Ramji Thakkar, Bhimji Thakkar (70 min; dvd; 2016; Gujarati/English & with subtitles)

Director: Shwetal Bhatt

 

Screening will be followed by a discussion with the filmmaker

 

The film explores the urban history of Navratri, and its social context in an urban setup. It also seeks to highlight the role played by the city of Baroda in shaping the festival as well as the folk dance (garba), which is inseparably associated with the festival. It is essentially an urban Indian woman’s quest to understand what makes the festival as it is celebrated today in her hometown. The film is a combination of interviews and live footage about some rare books, old photographs, archival footage and mesmerising music

 

(Collaboration: Gujarati Club)

 

 

Carnatic Music – Homage to the Mridangam Trinity of the Past

Shri Palghat Manu Iyer, Shri Pazhani Subramaniam Pillai and Shri Ramanathapuram C.S. Murugabhoopathy

Percussion ensemble by Kumbakonam N. Padmanabhan and his disciples

Supported by Delhi R. Sridhar and his disciples on violin

 

 

(Collaboration: Gayathri Fine Arts)

 

 

The Boatman and the River

A programme of Rabindrasangeet presented by Uttarayan 

 

Auroville: A City of the Future

A discussion and launch of the book by Anu Majumdar

 

Book release and talk by Dr. Karan Singh, M.P.

 

Followed by a discussion

 Speakers: Shakti Maira and Ameeta Mehra

 

(Collaboration: HarperCollins)

 

In Search of Ephrem the Syrian: Suriani and the Materiality of Faith

Speaker: Shri Jonathan Koshy, Lecturer, Lady Shri Ram College. His research on the Syrian Church in Kerala is being supported by Parzor

 

Chair: Dr. Anvita Abbi

 

Among the many losses suffered in the Syrian war is the destabilization and eradication of Christianity in Syria. The destruction of the churches and monasteries in Syria marks the erasure of a whole system of knowledge and faith. This lecture focuses on how the Syrian Church - the oldest Church in the world, is surviving in Kerala and with it the Syriac Church language, an ancient dialect of Aramaic and the rituals. These, while adapting to multicultural India have also been protected by it and today when totally destroyed in their homeland are kept alive in India

 

(Collaboration: Parzor)

 

 

Mehfil

A mehfil with Dr. Shashank Maktedar (khayal)

 

Accompanied by Pt. Vinod Lele (tabla); and Dr. Vinay Mishra (harmonium)

 

Shashank Maktedar’s musical journey started at an early age in Aurangabad under Pandit Nath Neralkar. In 1991, after winning a national talent search competition organized by ITC Sangeet Research Academy, he received a sustained period of ta’lim from Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar. 

 

Shashank will begin with raga Hamir and will present paramparik bandishes of the Gwalior and Jaipur-Atrauli gharanas for this special mehfil

 

(Collaboration: Shri Harshvardhan Neotia, Chairman, Jnana Pravaha: Centre for Cultural Studies and Research; and NaadSaagar Archives and Documentation Society for South Asian Music)

 

GST, Demonetisation and the Construction Industry 

 

Lead Speaker: Dr. Arun Kumar, Malcolm S. Adiseshiah, Chair Professor, Institute of Social Sciences who will make a presentation on “Demonetisation and its Impact on Parallel Economy, Real Estate and Construction Sector”

 

Followed by a panel discussion

Panelists: Dr. Arun Kumar, Malcolm S. Adiseshiah, Chair Professor, Institute of Social Sciences; Prof. Jagan Shah, Director, National Institute of Urban Affairs; Shri Dinesh Verma, Partner, SARC & Associates; Ms Anjali Sharma, Shriram Finance (tbc); and Shri Rohit Raj Modi, Director, Ashiana Homes Pvt. Ltd.

 

Chair: Prof. Sunil Agarwal, Associate Dean and Director, RICS SBE

(Collaboration: National Institute of Urban Affairs and RICS School of Built Environment, Amity University)

 

ART MATTERS

Dr. Sonal Mansingh in conversation with Smt Manjari Sinha

 

(Collaboration: The Raza Foundation)

 

 

Mohiniattam Recital

By Sandra Pisharody from Kerala, disciple of Smt Nirmala Paniker

 

 

Persian Gulf to Indian Ocean (Indic Heritages in Coast of the Persian Gulf)

Exhibition of photographs and text by Dr. Daryoosh Akbarzadeh

 

The commercial traffic of Indian merchants to the southern Iranian ports was not only tied to the caravanserais named as the caravanserais of the Indians but was linked to the construction of sacred temples in the southern coasts. This heritage is the subject of the present exhibition. 

 

The sites include: Hindu Temple in Bandar Abbas (Hormuzgan Province); Hindu Caravanserai in Kerman (Kerman Province); The British Military Cemetery in Bushehr (Bushehr Province); Indian Muslims Shrine of Sayyed Gholamreza Rasoul Shrine in Chah-Bahar Port (Sistan and Baluchistan Province); and Singh Memorial Gurdwara in Zahedan (Sistan and Baluchistan Province).

 

Inauguration by Shri Shyam Saran, Life Trustee IIC on Tuesday, 14 November 2017 at 18:30 followed by a talk