Q In The Garden of Grammar Learn Grammar: Learn Grammar through this Amazing Story!
 By Amal Fabian (Konark Publishes, 2025)

Discussants:  Neelesh Kulkarni, Author of the book' In the Footsteps of Rama: travels with the Ramayana’ ;Swati Rai, English language teacher and Amal Fabian, Author of the book
 

Basant Sandhya
 

By Mukul Kulkarni, Hindustani music-vocalist specialising in Khayal, tappa and tarana. Disciple of Guru Pt Sharad Sathe (Gwalior Gharana) and Pt Arun Kashalkar (Agra Gwalior and Jaipur Gharana)

Accompanists: Vedang Kshirsagar on Tabla and Rishit Honnavarker on Harmonium
 

Mission Life and Ocean Ecosystem
 

Talk by Dr. R. Venkatesan, Gujarat Maritime University, Gujarat and Indian Institute of Technology, Mandi

Introduction: Dr. Malti Goel, President and Chief Executive, Climate Change Research Institute

Special Remarks: Prof. D. P. Agrawal, Chairman, Governing Council, CCRI and Ex-Chairman UPSC

Guest of Honour: Andreas B. Schei, Counsellor for Climate and Environment, Royal Norwegian Embassy in New Delhi

Chief Guest: Dr. M. Ravichandran, Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Govt of India

(Collaboration: Climate Change Research Institute)
 

An Ecosystem Approach for Restoration of Riverine floodplains

Speaker: Dr. Faiyaz A. Khudsar, Senior Scientist, Biodiversity Parks Program, CEMDE, University of Delhi

Discussants: Mr R. Srinivas, Former Town and Country Planner, TCPO, MoHUA; Prof. Meenakshi Dhote, Professor, Department of Environment Planning, SPA, New Delhi.

Moderator: Anuj Srivastava, Architect, Writer and Photographer

Rivers have supported human civilization for centuries and continue to shape our lives. Urban river ecosystems suffer from unplanned development, floodplain encroachment, and sewage discharge, turning many rivers into open sewers. Restoration efforts now prioritize ecosystem approaches, such as the Yamuna Bio-diversity Park. Dr. Faiyaz Khudsar leads this initiative, sharing his expertise in treating rivers as living landscapes.

(The sixth talk in the Series on Living Landscapes)
 

Himalayan encounters - Hidden Views from 170 year ago
The Schlagintweit drawings in India
 

For the first time the Schlagintweit drawings based on mid-19th century recordings are shown in India. The presentation of the paintings covers views of the Himalayan belt from Assam to Kashmir, from Ladakh to Bhutan and the Khasi Hills. Most of the drawings are based on rough sketches made during the expedition by Adolph, Hermann and Robert Schlagintweit, German geographers and geologists in the employ of the East India Company. Their scientific recordings are perceived as pieces of art that were elaborated on back home and are depicting a world lost and reminding us of the picture of pristine worlds in imagination and reality.

The exhibition will be inaugurated on Tuesday, 21 April 2026 at 17:00 by K.N. Shrivastava, Director, IIC and Ashok Bhowmick Painter, sculptor and writer
 

A talk as part of the exhibition by Prof. Dr. Hermann Kreutzmann, Geographische Wissenchaften Freue University Berlin, Germanyat in the Annexe Lecture Room II on Wednesday, 22nd April at 17:30

(Collaboration: People's Association for Himalaya Area Research (PAHAR), Freie Universität Berlin (Free University of Berlin)
 

Manodharma Sangeeta: Scope and Expression within the compositions of Dr. Balamuralikrishna in Carnatic Music
Presentation by Prof P. B. Kanna Kumar

M. Balamuralikrishna was a legendary musician known for his remarkable creativity and versatility. This lecture will highlight the many dimensions of his musical contributions, including his excellence in composing padavarnams with rich sahitya and linguistic brilliance in languages such as Sanskrit and Telugu. It will discuss his innovations in creating new ragas, exploring varied talas, and composing different musical forms in multiple languages, including distinctive tillanas. The lecture will mainly focus on the elements of manodharma (the creative improvisational aspects) found in his compositions.

