KATHAGRAM

About KATHAGRAM

Kathagram is a Malayalam-English literary podcast hosted by Neethu M Eldose — a former journalist, traveler, and storyteller. Season 3 — On now. Solo treks across the Himalayas. Rishikesh, Kugti, Triund, Munsiyari. Stories of shepherds, strangers, snowstorms at 16,600 feet, and the kind of kindness you only meet far from home. New episodes weekly. Past seasons: Season 2 — Five essays on the emotions that shape us: depression, ego, solitude, cultural empathy, and love. Featuring guest voices from Baiju Chandran, Rihan Rashid, Annie Vallikappen, Meedhu Miriyam, Dr. Santhosh Kumar, and more. Season 1 — A journey through Kerala's folk tales. Yakshis, slaves turned deities, betrayed lovers, forgotten ancestors. The stories your grandmother told you, told again. Each season is a different territory, but the through-line is the host's literary register — bilingual code-switched Malayalam and English, written rather than conversational, in the tradition of essayistic Indian-language storytelling. Listen, follow, and share your thoughts. Stories are life.

Publisher

Neethu M Eldose

Category

arts · society & culture

Language

ml

Explicit

No

First episode

7 Jan 2024

Latest episode

7 Jun 2026

Latest episodes

25 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   7 Jun 2026

   S3 E5: Munsiyari -- An Awakening Journey | Kathagram

   Munsiyari, Uttarakhand. Near the Indo-Tibetan border. The last stop of Season 3. A 12-hour shared taxi ride in a Bolero crammed with 15 people. A homestay run by village women who took back the work of hosting strangers. Kamla, who refilled my plate while telling me the legend of the Yaksha who fell in love with a village girl at Mehsar Kund. Pushpa, the first female trekking guide I had ever climbed with — a mother of three, an ardent bird watcher, a Pahadi woman who refused to leave the hills even after marching at Jantar Mantar. And then the Raabta forest. A maze of entangled roots, a moaning voice we couldn't ignore, and Pushpa's whispered warning: "Peeche mudke mat dekhna." Don't look back. This is the story of Munsiyari — an awakening journey, the closing chapter of Season 3. Season 3 of Kathagram is a series of solo Himalayan trek memoirs by Neethu M Eldose — a former journalist, traveler, and storyteller. From Rishikesh to Kugti, Triund to Munsiyari — every path, every person, every pause had something to offer. Stories are life.

2. 

   24 May 2026

   S3 E4: Triund -- The Birthday I Spent Alone in the Snow | Kathagram

   Triund, Himachal Pradesh. I was about to turn thirty, alone on a mountain in the Indian Himalayas, in a snowstorm that lasted through the night. I had come up to be by myself. To not celebrate. To let the day pass quietly, the way I thought I wanted. I had a campsite manager named Baisakhiram who knew exactly where to find a bucket of water when I asked where the bathroom was. ("Madam, sab kuch bahar hi karna padta hai!") I had two strangers I had met on the trek up — two men whose names I barely knew. I had a flask of tea, a tent, and the silence I had asked for. Then, just before midnight, the strangers knocked on my tent. They had walked back through the snow with a packet of biscuits arranged like a cake, a single candle in the middle. This is the story of Triund. The birthday I spent alone in the snow, and the kindness I never asked for. Season 3 of Kathagram is a series of solo Himalayan trek memoirs by Neethu M Eldose — a former journalist, traveler, and storyteller. New episodes weekly. Stories are life.

3. 

   17 May 2026

   S3 E3: Kugti -- The Trek I Almost Didn't Survive | Kathagram

   Kugti, Himachal Pradesh. 16,600 feet. April. I was walking up to a sacred mountain pass with Gaddi shepherds and 800 sheep, when a freak snowstorm came — the kind no one in those mountains had seen in April for years. The sheep scattered. Half the flock was lost. My fingers stopped working. And in the middle of all of it, Ajay — one of the shepherds — reached into his pocket and pulled out an old ₹500 note. The same note India had been told, months earlier after demonetization, was worthless. He rolled it. Filled it with tobacco. Lit it. At 16,600 feet, in a snowstorm, the most valuable thing in the world was tobacco. Not money. This is the story of Kugti. The trek I almost didn't survive. Season 3 of Kathagram is a series of solo Himalayan trek memoirs by Neethu M Eldose — a former journalist, traveler, and storyteller. New episodes weekly. Listen, follow, and share your thoughts. Stories are life.

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Spotify

4.9 / 5

19 ratings

Contact KATHAGRAM

Guest appearances

Does not typically book guests

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