An exhibition of photographs by Sooni Taraporevala

 

Preview on Friday, 29 April 2016 at 18:30

 

Sooni has photographed people as they go about their daily lives, successfully narrating emotions of her subjects as they make conversation, attend family functions, at home or in the streets of Mumbai, a city which is considered a Parsi bastion

 

The exhibition has been organized in collaboration with the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi 

 

Film: Café Irani Chai (90 min; dvd; English subtitles)

Director: Dr. Mansoor Showghi Yezdi

 

The film will introduced by Anahita Dhondy, Chief Manager, Sodabottleopenerwalla

 

A documentary film based on the Irani Chaiwalas who came walking all the way from Iran in the 18th and early 19th century and made India their home and became famous for their Bun Maska and Irani Chai in Mumbai, Pune and Hyderabad. The film has won 14 International Awards, and has had the privilege of being shown at the New York University and a copy of the film has been added to the South Asian Studies Library. 

 

Illustrated lecture by Dr. Sabeena Gadihoke, Associate Professor, AJK MCRC, Jamia Millia Islamia

 

 

 

India’s first woman press photographer, Homai Vyarawalla is best known for her compelling photographs of political events leading up to Partition as well as the exhilaration of Independence. Vyarawalla who passed away in 2012 left behind a large archive of work that has recently acquired new life through digitization. This illustrated talk revisits Vyarawalla’s interest in everyday urban life and her exploration of the city of Delhi that was her home for 27 years

 

 

 

The Delhi Parsis and the Zoroastrian Diaspora

 

Speaker: Mr. Rusi Sorabji, historian

 

 

 

The Delhi Parsi community is small in numbers but has had more than its share of prominent people. The Zoroastrian Diaspora is spread all over the world due to migration both from Iran and India right from the colonial period to date. Diasporic groups have made a significant role in the development of the community, and their global success has furthered their philanthropic efforts. The speaker, who has memories of the Delhi of his youth will begin with a brief history of the Parsis of Delhi and then speak about the Zoroastrian diaspora, issues of importance, and historical trends

 

 

 

Speakers: Ms Pheroza Godrej and Dr. Shernaz Cama

 

Moderator: Prof. Rustom Bharucha, School of Arts and Aesthetics, Jawaharlal Nehru University

 

An exhibition of photographs by Shantanu Das from Mumbai

 

Inauguration by Dr. Esfandiar Ekhtiari, Zoroastrian Community Representative, Member of Parliament in Iran on Thursday, 14th April 2016 at 18:30

 

Udvada, the historic ground for the Parsi community in India is known worldwide for its significance to the Parsi clan's growth, housing the Atash Behram (from Middle Persian Atash Warharan for "Victorious Fire", the highest grade of ritual fire of the Zoroastrians) in the fire temple located here. Shantanu Das depict its nostalgia, its semi-urban settings and distinctive heritage in terms of architecture, furniture, lifestyle and more

 

Illustrated lecture by Justice Rohinton F. Nariman, Senior Counsel, Supreme Court of India

Poetry Reading: “My Country: Distant as My Heart from Me”

 

Mourid Barghouti and Tamim Albarghouti read their poetry in a mesmerising jugalbandhi

 

 

 

From 16:00 to 17:30

 

“Stuck in Historical Amber?”

 

Susan Abulhawa and Sharif Elmusa speak about what it means to be “out of time, out of place”, to be never at home, and much else besides

 

 

 

A free-wheeling conversation with well-known book critic, Sunil Sethi

 

 

 

At 18:30

 

“Palestine: Nothing Makes Sense, Why Should I?”

 

Suad Amiry performs the tragi-comedy of her situation as a Palestinian under Occupation in the West Bank

 

 

 

Launch of the book My Damascus

 

Suad Amiry takes the reader by the hand and walks her through the city of her childhood, interleaving Damascus in history from the 1860s to the 2000s, with family history, of roughly the same period.  A tour de force

 

 

 

Ahdaf Soueif is the mistress of ceremonies




Organised in collaboration with Women Unlimited 

 

 

 

Counterfacts on the Ground

 

A discussion on living under occupation in Gaza and the West Bank, and on writing back to subvert suppression.

 

 

 

Laila El-Haddad and Adania Shibli talk to Raghu Karnad, and read from their work

 

 

 

From 16:30 to 17:30

 

Palestine in Publishing

 

A discussion on the challenge of publishing and selling Palestinian writing in, and outside, Palestine.

 

 

 

Michel Moushabeck, Interlink, USA; Mahmoud Muna, Educational Bookshop, Jerusalem; Sudhanva Deshpande, Leftword Books, New Delhi & Ritu Menon, Women Unlimited, New Delhi exchange experiences and views, talk about difficulties and how they overcome them, intelligently!

 

 

 

At 18.30

“The Blue Between Sky and Water”

 

Susan Abulhawa reads from her new book and discusses it with Githa Hariharan

(Organised in collaboration with Women Unlimited)
 

Discussants: Shri Kamal Bakshi, former Ambassador and then Indian Ambassador to Iraq; Shri K.P. Fabian, former Ambassador and then Joint Secretary (Gulf), Ministry of External Affairs; Shri K.P. Singh, former Ambassador and then Indian Deputy Chief of Mission in Kuwait; and a senior representative from MEA

 

 

 

Moderator: Shri Suhas Borker

 

 

 

The evacuation of 176,000 Indian national from Kuwait and Iraq, mostly by air from Amman, following the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq in August 1990 was the largest evacuation by air in history. What is the relationship between the historical and fictional narrative? What are its implications on the contemporary narrative?


(Collaboration: Jan Prasar)

 

 

 

 

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