Violence: An Obsession of Our Times

Speakers: Dr. Meenakshi Gopinath, Director, WISCOMP; former Principal, LSR (TBC); Dr Vinay Srivastava, Professor, Anthropology, University of Delhi and former Principal, Hindu College; and Dr Ramandeep Pattanayak, Asstt. Professor, Psychiatry, AIIMS

 

Moderated by Prof S. K. Khandelwal

 

Inexplicable violence is the hardest kind to accept. We as humans try to find logic when none exists. Frequently, violence is an organized crime or behaviour by one group against the other; by one group against a State, or it could be State vs State. Many times, however, it could be by a single individual against many. In such a situation, people are often heard as saying, “He must be crazy to do it”. The discussion aims to highlight what are the implications for mental health and all the stakeholders

 

 

 

A celebration of the power of Non-Violent Action & the life of Martin Luther King Jr (15 January 1929 – 4 April 1968)

 

Commemoration Service (Gandhi-King Memorial Plaza - 10.30)

Songs by Choirs of Schools from Delhi NCR

 

Interactive Session (C.D. Deshmukh Auditorium – 11.15)

 

"The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. We must remember that intelligence is not enough.Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education."

–  Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

A short film on Martin Luther King's Life shall be screened

 

Moderators: Shri Suhas Borker, Working Group on Alternative Strategies; and Shri Ramesh Sharma, Gandhi Peace Foundation

 

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.

 

 

 

Cosmic Odyssey: Past Present and Future


Speaker: Professor T. Padmanabhan, Distinguished Professor, Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Physics, Pune

 

Chair : Shri Soli J. Sorabjee, President, IIC

 

Spectacular progress achieved during recent years has allowed cosmologists to understand the evolution of our universe for a time span, extending from a tiny fraction of a second to about 14 billion years. This development has also unravelled some deep mysteries about the cosmos, especially as regards its composition. The lecture will describe how our current understanding of the universe is achieved and highlight some recent work which has the potential to solve these enigmas

 

Speaker: General Vinod Saighal (Retd), author internationally acclaimed book, Third Millennium Equipoise

 

Chair: Dr. Karan Singh, MP

 

In touching upon the continuing significance of the book Third Millennium Equipoise the author will outline the protocols that must come into play for implementation of COP 21 agreement arrived at in Paris.  Chinese edition will be launched in several cities of China immediately after the Chinese New Year. 

 

An interactive session with renowned directors, film critics and Pavan Malhotra who will explore and deconstruct his 25 year-long film trajectory

 

Film critic Khalid Mohamed in conversation with Pavan Malhotra

 

Followed by an interactive session with Pavan Malhotra and directors who have worked with him: Buddhadeb Dasgupta, Saeed Mirza, Amit Rai, Mrityunjay Devvrat, Feisal Alkazi and Rakyesh Omprakash Mehra

Moderator: Atul Tiwari, film writer and theatre director

A discussion around the new book by Bhrigupati Singh, Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Brown University
 
Speakers: Prof. Veena Das, anthropologist; Shri Shuddhabrata Sengupta, artist; Ms Aarti Sethi, anthropologist and  Mr. William Dalrymple, writer will discuss the book
 
Installation by the artist, Shri Subodh Gupta, in response to the book
 
Chair: Professor Philip Lutgendorf, President AIIS 

A discussion on khichdi, an integral part of  Indian cuisine in time and space - from north to south, east to west cutting across religion, caste, rich and poor, rural and urban divide

 

Speakers: Dr. G.C. Tripathi and Dr. Pushpesh Pant

 

Chair: Smt  Kusum Jain

 

By Priyank Krishna on saxophone from Jaipur, disciple of Pt.  Ram Krishna and Amir Khan on sarod from Bhopal, disciple of Late Ustad Abdul Latif Khan and Late Ustad Rehmat Ali Khan

 

Speaker: Professor Shahid Amin, former Professor of History, University of Delhi

The talk is based on his  recently published Conquest and Community: The Afterlife of Warrior Saint Ghazi Miyan

 

Chair: Dr. Bijoy Baruah