FRIDAY 16 TO 17 
 

Henry David Thoreau: A Transcendentalist

The year 2017 marks the bi-centenary of the birth of Henry David Thoreau (12 July 1817) whose writings ? especially his essay on civil disobedience ? changed the course of history through its powerful advocacy of passive resistance, a form of nonviolent protest later adopted in India by Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, in the USA by Martin Luther King, and in South Africa by Nelson Mandela, among other national leaders.  

 

Thus, quite apart from Thoreau’s international reputation as a writer, India is indebted to him for his profound influence on Gandhi, resulting in the freedom movement led by him.

 

To commemorate the bi-centenary, India International Centre in collaboration with Bharti College, University of Delhi is organising the three day event on “ Thoreau and the Transcendentalists: Their  Philosophy and Related Concerns” from 15th to 17th March 2018. The programme will be launched on 15th March 2018 at Bharti College with a series of discussions by eminent experts. The following programmes will be presented at the Centre.

 

16 March 2018 at 18:30 in Seminar Rooms I to III, Kamaladevi Complex

Plenary Session 

Speakers: Prof. Robert Brady Cochran II, Department of English, University of Arkansas; and Dr. Subarno Chattarji, Associate Professor, Department of English, University of Delhi

DELHI MATTERS

 

CREEDS OF OUR TIMES

Curated by Rajiv Mehrotra

 

The Music Instinct – Science & Song (120 min; 2009; dvd; English)

Director: Elena Mannes

 

Anyone who has been mesmerised by a Bach melody, stirred to dance by a rock rhythm, or taken back in time by the notes of a pop tune from their past, knows the power of music. The film provides ground-breaking explorations into how and why the human organism is moved by the undeniable effect of music, and the deep connection between music and our bodies and brains

 

(Collaboration: Foundation for Universal Responsibility of His Holiness The Dalai Lama)

 

Dancers All…Dimensions Beyond the Performative – Gimpses. Conversations. Interactions

With Dr. Sunil Kothari – There is Dance. Therefore I AM

Smt Leela Venkataraman – Dancing in the Word

Shri Avinash Pasricha – The Rapture of Rasa in 2D

 

Celebrating Dr. Sunil Kothari, Smt Leela Venkataraman and Shri Avinash Pasricha and the vastness of their lives in dance

 

(Collaboration: Sudhaaya Dance Foundation; and Interface Media)

 

BOOK DISCUSSION GROUP

 

Technology and International Relations

By Bhaskar Balakrishnan (New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2017)

 

Panelists: Ambassador Balakrishnan, former Ambassador of India to Greece, Cuba, Haiti and the Dominican Republic; and Ambassador Shyam Saran, Life Trustee, IIC and former Foreign Secretary

 

Chair: Dr. R. Chidambaram, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India 

 

Transformed by Travel: Historical Journeys in High Asia

Illustrated lecture by Shri Ravi Bhoothalingam

 

Chair: Dr. Manosi Lahiri

 

Strong convictions or emotional attachments are rarely altered through logical argument. But intense experiences – such as travel in remote and forbiddingly enchanting terrain – can change mind-sets and even personality. The illustrated presentation shows how the journeys of Kumarajiva, Xuan Zang, Francis Younghusband and Nicholas Roerich in Tibet, Central Asia, Mongolia and India, transformed them and influences their legacy for future generations

 

(Collaboration: Embassy of Japan)

 

PURANDARDASA TYAGRAJA MUSIC FESTIVAL                    

 

Vandey Sathguru Purandaradasa

An illustrated lecture by Dr. K. Vageesh

 

Followed by 

Vocal Recital

By D. Vamsi Krishna

Accompanist: Delhi R. Sridhar on vilolin and  Elanthoor Jayan P Das on mridangam

 

(Collaboration: Ramakrishnapuram South Indian Society)

 

PURANDARDASA TYAGRAJA MUSIC FESTIVAL                    

 

Vocal Recital

By  Anjana Thirumalai 

Accompanists: G. Raghavendra Prasath  on violin and Kumbakonam  N. Padmanaban on mridangam

 

MUSIC APPRECIATION PROMOTION

 

Mysore as a Seat of Music: 1850-1947

A quick run through of the history of Indian classical music, dance, theatre and the contribution of the royal kingdom of Mysore

 

Illustrated lecture by Veejay Sai, award-winning writer, editor and culture critic