Talk by Naman P. Ahuja, Professor of Art History, Jawaharlal Nehru University and General Editor of MARG.

Chair: Amb. Shyam Saran, President, IIC

The ongoing attempt to sell the relics of the Buddha excavated from the ancient stupa at Piprahwa has raised several questions at the heart of which is how Indian and international imperatives around sacred remains have changed since their discovery. In this illustrated lecture, Prof. Ahuja will explain how relics are defined, the ethical issues they raise, changes in the law, and how these shifts impact museology.

Speakers: Lt. Gen. Syed Ata Hasnain, PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, SM, VSM & Bar, Defence Analyst and former GOC, XV Corps and Chancellor Central University of Kashmir; Amb. Pankaj Saran, Former Dy NSA, Amb to Russia and HC to Bangladesh and Convenor, NatStrat; and Prof. Amitabh Mattoo, Dean, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University and former Vice Chancellor, Jammu University.

Chair: Amb.  Y.K. Sinha, Former CIC, High Commissioner to the UK and Sri Lanka and Head of the Pakistan- Afghanistan- Iran Division in MEA

Gandhi and Music
An illustrated lecture by Dipankar De Sarkar

The talk explores Gandhi’s world of music – the songs and hymns that inspired him through the darkest hours of India’s freedom struggle

Dipankar De Sarkar is a journalist and amateur musician who writes on politics, music and the politics of music
 

Concert presented by Chitra Srikrishna, Carnatic vocalist, writer and teacher of music appreciation

Chitra Srikrishna (vocal & narration) 
Accompanists: Arvindd Narayanan (violin) and Vignesh Jayaraman (mridangam).

Udaan explores the melodic realm of Indian poetry, focusing on birds as literary symbols. From the common crow to the partridge, Indian poets through the ages, have used birds as literary devices to compose captivating melodies. The concert will explore these themes through bhajan, classical and folk music compositions in Bengali, Kannada, Hindi, Marathi, Sanskrit, Tamil and Telugu. With live accompaniment in the Carnatic idiom, the music is interspersed with short narrations in English
 

No. Join us for an evening of an enchanting story that travels across Vietnam, China and Japan. An ancient Asian Epic written between1766-1820. And with this a chance to rediscover our Asian neighbours, their culture, their politics and some of their policies. An initiative in soft diplomacy…

Storytelling by Neha Bansal, Founder Director ‘Asianism-Retold’ – an initiative in preventive diplomacy and new models of development based on the influence that Asian values including China have in shaping global geo-politics, development frameworks and international concepts

Introduction: Akshay Mathur, Senior Director (Head), Asia Society Policy Institute, Delhi