Speaker: Dr. Swapna Liddle, historian who works to popularise history and the cause of heritage protection through talks, heritage walks, and social and mainstream media. Her most recent books are The Broken Script: Delhi Under the East India Company and The Fall of the Mughal Dynasty 1803-1857; and Shahjahanabad: Mapping a Mughal City

Chair: Dr. Jutta Jain Neuebauer

Human history is intimately tied to water and its management. In a place with such a richly layered history as Delhi has, this relationship with water has manifested itself at many levels. The presence of water and waterways has determined the location of cities and localities. The management of water and construction of water works has been an important function of powerful rulers, as well as landed magnates and even religious teachers. This illustrated talk will discuss some of the ways in which the people of Delhi through history have connected to water
 

How we can materialise the vision and values of Free and Open Indo-Pacific

Welcome Address: Amb. Umemoto Kazuyoshi, President, The Japan Foundation, Tokyo

Introductory Remarks: Mr. Wakao Koike, Head, Japanese Studies and Global Partnerships Department, The Japan Foundation, Tokyo

Moderator: Mr. Koji Sato, Director General, The Japan Foundation, New Delhi

The seminar will discuss the prospects of India-Japan relationship with respect to South Asia and Free and Open Indo-Pacific

(Collaboration: The Japan Foundation, New Delhi)

Panelists: Shri Kallol Bhattacherjee, Senior Assistant Editor, The Hindu and author of The Great Game in Afghanistan; and Shri Frank Rausan Pereira, founder of Bharat First, Consultant Anchor with Doordarshan and former Anchor, Rajya Sabha TV

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

The newly elected Maldivian President Mohammad Muizzi has asked India to withdraw its military personnel from Maldives. India proposed a joint committee to sort out the matter which Maldives agreed to but President Muizzi’s on his return from a state visit to China, has publicly put a deadline of 15 March 2024 for the withdrawal. Both Maldives and Sri Lanka fall within the security perimeter of India. The panelists will address the maritime security of India, Sri Lanka, and Maldives, and the options available to India

Speaker: Prof. Surya Deva, UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Development

Chair: Mr. Shombi Sharp, UN Resident Coordinator, India

Climate change poses a significant threat to the realization of all human rights, including the right to development. People in all world regions, especially in developing countries, have a legitimate aspiration to harness their capabilities and realise development goals. At the same time, pursuing economic development without respecting planetary boundaries will destroy the current ecological system. What development pathway should then states and individuals follow? In this public lecture, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Development will argue that since intergenerational equity is a key principle of the right to development, it is possible to achieve inclusive and sustainable development by embracing a model of “planet-centred participatory development”.

(Collaboration: United Nations India)

International Booker Prize Winner Daisy Rockwell and acclaimed translator and editor Rahul Soni in conversation with Sujata Prasad and Oroon Das
 
(Collaboration: Ahad Anhad)

Speaker: Dr. Sumita Banerjea, educator, and a qualified and practising Counsellor who has researched extensively on women criminals in 18th and 19th centuries Bengal
 
Chair: Dr. S. Zaidi

The talk will focus on crimes committed by women, primarily in Bengal in the 18th and 19th centuries. While research material is available on crimes against women, but research on women criminals during this period of Indian history remains largely unexplored. Perhaps the number of crimes committed by women was regarded as inconsequential or psychologically and socially it made people uncomfortable to view the woman as the offender. Police, jail and judicial records, diaries and records of officials, case records by private detectives and district records were used as source material. A cross section of criminal activities was revealed - dacoity, wayside robbery, railway banditry, fraud, killing because of superstition and societal pressures and also for greed and lust and even a serial killer. Anecdotes about these crimes will be shared.

Curator: Prof. Himanshu Prabha Ray

Reading Narrative Panels on the Early Temples of Central India

Illustrated lecture by Dr. Aparajita Bhattacharya, Associate Professor, Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University. Her research interest covers socio-cultural history of sacred landscape and architecture in early India, aspects of religion, religiosity, and art-iconography.

Chair: Prof. Seema Bawa, University of Delhi

This presentation examines the narrative panels sculpted on the early structural temples of Central India built during the period between 4th to 6th centuries of the Common Era. It explores the functional aspects of early temples as vibrant socio-cultural spaces by studying the aesthetic representation of the myth cycles of Vishnu from the temples of Pawaya (Gwalior), Nachna (Panna, Madhya Pradesh), Deogarh, Ramgarh hills (Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh) and Garhwa (Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh) to mention a few.  

Illustrated lecture by Sangeeta Barooah Pisharoty, senior journalist and writer, author of the recently published book, The Assamese – Portrait of a Community (Aleph: 2023)

Chair: Dr. Arshiya Sethi, dance scholar and author

The deep connect between textiles and civilisations is an old story. Weaves have a non-verbal language, mirroring the socio-religious and cultural history of a people. While custodians of Indian crafts have documented sacred textiles in India, the lens has not been widened yet to embrace those from North East India. In Assam, sacred weaves have an over four centuries of continued history, it is a living culture. The talk will focus on the profound bond between Assamese weaving culture and the community’s sacred, and war weaves.

Incredible India: An Anthology of Poems
E-book compiled and Edited by Manoj Krishnan (Notion Press: 2023)      
 

Discussants: Ms Anita Chand, poet, artist and entrepreneur; Ms Kiren Babal, poet, author & storyteller; and Shri Manoj Krishnan, poet, writer, Founder of the Asian Literary Society and Editor of the book

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

Illustrated talk by Prof. Ajay Sinha, Julie ’73 and Helene ’48 Herzig Professor, Art History and Architectural Studies Department, Mount Holyoke College. 

Chair: Dr. Yaamniney Mubayi, Culture and Community Development

The talk is based on an art historian’s discovery of over one hundred black and white photographs of Ram Gopal, pioneer of Indian classical dance, taken in New York City in 1938 by an American photographer, Carl Van Vechten. The unpublished and extensive record shows the dancer taking on a variety of poses wearing gorgeous costumes, while the photographer changes fabric backgrounds and studio lighting for full views, mid-shots and close-ups. Examining the stunning record closely, Sinha will build a story of a layered conversation taking place between the Indian dancer and the American photographer, who encounter each other in New York for the first time