Vocal Recital 

By Gokulutsav Maharaj

Accompanists: Akhtar Hasan (tabla) and Kaushik Mitra (harmonium) 

Speakers: Prof. Shamim Hanfi; Dr. Aqil Ahmad and Janaab Farhat Ehsas

 

Chair: Dr. Tarannum Riyaz

 

Music of the Desert 

An introduction to the musical traditions of Western Rajasthan and Kutch 

 

Speaker: Shubha Chaudhuri, Associate Director General (Academic) of the Archives and Research Centre for Ethnomusicology, American Institute of Indian Studies  and  co-authored  Bards, Ballads and Boundaries: An Ethnographic Atlas of the Music of West Rajasthan  

 

This lec-dem will present an introduction to the musical traditions of the western Rajasthan and Kutch with a view to provide connections and linkages. Bordering Sindh and with a shared history, these regions have a lot in common. The presentation will be based on  the speaker’s  own field  experiences in Rajasthan over a number of years, and her recent  incursions into Kutch 

 

 

 

Physical Traditions as Continuity

Speaker : Shri Navtej Johar

 

Chair: Prof. Uma Chakravarty

 

The exhibition reinterprets the Smara-hara Yantra, an ancient tool for meditation that embodies control of desire to restore the lost harmony between human's and nature. The presentation recontextualizes questions regarding sustainability in a  consumer oriented society

Opening on 18th September 2014 at 6.30 pm 
Chief Guests: Shri Ravi Singh, CEO, World Wide Fund for Nature and Ms. Arpana Caur

 

Dr. Ranbir Singh, Vice Chancellor, National Law University; Shri Lakhan Mehrotra, former Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs; and Ms Sunita Narain, Director General, Centre for Science and Environment will discuss the book,  Aequabilis: Fairness, Equity and Justice – A Study of Select  Judgments of Justice (Nagpur, Air Law Academy   & Research Centre, 2014) by Jai Anant Dehadrai

 

Chair: Ambassador Lakhan Mehrotra, Former Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs

 

Directed by Avinash Kumar and Shamsul and presented by Kathkatha Puppet Arts Trust

 

In Tamasha in Colour puppet figures are replaced by coloured fabrics. The non-verbal narrative is simple where love encounters hate, anger and boundaries. The visuals and narratives were evolved over five months through intense engagement with fabric and improvisations with material. Here choreography and puppetry come together to create a narrative with colour, music and human bodies 

 

Supported by a Production Grant from the Ministry of Culture, Govt. of India

Why is Modern Medicine Looking at Yoga?

 Panelists: Dr. S. C. Manchanda, Senior Consultant Cardiologist, Gangaram Hospital; former Head of Dept., Cardiology at AIIMS; Dr.  Ramesh Bijlani, former Professor of Physiology, AIIMS; Dr. Naresh Gupta, Director-Professor, Maulana Azad Medical College & Associated Hospitals and Chairman, Advisory Group, Consumers India;

and Dr. Jayashree Gupta, President, Consumers India

 

An Insight into Plant Life : Perception, Feelings and Self Regulation

Speaker: Professor Sudhir K. Sopory, Vice-Chancellor, JNU

 

Buddhism considers plants to be one-facultied (ekdrivya) life forms and has classified plants into different groups.  Buddha encouraged his disciples to have respect for all life including plants and not unnecessarily damage or destroy plants, the foliage or their seeds. The lecture based on this Tenet, will reflect on the inner life of plants. All plants have ‘learnt’ to survive the vagaries of weather and attacks from pathogens. Many studies have revealed that plants have photoreceptors, respond to animal or human touch and communicate through volatile compounds and/or through sounds. This lecture will briefly dwell on these emerging concepts.