Price Re. 1/- INDIA INTERNATIONAL CENTRE v o l u m e X X VI. No. 2 March–April 2012 The Golden Gate, set in California, and portraying in Of Poetry and Sorrow piquant verse, the lives and times of a set of young Readings and a Conversation friends in the late eighties. by Vikram Seth with Chiki Sarkar, Written between 2006 and 2009, Seth’s latest book April 14 The Rivered Earth is, in a fashion, a collection of four libretti. Drawn from various worlds of inspiration, both literal and figurative (India, China, England), On a pleasant summer evening, Vikram Seth and crafted through translation and memory, history in conversation with Chiki Sarkar had a packed and dialogue, the book takes Seth’s art to an entirely audience captivated. Ms Sarkar began with a good- new level. Readings interposed the conversation as humoured reference to one of the recurrent motifs it ranged freely from democracy to prosody, from in his latest book The Rivered Earth: procrastination. loneliness to the unique company he has at Salisbury However, if the audience was curious on the subject House that is inhabited by Seth today: the spirit of of procrastination in the context of his much- George Herbert, the former occupant of the house, awaited jump-sequel to A Suitable Boy, they were waiting quietly outside the threshold of Seth’s writing disappointed; the evening belonged entirely to Seth room. Seth also shared favourites from his entire the poet. He makes no bones about the fact that it oeuvre. His mother’s favourite is probably the one is poetry which is his first impulse although it is his that, when read by the poet himself, left the deepest novels that have made him a household name; he impact on the audience: would probably describe himself as a poet with the bad habit of slipping into writing (enormously long) All you who sleep tonight/Far from the ones you love,/No novels every now and then. Deeply inspired by the hand to left or right/And emptiness above –/Know that you form in Alexander Pushkin’s brilliant novel in verse, aren’t alone/The whole world shares your tears,/Some for two Eugene Onegin, he began writing one of the most nights or one,/And some for all their years. unique and charming books of the last few decades, DEVAPRIYA ROY into the city. Lata’s talk covered the different quarters A Historic City of Jerusalem: the Jewish quarter which has the TALK: Jerusalem – Transcendence Amidst Strife Western wall and includes the entirely rebuilt ancient Speaker: Lata Iyer, April 19 Moroccan quarter; the Muslim quarter with the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock; and the Christian and Armenian quarters where the Church Lata Iyer took the audience on a walk through the of the Holy Sepulchre is situated. walled city of Jerusalem, a city so small that walking through its lanes takes only an hour. Yet every stone Tragically, Jerusalem’s strife-ridden past continues to in that city of strife is steeped in history. haunt the region as it did more than 3,000 years ago: ‘She waits the consummation/Of peace ever more’. The splendid walls of Jerusalem, built by Suleiman the Magnificent of Turkey, have eight gates that lead PREMOLA GHOSE focus of Calcutta over several decades, and represented an Re-constructing Calcutta array of urban practices, cultures and institutions as EXHIBITION: The City in the Archive – Calcutta’s they unfold in everyday life. The archive combines a Visual Histories curious mix of personal collections of individuals and various research interests of the fellows at CSSSC, Curated by Tapati Guha-Thakurta and designed and is now available as an open-access archive for by Hiran Mitra researchers. Collaboration: Centre for Studies in Social The emphasis on visual history is what distinguishes Sciences, Calcutta, March 28–April 3 the archive as well as this exhibition. Visual material was organized in four distinct groups that represent The exhibition presented an myriad sides of urban astonishing range of visual culture: ‘print production representation from the and graphic design’; ‘portraits Calcutta of the 19th and 20th and personalities’; ‘leisure, centuries through assorted consumption, entertainment’; materials like illustrated books and ‘urban sites and spaces’. and journals, cover designs, A well-designed and unusual advertisements and other exhibition on the diverse ways forms of commercial art, film of visualizing a city. posters, photographs, paintings, cartoons, maps, and so on. It attempted to capture the typical urbanity BAIDIK BHATTACHARYA of Kudumbarashree, a local self-governance project Informal Sector in Kerala, highlighted how a ‘boring’ government SEMINAR: Celebrating Women’s Leadership – scheme for women’s empowerment was now Unorganized, April 14 transforming into a mass social movement. The second session, ‘Unorganized in the Artisans This seminar was part of a series of events on women’s Domain’, was chaired by renowned social activist leadership in memory of Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay. and member of the Planning