Prof. P. B. Kanna Kumar is a distinguished Carnatic classical vocalist and Professor in the Department of Music at the University of Delhi
 

Nishka, The Earliest Indian Gold Coin
 

Speaker: Prof. Buddha Rashmi Mani, Former Director General, National Museum and Vice Chancellor, National Institute of Heritage Management. Awarded Padma Shri by the Government of India (2026) for his distinguished services in the field of archaeology.  

Chair:  K. N. Shrivastava, Director, IIC

Numismatists were silent about the identification of Nishka. In a recent study of the so called disc shaped gold beads with the central hole, found in less numbers from Harappan sites and found at Mandi in UP in 2000 with a number of no less than 5000 such pieces, of which 1547 are on display in the National Museum, New Delhi, the speaker has argued that they are the physical evidence of ancient nishkas and we can suggest that nishkas were used as gold coins in the 3rd millennium BCE.

Guardians of Neutrality: India’s Korean Mission

Photo Exhibition curated by Colonel Dr. Divakaran Padma Kumar Pillay (Retd.)

India’s involvement in the Korean War extended far beyond the celebrated humanitarian mission of the 60th Parachute Field Ambulance. Emerging from the trauma of its own Partition, India leveraged its unique neutrality to navigate the Cold War’s most dangerous flashpoint—the only direct confrontation between the United States and China, where nuclear escalation was a tangible fear.

The Exhibition will be inaugurated on Tuesday, 21 April at 10:30 AM by Shri R.K. Singh IAS, Defence Secretary, Govt. of India at the Quadrangle Garden, IIC.

Welcome address: K.N.Shrivastava, Director, IIC

Chief Guest: H.E. Cho Hyun, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Korea

Followed by a detailed presentation on the Exhibition in CD Deshmukh Auditorium from 11:00 am.
The exhibition will remain on view daily from 11:00  onwards

Gender Discrimination at Work in Urban China: The Paradox of Equality and Difference in the Women's Liberation Movement
By Usha Chandran (Routledge India; 2025)

Discussants:  Prof. Patricia Uberoi, Emeritus Fellow and Former Chairperson, Institute of Chinese Studies; Govind Kelkar; Executive Director, GenDev Centre for Research and Innovation, Gurgaon; Dr. Hemant Adlakha, Vice Chairperson & Honorary Fellow, Institute of Chinese Studies, New Delhi; Dr. Ritu Agarwal, Associate Professor, Centre for East Asian Studies, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University; Dr. Usha Chandran, Assistant Professor, Centre for Chinese Studies, School of Language, Literature & Culture Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Honorary Fellow, Institute of Chinese Studies, New Delhi & Author of the Book.

Chair:  Prof. Sabaree Maitra, Professor, Centre for Chinese Studies, School of Language, Literature & Culture Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Editor, China Report (Sage), Honorary Fellow, Institute of Chinese Studies, New Delhi

ANTARĀTMA — A Bharatanatyam Dance Production 
Exploring Navarasa Through Tagore

Antarātma is a Bharatanatyam dance production that journeys through the Navarasa – the nine fundamental emotions that shape the full spectrum of human experience, as laid out in the Natyashastra by Bharata Muni. 
Drawing inspiration from Rabindranath Tagore’s vast and diverse body of work, the production highlights how Tagore’s poetry and songs effortlessly traverse love, longing, courage, devotion, wonder, peace, and the darker shades of fear, anger, and despair. His artistic universe becomes the canvas upon which the Navarasa come alive. Antarātma becomes both an inner voyage and a collective experience – a celebration of the human spirit in all its colours.

Followed by another performance:

Basanta Eshe Gechhe

Spring appears as a radiant, elusive prince whose presence awakens the world—softening winds, stirring dormant hearts, and setting life in motion. Through evocative choreography, the production explores renewal as both beauty and force, leaving behind a lingering sense of longing for its return.

(Collaboration: Impresario India)