Programme

India International Centre

1-20

November

     2008

Saturday 1^st ■ Auditorium at 17:00

Films on Spirituality and Faith

The Question of God (225 min; dvd; English)

Sigmund Freud and C.S. Lewis with Dr. Armand Nicholi

The film explores in accessible and dramatic style, issues that preoccupy all thinking people today: What is happiness? How do we find meaning and purpose in our lives? How do we reconcile conflicting claims of love and sexuality? How do we cope with the problem of suffering and the inevitability of death? Based on a popular Harvard course taught by Dr. Armand M. Nicholi, this programme illustrates the lives and insights of Sigmund Freud, a life-long critic of religious beliefs, and C.S. Lewis, a celebrated Oxford don, literary critic and perhaps this century’s most influential and popular proponent of faith based on reason

There will be a 10 minute intermission at 18:30 hrs

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

Saturday 1^st ■ Conference Room – I at 18:30

Holy Cow and Other Poems

A programme of poetry and discussion around the recently published book of poems of the same title by S. Nihal Singh

Speakers: Shri K.N. Daruwalla; and Ms Pamela Philipose

Chair: Prof. Indra Nath Choudhury

(Collaboration: The Poetry Society, India)

Tuesday 4^th ■ Auditorium at 18:30

Film

All the World’s a Stage (60 min; dv cam; 2008; English & with subtitles)

Directed by Nirmal Chander who will introduce the film

Produced by PSBT

Screening will be followed by a discussion

Settled mainly on the west coast of India, the Sidi’s are a small community that came from East Africa about 800 years ago. Centuries of discrimination and indifference have pushed them down the socio-economic ladder, but their unique devotional music, in praise of a Sufi saint, has given them a strong sense of identity and stability. All the World’s a Stage weaves together the lives and aspirations of a motley group of men – shopkeepers, drivers, carpenters, masons – who make up an internationally successful performance group called the Sidi Goma. The film celebrates the joyous energy of their ritual songs and dances, even as it traces their struggle to survive, and to win respect in a world that threatens to marginalize them even further

Wednesday  5^th ■ Conference Room – I at 18:30

Frontiers of History

A National Flag for India – Rituals, Nationalism and the Politics of Sentiment

An illustrated lecture by Dr. Arundhati Virmani, former Reader, Dept. of History, University of Delhi and presently, Professor at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, Marseille

Chair: Prof. Sabyasachi Bhattacharya, Chairman, Indian Council for Historical Research

Thursday 6^th ■ Auditorium at 18:30

Carnatic Classical Vocal Recital

By P.B. Kanna Kumar from Delhi, disciple of Guru Sayeed Pascha Saheb and Prof. Radha Venkatachalam

Friday 7^th ■ Auditorium at 18:30

Melodies from Calcutta

An illustrated lecture by Shri Pran Nevile, author-scholar on the ‘Genius of R.C. Boral’ founding father of Indian film music

Followed by a Concert

Presented by Gaurav Sood and Jaspreet Kaur Sood

(Collaboration: K.L. Saigal Memorial Circle)

Friday 7^th ■ Conference Room – I at 18:30

Ghaznavids Between Iran and India: Institutional and Cultural Aspects of India’s first Sultanate (991-1186 AD)

Speaker: Mr. George Malagaris from the Dept. of History, Columbia University and AIIS Junior Research Fellow

Chair: Prof. Saiyid Zaheer Hussain Jafri, Head, Dept. of History, University of Delhi

The Ghaznavids raided northwest India at the start of the 10^th century and maintained a capital in Lahore until the end of the 12^th century. They are typically viewed as the ultimate Islamic Turkic warriors who initiated a wave of fanaticism and repression in India. This lecture, based on primary sources and the latest international scholarship, aims at a more nuanced and realistic picture. It will address some of the economic motives for Ghaznavid raids in light of the silver crisis of medieval Central Asia and Iran

First in a new series of lectures being organised in collaboration with American Institute of Indian Studies

Monday 10^th ■ Auditorium at 18:30

Odissi Recital

By Sudha Mukhopadhyay from Delhi, senior disciple of Smt Madhavi Mudgal

(Collaboration: Seher)

Monday 10^th ■ Conference Room – I at 18:30

Conservation of Monuments in the Chambal Ghati

An illustrated lecture by Shri Mohammed K.K., Archaeological Survey of India

Chair: Shri Jagmohan

Tuesday 11^th  ■ Conference Room – I at 18:30

The Magic of Prithviraj, Padmini and Pratap in the Vernacular Imaginaire: Revisiting the Interface of Colonialism, and Nationalism

Speaker: Prof. Shail Mayaram, Senior Fellow, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies

The lecture will explore a moment that was constitutive of Hindu-Muslim difference. It will use as point of entry the work of James Tod (1782-1835) and reviews recent interventions in the debate on colonialism, orientalism and nationalism. Tod had a phenomenal impact on the Indian popular nationalist imagination through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries

