Aaj Kavita 
 

Poetry readings by Pankaj Rag, Gaurav Pandey, Amrit Ranjan and Hemant Devalikar

(Collaboration: Raza foundation)
 

Speaker: Susan Bean curates, writes, and consults on the visual arts and culture of modern South Asia, she Chairs the Advisory Committee of the Art & Archaeology Centre of the American Institute of Indian Studies and is an Associate of the Peabody Museum at Harvard University.

Chair:  Naman P Ahuja, Professor, Indian Art and Architecture, Jawaharlal Nehru University

Air-dried clay (a.k.a. terracruda), along with stone, metal, wood, and fired clay, stands among South Asia’s oldest and most widely used mediums for sculpture. This presentation brings together some of the most prominent practices across the region to consider why painted air-dried clay has been so valued as a medium for figural sculpture, and what its side-lining reveals about the study of art and visual culture.

(Collaboration : American Institute of Indian Studies, Center for Art and Archaeology)

 

Kathak Recital
 

By Badal Bariha from Delhi, disciple of Guru Malti Shyam
Accompanists:  Amaan Ali (Tabla); Jaywardhan Dadhich (Vocal and Harmonium)
Ashish Gangani (Pakhawaj) & Harshita Sharma (Padhant)

At 18:30

Kuchipudi Recital
By Rajashree Holla, from Bengaluru, disciple of Guru Dharani T Kashyap 

 

ZIKR
Zikr is a contemplative exhibition that turns its gaze toward the quiet, often unseen dimensions of human presence. Through intimate portraiture rendered in pencil and charcoal, the exhibition reflects on stillness, vulnerability, resilience, and the unspoken emotional lives that shape everyday existence. 
Shikha Sheoran works primarily with pencil and charcoal, using portraiture as a means to document inner reflections and human presence with restraint and honesty. Her ongoing series, Zikr, functions as a visual record of these contemplations, seeking to give form to emotions and human stories that resist verbal expression.
 

Inauguration on 10th February 2026 at 17:00 hrs
 

Signing in the air: Poems
By Malashri Lal

Discussants:Namita Gokhale, writer, editor, and Festival Director, Jaipur Literature Festival;Dr Rakhshanda Jalil, writer, translator, and literary historian; Prof. Malashri Lal, writer and academic. Convenor, English Advisory Board, Sahitya Akademi

Theatrical interpretation of selected poems by Ms. Annu Priya, Film Actress and NSD Alumna (Batch: 2023)

Moderator: Dr. Kiriti Sengupta, Poet, Editor, and Director, Hawakal Publishers
 

Concert 
 

Piano recital by Marouan Benabdallah, well-known pianist from Morocco, and faculty at the Budapest Liszt Academy of Music

(Collaboration: Embassy of the Kingdom of Morocco in New Delhi)
 

Conceptualised by Dr. Ashwani Kumar

Talk & Workshop from 10:00 to 13:00

Workshop on Alcohol related Health Risk Assessment
Alcohol-related health risk assessment involves evaluating the amount and pattern of alcohol use, identifying harmful or dependent drinking through screening tools like AUDIT or CAGE. Basic laboratory tests and identification of high-risk groups such as pregnant women, people with diabetes, obesity, or liver disease. Based on findings, individuals are categorized into low-risk, hazardous, harmful use, or alcohol dependence, allowing timely counselling, brief intervention, nutritional support, lifestyle modification, or referral for de-addiction services to prevent long-term organ damage and improve overall health.

Followed by

- Filling of Proforma based on Self-Assessment of Alcohol intake & it’s possible effects. (For those who consume alcohol)

-Clinical evaluation: BP/BMI/Systemic evaluation (For those who consume more than daily recommended daily amount)

-Guidance on Biochemical evaluation for those who are at risk.

-Management and Preventive Guidelines.

By Dr. Prayas Sethi, Associate Professor, Dept of Medicine, AIIMS            

(Strictly for IIC members and staff members only)

At 16:00

A short talk on Lifestyle and Liver Disease!

