Exploring Notions of Bhakti in the Making of Ram in a Hindu-Muslim Ramlila Tradition
Illustrated lecture by Dr. Molly Kaushal, Professor of Performance Studies and Head, Janapada Sampada Division, Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts

 

Introduction: Prakash Tripathi

Discussant and Chair: Shri Shrivatsa Goswami

 

Shamshad Ali has been playing Ram for almost eight years now in the Ramlila of Kheriya, a small village in Uttar Pradesh. What does it mean to play the role of Ram for him, a “devout Muslim” as he describes himself.  The presentation is based on interviews with Shamshad about his life’s journey and the process he went through that made him “identify with is role completely”

 

 

 

Covid – 19 and Geopolitics

Panelists: Dr. T.C.A. Raghavan, Director-General, Indian Council of World Affairs, former High Commissioner to Pakistan and Singapore and author of Abdur Rahim – Courtiers and Poets in Mughal India; The People Next Door – The Curious History of India’s Relations with Pakistan; and History Men – Jadunath Sarkar, G.S. Sardesai, Raghubir Sinh and Their Quest for India’s Past (2020); and Shri Shrenik Rao, Editor-in-Chief, Madras Courier and Fellow, Oxford University’s Reuters Institute of Journalism

 

Moderator: Ambassador K.P. Fabian

 

The world that emerges free from Covid-19 will be different from what it was before the contagion appeared, What will be the modified geopolitical equations? Will China’s rise be accelerated, decelerated, or even reversed? What might be the change in the worldview of United States after the November 2020 elections? Will the South get appropriate assistance from the North to address the crisis and later to restore its economy? What are the lessons to be learnt? What are the challenges and opportunities facing India now as the contagion is still raging, and what might be the challenges and opportunities after it has been contained and, hopefully, eliminated in the whole world?
 

 

Book Discussion Group

 

K File: The Conspiracy of Silence

By Bashir Assad (New Delhi: Vitasta Publishing, 2020)

 

Discussants: Lt. Gen. Syed Ata Hasnain, PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, SM, VSM; Shri Sushil Pandit, activist and Founder, Roots in Kashmir; Dr. Rekha Choudhary, formerly Professor of Political Science, University of Jammu & Kashmir and formerly, Fellow, Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla; and Shri Bashir Assad, senior journalist, researcher and author of the book

 

Chair: Shri N.N. Vohra, President, IIC

 

The conflict in Jammu and Kashmir is one of the biggest internal security challenges for the Indian state. 2001 saw over 4,500 terror-related deaths in the state. This figure has steadily declined in the last 18 years, makinf the world wrongly believe this reduction in violence is a sign that Kashmir is moving towards conflict resolution. Bashir Assad argues, there is never going to be a resolution of conflict in Kashmir and return to peace unless all stakeholders – the Kashmiris themselves, the Indian state and the political parties in Kashmir get together and negotiate peace with the militants. 

 

The Environmentalist of the Poor: A Tribute to Chandi Prasad Bhatt 

(110 min; lecture in Hindi & English)

Speakers: Shri Anupam Mishra, Gandhi Peace Foundation; Shri Shekhar Pathak, People’s Association for Himalaya Area Research (Pahar); Shri Ramesh Pahari, Aniket; Dr. Ramchandra Guha, New India Foundation; and Shri Jairam Ramesh, Minister for Environment and Forest 

 

Chair: Prof. Pushpesh Pant

 

Shri Chandi Prasad Bhatt was present on the occasion

 

Panel discussion organised to celebrate the life and work of the great pioneering environmentalist Chandi Prasad Bhatt. Founder of the Chipko movement, Padma Bhushan and Magsaysay award winner, Chandi Prasad ji has played a landmark role in the growth and development of the environment movement in India and beyond

 

Organised in collaboration with People’s Association for Himalaya Area Research (PAHAR); and National Book Trust

 

Webcast recording of the programme held on 19th July 2011

Western music concert
The Environmentalist of the Poor: A Tribute to Chandi Prasad Bhatt 

