The Bibek Debroy Memorial Lecture
 

Speaker: Shaktikanta Das, Principal Secretary-2 to the Prime Minister of India. Previously, he was a noted policy maker, has served as Governor of the Reserve Bank of India. He was also a member of the Fifteenth Finance Commission and India's Sherpa to the G20.

The inaugural Bibek Debroy Memorial Lecture honours the life, work, and legacy of one of India's foremost intellectuals, the Sanskrit scholar, economist, and policy expert, the late Dr. Bibek Debroy (1955-2024).  Awarded the Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri for his work, Bibek Debroy's last held position was chair of the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council. Dr. Debroy wrote and translated more than 100 books including the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. 
 

THE IIC DOUBLE BILL: MUSIC AND DANCE RECITALS

Kathak Recital
By Neelakshi Khandker-Saxena from Delhi, disciple of Pt. Rajendra Gangani    

At 18:30

Odissi Recital
By Krishnendu Saha from Udaipur, disciple of Sharmila Biswas   
 

Faulad ka Aakash: Performative Readings of Mohan Rakesh’s Short Stories
Script: Purwa Bharadwaj 
Presented by Alka Rajan, Apoorvanand, Purwa Bharadwaj and Raza Haider

Mohan Rakesh is one of the leading names of Hindi fiction and Indian theatre. Generations of Hindi readers have grown on the writings of Mohan Rakesh. His keen observation of the dilemmas of the emerging individual in the post-independence India shaped his fiction. We try to bring out the subtlety of his writing in this presentation
 

Duration: (100 minutes; 2025; English and Hindi)

Directed by Mitul Patel

Produced by Raj Vasudeva / Anuradha Sachdev and an Everclear Films production

Actors: Adil Hussain, Raj Vasudeva, Niharica Raizada, Kunal Bhan, Aparna Ghoshal

On a silent Christmas Eve, Shekhar is forced to face the unthinkable: deciding whether to end his mother’s life. In the stillness of that dark night, as machines beep and hope fades, he’s torn apart by love, guilt, and duty. The choice he makes shatters the fragile ties within his family—and leaves him forever changed, carrying the weight of a decision no one should ever have to make.

Maati Ki Boli: Essence of Land

Dr. Shailesh Srivastava will be presenting the lyrical beauty of Maharashtra’s traditional folk music, featuring Gan–Gondhal, Vagya–Murli, Jagran (Khandoba), Gaulang (Gopi–Krishna dialogue), and Baithakicha Lavani.

Dr Srivastava, distinguished vocalist and recipient of the Central Sangeet Natak Akademi Award 2022 for Folk Music (Uttar Pradesh). Trained by Padma Bhushan Pt. Rajan and Sajan Mishra of the Banaras gharana. She is celebrated for her versatility across languages and folk traditions.

Accompanists: Madhav Prasad, Harmonium; Pravin Kumar, Synthesizer; Anil Gawde, Dholki; Aashish Pawar, Naal; Omkar Gawde, Sambal, Chipani; Vishal Kumar, Percussion

(Collaboration: NCZCC, Prayagraj, Ministry of Culture, Govt. of India)

Talk by Brig. Ashok Abbey (Retd), a veteran climber with over four decades of experience across the Karakoram, Himalaya and adjoining ranges. He brings deep field knowledge to the history of the Workman explorations.

Chair: Shri Shyam Saran, President, IIC

Guest of Honour: Lt Gen Ata Hasnain (Retd.)

Special Invitee: Ms Kokila Sudha, renowned mountaineer

This talk revisits the extraordinary 1911–1912 expedition of Fanny Bullock Workman. Her pioneering exploration of the 76 km long Siachen Glacier—now the world’s highest battlefield—mapped its chief tributaries and placed the glacier accurately within the geography of the Eastern Karakoram.

(Collaboration: Himalayan Club and The Himalayan Environment Trust)

CANCELLED

A piano recital by Andreas König, internationally acclaimed concert pianist and currently piano lecturer for senior students and teacher training at Delhi Music Society.

He will be performing Georg Friedrich Händel, Sarabande; Issac Albéniz, Córdoba; Maurice Ravel, Alborada del gracioso; Enrique Granados, Danza Española no. 2 "Oriental"; Pepe Rodríguez, La Mar Picá (premiere performance); Joaquín Turina, Ensueño; Manuel de Falla, Fantasia bética.

(Collaboration: Embassy of Spain in New Delhi)

Speaker: Prof. Klaus Vieweg, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at Friedrich Schiller University in Jena Germany and a foremost interpreter of Hegel in the world, covering his philosophy. He approaches Hegel’s idea of freedom in relation to our contemporary crisis of modernity

Discussant: Viren Murthy, Professor of transnational Asian History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and researches Chinese, Japanese and Indian intellectual history.

(Collaboration: BML Munjal University)

Researched, written, designed and narrated by Sohaila Kapur, under our biographical series 'Lives Lived'

Produced by Anuradha Dar of Katyayani and Three Arts Club Production.

Lights and projection by Burhan Qureshi.

Hind Transcreation of Script and Co-Narration by Nidhikant Pandey

Live Singing by Devanand Jha and Anjila Gugnani.

It is the story of the relationship between the legendary Anand brothers of Bollywood, Chetan, Dev and Vijay (Goldie). The narration, read with warmth and personal anecdotes, is delivered by Sohaila Kapur — their niece. Interwoven with clips from their films, the storytelling flows like a cinematic journey.

(Collaboration: Three Arts Club and Katyayani)

Odissi Recital

By Prapti Gupta from Ghaziabad, disciple of Guru Aruna Mohanty & Guru Alpana Nayak

At 18.30

Bharatanatyam Recital

By Sowmya Laxmi Narayanan from Delhi, disciple of Guru Geeta Chandran