The Last Honey Hunter (Nepal)

The Last Honey Hunter (Nepal) | Click here to watch
(36 min; 2017; Nepalese with English subtitles)
Director: Ben Knight

Multiple award winner including the Cartel Award for Best Documentary, Camden International Film Festival 2017; Grand Prize, Krakow Mountain Film Festival 2018; Best Film, Mountain Culture, Banff Mountain Film Festival 2017 among others

In the steep mountain jungles of Nepal’s Hongu river valley, members of the isolated Kulung culture have risked their lives for generations scaling dangerous cliffs to collect a wild and toxic honey. Deep and dark, the film glides through a misty world of forest spirits, dreams, and woodsmoke to share the story of the leader of the harvest and his final journey.

A work of visual brilliance, the documentary follows the unique story of the honey hunter Maule Dhan Rai and brings into play the village traditions and customs that Rai and the Kulung’s practice.

https://vimeo.com/201695311

FOCUS ON WESTERN CLASSICAL MUSIC COMPOSERS

Richard Strauss Remembered (UK) | Click here to watch
(117 min; 1984; English)
Director: Peter Adam
Narrator: John Gielgud
A BBC Two Production

A unique record of a great man's life which spanned from the reign of King Ludwig of Bavaria through the turbulent years of Hitler's Germany to the post-war period. The composer and conductor seen through the eyes of his family and the people who worked with him-Herbert von Karajan, Georg Solti, Eugen Jochum; the great opera stars - Hildegarde Ranczak and Viorica Ursuleac who sang the first Arabella. Using home movies and rare archival footage, the film reveals the man and the role he played under Hitler.

It also includes concert performances by the composer and vintage opera extracts with some of Strauss's favourite interpreters – Lisa Della Casa, Irmgard Seefried, Anneliese Rothenberger, Vilma Lipp in Rosenkavalier, Ariadne, Arabella, Capriccio and Elektra.

https://vimeo.com/393902416

Plimpton! Starring George Plimpton as Himself

Plimpton! Starring George Plimpton as Himself (USA) | Click here to watch
(89 min; 2012; English)
Directors: Tom Bean & Luke Poling

Co-founder of The Paris Review, George Plimpton (1927–2003), was a writer, editor, amateur sportsman, actor, and friend to many. Plimpton’s remarkable life is showcased in a documentary that is both a chronicle of one of the last century’s most intriguing characters, as well as a cinematic adaption of his nuanced and funny literary style. A fascinating journalist who lived fully, strangely and incredibly. With George Plimpton’s own narration, the film includes extensive archival footage of his sport stunts and participatory journalism gigs, and interviews with friends, family and contemporaries.

https://vimeo.com/422276464

Book Discussion Group

PHYSICAL PROGRAMME

Haiku: An Anthology of 1000 Haiku poems in Hindi

By M. Jamshed

Launch of the book followed by a discussion

Chief Guest: Shri Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Hon’ble Minister of Minority Affairs, Government of India

Discussants: Shri K.N. Shrivastava, Director, IIC; Mr Sreenivasa Rao, Secretary, Sahitya Akademi; Ms Kamna Prasad, author and founder, Jashn-e-Bahar; Ms Vandita Mishra, National Opinion Editor, The Indian Express; Ms Marya Shakil, Senior Political Editor, CNN-News 18; Mr. Koji Sato, Director General, The Japan Foundation; and Shri M. Jamshed, author of the book

Nuclear Challenges to India’s Security

PHYSICAL PROGRAMME

Speaker: Dr. Manpreet Sethi, Distinguished Fellow, Centre for Air Power Studies and Head of Nuclear Security Project and author of Nuclear Strategy: India’s March towards Credible Deterrence (2009)

Chair: Amb. Shivshankar Menon, former National Security Adviser of India and former Foreign Secretary of India

(Collaboration: Society for Policy Studies)

