Disappearing Criticism

Panelists: Shri Sadanand Menon, Managing Trustee, SPACES Arts Foundation, Chennai; Shri Kuldeep Kumar, music critic, The Hindu; Ms Anjana Rajan, Special Correspondent, The Hindu

Bahadur: The Accidental Brave 

(54 min; dvd; 2011; English)
Director: Aditya Seth

Labour migration to India has traditionally been an important economic resource for Nepalese households. Migrant workers in Mumbai are prone to high-risk sexual behaviour because of the freedom and the access to intoxicants and sex-workers. Many contract HIV and infect their spouses when they return, and their children are born with HIV. Far west Nepal is reeling under a micro-epidemic with the notorious name, "˜Mumbaiyya rog'. The documentary is an in-depth look into the "˜Bahadur' (brave) Nepalese migrant's life, his struggle for survival, and his helplessness to improve his lot in the socio-economic and political context. 

Followed by a discussion with the film-maker, initiated by Mrs Anjali Gopalan, Executive Director, the Naz Foundation

Book Discussion Group

Shri Jagmohan, former Governor, Jammu and Kashmir; Dr Subhash Kashyap, Centre for Policy Research; and Prof Mridula Mukherjee, Centre for Historical Studies, JNU; and Shri Suhas Borker, Convenor, Working Group for Alternative Strategies, discuss Witness to History: Transition and Transformation of India, 1947-1964, a publication of the Nehru Centre (New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2011)

Launch of National Archives of India publication by Smt Sangita Gairola, Secretary, Ministry of Culture, followed by a discussion

Panelists: Dr Lokesh Chandra, Director, International Academy of Indian Culture; and Dr Kapila Vatsyayan, Chairperson, IIC-Asia Project

Chair: Prof Mushirul Hasan, Director-General, National Archives of India

The Golden Thread: Essays in Honour of C.D. Deshmukh
Dr Karan Singh, M.P., will release the special issue of the IIC Quarterly (Winter 2011-Spring 2012)

Followed by a panel discussion on Education, Economics and Politics

Photographic slides of Himalayan flora and fauna accompanied by commentary

Speaker: Dr Ajay Singh Rawat, former Professor of History, Kumaon University, and author of Forestry in Central Himalayas and Forest History of Mountainous Regions of the World

Followed by a dialogue with Shri Vijay Bhushan, Member of the State Wildlife Board of Himachal Pradesh, and Executive Director, Narain Dharamarth Aushdhalaya Trust, highlighting Dr Rawat's work as environmental activist

9^th Prof. D.S. Kothari Memorial  Lecture

"Dr. D.S. Kothari: A Modern Rishi"

By Dr. Kapila Vatsyayan

Chairperson, Asia Project, India International Centre