Tune in for narratives critical to our times. Listen, ask and seek answers.
Michiel Baas
Michiel Baas has a PhD in Anthropology from the University of Amsterdam, and has held various academic positions with the National University of Singapore, Nalanda University (Rajgir), the International Institute for Asian Studies (Leiden) and the University of Amsterdam. Most of his work centres on the Indian middle class. He has published extensively on the topic of fitness and bodybuilding in India, Indian student-migration to Australia, the migration trajectories of skilled professionals in Singapore, the Indian migration industry and the lives and lifestyles of IT professionals in Bangalore.
Session
Muscular India: Masculinity, Mobility & the New Middle Class
Michiel Baas in conversation with Vivek Tejuja
Unraveling a world hidden in plain sight, Michiel Baas’ Muscular India: Masculinity, Mobility & the New Middle Class introduces us to the inner workings of the gyms of a ‘new India’. An opportunity of upward mobility for the trainers and specialists, these spaces also provide a break from the traditional masculinity represented by the pehlwans of the akharas. In a conversation with author Vivek Tejuja, Baas discusses the intricacies of the use of bodily capital to escape class barriers and the contradictions within a space that has taken India by storm.