The Ambassador Extraordinary: Representing India

Speaker: Dr. Gopalkrishna Gandhi, former Governor of West Bengal and India’s High Commissioner to South Africa (1996 to 1997) concurrently accredited to Lesotho, India’s High Commissioner to Sri Lanka (2000 to 2002) and Ambassador to Norway (2002 to 2004), concurrently accredited to Iceland

 

Chair: Ambassador Ronen Sen

 

(Collaboration: Federation of Indo-German Societies in India)

 

Mai aur Mera Samay 

Speaker: Smt. Shovana Narayan, well known Kathak dancer, and choreographer

 

The talk covers her journey in the diverse fields of Arts and Administration and various influences imbibed by her over the years.  

 

(Collaboration: Indian Society of Authors)

 

Pran Nevile speaks on the vanished institution of nautch girl followed by a concert by Dr. Charu Kapur

 

(Collaboration: K.L. Saigal Memorial Circle)

 

 

A dance tribute to M Balamurali Krishna

By Bharatanatyam dancers of Delhi devoting each of their recitals to one particular raga

 

Ragini Chandershekar on raga Jayaragamalika; Arupa Lahiry on raga Ragamalika; Radhika Kathal on  raga Brindavani;  Himanshu Srivastava on raga Ahir Bhairav; Dakshina Vaidyanathan raga Dwijawanti;  Shreyasi Gopinath on raga Kadanakuthuhalam

 

Accompanists: Sri Ayyappan on nattuvangam; vocal support by Sudha Raghuraman;  MV Chandershekar on mridangam; and G Raghuraman on flute

 

Coordinator:  Usha R.K.

 

The Roots of Yoga

Speakers: Dr. James Mallinson is Senior Lecturer in Sanskrit and Classical Indian Civilisation at SOAS, University of London; and Dr. Mark Singleton is Senior Researcher in the department of Languages and Cultures of South Asia, SOAS, University of London

 

In this ground-breaking book, Roots of Yoga (Penguin 2017), James Mallinson and Mark Singleton present a wide range of translations on yoga practice drawn from well over a hundred texts, from ancient to recent times and across multiple languages and regions. The book offers vital new insights into the development of yoga in practice through the ages

 

(Collaboration: Studio Abhyas)

 

Celebration of the Power of Non-Violent Action& the Life of Martin Luther King Jr

(15 January 1929 – 4 April 1968)

 

88thBirthday Commemoration of Dr Martin Luther King Jr 

 

Commemoration Service 10.30 am to 11.00 am (Gandhi-King Memorial Plaza)

Songs by Choirs of Schools from Delhi NCR

 

Interactive Session 11.15 am to 12.15 pm (Deshmukh Auditorium)

The ultimate test of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and moments of convenience, but where he stands in moments of challenge and moments of controversy— Martin Luther King Jr (The Struggle for Racial Justice, Address delivered at Nobel Peace Prize Recognition Dinner, 27 January 1965).

 

Special Address by US Ambassador to India H. E. Richard R. Verma 

 

During the Interactive Session a short film on Martin Luther King's Life shall be screened

 

Moderators:

Shri Suhas Borker (Working Group on Alternative Strategies)

Shri Ramesh Sharma (Gandhi Yuva Biradari)

 

Students from Schools of Delhi NCR to participate 

This programme is part of the Taking Children to Gandhi series that brings children closer to the enduring legacy of Gandhi’s non-violent struggle for equity, justice, pluralism and sustainable development 

 

(Collaboration: Gandhi Yuva Biradari and Working Group on Alternative Strategies)

 

 

 

Embodied Language

Mithu Sen – Andrea Cusumano

Curated by Eugenio Viola

 

Embodied Language is a collaborative project developed between Italian artist Andrea Cusumano and Indian artist Mithu Sen that uses the polysemous value of nonverbal communication as a platform to connect different verbal languages. They will also experiment with a spontaneous and imaginary dream language presented through a visual and performative practice as a resistance in search of a new medium of communication

 

(Collaboration: Italian Embassy Cultural Centre)

 

 

 

Through a Different Lens: Should India adopt a more civilisation view of the World

Speaker: Dr. Shiv Visvanathan, social scientist , currently Professor at O P Jindal Global University
Chair: Shri Soli J. Sorabjee, President, IIC

 

The talk is an attempt to ask a question for contemporary times. The idea of civilisation has been used more to grasp the sacred, the sense of heritage and the idea of tradition. Words like Nationalism, Development and Globalism seem more appropriate for contemporary narratives on statecraft or policy. We dramatize ourselves within the frame-work of the nation-state with its accompanying ideas of citizenship, boundary, security and contract. This lecture suggests that may be a civilisation view of India is more relevant than a nationalist perspective. It considers a few thought experiments like the idea of South Asia, Climate Change and the notion of Sustainability to develop its argument

 

 

 

A talk by Dr. Akhlaq Ahan, Centre of Persian & Central Asian Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University and author of Amir Khusraw's India

 

Discussants: Shri Sohail Hashmi, Ms Rakshanda Jalil, and Shri Maninder Nath Thakur

Recitation: Smt Sayeeda Hamid

 

Chair: Prof. Syed Shahid Mahdi

 

Vote of Thanks: Shri Ravi Kumar, Publisher

 

(Collaboration: The Poetry Society, India)

 

 

By Sanjukta Biswas from Kolkata, disciple of Smt Subhra Guha

Accompanied by Soumen Nandy on the tabla

 

Concert organised in memory of the late Amar Mishra