The present edition of Creative Theory Colloquium seeks forth to explore the myriad aspects of pluralist, relational world that impacts the being and becoming in the cosmos, as parts of co-growing, collaborative space. In the process, the specific panels enquire into various themes including knowledge traditions and practices, space, gender, feminism, rights, democracy, power, vulnerability, precarity, religion, consciousness, democracy, resistance, and security.

Programme Schedule

Inaugural address at 16:30 

At 17:00
Unveiling Paradigm Shift: Towards Transformative Social Science in Contemporary Times

(Collaboration: Foundation for Creative Social Research, International Herbert Marcuse Society, USA, and The Raza Foundation) 
 

Magic and Magicians of Niche Gardening: A Gardener's Delight (Zorba Books: 2023)
By Rasham Ratna

Discussants: Ms. Rasham Ratna, Author of the Book; Shri Sheel Vardhan Singh, DG, Central Industry Security Force(CISF); Major General S. S. Patil, ADG TA, Directorate Indian Army; Ms. Radhika Anand, Founder & CEO, Plantology & Environmentalist

Chair: Shri K N Shrivastava, Director IIC

Keynote Speaker: Dr. Arvind Virmani, Member, Niti Aayog and Founder Chairman, EGROW Foundation

Chair: Shri Shyam Saran, President, IIC

Speakers: Prof. Ramesh Chand, Member, Niti Aayog; Shri Sanjeev Sanyal, Member, EAC-PM; Dr. Surjit Bhalla, former ED, IMF; Shri Ajay Shankar, former Secretary, DIPP; Prof. B.N. Goldar, Institute of Economic Growth; Prof. Amitabh Kundu, Jawaharlal Nehru University; and Dr. Charan Singh, CEO, EGROW Foundation

The Conference is based on the upcoming book co-authored by Dr. Virmani which focuses on India’s growth model which has sustained nearly 5000 years

(Collaboration: EGROW Foundation)

Intach-IIC National Heritage Quiz 2023

Delhi and NCR Zonal Final round with school children 

(Collaboration: Heritage Education and Communication Service, INTACH)

An Alternative Development Agenda for India
By Sanjay Kaul (Routledge, 2023)

Discussants: Prof. Rajen Harshe, former Vice Chancellor, Allahabad University; Prof. Shreekant Gupta, Professor, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi; Prof. Asha Sarangi, Professor, Centre for Political Studies, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University;  and Shri Sanjay Kaul, IAS (retd.), Development Policy Analyst and author of the book
 
Chair: Sh. K N Srivastava, Director IIC

Kashmir under the Dogras
Transition to Peace, Progress & Modernity

by S. N. Pandita

Speakers: Shri Alok Mehta, Senior Journalist & Author; Shri Deepak Dwivedi, Chief editor, Blitz; Prof Nandini Sinha Kapur, Professor, School of Inter-Disciplinary and Trans-Disciplinary Studies, IGNOU; Dr S. N. Pandita, Author of the Book

Chair:  Dr Karan Singh 
  

Presented by Ved Prakash and party from Jind, Haryana

Ved Prakash Alipuriya is a well-known folk singer and musician from Jind region of Haryana. He is accompanied by artists on traditional folk instruments – matka,dholak,harmonium and manjiras.

Ragini is a popular folk form of Haryana with multiple performers gathering together to sing and dance. A rigorous and lively performance, full of colour and rhythm, tone and expressions, the songs are sung in the local dialect. The Ragini performance is divided into three parts- a slow verse; followed by a hyped-up chorus and bridge; and closing with a slow chorus. Raginis are performed on special occasions to mark the cycle of birth and death, harvest, weddings, etc. 

(Collaboration: North Central Zone Cultural Centre, Ministry of Culture, Govt of India)

Speakers: Najaf Haider, Professor, Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU); Aparna Balachandran, Assistant Professor, Department of History, Delhi University; Harish Wankhede, Assistant Professor, Centre for Political Studies, JNU; Akanksha Kumar, Assistant Professor, Department of History, Janaki Devi Memorial College, Delhi University; and Divya Cherian  Assistant  Professor, Department of History, Princeton University

Moderator: Suhas Borker, Editor, Citizens First TV (CFTV) & Trustee, IIC 

The programme shall commence with the release of Divya Cherian's book Merchants of Virtue - Hindus, Muslims and Untouchables in Eighteenth-Century South Asia - Recipient of the 2022 Joseph W. Elder Prize in the Indian Social Sciences

What did it mean to be Hindu in pre-colonial India in the centuries immediately prior to British conquest? What do histories of Hindu identity have to do with histories of caste? These questions have taken on increasing relevance in contemporary India and in the Indian diaspora, with the assertions of the anti-caste movement being countered through references to historical scholarship that has demonstrated the ways in which colonialism remade caste. Centering the pre-colonial pasts of caste provides a new perspective into how categories of “Hindu,” “Muslim,” and “Untouchable” animated life, law, and local politics in India on the eve of colonial modernity. In turn, these insights are significant for the quest for social justice today.
 

In the Reflections of poems, music and the letters of the artist

Compiled by Gábor Lanczkor to mark the 110th birth anniversary of Amrita Sher-Gil. The programme includes his own poems about Amrita Sher-Gil and letters by her

Music by Krisztina Lanczkor

Gábor Lanczkor is an award-winning Hungarian author with sixteen published books, novels, poetry volumes, essays and children’s books. He is the Editor-in Chief of the Hungarian online world literature magazine

(Collaboration: Liszt Institute-Hungarian Cultural Centre)