Isolation Words
On pandemics and plagues in fiction
Indian Express / March 2020
Jaideep Unudurti is a freelance journalist specializing in travel, popular culture and books; he also has a special interest in chess. Unudurti has covered a wide range of events from the rock band Guns N Roses’ performance in Bangalore to the 2012 world chess championship in Moscow. He has received a development grant from CNAP, Paris to write a film with renowned director Amit Dutta. His alter ego Jai Undurti is the creator of Hyderabad: A Graphic Novel, a unique city-centric approach to graphic storytelling. His graphic novel "Die Unterirdischen Städte", with artist Fabian Stoltz, an adventure set in the underworld beneath the battlefields of World War I, was published in 2019 by Zwerchfell Verlag. He is currently the creative director at Syenagiri, an animation & graphic novel production house. Jai is represented by the Writer's Side literary agency.
On pandemics and plagues in fiction
Indian Express / March 2020
Review of Sangeeta Bandyopadhyay's The Yogini
The Hindu / March 2020
A portrait of Ubud, Bali
The Hindu / December 2019
The struggle to control our Moon - in science and art
Indian Express / July 2019
On the coming war in Space
Indian Express / May 2019
Drifting through the streets of Hamburg
Indian Express / January 2019
A review of "Brief Answers to Big Questions" by Stephen Hawking
OPEN Magazine / November 2018
A review of "Travails with the Alien" by Satyajit Ray
OPEN Magazine / October 2018
Conversation with Anthony Horowitz on his new novel
Mumbai Mirror / September 2018
On the Indian prodigies shaking up the chess world
Mumbai Mirror / July 2018
A profile of the world's youngest Grandmaster - Praggnandhaa
Economic Times / July 2018
Op-Ed on Praggnandhaa and the Indian chess wave
The Hindu / July 2018
A review of "The Snake & the Lotus" by Appupen
OPEN Magazine / June 2018
A review of "Indira" by Devapriya Roy & Priya Kuriyan
OPEN Magazine / April 2018
A visit to ground zero of the Baahubali phenomenon
Mumbai Mirror / November 2017
A review of Devi Yesodharan's "Empire"
OPEN Magazine / September 2017
Jai Undurti on books and reading
Times of India / September 2017 / [Pdf , 580 KB]
An appreciation of Brian Aldiss and his works
Indian Express / September 2017
A review of Ken Liu's "The Paper Menagerie"
OPEN Magazine / March 2017
How we lost hope in the Future
Indian Express / January 2017
On finding books to re-read
The Hindu / December 2016
A review of Mister Kitty's Stupid Comics
Mint Lounge / November 2016
A review of "Katusha the Tank Girl"
Mint Lounge / October 2016
Reading in the mountains
The Hindu / September 2016
Remembering a Future
Mint on Sunday / July 2016
Review of First Hand: Graphic Non-Fiction from India
The Hindu / June 2016
The pickle-makers of Nampally
Indian Express / May 2016
Coffee, a Secret History
Mint on Sunday / May 2016
Review of Detours: Songs of the Open Road
Indian Express / April 2016
An appreciation of second-hand bookstores
The Hindu / April 2016
Cuisine for Asterix & Tintin
Indian Express / March 2016
Obsession, Chess and Reality
THread by Hindu / March 2016
An invisible library of books that only exist in books
The Hindu / January 2016
Our greatest challenge is still above us
Mint on Sunday / January 2016
Review of Crocodile in Water, Tiger on Land strip collection
Hindu BusinessLine / January 2016
To know a strange city, look no farther than its libraries and bookshelves
The Hindu / December 2015
Bulls on Parade at the Sadar
Hindu BusinessLine / November 2015
The Foodie behind the Spy
Indian Express / November 2015
Our greatest discovery will be that we are alone in the Universe
THread by Hindu / November 2015
A review of two French "uchroniques"
Mint Lounge / November 2015
Story papers from the time of the Raj
Mint Lounge / October 2015
A generation lost in space
THread by Hindu / October 2015
Viswanathan Anand looks at chess-themed films
THread by Hindu / October 2015
And a great Emptying came upon the Earth
Mint on Sunday / October 2015
A report from the Hyderabad ComicCon 2015
Hindu Business Line / September 2015
Webcomics come of age
Mint Lounge / September 2015
He was in the flow of Flows and in timeless Time
Mint on Sunday / September 2015
How to break into Tollywood
Hindu Business Line / August 2015
A review of "The Heat and Dust Project" by Devapriya Roy & Saurav Jha
Indian Express / July 2015
A review of two French BD featuring mechas and monsters
Mint Lounge / July 2015
A review of two Filipino short horror komics
Mint Lounge / July 2015
Feminist visual tales tell of cities and spaces, restrictions and uprisings
Hindu Business Line / May 2015
And thus began the Vedic Space Age!