Registration link

Member’s Dinner: ASSAMESE BHOJ

Dear Member,

There is much more to the verdant state of Assam than its lush-green tea estates and abundant wildlife. It is also home to a cuisine famed for the delicacy of its flavours and aromas. Reputed Assamese Chef MRS. UTPALA MUKHERJEE introduces us to a cuisine that is a confluence of the cooking styles of the hills that favour fermentation and smoking techniques as well as cooking in banana leaves and bamboo hollows which add as much flavour as would spices. Assamese dishes are less spicy than any other Indian dishes, but carry richness of taste and health, using a wide variety of rice, fish, greens, and local and natural herbs. The use of raw mustard oil and fermented bamboo shoots gives the cuisine a distinctive taste. The Assamese contribution to the world of taste is the alkalinity of ‘khar’, just as Japanese cuisine introduced the world to ‘umami’.

India International Centre is organising ‘ASSAMESE BHOJ’, a Special Dinner for Members and their Guests on Saturday, 7^th May 2022, in the Fountain Lawns from 2000 hrs onwards… Members who are interested are requested to make advance bookings with the Centralized Booking Office on 011-24609369, 24609451 or send an email to ama@iicdelhi.in or send a WhatsApp to 9910333937 Please note, reservation will be made on first-come-first served basis. Restrictions on the number of guests accompanying a member have been eased. For large groups special arrangements have been made to accommodate them. All necessary arrangements for social distancing and sanitization will be strictly adhered to.

The catering bills need to be settled by members with their smart/ Debit/ Credit card after the meal.

Thanking you,

Yours sincerely,

Kanwal Wali
Secretary

MENU

Kachumber Salad

Appetizer

Chicken Khorika (marinated grilled chicken)
Noroxingho bhoja (veg) batter fried leaves of curry plant

Main Course

Ghoruwa mangso (mutton curry) (N.veg)
Pork with black sesame gravy (N.veg)
Xaak Bhaji (veg)
Smoked bhindi pitika (veg)
Vegetable tenga (veg)
Khar (veg)
Steamed Rice
Poori

Dessert

Konidhan Kheer
Chef special ice cream

(Non-Vegetarian - Rs. 1100/-- All-Inclusive)

(Vegetarian - Rs 850/- All Inclusive)

ASSAMESE BHOJ

An Assamese Bhoj
Prepared by Chef Utpala Mukherjee

There is much more to the verdant state of Assam than its lush-green tea estates and abundant wildlife. It is also home to a cuisine famed for the delicacy of its flavours and aromas. Reputed Assamese Chef MRS. UTPALA MUKHERJEE introduces us to a cuisine that is a confluence of the cooking styles of the hills that favour fermentation and smoking techniques as well as cooking in banana leaves and bamboo hollows which add as much flavour as would spices. Assamese dishes are less spicy than any other Indian dishes, but carry richness of taste and health, using a wide variety of rice, fish, greens, and local and natural herbs. The use of raw mustard oil and fermented bamboo shoots gives the cuisine a distinctive taste. The Assamese contribution to the world of taste is the alkalinity of ‘khar’, just as Japanese cuisine introduced the world to ‘umami’.These items shall be served in addition to the regular menu in the Dining Hall and also can be booked on prior demand as “Take Away” items from 6th April to 8th May 2022.

FOOD ITEMS	SELLING PRICE
STARTERS AND ACCOMPANIMENTS
Chicken khorika (non-veg) Chicken grilled on skewers and served with dipping sauce	465.00
Norosingha bhoja (veg) batter fried tender stems of curry leaf tree	130.00
MAIN COURSE
Smoked bhindi pitika (veg) smoked bhindi mashed with mustard oil, chopped onion, green chillies and dhania	115.00
Xaak bhaji (veg) mixed saag	165.00
Khar (veg) vegetable cooked with khar (extract of tender banana stem)	165.00
Veg tenga (veg) (tomato based gravy with lentil dunmplings)	100.00
Ghoruwa mangso (non-veg)	490.00
Pork with black sesame seeds (non-veg)	530.00
Smoked fish in banana tubes (non-veg)	330.00
DESSERT
Konidhan Kheer	100.00
Mitha alu Pitha	100.00