BOOK DISCUSSION GROUP

 

Indira: India’s Most Powerful Prime Minister

By Sagarika Ghose (New Delhi: Juggernaut, 2017)

 

Panelists: Shri Manish Tiwari, former Union Minister and lawyer; Ms Nalini Singh, journalist, MD of TV Live India Pvt.; and 

Dr. Seshadari Chari, journalist, political, strategic and foreign policy analyst

 

Chair: Shri Wajahat Habibullah, former Chairperson, National Commission for Minorities

 

 

Hindustani Vocal Recital

By Purna Chandra Chakravarty from Dhanbad, Bihar, disciple of Pt. Ajoy Chakraborty and Pt. Samaresh Choudhury

 

 

Political Violence in Ancient India

Discussion on the new book by Upinder Singh (New Delhi: Penguin Random House, 2017)

 

Discussant: Prof. Nayanjot Lahiri, Professor of History, Ashoka University; Dr. Mahesh Rangarajan, Professor Environmental Studies and History, Ashok University

 

Chair: Smt Ira Pande

 

(Collaboration: Penguin Random House)

 

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)