A three-part BBC series. Historian Bettany Hughes travels to India, Greece and China on the trail of three giants of ancient philosophy - Buddha, Socrates and Confucius. All three philosophers lived between the 6th and 5th centuries BCE, during a period of unprecedented and intense intellectual development.Trailblazers whose radical ideas signalled a key change in human consciousness, each embodied the shift from a reliance on the supernatural, as the sole way to explain humankind’s place in the cosmos, to one where rational argument and logical reasoning offered new, exciting possibilities.Drawing on archaeology and expert opinion, Bettany Hughes follows in the footsteps of these great figures, in her quest to unpack their philosophy in the context of their age. She reveals how, even though their ideas came about two and a half thousand years ago, their thinking still shapes, and continues to provide solutions to, our own lives.

Genius of the Ancient World:Episode 2- Socrates | (59:13 min; 2015; English)

In the second Episode, Bettany Hughes investigates the revolutionary ideas of Socrates. Socrates was born in Athens during a creative, yet extremely tumultuous period of Greek history.Athens had given birth to democracy, and become a hotbed of new philosophical ideas. Socrates would become, arguably, it’s most vocal and charismatic thinker.He set about scrutinizing, and working through, the key moral issues of his day. His technique, a systematic form of question and answer 'the Socratic method', was delivered with such a dazzling irony, that he became a celebrity in his day.Yet, by challenging tradition and convention, he also made enemies. Eventually he was put on trial, found guilty, and sentenced to drink deadly hemlock. 
 

Mozart: Great Mass in C minor, K. 427 | (59 min) | ( Click here to watch )
Considered one of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s greatest works, the Great Mass was composed in Vienna in 1782 and 1783. This large-scale work, a missa solemnis (Solemn Mass), is scored for two soprano soloists, a tenor and a bass.

Video recording of a concert presented by Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra on 18th March 2016 with Kiera Duffy (soprano); Emöke Barath (soprano); John Mark Ainsley (tenor) and Leon Kosavic (bass baritone)

Conductor: Nathalie Stutzmann 
Bergen Philharmonic Choir; Edvard Grieg Choir; and Collegium Musicum Choir
Chorus Master: Håkon Matti Skrede

Kew: The Garden that Changed the World | (60 min; 2011; English) | ( Click here to watch )
A BBC 2 production

In 2009 the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew celebrated their 250th anniversary, Dan Cruickshank, well-known British art historian and television presenter, unearths some of the surprising stories that shaped the famous gardens. His travels take him from the royal gardens to the corridors of power and the outposts of Empire as he pieces together Kew's story, uncovering tales of bravery, high adventure, passion and drama.

Screening of a short documentary film Not Just Milk and Sugar (16 min)
Written and directed by Divya Cowasji
Produced by Ministry of Minority Affairs, Govt. of India

With Boman Irani as narrator and protagonist, the film is an accessible inquiry into the Zoroastrian faith, its basic teachings, uniqueness, and myths. Through a bedtime story told by a grandfather to his grandson.

Followed by
In Conversation
Well-known actor, voice artist and photographer, Boman Irani in conversation with Dr. Shernaz Cama

Zoom recording of the programme held on 9 July 2021. 

(Collaboration: Jiyo Parsi; and Parzor Foundation)

An exhibition of photographs by Mala Mukerjee from Kolkata .The photographer presents a mix of colour and abstract compositions-a play with light, exploring the limits of form, colour and texture. 

MALA MUKERJEE

A graduate in Applied Art & Design Studies in Photography from the London Guildhall University, Mala Mukerjee’s work has been exhibited in all major cities of India as well as in Bangladesh, Belgium, China, Greece, Indonesia and in London, Oxford and Cambridge (UK). In 1993, Mala was amongst the prize winners in "Our Big City" Competition organized by The Evening Standard and Carlton Television, London. In 1997 she was nominated for the Leopold Godowsky Jr. colour photography award.She has received awards for excellence from the Owen Rowley Art Foundation in London, the Academy of Visual Medium in New Delhi, the 2nd China International Digital Photography exhibition in Beijing, and Honorary Fellowship of the Bangladesh Photographic Society. BLINK, an art publication by the Phaidon Press, London, featured her in 2002 among the top 100 Photographers of the world.

