Happy Accidents

About Happy Accidents

Interviews with creative people on why process, rigour and mastery still matter in a post-AI world. www.happyaccidents.co.in

Publisher

Vinayak Varma

Category

arts · society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

Yes

First episode

5 Jul 2026

Latest episode

14 Sept 2026

Latest episodes

6 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   14 Sept 2026

   Rashmi Ruth Devadasan & Rakesh Khanna

   Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note. (https://rss.com/podcasts/happyaccidentspod/voicemail) In this episode, host Vinayak Varma talks to Rashmi Ruth Devadasan and Rakesh Khanna, the directors of Blaft (www.blaft.com (http://www.blaft.com)), about the kind of books they like to read, the stories they're drawn to creating, and what they want to see more of out there on the bookshelves. Along the way they discuss everything from surrealist children's picture books to pulp comics, monsters, movies, avant garde music, and more. Rashmi Ruth Devadasan is a writer with over twenty-five years of experience in indie publishing, feature films, and Indian English theatre. With Blaft, she has been part of the selection, editing, design and production of the company's fiction in translation, comic book anthologies, original fiction, and zines. She is the author of Kumari Loves a Monster, a picture book created with the artist Shyam. She is a fan of fungi, moss, lichen, cephalopods, and jellyfish. Rashmi also draws gentle sample collector bots on a cacti-covered asteroid called Succulentious. These can be found on the 'Gram under the handle @kaimaurundai. Her TUK (The Ultimate Kanavu, or dream) is to direct a Godzilla film set in Chennai, where Godzilla’s introduction scene has him looming over Napier Bridge. Rakesh Khanna grew up in Berkeley, California, of mixed Punjabi and Anglo-American heritage. He is the author of Ghosts, Monsters, and Demons of India and the editor of The Blaft Anthology of Tamil Pulp Fiction, Vol. 1 and 2. Sometimes he edits mathematics textbooks. He is also interested in marine invertebrates, palaeontology, demonology, combinatorics, and banging on things to see what they sound like. Follow Blaft on Instagram @blaftpublications and on Bluesky @blaft.bsky.social (http://blaft.bsky.social) Visit www.blaft.com (http://www.blaft.com) to buy their books. -- Happy Accidents is a series of in-depth conversations with seasoned creative practitioners on process, mastery and authenticity in the age of AI. Visit www.happyaccidents.co.in (http://www.happyaccidents.co.in) to subscribe, get updates, and find social links. Find Vinayak Varma at www.mixtape.in (http://www.mixtape.in) and instagram.com/moralpanicbutton

2. 

   26 Aug 2026

   Srinath Perur

   Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note. (https://rss.com/podcasts/happyaccidentspod/voicemail) In this episode, Srinath Perur tells Vinayak Varma about the varied experiences and writing experiments that underpin his acclaimed career: starting with acrostic poetry and pornographic college newspapers to songwriting for the stage, academic research writing for his doctorate, using his camera as a visual notepad during his many travels, writing short stories (and winning short story prizes), translating fiction vs. non-fiction, making (and writing about) music, and much else. Srinath Perur writes on science, travel and books among other things and translates from Kannada. He is the author of If It's Monday It Must Be Madurai, a book on travelling with groups. He is the translator of Vivek Shanbhag's Ghachar Ghochar and Sakina's Kiss, and Girish Karnad's memoirs This Life At Play. He lives in Bengaluru. Srinath isn't on the socials, so go find him IRL at whatever local literary event he might next attend. And read his books and essays! -- Happy Accidents is a series of in-depth conversations with seasoned creative practitioners on process, mastery and authenticity in the age of AI. Visit www.happyaccidents.co.in (http://www.happyaccidents.co.in) to subscribe, get updates, and find social links. Find Vinayak Varma at www.mixtape.in (http://www.mixtape.in) and instagram.com/moralpanicbutton

3. 

