can become the starting point. The show is at its best when it connects everyday familiarity to deeper systems. Tea is not just tea; it is trade, colonial enterprise, class, railway platforms and office pantries. Coffee is not just a cafe habit; it is Surat, Mocha, Aden, roasted beans, older trade routes and regional ritual. Sport gets similar treatment. Kabaddi is discussed as a rural game that gained formal rules, federations, television structure and international recognition. Cricket is a major spine of the feed. Episodes consider how the BCCI turned match rights into commercial power, why the Asia Cup matters, what journalists notice around cricketers, and how India's women's team has been building consistency. There is also room for craft and style. Kannauj perfume becomes a story about memory, patience and distilling rain-soaked earth. Indian couture becomes a language of identity, resistance, aspiration and nostalgia, shaped by freedom movements, film stars, liberalisation, magazine covers, institutions and social media. The conversations are accessible but rarely thin. They use experts and insiders to make public culture feel specific. Some episodes have a polished documentary rhythm. Others, especially the cricket conversations, carry more banter and backstage looseness. That mix gives the show range. It suits listeners who like history when it is attached to objects, games, institutions and voices rather than abstract timelines.
Made for: For listeners who like Indian history, cricket, sport and culture explained through concrete stories rather than dry chronology. It also suits anyone curious about how everyday habits become national institutions.
What sets it apart: The show connects mass culture to systems: trade, media rights, federations, craft lineages, fashion institutions and sporting power. Its cricket coverage sits beside perfume, beverages, kabaddi and couture, giving the series a wider cultural lens than a standard sports-history feed.
Join Kunal Vijayakar and Cyrus Broacha as they unravel the enchanting stories of India's last century. From groundbreaking innovations to cricketing legends, A Century of Stories is a captivating blend of humour and history, inviting you to relive and discover the tales that shaped modern India. 🎙️ Innovation & Achievement, hosted by Kunal Vijayakar 🎙️ Cricket and Beyond, hosted by Cyrus Broacha
Tea-house history meets wicket-keeping craft, so your curiosity never has to pick a team.
Press play if you want
Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
Tea and coffee become a lively study of trade, taste, and power.
Tea and coffee are treated as more than drinks here. The discussion frames them as part of power, trade, and the everyday habits a country learns to call normal. Tea becomes India's mass drink, while coffee stays more regional, ritualized, and contained.
A lively cricket conversation that finds the person inside the legend.
This episode is a conversational cricket piece built around Gaurav Kalra's backstage access to players. It works best when it moves past scorecards and into how cricketers behave away from the field, especially in the passages on Sachin Tendulkar, who comes across here as quiet,…
Local cricket, score by score.
Cricket analysis with the lid off.
Loose talk, sharp turns, real feeling.
Cricket reaction with memory and nerve.
Cricket’s global week, argued with context.
A Century of Stories examines how the Bhor Ghat railway connected Bombay and Pune after Lord Dalhousie approved James John Berkeley's direct mountain-crossing plan in April 1854.
A Century of Stories India, hosted by Kunal Vijaykar, traces how tea and coffee took different paths in India through colonial trade, plantation economics, and changing social habits.
This episode explores how Kabaddi evolved from a rural Indian game into a globally recognized sport through formalization, organizational structure, and media exposure.
This episode explores India's 3000-year-old perfume legacy with perfumer Pranav Kapoor, focusing on how ancient Indian perfumers captured scents like Petrichor and preserved them as cultural memory.
This episode explores the rise of the BCCI through commercial, cricket quality, and international clout lenses, starting with its commercial growth from the early 1990s when it began monetizing television rights.
This episode discusses the significance and relevance of the Asia Cup cricket tournament, featuring insights from cricket historian and administrator Amrit Mathur.
Gaurav Kalra maps Indian cricket through backstage encounters with Sunil Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag, Anil Kumble, and Viv Richards.
An interview with Rochelle Pinto, head of editorial content at Vogue India, exploring how fashion in India has reflected identity, resistance, and aspiration over the past century.
This episode discusses the Indian women's cricket team's successful tour of England, highlighting their consistency and depth ahead of the 2025 World Cup.
Host Kunal Vijayakar and culinary anthropologist Dr.
Cyrus Broacha and Kunal Vijayakar discuss the universally liked cricketer VVS Laxman and share humorous anecdotes about Indian cricket.
A discussion about the controversial 2007-08 India-Australia cricket tour and the racism allegations that arose.
Cyrus Broacha and Sharda discuss how the relationship between media and cricketers has changed over the decades.
A discussion about the life and career of Indian cricketer Rohit Sharma, focusing on his journey from an outlier in Mumbai cricket to becoming a legendary batsman.
A Century of Stories examines how wicket-keeping changed from a specialist defensive role into a batting and leadership position, with Deep Dasgupta explaining the shift.
Cyrus Broacha interviews a veteran cricket figure about the rise and fall of West Indies cricket in the 1980s.
Cyrus Broacha and Deep discuss historical cricket tours and players from the 1990s and early 2000s.
Rajdeep Sardesai discusses the 1971 turnaround of Indian test cricket with host Cyrus Broacha.
A discussion about the early years of the IPL, team building, and the role of a cricket director.
Cyrus Broacha and a guest discuss the era of Australian cricket dominance from the 1990s to 2011, touching on earlier periods and key figures like Alan Border.
A cricket talk show discussing Sachin Tendulkar's career in the 1990s with a sports journalist.
Cyrus Broacha and Shashank Kishore discuss IPL captaincy controversies, including multiple captain theories and the drama surrounding team leadership.
Discussion about the Royal Challengers Bangalore IPL franchise, its history, fan base, and auction strategies.
Cyrus Broacha and Ayaz discuss iconic Indian cricket World Cup victories, comparing the 1983 and 2011 wins.
Cyrus Broacha and Ayaz Meman discuss the impact of foreign players in the IPL.
This episode explores how India's news media has evolved over 25 years from traditional journalism to opinion-driven content, discussing the public's shift toward preferring influencers over balanced reporting.
This episode features an interview with a fielding coach of the Indian cricket team, discussing cricket culture and fielding skills, with humorous banter and references to Ravichandran Ashwin.
This episode celebrates Jasprit Bumrah as arguably the world's best fast bowler, highlighting his impact across formats and performance in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
This episode explores the early history of Indian cricket before independence, focusing on the pivotal role of the Parsi community in adopting and promoting the sport from the British.