Aunty Sudha Aunty Radha (49 min; 2020)
Directed by Tanuja Chandra

A Documentary about a Filmmaker’s aunts, in the spring of their lives 
Three hours outside India's capital is a village called Lahra. This film follows two widowed sisters, aged 86 and 93, who have retired to this village, and whose days are spent with their adopted family of domestic help. The sisters do as they please, pay heed to no one and don’t bother with unsolicited advice. They don’t let their ailments unsettle them much and remain largely unfearful of death.

And yet, from this light-heartedness, emerge lessons. Of courage and perseverance, of camaraderie and care-giving, of destiny and faith, and the most significant one: when we engage in conversations of death, we improve the quality of life.

The film will be followed by a virtual chat with the director, Tanuja Chandra and producer, Anupama Mandloi (online)

Book Discussion Group

The Conscience Network: A Chronicle of  Resistance to  a Dictatorship

By Sugata Srinivasaraju (Vintage Books; 2025)

Discussants: Ashis Nandy, political psychologist and social theorist; Coomi Kapoor, columnist; Neerja Chowdhury, veteran journalist; Dunu Roy, social activist and environmentalist; and Sugata Srinivasaraju, author of the book

Moderator: Suhas Borker, Editor, Citizens First TV (CFTV)

This will be followed by a conversation between the book’s principal protagonists, Ravi Chopra, SR Hiremath, Anand Kumar and the author

Talk by Naman P. Ahuja, Professor of Art History, Jawaharlal Nehru University and General Editor of MARG.

Chair: Amb. Shyam Saran, President, IIC

The ongoing attempt to sell the relics of the Buddha excavated from the ancient stupa at Piprahwa has raised several questions at the heart of which is how Indian and international imperatives around sacred remains have changed since their discovery. In this illustrated lecture, Prof. Ahuja will explain how relics are defined, the ethical issues they raise, changes in the law, and how these shifts impact museology.

Speakers: Lt. Gen. Syed Ata Hasnain, PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, SM, VSM & Bar, Defence Analyst and former GOC, XV Corps and Chancellor Central University of Kashmir; Amb. Pankaj Saran, Former Dy NSA, Amb to Russia and HC to Bangladesh and Convenor, NatStrat; and Prof. Amitabh Mattoo, Dean, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University and former Vice Chancellor, Jammu University.

Chair: Amb.  Y.K. Sinha, Former CIC, High Commissioner to the UK and Sri Lanka and Head of the Pakistan- Afghanistan- Iran Division in MEA

CANCELLED

Gandhi and Music
An illustrated lecture by Dipankar De Sarkar

Concert presented by Chitra Srikrishna, Carnatic vocalist, writer and teacher of music appreciation

Chitra Srikrishna (vocal & narration) 
Accompanists: Arvindd Narayanan (violin) and Vignesh Jayaraman (mridangam).

Udaan explores the melodic realm of Indian poetry, focusing on birds as literary symbols. From the common crow to the partridge, Indian poets through the ages, have used birds as literary devices to compose captivating melodies. The concert will explore these themes through bhajan, classical and folk music compositions in Bengali, Kannada, Hindi, Marathi, Sanskrit, Tamil and Telugu. With live accompaniment in the Carnatic idiom, the music is interspersed with short narrations in English