As the Chairperson of the International Photography Museum and Gallery Alliance (IPMGA), headquartered in China, she organized a major International photographic festival and workshop in Kolkata in 2014.Mala’s work has been featured in many books and periodicals in India, China, Germany, Australia, the UK and the USA. She has jointly authored three books on Kolkata’s heritage entitled “Colonial Calcutta“(Bloomsbury, 2012), “Where God’s Reside: Sacred Places of Kolkata“ (Niogi Books, 2018) and “Adda : the College Street Coffee House”(Notion Press, 2020).
 

THE ARTIST ON HER WORK

Those of you who are familiar with my work will know that my quest has always been to capture the fleeting footprints of light on objects, no matter how ordinary they may be. The works on display on this show are a continuation of that search.If I were to look back on my long innings as a photographer, I will admit I am most comfortable when I am in a position to let my imagination ramble free and take me to wherever they will. I enjoy playing with light and exploring the limits of form, colour and texture. The end-product sometimes surprises me, for light is a master painter. Objects get transformed by its magical touch. I try to capture those moments for you. This exhibition has a mix of colour and abstract compositions. Every work has a special place in my memory, an association of joy and happiness, if you will. It is this joy that I want to share with you.I will be happy to provide details of any work should you wish to know them. Just drop a word on my email.                                                                           
                                            
My association with the IIC, New Delhi, goes back many years. I had my first solo show here in 1998, followed by two more in the intervening years. I am deeply grateful to IIC, New Delhi, for enabling me to present my work to you once again.
                                                                                                                                               

MALA MUKERJEE

E-mail: malamukerjee@gmail.com

The Light of Asia: The Poem that Defined the Buddha

By Jairam Ramesh (Penguin, New Delhi: 2021)

Discussants: Geshe Ngawang Samten, Tibetan educationist, Tibetologist & Vice-Chancellor, Central University for Tibetan Studies, Sarnath, Varanasi; Prof. Karam Tej Singh Sarao, Former Professor & Head, Department of Buddhist Studies, Delhi University; and Shri Jairam Ramesh, Economist & Author of the Book

Chair: Dr. Karan Singh
 

Speakers: Prof. S. Narayan, Emeritus Professor and Member, Commission on Nomadic Tribe, Govt. of India; Ms Jayshree Vyas, Managing Director of SEWA Bank; Dr. Shobha Kujur, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Education, Chatra College, Chatra Jharkhand; and Dr. Shiwani, academic and journalist with The Hindustan Times

Chair: Prof. S. Narayan

Financial inclusion has been defined as the process of ensuring access to financial services, timely and adequate credit for vulnerable groups such weaker sections and low income group at an affordable cost. To ascertain the extent of financial inclusion among tribes and nomadic tribes, financial literacy Haats on a weekly basis have been organized. The webinar will discuss the current status and the gaps in their financial inclusion

(Collaboration: Society for Empowerment)

Pedagogy in the Times of the Pandemic
Opening Remarks & Moderator: Prof. Krishna Menon, Professor, Gender Studies and former Dean of the School of Human Studies at Dr. B R Ambedkar University Delhi.  

Welcome: Ms Seema Kakran, Deputy Director, WISCOMP

Speakers: Prof. Rukmini Sen, School of Liberal Studies, Dr B. R. Ambedkar University Delhi; Dr. Bijayalaxmi Nanda, Acting Principal, Miranda House, Delhi; Prof. Dushyant Kumar, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Miranda House, University of Delhi.

The Covid -19 pandemic is changing our world in many ways.  Education, especially higher education, has borne the brunt of the pandemic in very specific ways. Students and teachers have had to keep away from the campus, since distancing norms and lockdown policies across the world made it difficult to have face to face classes and interactions on campus.  As teachers committed to transformative and critical pedagogy, the speakers at the dialogue will highlight the experiences of faculty and students in campuses of higher learning while battling the anxieties and losses unleashed by the pandemic. Meaningful interventions by the students and faculty of educational institutions to extend care and logistical support to the citizens such as in Delhi are a significant initiative that merit a discussion. However, accompanying these efforts have been the accounts of gendered experiences of the teaching/learning process as it shifted online, almost overnight.  The challenges posed by the existing social inequalities have been exacerbated by online processes, how have teachers navigated these inequalities?  The role of leadership in academic institutions, the gendered nature of the struggles of online teaching/learning, the initiatives by the faculty faced with unequal access to digital technology and the mental health concerns of all engaged in the higher education space would form the backdrop of this dialogue. 

(Collaboration: WISCOMP)