Speaker: Shri G.K. Pillai, former Home Secretary of India

Opening Remarks: Dr. Meenakshi Gopinath, Director, WISCOMP and Life Trustee, IIC

Special Remarks: Shri Shyam Saran, President, IIC

The second in the series WISCOMP Dialogues: Conversations on Mediation, Shri G.K. Pillai will reflect on his experience of working in India’s North East, outlining possible roadmaps for mediation and restoration of community ties in Manipur.  

(Collaboration: Women in Security, Conflict Management and Peace)
 

Ocean and Marine Ecosystem

Quiz competition with school children

Welcome Address: Prof. D.P. Agrawal, Chairman, Governing Council, Climate Change Research Institute (CRRI)

Theme Introduction: Dr. Malti Goel, President and Chief Executive, CRRI

Special Address: Dr. Jagvir Singh, Scientist ‘G’, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Govt. of India

Address by the Chief Guest: Ms Bansuri Swaraj, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha (tbc)

Guest Lecture on Sea Level Rise, Impacts and Mitigation

By Dr. Abhijit Mitra, Associate Professor, Dept. of Marine Science, University of Calcutta

Keynote Address: Dr. V.K. Soni, India Meteorological Department, New Delhi (tbc)

(Collaboration: Climate Change Research Institute)
 

Saturday 28 

Discussion ■ Annexe Lecture Room II at 18:00

Keshav Malik: Books

A discussion on the late Keshav Malik’s books on poetry and art criticism

Discussants: Shri Jatin Das, well-known artist and poet; Prof. Sukrita Paul Kumar, Guest Editor, India Literature, Sahitya Akademi and critic; Shri Prayag Shukla, poet, storyteller, art critic, essayist and translator; Ms Sushma Bahl, Art Consultant, writer, Curator and former Head of Arts & Culture, British Council Division; Dr. Aditya Malik, Founding Professor of Humanities and Social Sciences, Plaksha University; and Ms Mandira Ghosh,  poet, researcher, and writer

Anudit Kavitayein – Poetry in Translation

A feast of poetry in Hindi translation 

With Gagan Gill; Rashmi Bharadwaj; Nidheesh Tyagi; and Apoorvanand

(Collaboration: The Raza Foundation)

Magical Mystery Tour – The Beatles and India
An illustrated presentation by Ajoy Bose

This is the fascinating saga of the world’s most famous 60s rock group embracing Hindustani classical music. It is also the story of a pioneering cultural connection forged between the East and the West well over half a century ago by four working class rock stars from Liverpool and the versatile sitar maestro, Pandit Ravi Shankar along with the Himalayan mystic Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. The reverberations of this enduring love affair between India and The Beatles continue to resonate after all these years. The talk will explore how they have influenced each other in popular music and culture across the universe.

Ajoy Bose is a veteran journalist, television commentator and author whose most recent book, Across the Universe: The Beatles in India inspired him to direct an award-winning film, The Beatles and India
 

Coordinated by Smt Rani Khanam, well-known Kathak exponent, choreographer and disability management specialist

Chief Guest: Dr. Arshiya Sethi, independent scholar

Presentations by Sharbari Banerjee, art educator and musicologist; Mrinalini Sinha, Special Educator; and Rani Khanam

Moderator: Jayanti Ranganathan, Executive Editor, Hindustan and writer

The seminar will begin with a live demonstration and lecture-demonstration by artists with and without disabilities

(Collaboration: AAMAD Dance Centre)

Celebrating Time Travel: An Anthology of Poems of Poets’ Childhood Memories
Edited by Amarendra Khatua and Mandira Ghosh (Authorspress: 2024)

Discussants: Dr. Usha Mujoo Munshi, Chief Librarian, IIC; Dr. Amarendra Khatua, Former Secretary, MEA & DG, ICCR & Poet, Diplomat & Editor of the book; and Ms. Mandira Ghosh, poet, researcher, writer, and co-editor of the book

Chair: Ms Rajni Sekhri Sibal, Writer & Former IAS Officer

Readings

By Sharmistha Mohanty, writer and poet; and Najwan Darwish, poet from Palestine
 

Organised in collaboration with Almost Island Dialogues

Readings
By Anitha Thampi, critically acclaimed poet, essayist and translator; and David Herd, poet, critic and teacher from UK
 

I want to go to Haldwani and other poems
By Satbir Chadha (Authorspress; 2024)

Discussants: Ms. Mandira Ghosh, poet, researcher and writer; Ms. Rachna Joshi, poet and reviewer; and Ms Satbir Chadha, poet and author of the book

Chair: Shri K. Jayakumar, President, The Poetry Society (India) and former Chief Secretary, Govt. of Kerala