Resurrecting Lost Memories and Linguistic Archaeology of Ancient Cultures

Speaker: Prof. Anvita Abbi, Distinguished linguist and scholar of tribal and other minority languages of South Asia; B.B. Borkar, Chair Professor of Comparative Literature, Goa University and formerly Professor of Linguistics, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

Chair: Ashok Vajpeyi, poet, essayist, literary-cultural critic and eminent cultural and arts administrator

Opening Remarks: Suhas Borker, Convenor, Dr Kapila Vatsyayan Memorial Committee and Trustee, IIC

Closing Remarks: Dr Subhash Malik, Renowned Anthropologist

(Collaboration: Kapila Vatsyayan Memorial Committee)

Lead presentation by Prof. Manu Bhagavan, specialist on modern India, Professor of History, Human Rights, and Public Policy at Hunter College and the Graduate Center-The City University of New York, and Senior Fellow at the Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies.  He is the author or editor of eight books, including the critically-acclaimed The Peacemakers: India and the Quest for One World and, most recently, Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit: A Biography.  

Introductory Remarks: Smt Nayantara Sahgal

Chair: Dr. Usha Ramanathan,  independent law researcher

Professor Manu Bhagavan will speak on women in leadership, with a focus on Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit's contributions to India and the world.  He will draw on his extensive experience of India's foreign policy and contributions to the United Nations, and his deeply researched biography of Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit.

Organised in collaboration with Assam Association, Delhi – Platinum Jubilee Celebrations

Keynote Address: Dr. Samudragupta Kashyap, eminent writer, journalist and Information Commissioner, Assam and Chancellor, Nagaland University

Presentations by Dr. Ankita Dutta, Assistant Professor, University of Delhi; and Shri Ambrish B. Kishore, Editor, Publication Division, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Govt. of India

Chair: Shri M.P. Bezbaruah, IAS (retd.) former Secretary, Govt. of India

Melody meisters, Ruchika and Deepak Castelino 

In conversation with Sujata Prasad and Oroon Das

(Collaboration: Ahad Anhad)

Speaker: Prof. Akeel Bilgrami, Sidney Morgenbesser Professor of Philosophy, Professor, Committee on Global Thought, Department of Philosophy, Columbia University, New York

Chair: Prof. Tanika Sarkar, Visiting Professor of History, Ashoka University

Akeel Bilgrami will seek to situate Gandhi’s views on caste as well as his disagreements with Ambedkar within the framework of Gandhi and Ambedkar’s differing views on the inevitability and scope of both liberal modernity and the capitalist economic formation to which the liberal notion of the state are tied.  He will consider the ambivalences into which he was forced on caste by Ambedkar’s skilful appeal to these emerging liberal institutions under colonial rule. 

Odissi Recital

By Vani Madhav from Gurugram, disciple of Guru Sudhakar Sahu

At 19:00
Bharatnatyam Recital

By Swati Athmanathan from Chennai, disciple of Prof. C. V. Chandrashekhar and Smt. Jaya Chandrashekhar
 

Violin Recital

By Yadnesh Raikar from Mumbai, son and disciple of Pandit Milind Raikar

At 19:00
Hindustani Vocal Recital

By Madhumita Ray from Delhi, disciple of Ustad Asad Ali Khan and Pandita Naina Devi

Curated by Rajiv Mehrotra

Mindscapes…of Love & Longing (India)
(54 min; 2011; Hindi, English)
A film by Arun Chadha

Recipient of National Award 2012 for Best Film on social issues

Followed by a discussion with the filmmaker

Spotlighting the lives of individuals with disabilities, the film seeks to sensitively unpack misconceptions, prejudices and myths around their sexuality. Through personal narratives, it offers an intimate look into how they negotiate biological, medical, and socio-cultural beliefs to explore their identities and ultimately reclaim their sexual rights.

(Collaboration: Foundation for Universal Responsibility of His Holiness the Dalai Lama)
 

Public Administration and Corporate Governance

Speaker: Shri K.M. Chandrashekhar, retired Civil Servant who was Cabinet Secretary from 2007-2011

Remarks by Shri N.N. Vohra, Life Trustee, IIC

Chair: Shri Shyam Saran, President, IIC 

Dramatised readings from A.R. Gurney’s “Love Letters” by Sunit Tandon and Sohaila Kapur

Love Letters is a play by A.R. Gurney, which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The play centres on two characters - Melissa Gardner and Andrew Makepeace Ladd III. Though geographically located in different places, they sit side by side and write letters to each other, discussing what has passed between them throughout their separation. 

The play has had some popular adaptations in India. It was adapted into Urdu in 1992 as Tumhari Amrita with Farroukh Sheikh and Shabana Azmi. Kaif Aur Main, written and performed by Javed Akhtar along with his wife Shabana, was also inspired by it, as was another play, Aapki Soniya, starring Sonali Bendre. 

The play in its original form was first enacted by Sunit & Sohaila about three decades ago. It was directed by the late Arun Kuckreja under the banner of Ruchika Theatre.  

It is perhaps more age appropriate for the actors today, since the characters are celebrating a friendship of 50 years. 

Produced by Anuradha Dar & Sohaila Kapur for Three Arts Club & Katyayani.