Urban Lens Film Festival

Opening remarks: Dr. Leonhard Emmerling, Director Programme, South Asia, Goethe Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan

 

Followed by screening of

Pichla Varka (62 min; 2018; dvd; English subtitles)

Directed by Priyanka Chhabra who will introduce the film

 

Screening will be followed by Priyanka Chhabra in conversation with Anupama Srinivasan

 

Dadi and her friends share a common history: of being Partition refugees who came to India after the state of Pakistan was created and eventually settled in the capital, Delhi. The film looks at the experiences of ordinary women who lived through the violence, uncertainty and trauma of leaving their homeland (mulk) to enter a new country in 1947. How does history play out on ordinary lives, where do households and properties merge

 

(Collaboration: Indian Institute for Human Settlements; and Goethe Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan)

 

THE IIC DOUBLE BILL MUSIC CONCERT

 

AT 18:00

Sitar Recital

By Arup Ranjan Mukherjee from Delhi, disciple of Pt. Jatin Bhattacharaya

 

AT 19:00

Hindustani Vocal Recital

By Indrani Chaudhury  from Kolkata, disciple of  Pandit Arun Bhaduri & Late Purnima Chaudhuri

 

BOOK DISCUSSION GROUP

 

Indian Cultural Diplomacy: Celebrating Pluralism in a Globalised World

By Paramjit Sahai (Vij Books, 2019)

 

Discussants: Shri Suhas Borker, Editor, Citizens First TV (CFTV) & Convener, Working Group on Alternative Strategies; Prof. Veena Sikri, Professor, former Ambassador and Convener, South Asia Women’s Network & Vice Chairperson, South Asia Foundation (SAF-India); Ms Shashi Uban Tripathi, former Indian Ambassador/High Commissioner to Poland, Zimbabwe, and Canada; and Shri K.P. Fabian, former Indian Ambassador to Finland, Qatar, Italy and Professor, Indian Society of International Law

 

Chair: Dr. Karan Singh

 

BOOK DISCUSSION GROUP

 

Indian Cultural Diplomacy: Celebrating Pluralism in a Globalised World

By Paramjit Sahai (Vij Books, 2019)

 

Discussants: Shri Suhas Borker, Editor, Citizens First TV (CFTV) & Convener, Working Group on Alternative Strategies; Prof. Veena Sikri, Professor, former Ambassador and Convener, South Asia Women’s Network & Vice Chairperson, South Asia Foundation (SAF-India); Ms Shashi Uban Tripathi, former Indian Ambassador/High Commissioner to Poland, Zimbabwe, and Canada; and Shri K.P. Fabian, former Indian Ambassador to Finland, Qatar, Italy and Professor, Indian Society of International Law

 

Chair: Dr. Karan Singh

 

Positions: Essays on Indian Literature

Launch of the new book of essays by K. Satchidanandan (New Delhi: Niyogi Books, 2019)

 

The book will be launched by Prof. Indra Nath Choudhury who will also speak 

 

Followed by discussion

Githa Hariharan, novelist and editor; and Sukrita Paul Kumar, poet and critic will be in conversation with Prof. K. Satchidanandan, author of the book

 

Moderator: Prof. Alok Bhalla

 

The book features a careful selection of K. Satchidanandan’s essays on Indian literature, written over the past 25 years. The book raises some critical issues - whether Indian literature should be treated as a unitary essence or as diverse literature from various languages, is a vexing issue. Or whether literature of India should evolve its own poetics or should continue to be governed by western critical apparatus, are some of the issues raised in this collection of essays

 

(Collaboration: Niyogi Books)

 

Positions: Essays on Indian Literature

Launch of the new book of essays by K. Satchidanandan (New Delhi: Niyogi Books, 2019)

 

The book will be launched by Prof. Indra Nath Choudhury who will also speak 

 

Followed by discussion

Githa Hariharan, novelist and editor; and Sukrita Paul Kumar, poet and critic will be in conversation with Prof. K. Satchidanandan, author of the book

 

Moderator: Prof. Alok Bhalla

 

The book features a careful selection of K. Satchidanandan’s essays on Indian literature, written over the past 25 years. The book raises some critical issues - whether Indian literature should be treated as a unitary essence or as diverse literature from various languages, is a vexing issue. Or whether literature of India should evolve its own poetics or should continue to be governed by western critical apparatus, are some of the issues raised in this collection of essays

 

(Collaboration: Niyogi Books)

 

Aaj Kavita

Poetry readings by Tushar Dhawal Singh (Kolkata); Pankhuri Sinha (Delhi); Yashashwini Pandey (Baroda); and Abha Bodhisatva (Mumbai)

 

(Collaboration: The Raza Foundation)

 

Cross-Cultural Conversation: A New Way of Learning

Release of the new book by Anindita N. Balslev (New Delhi: Routledge, 2019)

 

The book will be released by Dr. Karan Singh

 

Followed by a discussion 

Speakers: Dr. Karan Singh; Shri Shyam Saran, Life Trustee, IIC; Dr. Oscar Pujol, Director, Cervantes Institute, New Delhi; and Dr. Anindita N. Balslev, independent philosopher based in India and Denmark

 

This book proposes a radical shift in the way the world thinks about itself by highlighting the significance of Cross-Cultural Conversations. Moving beyond conventional boundaries, it examines the language in which histories are written; analyzes how scientific technology is changing the idea of identity; and highlights the need for a larger identity across nationality, race, religion, gender, ethnicity and class

 

(Collaboration: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group)

 

BIJOYA SAMMELAN

 

An Evening of Golden Melodies of Bengal – Banglar Gaan

Presented by Lopamudra Mitra from Kolkata, well-known artist of Rabindra Sangeet and modern Bengali and folk songs

 

(Collaboration: Impresario India)