Speakers: Kavita Bundelkhandi, co-founder and Editor-in-Chief, Khabar Lahariya and the first Dalit member of the Editor’s Guild of India who is a non-conformist of many parts who stumbled into motherhood; Pooja Pande, writer, author and editor, TED speaker and co-CEO, Chambal Media who has deconstructed the institution of motherhood in India in her book Momspeak; and Vandana Sharma, practicing advocate who qualifies as a mother and advocate at about the same time 

Chair: Richa Jha, children’s author and the publisher of Pickle Yolk Books

In literature, films, performative spaces, popular media and in our everyday lives, we now have portrayals and real-life role models of mothers who do not shy away from putting themselves first, even at the cost of being labelled as ‘bad’ mothers. By living on their own terms, or by not making motherhood the focus of their existence, they challenge the conventional views that have long since reduced women to the all-loving, all-sacrificing and rule-bound gendered identity and role.

The conversation will explore how mothers today are breaking the classic mothering moulds
 

Poetics of Absence
An illustrated presentation by Navtej Singh Johar

The speaker will share his love for the thumri, ghazal, kafi and padam, all genres of amorous songs that address the absence of a fictitious god-lover. Using abhinaya, he will illustrate the poetic dynamics that may operate between the “real-self” and its “fictitious-other” for the purpose of aesthetic satisfaction (rasa) that can be said to be unique to the subcontinent.

Navtej Singh Johar is a dancer-choreographer, yoga practitioner, scholar and social activist. His work within all fields of his varied interests remains consistently body-centric.  It twines practice with critical theory and social action while it traverses freely between the traditional and the contemporary.  Johar teaches Dance Studies at Ashoka University, India, and is the founder-director of Studio Abhyas, New Delhi where he teaches two practices that he has devised over the years, the BARPS Method of Asana and Abhyas Somtics,  the two being inspired by the concepts of sukh and rasa that are central to Yoga and Indian poetics respectively
 

Deviations

Panel discussion with Ravi Agarwal, artist, photographer, environmental campaigner, writer, curator; Manisha Parekh, artist; and Vibha Galhotra, conceptual artist who’s work includes large-scale installations, sculptures, drawings, films that explore themes of ecological and environmental concerns (tbc)

(Collaboration: The Raza Foundation)

A House of Bamboo- Mud and Thatch
Illustrated lecture by Nengcha Lhouvum and Gautam Mukhopadhaya

Discussants: Savyasaachi, Anthropologist, Professor and former Head, Dept. of Sociology, Jamia Millia Islamia; and Snehanshu Mukherjee, architect, educator and writer, Adjunct Professor, Indian Institute of Art & Design, New Delhi

Moderator: Anisha Shekhar Mukherji, Conservation Architect, author and Visiting Faculty, School of Planning & Architecture, Delhi

Nengcha Lhouvum served as India’s Ambassador to Lebanon, Serbia and Indonesia from 2005-2013. She drew from her childhood to build a traditional mud hut with a contemporary touch in the hills of Manipur. Gautam Mukhopadhaya served as Indian Ambassador to Syria, Afghanistan and Myanmar from 2006-16.  

With a shared interest in building with natural and local materials: mud, stone, bamboo and thatch, the talk is the outcome of that interest.

The Genius of Nelson Mandela
Speaker: Prof. Neera Chandhoke, Distinguished Fellow, Centre for Equity Studies, New Delhi

Introduction by Programme Director, South African High Commission
Opening Remarks: Suhas Borker, Convener, Working Group on Alternative Strategies and Trustee, IIC
Closing Remarks: Mr. Cedrick C. Crowley, Acting High Commissioner, South African High Commission

The Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture was instituted at IIC in 2018 to mark the Centenary of Madiba

(Collaboration: South African High Commission; and Working Group on Alternative Strategies)

Commemoration of Nelson Mandela’s 106th Birthday

AT GANDHI-KING MEMORIAL PLAZA: 10:30 TO 11:00
Commemoration Service
Songs by School Choirs from Delhi NCR

AT C.D. DESHMUKH AUDITORIUM: 11:15 TO 12:15
Mandela Katha Mala

“Education is the great engine of personal development. It is through education that the daughter of a peasant can become a doctor, that the son of a mineworker can become the head of the mine, that a child of farmworkers can become the president of a great nation. It is what we make out of what we have, not what we are given, that separates one person from another.” ― Nelson Mandela, in his autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom 
 
Message from the UN Secretary General António Guterres to be read by Mr. Darrin Farrant, Director, United Nations Information Centre for India and Bhutan

Speakers: Mr. Cedrick C. Crowley, Acting High Commissioner, South African High Commission; and Shri Suhas Borker, Convener, Working Group on Alternative Strategies and Trustee, IIC

Interactive session with students of schools from Delhi NCR

Foyer outside the Auditorium
Madiba and His Struggle
An exhibition of paintings by students of Bluebells School International 

Organised as part of Taking Gandhi to Children series that brings children closer to the enduring legacy of Gandhi’s non-violent struggle for equity, justice, pluralism and sustainable development

(Collaboration: Gandhi Yuva Baradari; United Nations Information Centre; and Working Group on Alternative Strategies)
 

The Agrarian Economy: Perceptions versus reality

Speaker: Prof. Madhura Swaminathan, Professor and Head, Economic Analysis Unit, Indian Statistical Institute, Bengaluru

Welcome and Introduction: Prof. Nitya Nanda, Director, Council for Social Development

Remarks by the Chair: Shri Shyam Saran, President, IIC

Vote of Thanks: Prof. Biswajit Dhar, Vice President, Council for Social Development

The lecture will provide evidence and argument to question popular perceptions about the agrarian economy, about farmers and farming

The programme will include release of India Social Development Report 2023 – “Women’s Contribution in Economy” edited by Prof. Indira Hirway

(Collaboration: Council for Social Development)

YouTube: https://youtube.com/live/EyeR74FCNdc?feature=share

She Storms the Norms

By Anisha Motwani & Priyadarshini Narendra (Rupa Publications India: 2024)

Discussants: Kanta Singh, Deputy Representative of UN Women India; Anisha Motwani, author of the book; and Priyadarshini Narendra, co-author of the book.

Moderator: Amb.K.P.Fabian, Professor, Symbiosis University, Pune

Dr. Ananda Bhavanani and Dr. Sangeeta Laura Biagi in conversation with Rajiv Mehrotra

Welcome Remarks: Shri K.N. Shrivastava, Director, IIC

(Organised in collaboration: Foundation for Universal Responsibility)
 

Ancient wisdom of our times

Yoga Unveiled: 13 and 14 July 2024

 Details of Yoga Programme

A two-day workshop with Yogacharya Dr. Ananda Balayogi Bhavanani, MBBS, MD, DSC (Yoga); and Yogacharini Dr. Sangeeta Laura Biagi

Dr. Bhavanani is the Director of the Institute of Salutogenesis & Complementary Medicine at Sri Balaji Vidyapeeth, Pondicherry. Born into an ancient lineage of Yoga Masters, he empowers holistic health by bridging ancient wisdom with modern science through yoga and traditional healing practices, integrating spirituality with human flourishing 

Dr. Sangeeta Biagi is the Director of International Studies & Research of Gitananda Nada Yoga at the International Centre for Yoga Education & Research, Ananda Ashram Pondicherry. She trained as a cultural anthropologist, sound healer & yoga teacher fostering spiritual & emotional healing through voice awareness.

Due to limited seats, we would request you to kindly please register in advance should you wish to attend the workshop. The link for registration is given below:
https://forms.gle/sY3K4vJ5vXLCbA4S9