By Prof. S.K. Acharya, Former Professor & Head, Department of Gastroenterology and Dean (Research), A.I.I.M.S., New Delhi

Normal Steatosis Liver Damage Fibrosis/Cirrhosis

Lifestyle and liver disease globally is an obesity epidemic. About 1/3 of global population including India are either obese with or without associated diabetes. They may cause increase amount of fat in vessels and vital organs & may result in various organ dysfunction including liver. Such metabolic dysfunction currently are major drivers of various noncommunicable liver disease like Cirrhosis and liver cancer. Fat in liver can be easily identified by obesity (identified by BMI, increased abdominal girth and other simple techniques and tests). These changes in metabolic dysfunction can be prevented, diagnose early & reversed and even advanced diseases can be successfully treated.

Followed by Panel Discussion on Influence of Alcohol Metabolic Dysfunction Associated with Liver Disease (MASLD). Fat & Alcohol: Are these fire and fuel?

Panellists: Dr. Naval K. Vikram, Prof. of Medicine AIIMS, New Delhi; Dr. S. V. Madhu, Director Professor, Department of Endocrinology & Metabolism, UCMS & GTB Hospital, Delhi; Dr. Govind Makharia, Professor of Gastroenterology, AIIMS, New Delhi.

Moderator: Dr. S.K. Acharya, Medical Consultant

Chair: Dr Ashwani Kumar
                                 

Followed by an interactive Q&A with the audience.
 

Fusion on Earth: The Challenge of a Plentiful Clean Energy Source — A Physicist’s Perspective
 

Speaker: Swadesh Mahajan, distinguished plasma physicist, Research Professor in the Physics Department at the University of Texas at Austin and Distinguished Professor at SNU University. Director of Plasma Physics at ASICTP, Trieste. Co-founded the Institute for Plasma Research, Gandhinagar, the country’s flagship fusion institute.
Chair: Prof Rupamanjari Ghosh, an eminent Physicist and former Vice Chancellor, Shiv Nadar University and Former Dean & Professor of Physics, School of Physical Sciences, JNU, New Delhi

Replicating on Earth the process that powers the stars—nuclear fusion remains one of the most ambitious and scientifically demanding pursuits of our time. While recent advances and private investment have accelerated progress towards commercially viable fusion, fundamental scientific challenges remain central to this quest. This talk traces the story of energy, explains why fusion is exceptionally difficult, surveys the current global fusion landscape, and reflects on realistic pathways and timeframes for achieving fusion power.

SAPTAK

Screening of poetry readings by seven deceased poets of Hindi:

Naresh Mehta;  Nemichandra Jain; Shivmangal Singh Suman, Lakshmikant Verma; Ajit Kumar, Kunwar Narayan and Vishnu Khare

(Collaboration: Raza Foundation)
 

3rd Khwaja Ahmad Abbas Memorial Lecture
 

By Saeed Akhtar Mirza, filmmaker, screenwriter, and author, widely regarded as a leading voice of socially engaged Indian parallel cinema, and a recipient of multiple National Film Awards.

The lecture celebrates the legacy of journalist, writer, producer, and filmmaker, Khwaja Ahmed Abbas.  
The programme shall begin with a 12- minute documenatry screening on Khwaja Ahmad Abbas.

Followed by a panel discussion titled ‘Khwaja Ahmad Abbas: A Karmayogi’s Polymathic Vision of Humanity’, where Saeed Akhtar Mirza will be joined by Syeda Hameed, former Member of the Planning Commission; Chairperson, KAAMT; Neelima Azeem, actor; and Neville Tuli, Founder, T.R.I.S. The discussion will focus on the vision and ideals of Abbas that defined his writings and work, while contemplating the relevance of Abbas’ work today.  

(Collaboration: Tuli Research Centre for India Studies (T.R.I.S.) and Khwaja Ahmad Abbas Memorial Trust)