Commission, Dr. Syeda Hameed, who brought to light the poor state of In her opening remarks, Ms Devaki Jain highlighted weavers in Varanasi and Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh. the importance of the unorganized sector and the Ms Ritu Sethi from the Craft Revival Trust presented role of women in it. Conceptually, she pointed out a research paper in which she identified the policy that the ‘unorganized’ is in reality the most organized vaccum, growing economic inequality, obsolete and efficient sector, and drew attention to the neglect technology in the sector, entry of fake products in of the sector by the media and policy makers. the market, and diminishing public interest in craft The first session was ‘Unorganized in the Economic as key problems of the sector. The seminar ended Domain’. Dr. Jeemol Unni, Director IRM, Anand, with closing remarks by Ms Poonam Muttreja who explained the contribution of this sector to the said that the scenario was not as gloomy as it might national economy in terms of employment and value, seem. Technological developments and globalization and discussed the recommendations of the Arjun processes would facilitate access to better and bigger Sengupta Committee on Conditions of Work and markets—local as well as global. Livelihoods in the Unorganized Sector and numerous ILO conventions. Ms Sarada Muraleedharan, Director PRANAV GUPTA 2 diary talks GOLDEN JUBILEE LECTURES ON GOVERNANCE seeking reforms that include decriminalization, thus debarring candidates involved in heinous crimes Streamlining the Electoral from contesting elections by providing for safeguards System to prevent misuse for political vendetta. TALK: Electoral Reforms The second challenge of money power had been dealt with by keeping a vigil on expenses with the help of Speaker: Dr. S. Y. Quraishi observers and flying squads, by asking candidates Chair: Inder Malhotra, April 4 to open new accounts, seizing unaccounted money, and engaging senior officers from the Income Tax In his comprehensive lecture on Electoral Reforms, Department. Thirdly, voters’ apathy had been tackled Dr. Quraishi, Chief Election Commissioner, referred by massive education and advertisement campaigns, to the successful organizing of fair and credible thus making voting a fashion statement. Similarly, the elections that involved 750 million voters spread over menace of paid news was taken seriously by careful geographical diversity with its attendant difficulties. scrutiny of news items as well as a ban on exit polls. He complimented the seven pillars representing the Besides, the EC had proposed a ban on transfer of Constitution: laws, the Supreme Court, wise political officers and on government ads on ‘achievements’ leadership (‘you can’t love democracy and hate six months before elections, and punishment for false politicians’), bureaucracy, media, and civil society. affidavits filed by candidates. The Commission aspired Having neutralized muscle power successfully by to make India not only a large but a great democracy. phasing elections and providing for outside force to maintain peace, the Commission had been P.S. BAWA 29 years, and while China will see its working population Demography As Challenge shrink, India will see it swelling. Through the visible TALK: The Demographic Dividend – India’s changes in demography, it can be predicted that more women will join the work force, although gender Future biases surrounding work might not keep pace. With Speaker: Professor Sandeep Shastri changes in demography, there is a need to strengthen Chair: Dr. Ajay K. Mehra, April 16 the basic institutional systems of education and health for harnessing the demographic dividend. This is not In the third lecture in this series, the eminent a matter of destiny, Professor Shastri said. Conscious speaker Professor Shastri took on an issue of crucial work through analysis and policy will have to be done importance for the future of governance policy by to achieve a desirable dividend from demography. exploring the depths and nuances of the demographic Although the demographic dividend has so far dividend of India. been in the domain of economy and geography, the He touched upon the need to see the present speaker said that a dialogue between political science demographic change as both a challenge and an and demography is essential for more sound theories opportunity for a country of 1.2 billion with 58.6 per and recommendations for governance. cent females and 54 per cent below five years of age. An understanding of the potential of the demographic By citing facts, Professor Shastri explained how India dividend is essential to transform the population mass could be a poster child for a potential demographic into a human resource for the country. dividend: that by 2020, the average age in India will be SHALINI RANI 3 talks diary GOLDEN JUBILEE LECTURE ON ENVIRONMENT channels. Likewise, we are building expensive waste treatment facilities without attending to the sewerage infrastructure needed to carry waste to them.