Here and Hereafter – Nirmal Verma’s Life in Literature

An in-conversation programme with Vineet Gill, author of the book with Ashutosh Bhardwaj and Ashok Vajpeyi

(Collaboration: The Raza Foundation)

Presented by Abakorao, an Indo-Latin Group who’s repertoire includes Bossa Nova, Salsa, Vallenato, Bachata, Merengue and Reggae music

Artists: Santiago Ramirez (keyboard, lead vocal & guitar); Fidel Deli (percussion); Camilo Barrios (saxophone); Rajahamsam Tiruvaipadi (bass); and Angélica Patiño (vocal)

The artists will present a concert of songs and musical genres that best represent each country’s heritage

(Collaboration: Embassy of Brazil; Embassy of Colombia; Embassy of Dominican Republic; and High Commission of Jamaica)

Recalibrate: Changing Paradigms
By N.K. Singh with select insights from P.K. Mishra (Rupa Publications India: 2022)

Chair: Amb. Shyam Saran, President IIC and former Foreign Secretary of India

Discussants: Dr. P.K. Mishra, Principal Secretary, Prime Minister of India; Dr. Bibek Debroy, Chairman, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister of India; Dr. Poonam Gupta, Director General, NCAER; and Shri N.K. Singh,  economist, academician and author of the book

Akbar of Hindustan
By Parvati Sharma (Juggernaut: 2022)

Discussants: Amb. T.C.A. Raghavan, former High Commissioner to Pakistan and Singapore and former Director General, ICWA; Dr. Anubhuti Maurya, Associate Professor & Head, Dept. of History and Archaeology, Shiv Nadar Institute of Eminence; and Ms Parvati Sharma, author of the book

Chair: Amb. K.P. Fabian, former Ambassador to Italy and Distinguished Fellow, Symbiosis University
 

(83 min; 1934; b/w; English)
Director: John Cromwell

With Bette Davis, Leslie Howard, Frances Dee

Recipient of the Photoplay Awards 1934 for Best Picture

Bette Davis delivers a lively performance as the femme fatale Mildred Rogers in this brisk adaptation of W. Somerset Maugham's 1915 novel. Leslie Howard plays club-footed Philip Carey who becomes obsessed with tearoom waitress Mildred so much so that he visually hallucinates her everywhere. Mildred rejects him but then drifts back into his life numerous times only to become more nasty and villainous with each return. 

Of Human Bondage is widely regarded by critics as the film that made Bette Davis a star. 

(97 min; 1971; English/Hindi)
Director: Howard Worth

Shot in the second half of the 1960s by Howard Worth, the documentary captures the famous sitarist in India with his mentor, on the banks of the Ganges, before telling the story of his breaking of new ground in America and of his influential friendships with Yehudi Menuhin and George Harrison, the spiritually awakened guitarist of the Beatles. With illuminating reflections on Hinduism, on the transmission of traditional knowledge, and on intercultural dialogue, “Raga” analyses the thirst for spirituality and appetite for new horizons which the youth culture of the time were engaged in. The keystone of the screenplay, Ravi Shankar's performance at the legendary Monterey Festival, amply attests to this phenomenon. A profound and richly illustrated piece of cinematography which stands amongst the great world music documentaries, like "Tropicalia", the film devoted to the Brazilian avant-garde of the 60's, and "El Gusto", the touching panorama devoted to the Algerian chaâbi.

A BBC 2 five part series with Simon Reeve. The adventurer and author returns to the continent to traveling from Peru to Paraguay. An astonishing adventure through some of the most beautiful, fascinating places on earth. From giant cities to remote communities, Simon meets the people of a changing continent. He delves deep into what really makes the continent tick, meeting warlords, forgotten tribes and conservationist fighting to preserve endangered species.

Episode 1 (59 min; English) | Click here to watch

Simon Reeve journeys through the remote and little-visited northeast of the continent, from the spectacular tabletop mountain Mount Roraima in Venezuela through Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana.

This section of the earth’s crust is known as the Guiana Shield and contains the most unspoiled area of rainforest anywhere in the world. In Venezuela, Simon meets some of the thousands of migrants fleeing the economic collapse of their country, an ongoing and underreported humanitarian crisis.
In neighbouring Guyana, the only English-speaking country on the continent, he visits an incredibly remote settlement in the depths of the jungle and learns that the country could be on the verge of its own oil boom.

In Suriname, Simon has an unforgettable and surreal encounter with Ronnie Brunswijk, the gun-toting former warlord who is now one of Suriname’s most successful businessmen. Simon ends his journey in French Guiana, which is still a department of France.

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8dmdz4

Saving Face (Pakistan/USA) | Click here to watch
(40 min; 2012; Urdu/English and with English subtitles)
Directors: Daniel Junge, Sharmeen Obaid-Chenoy

Multiple award winner including Oscar Award for Best Documentary, Short Subjects, Academy Awards, USA 2012; Emmy for Best Documentary & Outstanding Editing: Documentary and Long Form, News & Documentary Emmy Awards 2013; Audience Award, Aspen Shortsfest 2012; among others

Zakia is a survivor of acid attack, which has become appallingly common in some parts of the world, mainly Cambodia, Afghanistan and Southern Asia. This documentary focuses on Pakistan, which has around 100 reported cases per year, while it is thought many more, especially in rural areas, go unreported.

Zakia was attacked by her husband when she filed for divorce after years of abuse. Rukhsana was attacked by her husband, then her sister-in-law and mother-in -law, who set fire to her and locked her in a room to die. The film follows the stories of these two women and their fight for justice.

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2rb47k

A six part BBC series with Michael Mosley who takes an informative and ambitious journey exploring how the evolution of scientific understanding is intimately interwoven with society's historical path.

Episode 6: Who Are We? (60 min) | Click here to watch
Director: Nigel Walk

We now know that the brain - the organ that more than any other makes us human - is one of the wonders of the universe, and yet until the 17th century it was barely studied. The twin sciences of brain anatomy and psychology have offered different visions of who we are. Now these sciences are coming together and in the process have revealed some surprising and uncomfortable truths about what really shapes our thoughts, feelings and desires. And the search to understand how our brains work has also revealed that we are all - whether we realise it or not - carrying out ...

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x66jp3q

(83 min; 2012; English)
Director: Michael House

The documentary tells the story of Somerset Maugham, the novelist, spy, playwright, physician and prolific writer, who took on the taboo subjects of adultery and sexual jealousy and breathed new life into the spy novel. Revealing Mr. Maugham also looks at the writer's personal struggles — including a stammer that Maugham developed as a child after his parents died.