Podcast Summary: Ongoing History of New Music (Introducing... Stop Rewind: The Lost Boy | Through A Glass Darkly | Ep. 1)
Release Date: October 25, 2025
Host: Alan Cross (Curiouscast, guest host for this introduction)
Show: Stop Rewind: The Lost Boy, Episode 1 - Through A Glass Darkly
Produced by Blanchard House for Curiouscast

Overview

This special episode of Ongoing History of New Music introduces listeners to the emotionally gripping podcast series, Stop Rewind: The Lost Boy. Episode 1, “Through A Glass Darkly,” begins the journey of Taj, born Chalamuthu, a young boy kidnapped from his home in India, declared an orphan, and adopted into an American family. Decades later, Taj tries to piece together his lost past with the help of a secret cassette tape that holds the last traces of his childhood language and memories. This episode explores themes of identity, loss, belonging, and the enduring scars of a stolen childhood.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Setting the Stage: The Forgotten Child’s Tape

• The story opens in Utah, Christmas 1979. A young boy records music and his secrets onto a cassette tape—his last words in his mother tongue before forgetting the language entirely.
  • “He knows he has to remember. He has to leave a trace before it's too late.” – Emma Jane Kirby, [02:16]
  • The tape, full of memories and clues, will be forgotten and hidden away for decades.

2. Taj’s Present-day Life in Utah

• Taj, now an adult, appears the picture of American success: a thriving businessman, a loving family, a beautiful home.
  • “From the outside, it looks like Taj has got it all.” – Emma Jane Kirby, [06:11]
  • However, beneath the surface, Taj remains haunted and detached, unable to fully trust, never quite at ease.
    • “I don't trust anybody, so it's difficult for me to... Would you trust somebody after going through what I've gone through?” – Taj, [07:37]
  • His wife Priya reveals he is sociable on the outside but deeply private within.
    • “He has very few close friends that he would actually let his feelings out to, besides me and the girls.” – Priya, [07:17]

3. Memories of India: Early Life and Hardship

• Taj (then Chalamuthu) recalls his impoverished Tamil Nadu childhood:
  • Living in a mud hut, hunger a constant companion, and the loving though struggling family dynamic.
  • “My home was a rented small mud hut. Coconut branches on top as a roof, mud floors. We'd cook on open fires every day.” – Taj, [10:52]
• Child labor is a necessity—working in a sesame oil factory and helping grind wheat, where he suffers an injury leading to two disfigured fingers.
  • “My fingers were just turned into hamburger as [the stone pestle] came crashing down on top.” – [14:25]
• Despite hardship, he remembers moments of community, love, and joy.
  • “The village really becomes your family.” – Taj, [12:08]
  • “The Indian family is so... There's this genuine love. It's knowing that you're truly loved for who you are.” – Taj, [16:42]

4. Identity Split: Taj vs. Chalamuthu

• Taj is conflicted by his two identities, unsure which name is truly his.
  • “Which name would you like? Taj, Khyber, Roland... Or choose if you want Chalamuthu Kupaswamy.” – Taj, [18:21]
  • He refers to his childhood self in the third person, suggesting emotional separation.
    • “Chalamuthu. I'm still searching for him. I don't think I'll ever find him.” – [19:33]
  • Guilt lingers over abandoning his childhood self.
    • “The first 7, 8, 9, 10 years of my life, I was Chalamuthu. And then I kind of kicked him out of my memories and stuffed him in a box.” – Taj, [19:45]

5. The Hard Lessons and Scars

• The episode details brutal yet culturally common punishments and their legacy.
  • For stealing food and wandering, his mother burns his feet with a hot coal, leaving lifelong scars.
    • “She took a hot coal from the cooking stove and placed it on the tops of my feet.” – Taj, [26:00]
    • “This scar on my body reminds me constantly of Chalamuthu.” – Taj, [26:42]
  • Nevertheless, Taj insists this was “tough love,” an Indian cultural norm, and not an absence of care.
    • “She actually loved me very much. That's a true definition of tough love.” – [26:52]

6. Hunger, Risk, and the Danger of Being Poor

• Chalamuthu’s constant hunger drives him to steal, including scavenging in garbage and taking leftover fruit from closed stalls.
  • “I used to go sort through these old banana leaves and pick up the rough use and that would feed me.” – Taj, [24:04]
• His mother, Arahi, tries to impress on him the dangers beyond their village, but Taj’s curiosity and appetite for life prove impossible to contain.

7. The Kidnapping

• Despite maternal warnings, Chalamuthu continues to wander, often to the busy bus station—a known hunting ground for child traffickers.
• “Spotters” watch young children like him, targeting those who are poor and often unsupervised.
  • “Those spotters identified what kids were constantly playing in that area and who was stealing or whatever it might have been.” – Taj, [29:05]
• He’s eventually lured onto a bus with older boys under the pretense of kindness (and food), unable to recognize the danger until it's too late.
  • “I'm most grateful that I don't remember the details, because suddenly, if a name or a face popped into my head, I think I'd be chasing something that I shouldn’t be chasing.” – Taj, [31:16]
• The episode ends with Chalamuthu’s mounting terror as he is transported farther and farther from home, realizing he is being kidnapped.
  • “I was kidnapped.” – Taj, [34:41]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “He has to leave a trace before it's too late. This is the most important speech he will make in his entire life.”
  — Emma Jane Kirby [02:56]
• “I don't trust anybody... Would you trust somebody after going through what I've gone through?”
  — Taj [07:37]
• “The Indian family is so... There's this genuine love. It's knowing that you're truly loved for who you are.”
  — Taj [16:42]
• “Chalamuthu. I'm still searching for him. I don't think I'll ever find him.”
  — Taj [19:33]
• “This scar on my body reminds me constantly of Chalamuthu.”
  — Taj [26:42]
• “I was kidnapped.”
  — Taj [34:41]

Timeline of Important Segments (Timestamps)

• [01:08] Alan Cross introduces the podcast series
• [02:16] Opening narration: the Christmas 1979 tape
• [05:14] Host Emma Jane Kirby formally introduces Stop Rewind
• [06:11–08:38] Introduction to Taj’s life and family in Utah; Taj and Priya’s perspectives on his guarded nature
• [09:43–16:42] Recollections of poverty and family life in Tamil Nadu, India; early work, injuries, community, and hardship
• [18:07–20:17] Taj’s fractured identity and struggle with his dual names/personas
• [24:04] The realities of hunger: garbage scavenging and stealing food
• [26:00–26:52] The story of his scar and his mother’s "tough love"
• [28:54–34:41] The sequence of Taj’s abduction: Spotters, the bus, his mounting realization, fear, and being forced away from home

Tone and Style

The episode’s tone is introspective, compassionate, and deeply personal, with immersive storytelling and atmospheric sound design. Taj’s own humor and candor balance the darkness of his memories, giving the narrative a bittersweet resilience. Emma Jane Kirby’s narration weaves together memory, loss, and hope with empathy and clarity.

Summary

Episode 1 of Stop Rewind: The Lost Boy lays a powerful foundation for a story of lost identity and survival. Through first-person recollections and meticulously detailed narration, listeners are introduced to Taj/Chalamuthu’s early struggles, his life-changing abduction, and his ongoing quest to reconcile with his past. The episode leaves listeners with a haunting sense of what was lost and an urgent curiosity to hear how Taj’s search unfolds.

To continue Taj’s story, search for and follow Stop Rewind: The Lost Boy wherever you get your podcasts.