Panelists: Shri Kallol Bhattacherjee, Senior Assistant Editor, The Hindu and author of The Great Game in Afghanistan; and Shri Frank Rausan Pereira, founder of Bharat First, Consultant Anchor with Doordarshan and former Anchor, Rajya Sabha TV

Chair: Amb. K.P. Fabian, Professor, Symbiosis University, Pune and Indian Society of International Law, New Delhi

The newly elected Maldivian President Mohammad Muizzi has asked India to withdraw its military personnel from Maldives. India proposed a joint committee to sort out the matter which Maldives agreed to but President Muizzi’s on his return from a state visit to China, has publicly put a deadline of 15 March 2024 for the withdrawal. Both Maldives and Sri Lanka fall within the security perimeter of India. The panelists will address the maritime security of India, Sri Lanka, and Maldives, and the options available to India

Discussion based on the recent publication of Tree & Serpent: Early Buddhist Art in India by John Guy

Panelists: John Guy, Florence and Herbert Irving Curator of the Arts of South and Southeast Asia, Department of Asian Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Jyotindra Jain, art and culture historian and renowned scholar and museologist who has authored several books and staged exhibitions on Indian folk arts and cultures; Naman Ahuja, art historian and curator, Professor of the Art and Architecture of Ancient India, Jawaharlal Nehru University; and Upinder Singh, historian and Professor of History and Dean of Faculty, Ashoka University and Peter Skilling, specialist in the literary and archaeological histories of South and Southeast Asia, Professor, Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok

Moderator: Deepanjana Klein, historian and Director of Acquisitions and Development, Kiran Nadar Museum of Art 

Before the appearance of the Buddha image, about 500 years after his lifetime, the visual repertoire used to teach the Buddha’s message was rich in its celebration of the natural world. It was presided over by its personified spirits, the yakshas and nagas. This panel will explore the many dimensions of the early religious landscape that the Buddha encountered as a mendicant, and following his passing, the emergence of the cult of relics centred on the royal tumuli, the stupa.

(Collaboration: Mapin Publishing)

Aaj Kavita features new Urdu poetry with readings by young poets: Charagh Sharma (Chandausi); Mohammad Afaan (Srinagar); Shehla Kaleem (Muradabad); Amardeep Singh (Patiala); Belal Sabir (Kolkata); Pallav Mishra, Safeer Siddiquie, Faizan Moquim, Abbas Qamar, Mohd. Aqib and Shahbaz Rizvi (Delhi)

(Collaboration: The Raza Foundation)

Carnatic Veena Recital

By Saraswati Rajagopalan 
Accompanied by Kumbakonam N. Padmanabhan (mridangam); and Varun Rajasekharan (ghatam)

Followed by
Dhrupad Recital
By Ustad Faiyazuddin Wasifuddin Dagar
Accompanied by Pt. Mohanshyam Sharma on pakhawaj

(Collaboration: Dagar Brothers Memorial Trust)

Rain in Bulandshahr: A Novel
By Achla Bansal (Authorspress,2023)

Discussants: Shri Sunit Tandon, well-known theatre and film personality and Director, India Habitat Centre, President Delhi Music Society ;Dr. Lakshmi Kannan, poet, novelist and short story writer; Ms. Mridula Garg, writer and poet; Dr. Amarendra Khatua, former Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs and former Director General, Indian Council for Cultural Relations, Diplomat and poet; and Ms. Achla Bansal, author of the book

Chair: Shri K. N. Shrivastava, Director, IIC

Behind the ‘Seen’

A curated exhibition of three artists from Goa – Minakshi Singh, Divya Kamat, and Divya Balivada

Inauguration  on Tuesday, 6 February 2024 at 18:30 by Talish Ray

Fault Lines in the Faith: How Events of 1979 Shaped the Islamic World

By Iqbal S. Hasnain (Rupa Publications: 2023)

Discussants: Amb. K.P. Fabian, Professor, Symbiosis University, Pune and Indian Society of International Law, New Delhi; Prof. Aftab Kamal Pasha, former Associate Dean, Director & Chairman, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University; Prof. A. K. Ramakrishnan, Professor, Centre for West Asian Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University; and Prof. Iqbal S. Hasnain, former Vice Chancellor, University of Calicut and author of the book

Strategic Capacity Building for Non-Governmental Organisation
By Mathew Cherian and Muthusami Kumaran (Authors Upfront: 2023)

The book will be launched by Dr. Ashok Khosla, President, Development Alternatives

Followed by a panel discussion with
 

Dr. Ashok Khosla; Prof. Archana Kumar, Lady Irwin College; Dr. Mathew Cherian, former CEO, HELPAGE India; and Prof. Muthusami Kumaran, Professor of Non-profit Sector, University of Florida at Gainesville, USA and Dr. Ramesh Bijlani, eminent author, educator and teacher

Chair: Ms Ravneet Pahwa, Deakin University, Australia

Introduction: Dr. Amita Joseph

(Collaboration: Business & Community Foundation)
 

6 –A Akash Ganga
(80 mins; 2023; Hindi with English subtitles)
Directed by Nirmal Chander who will introduce the film
 
Screening will be followed by a discussion
 
Can a musician exist without an audience? To find an answer, the film enters 6-A Akash Ganga, a flat overlooking the Arabian Sea in Mumbai. Here resides one of India’s most renowned classical musicians, a matchless guru—Annapurna Devi.
 
Maestros have waited for years for her to accept them as disciples. George Harrison, of the Beatles fame, had to seek special permission to listen to her musical practice. But in the mid-1950s, she vowed not to perform for anyone in an effort to save her crumbling marriage to the world-renowned Indian musician, Pandit Ravi Shankar, who had grown insecure with the acclaim she was receiving. Her disciple, Pt. Nityanand Haldipur, cuts through the myths to tell her story. The film has been produced by the Annapurna Devi Foundation.

A solo guitar recital by Deepak Castelino

"Under the Mango Tree" is a solo guitar presentation of original music compositions by Delhi-based musician Deepak Castelino.  Amidst an environment of overwhelming sadness and uncertainty during a severe lockdown, confined spaces, and tragic stories of loss and hardship all over, the confirming shade of the mango tree was a healing balm; a place to rest and escape albeit temporarily.

And against this grey background of gloom, the mango tree stood steadfast and strong, as a beacon of hope and rejuvenation, and gave us over two hundred sweet mangoes too as if to say, 'Don't worry, all will be well.'