Echoes of Faith: Tales of Explorations, Nature and Divinity

By Novel Lavasa and Ashok Lavasa (Rupa Publications India: 2024)

Discussants: Ms Shovana Narayan, well-known Kathak artist, guru and author; Shri Ajeet Bajaj, adventurer and Managing Director, Snow Leopard Adventures Pvt. Ltd.; Shri Suhas Borker, Editor, Citizens First TV (CFTV) and Trustee, IIC; Smt Novel Lavasa, co-author of the book; and Shri Ashok Lavasa, co-author of the book

Chair: Shri Shyam Saran, President, IIC

Moderator: Shri Saurabh Dwivedi, Founding Editor, The Lallantop

Speaker: Gaitri Issar Kumar, Former High Commissioner of India to the United Kingdom, (2020-2022) 

Panelists: Ronen Sen, Former Ambassador of India to the USA (2004-2009) and High Commissioner to the UK (2002-2004); and   Raj Chengappa, Group Editorial Director, India Today group. 

Chair: Shri Shyam Saran, President, IIC

Displaced: Refugees, Trauma, and Integration within Nations

By Shaifali Sandhya (OUP, USA: 2024)

Discussants: Amb. Navtej Sarna, Author, Historian & Former Ambassador to USA; and Dr. Shaifali Sandhya, Psychologist & Author of the book

Moderator: Amir Singh Pasrich, President Oxford & Cambridge Society of India 

Indu (36 min; 2024; Hindi with English translations)

With the poetry of Indu Jain (Indu Jain ki Kavita ke saath)
A film by Sameera Jain who will introduce the film

Screening will be followed by a discussion with the filmmaker

The film is a homage to the beauty, depth and spirit of Indu Jain’s poetry. Her work seamlessly navigates the personal and political, words moving to keep pace with her energy, permeated with an innate sense of freedom. Indu Jain’s poetry is immersive, mesmerizing, sensuous. The film reflects this essence in an experiential, experimental way.

Indu Jain (1935-2008) was a strong presence on the Hindi literary scene, and wrote for close to fifty years. She had to her credit more than ten volumes of poetry and seven of prose, Her work has been widely anthologized and translated in Japan, Czechoslovakia and Pakistan 

Presented by Mooralala Marwada, celebrated folk singer from Gujarat, who belongs to a lineage of Meghwal singers who migrated from Rajasthan to Khadir island in Kutch four centuries ago. With a rich repertoire of Nirguni bhajans, sufi kalaam and other traditional folk songs, Mooralala also plays the ‘santaar’, a traditional stringed instrument.
 
Accompanists: Kanji Rana (algoza); Naran Haja (ghado ghamelo – percussion); and Sukhdev Lakha (zanz-percussion)

The programme will be in the format of lecture-demonstration. Alongside the songs performed by Mooralala ji and his troupe, Kartikay Khetarpal from Nayi Dhara, will offer a commentary on the songs, which will illuminate their literary and cultural significance especially in relation to the evolution of Hindi. Through bhajans of Kabir, Mirabai, and Ravidas, the programme will look at the role of the Bhakti movement in Hindi’s development, and also explore Hindi’s relationship with languages like Gujarati and Sindhi.  

(Collaboration: Nayi Dhara)

Heartstrings: A Tapestry of Prose and Poetry

Edited by Sanjula Sharma (Authorspress: 2023)

Discussants: Prof. Saugata Bhaduri, Centre for English Studies, School of Language, Literature and Cultural Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University; Ms Amrita Bhalla, Associate Professor, Jesus & Mary College, University of Delhi; and Ms Sanjula Sharma, poet, journalist and author of the book

Chair: Shri K. Jayakumar, President, The Poetry Society (India) and former Chief Secretary, Govt. of Kerala

The Nepal Cookbook: 108 Regional Recipes

Discussion based on the new book by Rohini Rana (Viking: 2024)

Speakers: Rohini Rana, author of the Book; Suvir Saran, culinary maestro and Michelin-starred chef; and Alka Pande, art consultant and writer.

Chair: Shri Shyam Saran, President, IIC

Embark on a culinary journey through Nepal with Rohini Rana, discovering 108 regional recipes that capture the unique culinary legacy of each community.

My Favourite Urdu Poems

With Leeladhar Mandloi; Om Nischal; Giridhar Rathi; and Asad Zaidi

(Collaboration: The Raza Foundation)
 

“Because it’s There”
Centenary of the historic 1924 British Everest Expedition and the intriguing mystery of the disappearance of George Mallory and Andrew Irvine

Illustrated lecture by Brig. Ashok Abbey (retd.), passionate skier-mountaineer who has climbed extensively, for over 43 years in the Karakoram, Great Himalaya, and adjoining mountain ranges, including overseas

Guest of Honour: Shri N.N. Vohra, former President, Indian Mountaineering Foundation and Life Trustee, IIC

Chair: Shri Shyam Saran, President, IIC

Moderator and Host: Shri Sudhir Sahi, former Editor of “Indian Mountaineer”, former Honorary Secretary, Indian Mountaineering Foundation, and former Delhi Secretary of the Himalayan Club

A fascinating historical perspective of the pioneering attempts of 1921, 1922, and the 1924 British Everest Expeditions, the mystery of the disappearance of George Mallory and Andrew Irvine, and the tantalizing question as to whether they were the first to reach the summit of Mount Everest.