Speakers: Ms Mohua Moitra, Member of Parliament; Dr Ajay Gudavarthy, Associate Professor, Centre for Political Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University; and Ms Sangeeta Barooah Pisharoty, National Affairs Editor, The Wire

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

This is the 19th edition of the annual discussion started in 2006
 
(Collaboration: Working Group on Alternative Strategies)
 

Curator: Prof. Himanshu Prabha Ray

Kamakshi’s Temple at Kanchipuram

Illustrated lecture by Ms Renuka Narayanan, former Arts Editor, The Indian Express and former Director, Indian Cultural Centre, Embassy of India, Bangkok who writes a weekly column on religion and culture for the Editorial Page of The New Indian Express

Chair: Prof. Nilima Chitgopekar

According to Indian metaphysics, Kanchipuram is the sole ‘mokshapuri’ or ‘salvation city’ in South India, the other six being wellnorth of the old boundary between the north and the south, the river Narmada. In this salvation city, the Kamakshi temple, dated variously to the Pallavas and the Cholas, is the physical and cultural hub and the only space focused on the Ambal or Devi, the sacred feminine energy. The talk introduces how this ancient monument lives through notions of sacred geography at ‘the court of the love-eyed goddess’, its animating concepts of ‘mokshapuri’, ‘shaktisthalam’ (space/sanctuary of the goddess) and ‘ghtika sthanam’ (seat of leaning) etc.  

Speaker: Shri Kamal Malhotra, Non-resident Senior Fellow, Global Economic Governance Initiative, Boston University Global Development Policy Center, USA; former U.N. Secretary General’s Representative and Head of the U.N. in Malaysia, Turkey and Vietnam (2008-2021). Shri Malhotra received the President of Vietnam’s ‘Order of Friendship’ in 2021

Chair: Dr. Harish Khare, political scientist, senior journalist and public commentator

The Republic of Turkiye sits at the geographic and geo-political crossroads of Europe, the Middle East and West Asia, and is both a regional power and a global middle power. For more than two decades since 2002, President Erdogan has attempted to reshape it politically, economically, socially and in terms of its foreign policy which has sought to assert Turkiye as the leader of the Muslim, especially the Sunni Muslim, world.

The talk will explore the results over the last two decades in all these dimensions, both in terms of their policy and institutional impacts as well as more broadly for Turkiye's democracy and for its
secularism, a hallmark of the preceding Kemal Ataturk era. It will also seek to provide some pointers to the future of both democracy and secularism in Turkiye.
 

The Future of the Past: Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute

An exhibition on the history and cultural records maintained and preserved by the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Pune. On display are reproductions of archival photographs, facsimiles of rare books, digitised copies of illuminated manuscripts, texts, publications and other digital reproductions from the collection of the Institute
 
Inauguration by Shri N.N. Vohra, Life Trustee, IIC on 18 October at 4 pm

(Collaboration: Bhandrakar Oriental Research Institute, Pune)
 

Illustrated lecture by Madan Meena, artist and researcher working with the rural, nomadic and tribal communities in Rajasthan and Gujarat to document their lives in a bid to preserve their cultural roots and identities. His doctoral work was on “Art of the Meena Tribe”, which focused on the traditions of his own ancestral community. He is at present Honorary Director, Adivasi Academy, Gujarat 

The Tejaji Gatha or the ballad of Tejaji, describes the heroic life of Tejaj, the snake deity. Though the snake deity was born in western Rajasthan he is celebrated and sung across Rajasthan to Madhya Pradesh. Madan Meena will focus on mapping the variations of the ballad with samples of recordings in about 12 languages from Kharnal (Nagaur) in western Rajasthan where Tejaji was born, to villages in Jhalawar and Baran districts bordering Madhya Pradesh and to Jaipur and Dausa in the north


(Collaboration: Archives and Research Center for Ethnomusicology, American Institute of Indian Studies)

Illustrated lecture by Dr. Anu Jindal on the continuing engagement with the culture of “kawaii” in multiple areas of fashion, design and lifestyle in Japan. The Japanese word kawaii translated as cute or adorable, characterizes a segment of Japanese popular culture. Designers and artists draw inspiration from its aesthetic, while some young people practise it prolifically often gathering in groups, at favoured spots like Harajuku, to exchange fun ideas of their personal style statements. 

Chair: Amb. Amarendra Khatua, author and poet, former Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs, former Director General, ICCR

 Dr. Jindal is an artist, scholar, curator who holds a Ph.D. in Japanese Art History from the National Museum Institute, New Delhi

 

Nehru’s First Recruits: The Diplomats who built Independent India’s Foreign Policy
By Kallol Bhattacherjee (HarperCollins: 2024)

Discussants: Ms Nandita Haksar, Human Rights Lawyer, Advocate, Supreme Court of India and author; Amb. Manjeev Singh Puri, former Indian Ambassador to Nepal, Deputy Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations; and Shri Kallol Bhattacherjee, Senior Assistant Editor, Foreign Affairs, The Hindu and author of the book

Chair: Amb. K.P. Fabian, Distinguished Fellow, School of Law, Symbiosis University, Pune

Speaker: Shri Kallol Bhattacherjee, Senior Assistant Editor, Foreign Affairs, The Hindu

Chair: Amb. K.P. Fabian, Professor, Symbiosis University, Pune and Indian Society of International Law, New Delhi

Shri Bhattacherjee will speak about his recent visit to Bangladesh

Speaker: Ms Apoorva Thakur, Director, LAWGYSTIX Foundation
Chair: Ms Priya Hingorani, Senior Advocate, Supreme Court of India

Has the Prevention of Sexual Harassment (PoSH) Act of 2013 helped create a safer and more equitable workplace environment for women.  Recent dastardly happenings with women in the workplace point to a horrendous scenario. Does the act have flaws that undermine its efficacy? How is the confidentiality of the complainant ensured? Is creating awareness about the act among all employees and implementing the law in smaller organizations an issue? As per PoSH Act’s definition of workplace, can “home” constitute workplace? The answer is “yes”, “home” comes under the ambit of “Extended Workplace”.

Curated by Prof. Himanshu Prabha Ray

Stones and Texts: Playing Dice with the Matrmandala

Speaker: Dr. Tara Sheemar Malhan, Associate Professor, Dept. of History, Janki Devi Memorial College, University of Delhi

Chair: Prof. Neeru Misra, Academic Advisor, B.L. Institute of Indology, Delhi

The commonality among the Indic expressive traditions like painting, sculpture, literature and dance is known to be rooted in the theory of Sanskrit aesthetics. The narratives of the 11th century ‘meta-text’, the Kathasaritsagara of Somadeva, invest the physical decoration of the temples with life and these are further closely entwined with the characters. The speaker will trace some of the stories of the Kathasaritsagara which refers to sculptures in particular wats and connect this with certain examples derived from various early medieval spatial contexts as possible material correlates of the narrative descriptions