Poets and speakers: Shri Nirmal Kanti Bhattacharjee; Shri Prabal Kumar Basu; Shri Shantanu Gangopadhyay; Shri Himadri Datta; Dr. Rumki Basu; and Ms Mandira Ghosh

Chair: Ms Sheila Sengupta

By Sanchita Banerjee from Delhi, disciple of the late Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra, Sujata Mohapatra and Ranjana Gauhar

Author of the novel: Aruna Chakravarti
Dramatised readings by Minoti Chatterjee and Averee Chaurey
Music Jayati Ghosh

Jorasanko - a novel based on the lives of the Tagore women during the period 1859 to 1902 - a unique phase in the history of Bengal. The Tagore mansion of Jorasanko was at the hub of the Bengal Renaissance with the family at the forefront of the movement and its women playing a pivotal role

Purva Mimansa
Speaker: Prof. S.R. Bhatt, eminent philosopher and international scholar who is considered an authority on Ancient Indian Culture, Buddhism, Jainism and Vedanta

Chair: Dr. Kavita A. Sharma

Purva Mimansa is an inquiry in human conduct, particularly righteous conduct leading to moksa. The word Mimansa denotes the reasoning process followed if one would understand the meaning of a word or a sentence in the Vedas. The epithet Purva Mimamsa indicates that the primary aim of the Mimamsa philosophy is to explain the true meaning of the Purva or the earlier portion of the Vedas. Jaimini is regarded as the compiler of the Mimamsa Sutras. The two main objectives of the Mimamsa school was to establish the authority of the Vedas as the incontrovertible source of all knowledge and to explain their true meaning

Delhi's Dying Trees
Speakers: A.K. Shukla, IFS, Chief Conservator of Forest and Chief, Wildlife Warden, Forest Department; Padmavati Dwedi, Director, Compassionate Living; and Pradip Krishen

(48 min; 2013; dvd; English subtitles)
Director & Cinematographer: Maulee Senapati
Scripted & Produced by Sanjoy Hazarika who will introduce the film

Screening will be followed by a discussion

A unique experiment rides the waves of the Brahmaputra river in Assam, where a major innovative health campaign reaches some of the most marginalized and poorest communities in India living on hundreds of islands, inaccessible and isolated, unknown and unheard. There are no roads here but today, over a dozen boat clinics, conceived and developed by the Centre for North East Studies and Policy Research, manned by doctors, nurses, lab technicians and pharmacists as well as crew, organizers and community workers reaches more than six lakh people, pulling them out of a deadly cycle of maternal and infant mortality

An exhibition of paintings by Sandeep Jigdung

Opening on Monday, 13th May 2013 at 18:30

Aisa Hota Hai (It Happens; 13 min; 2012; dvd; English subtitles)
Director: Aashish Dubey who will introduce the film

Screening will be followed by a discussion

A tightly paced fiction film about five people who meet in mysterious circumstances - all of them on the other side of the law. Caught in a volatile situation which keeps changing, each character tries to work out what do next in order to survive

At 19:00
Saari Raat (23 min; 2012; dvd; English subtitles)
Director: Parimal Aloke who will introduce the film
Nominated for Best Short Film Category, New York Indian Film Festival 2013

Screening will be followed by a discussion

Short fiction film based on a story by the eminent Hindi author, Kamtanath, Saari Raat is a conversation between a couple on their wedding night when at the groom's behest, they decide to honestly exchange confidences. What follows is an affectionate satire on the latent chauvinism present in every male and an endearing portrait of a young, middle class, small town Indian mentality

60 Seconds Idea to Improve the Tibetan Diaspora
Speaker: Thupten Kelsang Dakpa, freelance writer and Founder, Tibetan Art Collective

Moderator: Thupten Tsewang

An initiative to provide a platform to young Tibetans in exile to present and discuss their ideas and suggestions to stimulate dialogue and improve networks of the vibrant Tibetan diaspora