Celebration of the Power of Non-Violent Action & the Life of Martin Luther King Jr (15 January 1929 – 4 April 1968) & Commemoration of the 53rd Anniversary of the Gandhi-King Memorial Plaza

10:30 to 11:00 at Gandhi-King Memorial Plaza
Commemoration Service 
Songs by Choirs of Schools from Delhi NCR

11:15 to 12:15 at C. D. Deshmukh Auditorium
Interactive Session 
Theme of the Interactive Session:
"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere".
- Martin Luther King, Jr., (Letter from Birmingham Jail, 16 April 1963)

During the Interactive Session a short film on Martin Luther King's Life shall be screened 
Moderators: Shri Suhas Borker, Convener, Working Group on Alternative Strategies
Shri Ramesh Sharma, Gandhi Yuva Biradari

Students from Schools of Delhi NCR to participate 

This programme is part of the Taking Children to Gandhi series that brings children closer to the enduring legacy of Gandhi’s non-violent struggle for equity, justice, pluralism and sustainable development

Gandhi-King Memorial Plazawas inaugurated on 21 January 1970 by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and commemorates two iconic figures of our times: Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.
 
(Collaboration: Gandhi Yuva Biradari and Working Group on Alternative Strategies)

Concert presented by Pt. Shubhendra Rao on sitar; Saskia Rao-de Haas on Indian cello; and Ishaan Leonard Rao on piano

A concert presenting the music of one of Brazil’s greatest composers, Villa-Lobos in a unique improvisation on sitar, Indian cello and piano. This concert brings together two distinctive traditions of music – Indian and Western music. While many European composers like Mozart and Beethoven are well-known in India, this concert will familiarize audiences to the most famous and prolific composer from Brazil, Heitor Villa-Lobos. Known to be deeply inspired by the folk traditions of his land and classical music, interestingly, his classical work is also freely interpreted by folk and jazz musicians in the Americas

(Collaboration: Embassy of Brazil)

(Non-fiction film; 52 min; 2021; India; English )

Directed by Joe Thomas K

The Nilgiris have gained the distinction of being a geographic indication for tea, today. Somewhere behind the present glory is a remote connection with the Chinese which remains forgotten. "Those 4 Years" is an amazing journey into the lives of those Chinese who came to India around the middle of the 19th century… speaking a language unknown to their neighbours when they first arrived. The film journeys across three countries and reams of colonial office records to retrace the places those people came from, the means and mode of their arrival, and how many of them ended up making India their home. It is a history of people, plants and places - as it catalogues their contributions to plantations, locates places and sites associated with their earliest arrival and stay and, more remarkably, manages to locate some of the descendants of those Chinese who arrived in India over 150 years ago.  

Dr. Joe Thomas Karackattu is an Associate Professor at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras. This is his second film 
 

At 18:00
 

Hindustani Vocal Recital
By Shiv Prasad Rao from Delhi,  son and disciple of Shri Maheshwar Rao and Pt. Vikas Kashalkar
Accompanied by Jitendra Swain on tabla and Vinay Mishra on harmonium

At 19:00
 

Mohiniattam Recital
By  Rohini Satheesh Poduval from Delhi, disciple of Guru Jayaprabha Menon
Accompanied by Kottakkal Jayan on vocal; Tanjavore Kesavan on mridangam; G. Raghuraman on flute and Satheesh Poduval on edakka 
 

Our History, Their History, Whose History?

Speaker: Prof. Romila Thapar, pre-eminent historian, Professor Emerita, Jawaharlal Nehru University

Chair: Shri Shyam Saran, President, IIC

The talk will examine the current crisis in the teaching and writing of history as reflected in new syllabus for school, college and University, and in public statements on the past. There is a bifurcation between popular public views and those of professional scholars of history. The questions to be answered are how did this come about? How legitimate are the changes being formally suggested? And why these changes are being contested by historians? The focus will be on one frequently quoted interpretation relating to the second millennium AD., discussing the relationship between two communities. 
 

Curated by Rajiv Mehrotra

Rigoberta Menchú: Daughter of the Maya (USA)
(61 min; 2016; English/Spanish)
Director: Dawn Gifford Engle

The film captures the inspiring journey of the Nobel Peace laureate Rigoberta Menchú Tum, an indigenous Mayan woman, who stood as a resilient symbol of peace and reconciliation across ethnic, cultural and social divisions during the civil war in Guatemala. The courage and tenacity of the indigenous Mayan peopleshines through in this beautiful, tragic, and ultimately triumphant film

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

Launch of Marg’s magazine 

Introduction: Naman P. Ahuja, Curator and Professor, School of Arts and Aesthetics, Jawaharlal Nehru University and Editor of Marg Publications

Speakers: Laila Tyabji, craft designer, writer and Chairperson, DASTKAR; Ritu Sethi, Founder-Trustee, Craft Revival Trust and Editor, Global InCH, journal of intangible cultural heritage; and Ashdeen Z. Lilaowala, textile designer known for invigorating and contemporizing the Parsi Gara embroidery tradition while retaining its essence

Chair: Dr. Abigail S. McGowan, Professor of History and the Associate Dean of Arts and Sciences, University of Vermont. She is the editor of Marg’s archival volume on Textiles, Readings on Textiles: From 75 Years of Marg

Celebrating the 75th anniversary of Marg, this commemorative issue brings together core writings on Indian textiles from the magazine’s archive to explore how Marg writers and editors have shaped our understanding of textiles and their role in Indian history and society. Since the 1940s, articles by top scholars in the field have explored the deep heritage and ceaseless innovation of Indian textiles, across regions, materials, time, and communities. Assembled here from the Marg archive, these articles document the rich diversity and vibrancy of Indian textiles through stores of objects, artisans, designers, and consumers

(Collaboration: Marg)

Presented by Transatlantic Roots led by renowned avant-garde jazz pianist, Bruno Angelini from Paris

With Fabrice Martinez on trumpet and  bugle; and Eric Echampard on drums
 

(Collaboration: Delhi Music Society)

Santoor Recital

By Bipul Kumar Ray from Delhi, disciple of the late Pt. Bhajan Sopori

Accompanied by Saptak Sharma on tabla
 

At 19:00
Hindustani Vocal Recital

By Amrita Dutta Majumdar from Delhi, disciple of Smt. Uma Garg and Shri Dinanath Mishra

Accompanied by Bivakar Choudhury on tabla and Ajay Mishra on harmonium
 

CANCELLED 

(30 min; 2022; English)
Director: Sujay 

Premiere screening of the first documentary on the Royal Indian Navy Mutiny of 1946. Using forgotten footage sourced from the Imperial War Museum and Cambridge University in the UK and press clippings from India and Pakistan, and juxtaposing this material with expert narrations of this story of valour. The Last Push reconstructs the mutiny by Royal Indian Navy ratings, which shook the British Raj in its sunset months and hastened its decision to leave India to Indians.

(Collaboration: IANS India Private Limited)