Surdas: Poet, Singer, Saint 

Discussion on a book by John Stratton Hawley

 

Bhajans of Surdas 

by Vidushi Sarita Pathak Yajurvedi

 

Release of book by Professor Romila Thapar

Discussant: Professor Purushottam Agrawal

 

(Collaboration: Primus Books)

 

Keys to Governance: Constitution as Ideology

Speakers: Prof Balveer Arora, Professor Emeritus and Chairman, Centre for Multilevel Federalism and former Professor, JNU; Prof Nandini Sundar, Professor of Sociology, Delhi School of Economics; Prof Vivek Kumar, Professor, Centre for the Study of Social System, JNU; and Dr. Himanshu, Associate Professor, Centre for Economic Studies and Planning, JNU 

 

This is the third in the series of annual discussions on Keys to Governance; the earlier two were on Compliance and Delivery (2016) and Political Will (2017)

 

(Collaboration: D. S. Borker Memorial Foundation)

 

The source is always with you

Speaker: Dr. Mani Bhaumik, a world-renowned laser physicist and co-inventor of the first high-power efficient excimer laser that made LASIKeye surgery possible; elected fellow of the American Physical Society & the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineer; and founder of the Mani Bhaumik Educational Foundation in Bengal for scholarships to underprivileged students. Dr. Bhaumik created an award winning animated TV series, Cosmic Quantum Ray

 

Introduction: Dr. Shiv Nadar, MD, HCL

 

Chair: Professor Shobhit Mahajan, Professor of Physics and Astrophysics, University of Delhi

 

How would your life change, if you knew for sure that science with indisputable evidence could vouch for the reality of something as unchanging, omnipresent, omnipotent, and steadfast as the Brahman of the Vedas, the God of the Old Testament, or the Allah of the Quran? Something that enfolds you as the sea enfolds a single drop of water? The stunning discoveries of modern physics and cosmology have uncovered an ultimate nature of reality, which is radically different from the daily perception of our tangible world. Most remarkably, modern science unquestionably reveals that each one of us is inseparably connected to the abiding abstract source, the foundation of being, and thereby to one another as well as to the universe

 

Symposium in Honour of Dr. Lotika Varadarajan

 

Cultural Life of Textiles: Prof. V. Ramaswamy, Jawaharlal Nehru University

Ashavalli-Tanchoi and Brindavan textiles: Bijan Paul, Weaver and former Director Weavers Service Center

Map Matters: Indian Ocean Regional Approximation in Cartography: Dr. Surjeet Sarkar, Prof. Ambedkar University

Evolution of the Throne: ?sand? to S?hâsana: Dr. Anamika Pathak, Curator, National Museum

The Shoe Story of British India: Dr. Toolika Gupta, Director, Indian Institute of Craft and Design, Jaipur

 

Guest of Honour – Dr. Smt Kapila Vatsyayan, Chairperson, International Research Division & Life Trustee, IIC

 

(Collaboration: Textile and Clothing Research Center and Craft Revival Trust)

 

Exploring the Edge

An intense one-day peer level conference for which the primary participants have been drawn from a wide variety of streams of human endeavour

 

Primary participants: Anumitra Ghosh Dastidar, Chef, Diva Restaurants; Arsh Sharma, musician, composer, studio owner (The Circus, Fuzz Culture, Fuzz Studio); Bacchus Barua, economist & musician, Fraser Institute, The Belief Experiment; Chintan Kalra, musician, composer, studio owner, video professional (The Kuru Circus, Contraband, Think Floyd, etc.); Harsha Durugagga, award-winning sculptor; Jaya Ramchandani, educator & Secretary, The Story of Foundation & Festivals; Jobin Vijayan, engineer, innovator, Arduino Expert & entrepreneur; Leeenika Beri, Manager & Initiator, The Jaipur Kala Chaupal Arts Residency & Exhibition; Mandeep Raikhy, dancer, choreographer and Managing Director, Gati Dance Forum; Shankar Barua, artist, writer, Curator, The Academy of Electronic Arts; and Suresh Nair, Professor of Art and large scale cement muralist

 

(Collaboration: The Academy of Electronic Arts)

 

 

A Collaboration Between Carnatic and Sufi Music

By Sudha Raghuraman and Mukhtiyar Ali

 

(Collaboration: Seher)

 

The Conference of the Spices/ The Masalaa Chronicles (60 min)

A Performance in three acts, with Puppets, by Varun Narain

 

India has always been known as the land of spices. And its spices have been associated with cuisine, emotions, health, trade and commerce. The lure of spices has made the subcontinent one of the most sought after, leading historically to trade with the Portuguese, and Persian empires, and even the Dutch, and the British. If we look at the story of every different spice we consume, we experience in them an aromatic historical image and the flavour of many stories of the past and present. The performance is set in India, The spice garden through time…

 

The different spices used in Indian cooking are characterised as life-sized puppets, which interact with the audience and tell their story to through dialogue, actions, dance and music. These interactions will be scripted to include the history and legends as well as the unique aspects of the particular spice

 

Conversations on Education: India and Indonesia

Speakers: Professor Anita Rampal, Professor and former Dean of Faculty of Education, Delhi University; and Dr. Iwan Pranoto, Education and Cultural Attache, Embassy of Indonesia

 

Through this discourse, we will explore the common challenges in education facing two big democracies, with immense diversities and disparities. We will examine attempts to provide quality public education for all children and the possible shared learnings for the two fast growing nations in the Indian ocean

 

(Collaboration: Embassy of Indonesia)

 

Legend of the Loom (42 min; dvd; 2017; Bangladesh)

Researched and scripted by Saiful Islam, author of the book ‘Muslin. Our Story’, produced by Drik

 

This ground-breaking film is about the history of muslin. It takes the viewer on a breath-taking 2000-year-old journey; from the herbariums of the world, the rivers of Bengal where the plant (Gossypium Arboreum Var. Neglecta) grew, to the famous museums of Europe where the best examples of this fabric are stored.  It covers the story from the first foreigners to come to Bengal in search of its fine textiles, the establishment of empires and the opening of trade routes connecting the subcontinent to the wider world. Along the way, weavers, farmers, experts, designers, scientists and artisans give their views, and display techniques which make the story come alive

 

The Third Edition of the Discussion on the State of the Indian Economy