Speaker: Prabha Sankaranarayan, President and CEO of Mediators Beyond Borders International (MBBI). Drawing on her extensive mediation experience across the USA, Africa, and Asia, her lecture will delve into mediation as a transformative experience, emphasizing compassionate interaction over transactional settlement

The fourth edition of IIC-WISCOMP Dialogues: Conversations on Mediation, will present a compelling case for placing compassion at the heart of peace mediation. Drawing on her extensive experience working in Ukraine, Gaza, Colombia and Syria, internationally acclaimed mediator Prabha Sankaranarayan will explore the mediation as a transformative process beyond transactional settlement.

Ukraine: Where is it headed?

Speaker: Dr. John Cherian, senior journalist

Chair: Amb. K.P. Fabian

Midnight Haze
By Kaia Roy

Discussants: Shri Sunit Tandon, Director, India Habitat Centre; Prof. Sukrita Paul Kumar, Guest Editor, Indian Literature, poet, academic and critic; Prof. Malashri Lal, academic, writer, editor and anthologist; and Ms Kaia Roy, author of the book

Chair: Prof. Meenakshi Gopinath, Life Trustee, IIC
 

An illustrated lecture by Priyamvada Natarajan

Chair: Dr Shailesh Nayak, Life Trustee, IIC, Director, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bengaluru

Prof. Natarajan will present and discuss the latest results from the James Webb Space Telescope that have started to radically transform our understanding of the formation of the first stars, galaxies and black holes. Starting with the overall context and the current framework used to comprehend the cosmos, she will present the new ideas and theories that have been put to test by James Webb, including her own work on the new pathway to form the first black holes by direct collapse of gas in the very early Universe.
 

Programmes with Prof. Priyamvada Natarajan

Prof. Priyamvada Natarajan is Joseph S. and Sophia S. Fruton Professor of Astronomy and Professor of Physics; Chair Astronomy; Chair Women Faculty Forum, Department of Physics, Yale University

An informal interaction with Prof. Priyamvada Natarajan

Chair: Dr. Pratibha Jolly, physicist and Principal Investigator, GATI (Gender Advancement for Transforming Institutions)

Amidst an intellectual revolution in cosmology and astrophysics, the interplay of powerful ideas and innovative instruments is radically reshaping our understanding of the universe. As part of Her Voice: Engendering the Discourse, internationally acclaimed astrophysicist Priyamvada Natarajan will be in conversation with Pratibha Jolly, Indian physicist and Principal Investigator, GATI (Gender Advancement for Transforming Institutions). This special conversation will explore their personal trajectories, glass ceilings breached, the opportunities and challenges for women navigating the discursive terrain of science.

(Collaboration: Wiscomp)
 

Launch of the IIC-IRD book edited by Syed Akhtar Husain (New Delhi: Primus Books, 2025)

Shri N.N. Vohra, Life Trustee, IIC will release the book and preside over the discussion

Panelists: Amb. T.C.A. Raghavan, historian, former High Commissioner to Pakistan, and former Director General, Indian Council of World Affairs; Prof. Siddiq Wahid, Distinguished Professor, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, and Senior Fellow, Centre of Excellence for Himalayan Studies, Shiva Nadar Institution of Eminence; Dr. Meena Singh Roy, Head, West Asia Centre, Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, New Delhi; and Prof. Syed Akhtar Husain, volume editor, Professor, Centre of Persian and Central Asian Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, and President, Institute of Indo-Persian Studies
 

An international exhibition of paintings and art works by artists from India and Southeast Asia – the Philippines, Indonesia, and Singapore – Nemi Miranda, August Santiago, Bernardo Balagtas, Dolphee Alcantara & Aaron Bautista from the Philippines; Maria Tiwi from Indonesia; Dion Khoo from Singapore; Shobhita Hariharan, Sita Sudhakar, Stanley Suresh, Ratnaa Sharma, Dr. Lal Ratnakar, P.J. Stalin, Sandeep Udayagiri, Ashima Sehgal, Monalisa Mehta, Maitreyi Kumar, Gurcharan Singh, Saswati Chaudhary, Jayant K. M. Shankar, Manisha P. Rajyagar, Madhu Shankar, Dr. Machi Raju, Seema Bhargav, Sandeep Sharma, Ashok Macha, Kundan Prasad, Nitasha Jaini, Shubha Chand, Ramviranjan, Shweta Mehta, Suresh Bisht and Srinivas Mach from India

Inauguration by Shri K.N. Shrivastava, Director, IIC on Tuesday, 11 March 2025 at 18:30 hrs

(Collaboration: Arth Art International)

A conversation between Madhu Tandan and Richa Vadini Singh on whether dreams are a wasteland or a secret garden

Madhu Tandan, the acclaimed author of Dreams & Beyond: Finding Your Way in the Dark and The Logic of Dreams, brings four decades of experience in researching and interpreting dreams.

Richa Vadini Singh is a writer who explores the fascinating realm of dreams and has studied psychodynamic dreamwork.

Together, they will explore what our dreams might be trying to tell us, unravel why they often seem so bizarre, and ponder their true significance. They will also welcome any dreams shared by the audience for discussion.
 

Solo guitar concert by Sidharth Sarangi, classical guitarist, pianist and composer from Odisha

The artist will present compositions by F. Tárrega; I. Albéniz; A. Bárrios; Gary Ryan; P. Steidl; and C. Domeniconi

(Collaboration: Delhi Music Society)