Mint on Sunday / May 2015
The Burren, a remote and ancient landscape is the heart of Ireland
Indian Express / May 2015
When the language of cinema is the language of finance
Indian Express / January 2015
A review of "If it's Monday, it must be Madurai" by Srinath Perur
Indian Express / January 2014
A review of Interstellar. I didn't like it.
Hindu Business Line / November 2014
Who can truly own a book?
Broken Frontier / October 2014
A review of "Album 61", a documentary by Halil Erfat
Hindu Business Line / November 2014
There comes a time in every man's life
Mint Lounge / July 2014
Profile of graphic novelist Appupen
Business Line / July 2014
In India, the Apocalypse has already happened
The Indian Express / April 2013
What the Tintin movie doesn't get about comics & Herge
The Indian Express / October 2011
Putting SKYFALL in context
The Indian Express / November 2012
An appreciation of Richard Matheson
The Indian Express / July 2013
What happens when an amateur takes on Vishy Anand?
Economic Times / January 2013
A leisurely trawl through second-hand bookshops
Helter Skelter Magazine / April 2013
On his victory at the 2014 Candidates in Khanty-Manysisk
Times of India / March 2014
My profile of photographer Thomas Luttge
Business Line / March 2014
Scenes from a flooded Bombay of the future
Mint Lounge / March 2014
My appreciation of the latest X-Men movie
The Indian Express / June 2014
Losing your head can sometimes be a lifestyle choice
Mint Lounge / January 2014
My appreciation of Gravity (the film, not the force)
The Indian Express / October 2013
A Hyderabad that never was
Hindu BusinessLine / July 2014
Interview with Frederic Friedel, founder of ChessBase
Economic Times / November 2013
Anand on preparing against Magnus Carlsen
Economic Times / September 2013
Reconnaissance trips in Chess
Economic Times / August 2013
A curtain-raiser on the 2013 Candidates Tournament
Economic Times / March 2013
Summing up 2012 for graphic novels in India
Indian Express / December 2012
A look at Anand's rise on the eve of Chennai 2013
Economic Times / November 2013
Review of Joe Sacco's Journalism
Man's World / December 2012
Haarlem, a city made out of bones of history and fleshed with myth
Indian Express / July 2012
Independence day in an alternate India
Mint Lounge / August 2013
A visit to Regensburg, a city of ancient borders
Indian Express / June 2012
A visit to Montebello, deep in the forests of Quebec
Indian Express / September 2012
Review of Nicholas Roerich: A Quest & a Legacy (Ed. Manju Kak)
The Indian Express / March 2013
An appreciation of Ray Bradbury, on his passing
The Indian Express / June 2012
A chat with Anand after his match victory
Indian Express / June 2012
On the spot report of Anand's victory over Gelfand
Indian Express / May 2012
A conversation with artist Eddie Campbell in Angouleme
Helter Skelter Magazine / June 2013
A visit to the Nicholas Roerich museum in Moscow
The Indian Express / November 2012
A shop in Amsterdam where your childhood can be reclaimed
Indian Express / January 2012
An appreciation of John Le Carre
Indian Express / January 2012
On the finale of the 2012 world chess championship in Moscow
Sify / June 2012
A review of graphic novel adaptation of "The Gardener in the Wasteland"
Indian Express / March 2012
Review of definitive handbook to the career of Alan Moore
Indian Express / November 2011
How the Terrain influences the Game
Indian Express / July 2011
Profile on Boris Gelfand after he turns Challenger
Indian Express / June 2011
A review of "Kabul Disco" by Nicolas Wild
Indian Express / January 2010
Behind the kings of the chess world, there’s a crack team of knights—or ‘seconds’
Outlook Business / October 2009
On how Anand created a chess wave in India
Outlook Business / February 2009
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