Release of the book edited by Sumangala Damodaran (New Delhi: Tulika Books, 2024)

The book will be released by Shri Shyam Saran, President, IIC

Followed by a discussion between Prof. Partho Datta, School of Arts and Aesthetics, Jawaharlal Nehru University; Prof. Tanuka Kothiyal, School of Liberal Studies, Ambedkar University, Delhi; and Dr. Irfan Zuberi, National Cultural Audiovisual Archives, IGNCA

This book traces circuits of interaction between Africa and Asia as revealed through music. It is the outcome of a colloquium that the IIC convened in collaboration with ‘Recentring AfroAsia: Musical and Human Migrations, 700-1500 AD’, an international research project involving universities in South Africa, Tanzania and India. Participants in the project were in conversation with scholars and practitioners in related fields on the different ways that music can trace routes through our overlapping histories, and how such scholarship and performative interactions prise open a number of orthodoxies in our understanding of musical systems

(Organised by IIC-International Research Division)

Speakers: Shri Urmilesh, former Executive Editor, Rajya Sabha TV; Ms Arfa Khanum Sherwani, Senior Editor, The Wire; Shri Nikhil Pahwa, Editor, MediaNama

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

This conversation marks the 34th anniversary of the presidential assent to Prasar Bharati Act 1990 and the 31st discussion in the annual series

(Collaboration: Jan Prasar)
 

Rising Phenomenon of Urban Flooding: Causes, Consequences and Sustainable Solutions

Speakers: Manu Bhatnagar, Principal Director, INTACH; Shyamal Sarkar, IAS (retd.), Distinguished Fellow and Director, Water Resources Division, The Energy Resource Institute (TERI); and Shri Jaideep Chatterjee, Dean, Jindal School of Art and Architecture, O.P. Jindal Global University, Sonipat

Flooding in urban areas is a growing concern worldwide as it is causing significant damage to human lives, the environment and economy. The damage is more evident in India because of the growing density of population in urban areas, including in the Tier – 1, 2, 3 and 4 cities. The discussion will discuss the possible solutions and strategies to mitigate and manage urban flooding with policy –level changes; green infrastructure; flood-resistant construction; planned well-maintained drainage system; and community involvement and alertness.  

(Collaboration: Toxics Link)
 

Illustrated lecture by Ahtushi Deshpande, photographer and author of the recently published book Speaking Stones: Rock Art of Ladakh

Chair: Dr. Arshiya Sethi, dance scholar and author

Ahtushi Deshpande will present a journey through Ladakh’s hidden petroglyph galleries. These ancient imprints, scattered across Ladakh’s sprawling and often remote open-air galleries, offer tangible evidence of a history that predates recorded accounts. She will also draw comparisons with rock carvings from other regions, such as Utah and Arizona, to highlight the similarities and share intriguing stories. 
 

Illustrated lecture by Prof. Philip Lutgendorf, scholar of South Asia, Emeritus Professor of Hindi and Modern Indian Studies, University of Iowa and author of the award winning book The Life of a Text: Performing the Ramcaritmanas of Tulsidas (University of California Press: 1991), Hanuman's Tale: The Messages of a Divine Monkey (Oxford University Press, New York: 2006) among others

Chair: Prof. Ananya Vajpeyi, Fellow, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies

The poet-saint Tulsidas’s immensely popular retelling of the Ramayana saga, Ramcaritmanas (ca.1574 AD), is structured as an allegorical Himalayan sacred lake symmetrically bounded by four seven-tiered ghats. The narrators (in order of appearance) are the human author Tulsidas, the Vedic sage Yajnavalkya, the god Shiva, and a crow named Bhushundi. Whereas the first three are either human or (in Shiva’s case) divine-anthropomorphic, the final one is an avian form. Why did the poet choose this unusual figure to conclude whose epic narrative and to deliver, in effect, the “last word”? 

(Collaboration: American Institute of Indian Studies)
 

Speaker: Prof. R. Mahalakshmi, Professor, Centre for Historical Studies, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University

Chair: Prof. Amrit Srinivasan

Food is nourishment, necessary for life, and yet there is no single understanding of what nourishing or appropriate – across and within cultures. By bringing in some key concepts known in early Indian sources, the talk will focus on environments and cultures, histories and social dynamics, and the symbolic universe that food traditions reveal, which have left a mark on the food cultures as they have evolved in the Indian sub-continent

Curator: Prof. Himanshu Prabha Ray

Tiny Terracotta Tales from North India
Illustrated lecture by Dr. Deeksha Bhardwaj, Associate Professor, Gargi College, University of Delhi

Chair: Prof. Kishor Basa, Chairperson, National Monuments Authority

Terracotta or baked clay forms the most enduring medium for the representation of the human image. Though not ubiquitous, as may sometimes appear, anthropomorphic terracotta figurines, wherever found, constitute a significant part of an archaeological corpus. In terms of technique of manufacture, decoration details, context and usage, these tiny humanoid forms offer a multiplicity of meanings, and information about the past that can be teased out of them. How can we reimagine the past using the terracotta figurines as tools? With this objective, this presentation will examine the archaeological evidence from historical sites in North India
 

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: Amb. Shivshankar Menon, Professor of International Relations, Ashoka University, former Foreign Secretary and National Security Adviser

‘Doi Moi’ (economic renovation) was proclaimed by the Govt. of Vietnam in 1986 and implemented in earnest from 1989. The talk will focus on Vietnam’s economic and political transformation in one generation since ‘Doi Moi’ till the current conjuncture. It will focus on the political upheavals since Covid-19, including the sad passing of the Party General Secretary in July this year. The talk will also focus on Vietnam’s likely economic trajectory in the China plus context and its aspiration to be a developed country in its centennial, 2047.

Mapping the Future of Mehrauli Archaeological Park
By Swapna Liddle, author, historian and conservationist

Followed by a panel discussion with
 

Panelists: Debashree Mukherjee, Secretary, Department of Water Resources, Govt. of India; and Ms Niharika Rai, Secretary, Finance, Planning and Tourism, Delhi Govt.

Coordinator and Moderator: Anuj Srivastava, architect, writer and photographer

Mehrauli Archaeological Park is an archaeological site spread over 200 acres containing over 100 historical monuments and structure. The area has been under continuous occupation for over 1000 years and contains Lal Kot built by the Tomar Rajputs in 1060 CE, the oldest extant fort of Delhi and several structures built by the Khilji, Tughlaq and Lodhi dynasties as well as the British. The area faces several challenges, both man-made and natural. Swapna Liddle has an abiding interest in the Mehrauli Archaeological Park and apart from writing extensively about it, she has mapped it in several walks. While talking about the historical context and enumerating the issues of concern, she will also lay out a roadmap for the future

Firefly memories

By Jonaki Ray (Copper coin; 2023)

Discussants: Shri Saif Mahmood, International lawyer, writer, translator, poetry critic & cultural activist; Ms Smitha Sehgal, poet and lawyer; and Ms Jonaki Ray, poet, writer, Editor, scientist and author of the book

Chair: Prof. Radha Chakravarty, writer, critic, translator and former Professor at Ambedkar University