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BOOK DISCUSSION GROUP

PHYSICAL PROGRAMME

First Fuel: India’s Efficiency Journey and a Radical Vision for Sustainability

By Padu Padmanabhan (Pan Macmillan India: 2021)

Discussants: Shri S. Raghupathy, Principal Advisor, Confederation of Indian Industry; Dr. Koshy Cherail, Program Director, Renewable Energy, Centre for Science & Environment; Dr. Gaurav Bhatiani, Program Director, Energy, Resource Triangle Institute (RTI); Shri Ashish De, Global Head of Power & Utilities, KPMG; Shri Prabir Neogi, Chief Advisor, Corporate Affairs, Goenka Group; and Shri Padu Padmanabhan, author of the book

Chair: Dr. Satish Kumar, President, Alliance for an Energy Efficient Economy
 

AAJ KAVITA

PHYSICAL PROGRAMME

An Evening of Poetry

With poets – Mritunjay Tripathi (Delhi); Vinod Padarg (Rajasthan); Poonam Vasam (Chhattisgarh); and Leena Malhotra (Delhi) who will read from their original work

Moderator: Anu Shakti Singh

(Collaboration: The Raza Foundation)

Indian Republic, Democracy, Equity and Count Quest

Panelists: Dr. Shereen Joshi, Associate Professor of International Development, Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University, Washington DC; Prof. Narender Kumar, Professor, Centre for Political Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University; Shri Arvind Kumar, PhD Candidate, Dept. of Politics, International Relations and Philosophy, Royal Holloway, University of London; and Prof. Y.S. Alone, Professor, School of Arts and Aesthetics, Jawaharlal Nehru University

Chair: Suhas Borker, Editor, Citizens First TV (CFTV) and Convener, Working Group on Alternative Strategies

Article 15 of the Constitution of the Indian Republic states that the State shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex, or place of birth. Undoubtedly even after 72 years discrimination persists. Given that the Census is the only source of primary data in the village, town and ward level and provides valuable inputs for planning and formulation of governmental policies, yet the central government insists that there will be no enumeration of caste-wise data in it other than the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Without primary data on social, economic and educational backwardness of the Indian population how can we move forward to fulfill the constitutional mandate on non-discrimination? Can the scope of the Census count be enhanced to help quantify and analyse discrimination? Or is it that our societal segmentation is being so systemically reinforced with exclusion as a norm that even perception of discrimination is sought to be made obscure?

This discussion marks the 30th anniversary of the Working Group on Alternative Strategies (1992-2022) and the 13th discussion in the series on equity and inclusion instituted in 2010

 

(Collaboration: Working Group on Alternative Strategies; and Maharashtra Sanskritik ani Rannaniti Adhyayan Samiti)

Registration link

 

Antonín Dvořák

Antonín Dvořák: Symphony no: 9 – From the New World (43 min) | Click here to watch
Video recording of Antonín Dvořák’s Symphony no: 9 in E minor, Op. 95 “From the new World Presented by the Weiner Philharmoniker 
Conductor: Herbert von Karajan 

Popularly known as the New World Symphony, it was composed by Antonín Dvořák in 1893 while he was director of the National Conservatory of Music of America from 1892 to 1895. It is by far his most popular symphony, and one of the most popular of all symphonies. In older literature and recordings, this symphony was often numbered as Symphony No. 5.

https://vimeo.com/110433303

Why Beauty Matters (UK)

Why Beauty Matters (UK) | Click here to watch
(59 min; 2009; English)
Written and presented by Roger Scruton

Contemporary philosopher Roger Scruton presents a fascinating argument for the importance of beauty in our art and in our lives, and explores what truly is and is not beautiful, regardless of its beholder.

https://vimeo.com/128428182

Ibn Battuta: The Man who Walked Across the World (UK)

A three-part BBC Four travelogue with Tim Mackintosh-Smith, British Arabist, writer, traveller and lecturer.  In an effort to break the west's monolithic view of Islam, Tim Mackintosh-Smith follows in the footsteps of 14th century Moroccan scholar Ibn Battuta, regarded by many to be one of the greatest travellers and explorers the world has ever seen, who covered 75,000 miles, 40 countries and three continents in a 30-year odyssey.  

Episode 2: Magicians and Mystics | (60 min; 2008; English)

In Turkey, Tim Mackintosh-Smith watches an illegal whirling dervish ceremony, and in the Taurus mountains he meets the last of the Turkoman nomads. He chats to Tatars in Crimea, while in Delhi he watches a Muslim magician performing the Indian rope trick.

Twin Sisters – A World Apart 

Twin Sisters – A World Apart | Click here to watch

(58 min; 2015; Norwegian and English with subtitles)
Director: Mona Friis Bertheussen

Recipient of the Audience Award for Best Feature Film, Gottenborg International Film Festival 2014

The poignant true story of twin sisters from China, found as babies in a cardboard box in 2003 and adopted by two separate sets of parents - one from California, the other from a remote fishing village in Norway. The film tells the remarkable story of their parallel journey, punctuated by only the odd visit, videos and photographs - until they meet for a longer visit in Norway when they are eight years old. Despite living completely different lives and speaking different languages, they are mirrors of each other - the magical bond between them is extraordinary.

This is the story of our notions of family - the genetic ones we inherit and the ones we create.

https://watchdocumentaries.com/twin-sisters-a-world-apart/

FOCUS ON WESTERN CLASSICAL MUSIC COMPOSERS

My Time will Come: Gustav Mahler as remembered by Natalie Bauer-Lechner   | Click here to watch
Director: Beate Thalberg

Filmmaker Beate Thalberg has crafted a docu-drama based on a little- known source of information on Gustav Mahler, the diaries of Natalie Bauer-Lechner, Mahler’s long-time confidante. The film portraits Mahler’s private and professional life from his student years in Vienna up to his marriage with Alma Schindler. The diaries evoke the man behind the artist and testify not only to Mahler’s erratic character and to his humour, but also to his dramatic struggle for recognition as a composer.

https://vimeo.com/26374724

Kipling: A Remembrance Tale (UK)

(60 min; 2006; English)
Director: Harry Hook
A BBC One Production

A docu-drama presented by Griff Rhys Jones that tells the tragic story of Jungle Book author Rudyard Kipling. Peter Guiness brings the complex character of Kipling vividly to life.

Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport (UK)

PHYSICAL PROGRAMME

(122 min; 2000; German/English & with subtitles)

Written and Directed by Mark Jonathan Harris
Narrated by Judi Dench

Multiple award winner including Oscar Award for Best Documentary, Features, Academy Awards, USA 2001; Audience Award for Best Documentary Film, Terezin Fort Film Festival 2001; Evening Standard British Film Award for Best Documentary, Evening Standard British Film Awards 2001; among others 

Film on the extraordinary British rescue operation known as the Kindertransport which saved the lives of over 10,000 Jewish and other children from Germany, Austria and Czechoslovakia. These children, or Kinder, as they came to be known were taken into foster homes and hostels in Britain, expecting to be reunited with their parents. The majority of them never saw their parents again. The film uses rare and extensive footage, photographs, and artefacts, and is told in the words of the child survivors, rescuers, parents, and foster parents
 

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