By Prateeksha Kashi from Bangalore, daughter and disciple of Guru Vyjayanthi Kashi

Webcast recording of the programme held on 8th March 2016

Through a Different Lens: Should India adopt a more civilisation view of the World (49 min)
Speaker: Dr. Shiv Visvanathan, social scientist, currently Professor at O P Jindal Global University

Chair: Shri Soli J. Sorabjee, President, IIC

The talk is an attempt to ask a question for contemporary times. The idea of civilisation has been used more to grasp the sacred, the sense of heritage and the idea of tradition. Words like Nationalism, Development and Globalism seem more appropriate for contemporary narratives on statecraft or policy. We dramatize ourselves within the frame-work of the nation-state with its accompanying ideas of citizenship, boundary, security and contract. This lecture suggests that may be a civilisation view of India is more relevant than a nationalist perspective. It considers a few thought experiments like the idea of South Asia, Climate Change and the notion of Sustainability to develop its argument

Webcast recording of the programme held on 14th January 2017

Organised in collaboration with Cervantes Institute, New Delhi

Second part in the online film series presenting five exceptional films from Spain, created between 1973–1997. Each of the films has received awards at the most prestigious international festivals and are emblematic of the collective memory, continuing to connect with contemporary viewers, offering them a much richer and more complex imagination.

Screenings will be held every Friday in July 2020 from 11:30 pm onwards. Vimeo links of the film will be made accessible for a period of 48 hours every week

Friday 3 July 2020 from 11:30 pm onwards
The Spirit of the Beehive (El espíritu de la colmena)
(94 min; 1973; Spanish with English subtitles)
Director: Victor Erice

Multiple award winner including the Golden Seashell Award, San Sebastián Film Festival 1973; CEC Awards for Best Film, Best Actor & Best Director, Cinema Writers Circle Awards, Spain 1974; among others

Víctor Erice's feature debut is a declaration of love for cinema. The awakening of little Ana to the mysteries of adult life allows the director to pay tribute to the importance of cinema to understand the world, and also our inner world. Through the wonderful images of this film we will see the image of Frankenstein circulate as one of the icons of cinema, but also as the mythical character that allows Ana to deal with her fears in the sad post-war period of a small Castilian town, along with her parents and her sister Elizabeth

https://cultura.cervantes.es/nuevadelhi/en/el-esp%C3%ADritu-de-la-colmena/134825

Illustrated lecture by Marina Montesano, Professor of Medieval History, University of Messina, Italy

Webinar recording of the talk held on 25th June 2020

An expert on the history of witchcraft, Prof. Montesano explores the concept of witches and how they came to be persecuted throughout history. In light of the scholarship available on the subject, the lecture investigates the link between epidemics and this social phenomena 

The talk can be accessed on
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gmGD6-vKPY&feature=youtu.be&list=PLqnBqgn7ty3zfAicvo9JJ-pEKM_gB0PKw

Speaker: Dr. Jayati Bhattacharya, Senior Lecturer, National University of Singapore

Introduced by Ms. Claudia Chia Yi En, South Asian Studies Programme, National University of Singapore

This lecture will focus on the historical connectivities across the Bay of Bengal in the colonial period, particularly the 19th and 20th centuries, and propose to highlight the alternative frameworks of mobility and exchanges through participation of Indian business communities in the intra-Asian economic and diasporic networks that prevailed, but was less visible in the dominant Euro-centric narrative across global transit points, port cities and the China trade routes.

Introduction: Ms Renana Jhabvala followed by a short film interview with Ruth Jhabvala

Chair: Shri Harish Khare

Readings from Ruth Jhabvala’s work by Averee Chaurey and Minoti Chatterjee

Introduction to Ruth Jhabvala’s fiction writing by Smt Aruna Chakravarty

An Interpretation of the last two works – My Nine Lives and Love Song for India
Speaker: Shri Ramesh Chandra Shah, well-known Hindi writer

Programme organised as part of the IIC Film Club programme Ruth Prawar Jhabvala Festival in December 2014

Webcast recording of the programme held on 15th December 2014

By Van Merwijk’s Music Machine from the Netherlands – Lucas van Merwijk, drummer, percussionist & band leader accompanied by Ramon Valle, Cuban master pianist;  Bert Boeren on trombone; and Samuel Albert Ruiz, bass player from Venezuela

Collaboration: Embassy of The Netherlands; Netherlands Fonds Voor Podium Kunsten and ASB for the Arts

Webcast recording of the programme held on 1st April 2015

Alarmel Valli, Bharatanatyam dancer in conversation with Arundhati Subramaniam, poet

Introduction: Ashok Vajpeyi

Collaboration: The Raza Foundation

Webcast recording of the programme held on 18th September 2015

Speaker: Prof. R. Rajaraman, Emeritus Professor of Theoretical Physics, School of Physical Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University
Chair: Prof. N. Panchapakesan

Symmetry abounds in nature and renders objects pleasing to the eye. But its importance goes far beyond just making objects attractive. Symmetry offers one of the most powerful tools in the scientific understanding of nature, particularly in physics, but to some extent also in chemistry and biology

The first lectures in the series coordinated by Prof. Shobhit Mahajan, University of Delhi on the developments in science and technology together with the excitement of engaging in an intellectual pursuit.  Science and Technology are omnipresent in our lives. Modern medicine, electronic and communication technologies, transportation and a host of other benefits have transformed our lives in ways that could not be even imagined a century ago. Technology is of course what we see all around us- but it is actually the underlying science that makes it all possible

Webcast recording of the programme held on 5th April 2013

Presented by Borsa Band from Moldva, Romania
With musicians – Noémi Réfi (violin); Katica Manninger (vocals); Péter Tóth (flutes); and Oliver Tóth (koboz)

Dancers: Flóra Csente; Gabriella Erdei; Márk Bence Dunai; and Gergő Porvai

Moldva is a region in Romania with a Hungarian speaking population called Csango who have lived here since the Middle Ages. Moldva is the cultural border between Central Europe and the Balkans. The band founded in 2011 has been collecting old records, folk tunes and traditional instruments such as the koboz (an East European type of lute) and as well as the various forms of Csango dances which they present wearing medieval costumes

The three video recordings present dance tunes and bride dressing songs 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTje7IFq7Q0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asc63sVrwus

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V06Pog5l138

Organised in collaboration with Hungarian Information & Cultural Centre