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

A mehfil with Jaipur-Atrauli gharana exponent
Manjiri Asnare-Kelkar

Accompanists: Pt. Vinod Lele (tabla); and Vinay Mishra (harmonium)

As a disciple of Pt. Madhusudan Kanitkar, Manjiri inherited treasures of the Jaipur-Atrauli gayaki from which she will share ragas Vihang, Bhoop Nat and Kafi Kanhra

Collaboration: Jnana Pravaha; and NaadSaagar Archives and Documentation Society for South Asian Music

Webcast recording of the programme held on 28 October 2013

Speaker: Prof. John Ellis, King’s College London and CERN Theory Division, Geneva

Paul Gauguin's famous painting Where do we come from? What are we? Where are we going? deals with some of the most fundamental questions of the Universe. Eminent CERN theoretician Professor John Ellis explains how the Large Hadron Collider might address Gauguin's questions as seen by particle physics and cosmology.

In particle physics Gauguin's questions can be interpreted as: What is the status of particle physics, what may lie just beyond our current understanding of it, and just what is the `Theory of Everything'? In cosmology: What were the earliest stages of the Universe like, what is it made of today, and what is its future? Physicists at CERN's Large Hadron Collider in Geneva are hoping to provide some of the answers in the near future

Collaboration: University of Edinburgh

Webcast recording of the programme held on 15 February 2013

An illustrated lecture by Sunit Tandon, noted theatre and television personality and is currently the President of the Delhi Music Society

Webcast recording of the programme held on 5th June 2015

The Monasteries of Anandpur visited by Xuanzang

Illustrated lecture by Y.S. Rawat, former Director, Gujarat State Archaeology, Archaeological Survey of India

Archaeological research in recent years in the state of Gujarat has highlighted the importance of the region in Buddhist studies in India. The talk provides insight into these archaeological sites. It also emphasises the presence of Buddhist establishments both within and outside the fortified area of settlement as revealed at sites of Vadnagar and Taranga, located in proximity of each other

Video recording of the paper presented at the Conference on ‘Challenging Stereotypes in Early Buddhism’ organised by the Centre from 11th to 13th February 2019

https://vimeo.com/335555381