Wednesday 12^th – 18^th  ■ Art Gallery (annexe) 11:00 – 19:00

A Mixed Palette

An exhibition of paintings by Sipra Dattagupta from Kolkata

Inauguration by Sir Mark Tully on Tuesday, 11^th November at 18:30 hrs

Wednesday 12^th ■ Conference Room – I at 18:30

Book Discussion Group

Shri Inder Malhotra, Senior Journalist; and Prof. Gulshan Dietl, Jawaharlal Nehru University will discuss The Ultimate Prize: Oil and Saddam’s Iraq by Ranjit Singh Kalha (New Delhi: Allied Publishers, 2008)

Chair: Shri Jaswant Singh

Wednesday 12^th ■ Conference Room – II at 18:30

Third Annual Discussion on State Parliamentary Democracy in India

Speakers: Prof. Imtiaz Ahmad, former Professor of Sociology, JNU; Prof. Peter d’Souza, Director, Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla; and Shri Harish Khare, Resident Editor, The Hindu

Introduction: Shri Suhas Borker, Convener, Working Group on Alternative Strategies

(Collaboration: Working Group on Alternative Strategies)

Friday 14^th ■ Conference Room – II from 10:30 onwards

Mid-Year Review of the Indian Economy 2008-2009

Main presentation by Dr. Nagesh Kumar, Director General, RIS

Discussant: Shri M.K. Venu, Senior Editor, The Economic Times

Chair: Dr. Shankar Acharya, eminent economist

(Collaboration: Malcolm & Elizabeth Adiseshiah Trust)

Friday 14^th ■from 11:00 – 13:30

Children’s Day at IIC

Conducted Nature Walk followed by screening of a cartoon film in the auditorium

For children and grandchildren of IIC Members and Staff between the ages of 4 to 12 years. Kindly register participation in advance to the IIC Nature Group. Children are requested to carry their own water bottles

Organised by the IIC Nature Group

Friday 14^th ■Conference Room – II at 18:30

The Humanism of Jawaharlal Nehru

Speaker: Shri A.P. Saxena, noted Nehru scholar and author of the book Jawaharlal Nehru – The Spirit of Humanism

Chair: Shri Prakash Narain

(Collaboration: Indian Humanist Union)

Sunday 16^th ■ Auditorium at 10:00

Carnatic Classical Music – Vocal and Instrumental

Presenting young upcoming artists from Delhi

Vocal recitals by Aditya Vikram, A. Anaka, and S. Ramanan

Violin recitals by G. Vasudevan, Anusha Sridhar, and Devi Mohan

(Collaboration: Gayathri Fine Arts)

Monday 17^th ■ Conference Room – I at 18:30

Understanding Network Terrorism Today

Speaker: Prof. Hussein Solomon, Professor, Department of Political Sciences, Director, Centre for International Political Studies & Head of the Unit for African Studies, Centre for International Political Studies, University of Pretoria, South Africa. Prof Solomon is currently Nelson Mandela Chair Professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University

Chair: Shri I.P. Khosla

Tuesday 18^th ■ Conference Room – I at 18:30

Ancient Gandhara: Then and Now

An illustrated lecture by Dr. B.R. Mani, Jt. Director General, Archaeological Survey of India

Chair: Prof. R.C. Agarwal

Dr. Mani’s lecture will focus on archaeological sites in Pakistan

Wednesday 19^th ■ Conference Room – III (Annexe)  at 18:00

Putting Ideas First

Craft in the Age of Technology

Speaker: Ms Laila Tyabji, designer, writer, founder Member and Chairperson, DASTAKAR, a Society for Crafts & Craftspeople

(Collaboration: Craft Revival Trust)

Wednesday 19^th ■ Auditorium at 18:30

The Culture of the former Feudatory States of Orissa

An illustrated lecture by Mr. Hermann Kulke, eminent scholar from Germany

(Collaboration: Odissi Akademi, Delhi)

Wednesday 19^th ■ Conference Room – I at 18:30

Prevention of Ill Health

Prevention of Strokes

Speaker: Dr. P.K. Sethi, Neurologist, Sir Gangaram Hospital

First lecture in a new series being organised in collaboration with The Inclien Trust

Thursday 20^th ■ Auditorium at 18:30

Hindustani Classical Music – Sarod Recital

By Sunando Mukherjee from Kolkata, senior disciple of  Ustad Amjad Ali Khan

Accompanied by Gautam Pal on the tabla

Thursday 20^th   ■ Conference Room – i at 18:30

Crisis in Sri Lanka

Speakers: Mr. Varadaraj Perumal; Dr. P. Sahadevan; and Shri Alok Bansal

Chair: Maj. Gen. (Retd.) Ashok K. Mehta