BOOK DISCUSSION GROUP 
 

Assembling India’s Constitution: A New Democratic History
By Rohit De and Ornit Shani (Cambridge University Press, 2025)

Discussants: Prof Anupama Roy, Professor, Centre for Political Studies, JNU; Dr Usha Ramanathan, Independent law researcher and human rights activist; Shahrukh Alam, Advocate, Supreme Court of India; Suhas Borker, Editor Citizens First TV (CFTV)

The First Lady of Siachen :Fanny Bullock Workman

Talk by Brig. Ashok Abbey (Retd), a veteran climber with over four decades of experience across the Karakoram, Himalaya and adjoining ranges. He brings deep field knowledge to the history of the Workman explorations.

Special Invitees

Chair: Shri Shyam Saran, President, IIC

Guest of Honour: Lt Gen Ata Hasnain (Retd.)

Special Invitee: Ms Kokila Sudha, renowned mountaineer

This talk revisits the extraordinary 1911–1912 expedition of Fanny Bullock Workman. Her pioneering exploration of the 76 km long Siachen Glacier—now the world’s highest battlefield—mapped its chief tributaries and placed the glacier accurately within the geography of the Eastern Karakoram.

(Collaboration: Himalayan Club and The Himalayan Environment Trust)

Choti Si Aasha
Children for a Better World 
 

An exhibition of paintings by the students of Vidya Niketan Senior Secondary School, Saket, New Delhi. Through themes such as peace, equality, women’s empowerment, environmental conservation, artificial intelligence, discrimination, and global conflicts, the exhibition reflects children’s empathy, awareness, and creative responses to the world around them.

Inauguration on 17 December at 16:00 by Jatin Das, Eminent Artist

Cancelled

Inspiraciones de España – Inspirations from Spain
 

A piano recital by Andreas König, internationally acclaimed concert pianist and currently piano lecturer for senior students and teacher training at Delhi Music Society.
He will be performing Georg Friedrich Händel, Sarabande; Issac Albéniz, Córdoba; Maurice Ravel, Alborada del gracioso; Enrique Granados, Danza Española no. 2 "Oriental"; Pepe Rodríguez, La Mar Picá (premiere performance); Joaquín Turina, Ensueño; Manuel de Falla, Fantasia bética.

(Collaboration: Embassy of Spain in New Delhi)
 

MUSIC APPRECIATION PROMOTION
 

Rocking and Rolling with the Stones
Illustrated talk on the music of The Rolling Stones 
Dr Punita G Singh

In this musical journey with The Rolling Stones, we explore how a shifting cast of brilliantly idiosyncratic musicians created one of the most enduring bands in rock history. Fusing early rock with the blues, their innovative sound experiments included influences from gospel, R&B, soul, country, folk and even reggae and disco. Emerging alongside—The Beatles—in the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones carved out their own image and constantly reinvent themselves. Through iconic audio tracks, video clips and stories, we get a glimpse into the colourful personalities, lives and oeuvre of these musicians who continue to attract listeners across generations.

Punita G Singh is a musicologist, linguist, acoustician, editor and educator based in New Delhi.
 

BOOK DISCUSSION GROUP 
 

Astanayika: The Romantic Heroines from Natyasastra to Modernity
by Manorama Choudhury and Jayakrushna (Motilal Banarsidass Publishing House, 2025)

Speakers: H G Gauranga Das, Author and Spiritual Leader; Guru Sharon Lowen, Renowned Odissi Dancer, Writer & Founder Manasa-Art Without Frontiers; Dr Seema Bhalla, Art Historian, Curator, Critic; Ms Manorama Choudhury, Author of the book ; Dr. Jayakrushna Choudhury, Author of the book

 

Speaker: Prof. Klaus Vieweg, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at Friedrich Schiller University in Jena Germany and a foremost interpreter of Hegel in the world, covering his philosophy. He approaches Hegel’s idea of freedom in relation to our contemporary crisis of modernity

Discussant: Viren Murthy, Professor of transnational Asian History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and researches Chinese, Japanese and Indian intellectual history.

(Collaboration: BML Munjal University)

Anand Hi Anand 
 

Researched, written, designed and narrated by Sohaila Kapur, under our biographical series 'Lives Lived'
Produced by Anuradha Dar of Katyayani and Three Arts Club Production. 
Lights and projection by Burhan Qureshi.
Hind Transcreation of Script and Co-Narration by Nidhikant Pandey
Live Singing by Devanand Jha and Anjila Gugnani.

It is the story of the relationship between the legendary Anand brothers of Bollywood, Chetan, Dev and Vijay (Goldie). The narration, read with warmth and personal anecdotes, is delivered by Sohaila Kapur — their niece. Interwoven with clips from their films, the storytelling flows like a cinematic journey.

(Collaboration: Three Arts Club and Katyayani)
 

Three Moderns: Himmat Shah, Krishen Khanna, Thota Vaikuntam
Curated by Uma Nair, independent curator, art critic and author

A rare confluence of three Indian modern masters, an ensemble of twelve sculptures explores the human form, lived experience, and everyday rituals.
Himmat Shah’s evocative heads, Krishen Khanna’s Bandwallahs, and Vaikuntam’s Dravidian bronzes together reveal lived experience, human form, and time’s imprint.

Inauguration of the exhibition on 11 December at 17:30
 

VOICES OF DEOLI 
(83 min;2025; English with English subtitles) 
Directed by Lulu Men

The documentary delves into the complexities and often upheaval of immigration through the lens of a small community in the U.S. and Canada. This community shares a profound bond: they are survivors of the Deoli Internment Camp in Rajasthan, where they were imprisoned for up to five years following the brief Sino-Indian War in 1962. Their experience highlights the vulnerabilities of displaced communities caught in the cross

Dilip D’Souza co-author of the Deoliwallahs will join the audience for a post-screening conversation