   2 Aug 2026

   Kuzhali Manickavel

   Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note. (https://rss.com/podcasts/happyaccidentspod/voicemail) In this episode, writer and artist Kuzhali Manickavel talks to Vinayak Varma about her journey from Canada to Bengaluru via Chidambaram, how her writing has been darkly absurd since her early childhood, why process continues to trump convenience, and what goes into her burgeoning visual arts practice. Kuzhali Manickavel's collections, chapbooks and zines are all available from Blaft Publications. Her first novel is A Compendium of Supernatural Entities Found in the Government Girls Higher Secondary School available from Angry Robot. Her work has also appeared in Granta, Strange Horizons, Rolling Stone, Agni, Subtropics, Michigan Quarterly Review and DIAGRAM. Find Kuzhali at www.kuzhalimanickavel.com (http://www.kuzhalimanickavel.com) and kuzhalimanickavel.bsky.social (http://kuzhalimanickavel.bsky.social). -- Happy Accidents is a series of in-depth conversations with seasoned creative practitioners on process, mastery and authenticity in the age of AI. Visit www.happyaccidents.co.in (http://www.happyaccidents.co.in) to subscribe, get updates, and find social links. Find Vinayak Varma at www.mixtape.in (http://www.mixtape.in) and instagram.com/moralpanicbutton

4. 

   19 Jul 2026

   Sameer Kulavoor

   Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note. (https://rss.com/podcasts/happyaccidentspod/voicemail) In this episode, artist Sameer Kulavoor tells Vinayak Varma about how his shift from commercial art to fine art required a fundamental shift in how he viewed his practice as a whole; he discusses his views on generative AIs and how today's art students can use this moment to discover a more personal approach to creativity; and about how his work shapeshifts across scale and scope even while being governed by a singular concept. Some of the projects Sameer mentions in this interview: the Blued book, the Ghoda Cycle Project, Parfum Sassoon, Metromorphosis, and Brick by Brac. Visit www.sameerkulavoor.com (http://www.sameerkulavoor.com) to find out more about his work. Follow Sameer on Instagram at instagram.com/sam_kulavoor (https://instagram.com/sam_kulavoor) -- Happy Accidents is a series of in-depth conversations with seasoned creative practitioners on process, mastery and authenticity in the age of AI. Visit www.happyaccidents.co.in (http://www.happyaccidents.co.in) to subscribe, get updates, and find social links. Find Vinayak Varma at www.mixtape.in (http://www.mixtape.in) and instagram.com/moralpanicbutton (https://instagram.com/moralpanicbutton)

5. 

   12 Jul 2026

   Priya Kuriyan

   Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note. (https://rss.com/podcasts/happyaccidentspod/voicemail) In this episode, Vinayak Varma talks to Priya Kuriyan, the acclaimed writer-illustrator and animator, about what it means to continue with a mainly traditional, hand-done illustration process despite a societal and industry-wide shift towards digital mediums and generative AI. Read "Beauty is Missing" by Priya Kuriyan here. (https://store.prathambooks.org/productDetails?productId=beauty_is_missing) Follow Priya at instagram.com/priyakuriyan (https://instagram.com/priyakuriyan) -- Happy Accidents is a series of in-depth conversations with seasoned creative practitioners on process, mastery and authenticity in the age of AI. Visit www.happyaccidents.co.in (http://www.happyaccidents.co.in) to subscribe, get updates, and find social links. Find Vinayak Varma at www.mixtape.in (http://www.mixtape.in) and instagram.com/moralpanicbutton (https://instagram.com/moralpanicbutton) --

6. 

   5 Jul 2026

   Samanth Subramanian

   Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note. (https://rss.com/podcasts/happyaccidentspod/voicemail) Welcome to Happy Accidents, a series of in-depth conversations with seasoned creative practitioners on process, mastery and authenticity in the age of AI. In this first episode, Vinayak Varma interviews Samanth Subramanian, the award-winning journalist and author of The Web Beneath the Waves, A Dominant Character, This Divided Island, and Following Fish. Subramanian has written for The Guardian, The New Yorker, The New York Times, WIRED, Granta, Harper's, Wall Street Journal, Mint, and several other major publications. He was the global news editor for Quartz, and is currently on the editorial board of Equator, the new magazine of politics, culture and art. Visit www.happyaccidents.co.in (http://www.happyaccidents.co.in) to subscribe, get updates, and find social links. Find Vinayak Varma at www.mixtape.in (http://www.mixtape.in) and instagram.com/moralpanicbutton (https://instagram.com/moralpanicbutton) Read more about Samanth Subramanian's work at samanth.in, (http://samanth.in) and follow him at https://samanth.substack.com/ (https://samanth.substack.com/) Subscribe to Equator magazine at equator.org (http://equator.org)

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Spotify

5.0 / 5

3 ratings

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Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.