MUSIC APPRECIATION PROMOTION
Aesthetics of Film Music                                                                                                                                   

An illustrated presentation by Dr Mrudula Dadhe Joshi

The presentation will demonstrate various aesthetic elements observed in the making of Hindi Film Music. It will further examine the application of various gharanas used in Hindi film music.

Dr Mrudula Dadhe Joshi an expert in film music, singer, writer, and faculty member for Light Vocal Music at Mumbai University                                            
 

Memory, Migration and the Archive: The Transnational Afterlives of Family Photographs

Speaker: Özge Baykan Calafato, an academic, curator, and writer. A lecturer at the University of Amsterdam and Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi. She is the author of Making the Modern Turkish Citizen: Vernacular Photography in the Early Republican Era (I.B. Tauris/Bloomsbury, 2022).

Moderator: Prof. Sabeena Gadihoke, a scholar, documentary filmmaker, and photo historian, and a long-time faculty member at AJK MCRC, Jamia Millia Islamia.

How do photographs travel across borders, lives, and generations, and what forms of personal and collective memory do they invoke? This talk traces the intricate entanglements of transnational memory, migration histories, and photographic archives. 

BOOK DISCUSSION GROUP 
Seeds of Hate: Bangladesh's extremist surge
Edited by Shahriar Kabir and Dipanjan Roy Chaudhury (Grin Media, 2025)

Discussants: SH M J Akbar, Former MOS External Affairs, Author & Senior Journalist; Amb Pankaj Saran, Member NSAB, Former High Commissioner to Bangladesh & Ambassador to Russia & Deputy NSA; Dr. Anirban Ganguly, Chairman, Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Research Foundation; Ms Smruti Patnaik, Research Fellow IDSA & Noted Bangladesh Expert; Dipanjan Roy Chaudhury, Editor of the book
 

BOOK DISCUSSION GROUP                                                         
The Vulgarity of caste: Dalits, Sexuality, and Humanity in Modern India
by Shailaja Paik (Navayana, 2022)

Discussants: Shailaja Paik, professor at University at Cincinnati and MacArthur Genius of 2024 & Author of the book followed by a conversation with Prof Projit Mukharji, Prof. of History, Ashoka University and Prof Prathama Banerjee Historian, CSDS
 

Five Years On: Mapping the New Terrain of Indian Publishing
Keynote Speaker: Gaëlle Bohé, Director of Fontaine O Livres and President of the Académie Hors Concours, which awards the annual Prix Hors Concours to francophone authors from independent publishers.
Five years on, Indian publishing is still reshaping itself in response to the disruptions of the pandemic. This session takes a broad, stock-taking view of the industry, exploring how shifts of the past decade – political centralisation, market consolidation, and rapid technological change – have intensified in the post-pandemic period. From the growing power of conglomerates and global platforms to the pressures on independent publishers and the expanding role of AI, we examine the forces that are defining Indian publishing’s next phase and what they mean for the future of books in the country.
The keynote address will be followed by a Panel Discussion and Awards.
(Collaboration: Publishing Next)
 

MUSIC APPRECIATION PROMOTION
 

Rocking and Rolling with the Stones
Illustrated talk on the music of The Rolling Stones 
Dr Punita G Singh

In this musical journey with The Rolling Stones, we explore how a shifting cast of brilliantly idiosyncratic musicians created one of the most enduring bands in rock history. Fusing early rock with the blues, their innovative sound experiments included influences from gospel, R&B, soul, country, folk and even reggae and disco. Emerging alongside—The Beatles—in the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones carved out their own image and constantly reinvent themselves. Through iconic audio tracks, video clips and stories, we get a glimpse into the colourful personalities, lives and oeuvre of these musicians who continue to attract listeners across generations.

Punita G Singh is a musicologist, linguist, acoustician, editor and educator based in New Delhi.
 

The Classical Compositions of Hazrat Amir Khusrau
 

An illustrated presentation by Madhumita Ray
A presentation of noted classical compositions created by the Sufi saint known primarily as the father of Kheyal and Qawwali, Hazrat Amir Khusrau. This lecture based on rare ragas will demonstrate his works based on some recordings by eminent artists.

Madhumita Ray is an eminent Hindustani Classical (Khayal) and semi classical (Thumri-Dadra) vocalist performing and teaching nationally and internationally for over 30 years.
 

Charismatic Chiaroscuro: Poetry and Art
By Meena Chopra (2025)

Discussants:  Prof. Malashri Lal, Scholar, Poet, Academician; Prof. Sukrita Paul Kumar, Scholar, Poet, Academician, Sudeep Sen, Poet, Literary Editor, Photographer, Meena Chopra, Author, Poet & Artist
 

Modernism and the Sri Lankan Mind. The Life and Work of Martin Wickramasinghe (1890 - 1976)
By Uditha Devapriya
The talk explores the multifaceted legacy of Sri Lanka’s most celebrated writer, critic, and thinker. Examining how Wickramasinghe — through his novels, essays, and cultural writings — became a bridge between indigenous traditions and modern thought.

Uditha Devapriya is a Sri Lankan researcher, author, and analyst whose work spans culture, politics, and international relations. A former Chief Analyst at Factum think tank and IVLP fellow, he writes extensively on South Asian art, history, and geopolitics
 

An international conference bringing together eminent historians from Portugal and India to examine the multifaceted Indo-Portuguese encounters through history — from early modern exchanges to intellectual and cultural networks.

Speakers: João Paulo Oliveira e Costa (NOVA University Lisbon), Ernestine Carreira (Aix-Marseille University), Lakshmi Subramanian (BITS Pilani), Syed Ali Nadeem Rezavi (Aligarh Muslim University), Anirudh Deshpande, Amar Farooqui and Farhat Hassan (University of Delhi), and Najaf Haider (Jawaharlal Nehru University).

(Collaboration: Embassy of Portugal, Cultural Centre)