(110 min; lecture in Hindi & English)

Speakers: Shri Anupam Mishra, Gandhi Peace Foundation; Shri Shekhar Pathak, People’s Association for Himalaya Area Research (Pahar); Shri Ramesh Pahari, Aniket; Dr. Ramchandra Guha, New India Foundation; and Shri Jairam Ramesh, Minister for Environment and Forest 

 

Chair: Prof. Pushpesh Pant

 

Shri Chandi Prasad Bhatt was present on the occasion

 

Panel discussion organised to celebrate the life and work of the great pioneering environmentalist Chandi Prasad Bhatt. Founder of the Chipko movement, Padma Bhushan and Magsaysay award winner, Chandi Prasad ji has played a landmark role in the growth and development of the environment movement in India and beyond

 

Organised in collaboration with People’s Association for Himalaya Area Research (PAHAR); and National Book Trust

 

Webcast recording of the programme held on 19th July 2011

Panel discussion on environment

Famous Classical and Musical Theatre Songs (106 min)

Concert presented by Farah Ghadiali (soprano); Firdause Wadia (baritone); and Kersi Gazdar (tenor)

 

The artists present a concert of well-known pieces from opera, semi-classical music, and musical theatre (Phantom of the Opera, Sound of Music etc.)

 

Organised in collaboration with Parzor Foundation; and Jiyo Parsi

IIC Double Bill – Dance and Music Recitals

 

Odissi Recital (30 min)

By Madhulita Mohapatra from Bengaluru, disciple of Guru Smt Aruna Mohanty

 

The artist will present Janasammohini Pallavi and Ramate Yamuna Pulina Vane (an ashtapadi from Jayadev’s Geeta Govinda) 

 

 

Hindustani Vocal Recital

By Padmaja Chakraborty from Delhi, disciple of Guru Smt. Girija Devi

 

Accompanied by Shubhendu Das on tabla; and Sonali Roy on tanpura

Shake off your sorrows (Sacúdete las penas/Mexico)

(90 min; 2018; Spanish with English subtitles)

Director: Andrés Ibañez Dias Infante

 

González, an inmate serving a long sentence, tells the story of Pepe Frituras, Mexico City’s most famous dancer, who would lose his freedom during a night out partying, ending up in the Palace of Lecumberri -the country’s most dangerous penitentiary. Through anecdotes filled with music, dances, and romance, González narrates how he became the only convict that managed to escape the prison walls using the power of his imagination

 

The film will be accessible using the link and password pasted below from 14th August 2020 at 00:00 until 16th August 2020 at 23:59

 

https://embamex.sre.gob.mx/india/index.php/avisos/64-sacudete-las-penas
Password: DDCM2020
 

 

(Collaboration: Embassy of Mexico)

A Festival of Plays

Organised in collaboration with Italian Embassy Cultural Centre, four plays of Pippo Delbono, well-known Italian theatre actor and director will be streamed through Vimeo links. Presented by the Emilia Romagna Teatro Fondazione, Italy, each of the plays feature leading actors from theatres in Modena, Cesena, Vignola and Castelfranco Emilia.

 

The four plays will be presented over the next four weeks and can be accessed through the Vimeo link pasted below. The plays are in Italian with English subtitles

 

Gospel (Vangelo; 100 min)

Written and Directed by Pippo Delbono

 

Pippo Delbono has been experimenting on stage for many years now, exploring the fertile ground between public and personal, between autobiography and history, shaping works that stand out on the international scene for their originality.

 

Vangelo (Gospel) marks a further step along this path. It is a choral work, which began as a contemporary opera: it first took shape in Zagreb, performed by the orchestra, choir, dancers and actors at the Croatian National Theatre together with the acting company that has been working with Pippo Delbono for many years. It markedly reveals the memories of its Croatian performers who lived through the traumatic events of the war that reshaped the history, places and boundaries of their native land

 

https://vimeo.com/408083747