• Lrapande Prablad Tipasya and Parfy Calicut
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Spread over a weekend, this memorable festival celebrated the spirit of the poet-philosopher Kabir in ways seldom seen or heard. The festival's core was a quartet of films by Shabnam Virmani on the world of Kabir, a complex network that encompasses music, faith and philosophy. The result was a unique event that brought alive the compelling magnetism of Kabir's poetry down the centuries. Ultimately this journey was fully understood by those who dared to experience the empty nothingness (Shuf!JIa) that lies at the centre of the land (des) that beckoned Kabir. This mood was elaborated in the soulful music of Prahlad Tipanya (from Malwa) and Mukhtiar Ali (from rural Rajasthan) in the evenings. Immersed in the spirit of Kabir's poetry, their mutation of this profound philosophy into their regional folk idiom is probably how Kabir's poetry has marked its space in every major Mllkhtiar Ali singing religious belief of this country - Hinduism, Islam the best example of our cultural plurality. From the and Sikhism. Similarly, Shabnam's films convincingly rural heartland of Central India to Sind in Pakistan, showed that till today Kabir's immortal message is Shabnam captured the voice of Kabir so vividly that time and space became secondary to experience. In the lively interviews with Linda Hess, Purushottam Agarwal and Shabnam Virmani, conducted by Vidya Rao, Dilip Simeon and Suman Keshari, the audience got several opportunities to question scholars who have explored the undying .Kabir heritage in their works. By the end of the festival, each person took home an echo of Kabir's immortal voice that speaks to each in a language that transcends words . • lRAPANDE Prablad Tipasya and ParfY Calicut. Daruwalla said that in writing a historical ForPepper and Christ- novel, one started by dealing with the differences TALK: For Pepper and Christ: Writing a between history and fiction. A novel about today would become a historical novel fifty years hence. History, Historical Novel he said, deals with facts-multiple perceptions of Speaker: Keki N. Daruwalla truth, while the novelist's job is to tell a story. Chair: Professor Madhavan Pal at, September 24 Daruwalla felt that the most important partabout an historical novel is to bring alivethe past-how people Professor Madhavan Palat opened the evening by introducing Keki N. Daruwalla, the author of the ate and dressed, and recreate the tastes and sounds and smells of that period. In recreating the Middle novel For Pepper and Christ, which deals with a great Ages, the author has to describe the fear of possession encounter between two cultures that occurred in by djinns or by the devil, and by millennium fears. the fifteenth century. He also spoke of the historical Sometimes, historical events, like the Mutiny, are significance of Vasco da Gama's arrival on Indian so sensational that the novel gets overrun. He said shores for this led to great political upheavals later. that this novel goes against the theorists of fiction The arrival of the Portuguese signaled the beginning in the sense that he has stuck to facts. However, the of the European domination of the world, and characters and subplots are fictional. showed how the European traders and adventurers became colonial imperialists. A livelydiscussion with historians, litterateurs and art The main players in this novel are the Christian world, historians followed. the Arab world, and the Samudri Raja and court at • RACHNAJOSHI to show with the help of some cheeky images, the quirkiness that is such a vital part of this city's life. Adventures in a Megaeit, From a track that declared 'Dilli hai diwanon ki Dilli', LECTURE: Delhi- FurtherAdventures in a Megacity the video tried to encapsulate all the madness of Speaker: Sam Miller, author of Delhi: Further everyday life. A clip from the Shashi Kapoor-Leela Adventures in a Megacity, Penguin, 2009 Naidu starrer, The Householder effectively brought in Chair: RoshanSeth, September 25 the then-and-now aspect of this city. Elaborating on the 'mega city' aspect, Miller spoke In an illustrated talk with mUS1C,videos and of the sheer size and scale of Delhi that can seem photographs, Sam Miller took off where he left us daunting, especially to a foreigner. Citing his own in Delhi: Further Adventures in a Megaciry, his hugely experience of overa decade, he spoke of how rapid entertaining account of life in Delhi. The stories and rapacious growth has crept up and caught the that made the book such an entertaining and lively city virtually unaware. The highpoint of the evening, account of life in Delhi spilled over into the talk- however, was Miller's hilarious description of the first through a video on different aspects of the mega Phantom Squirter and the Miraculous Shoe Shine city, followed by an interaction between Roshan Seth Man, two conmen who target foreign tourists. 'What and Sam Miller. are the mechanics of squirting excreta?' Miller The short video film was not just a montage of the wondered. 'Does he use a turkey baster perhaps, or a usual Delhi shots-grand but crumbling monuments, syringe? And, most of all,what does he tell his family jostling crowds and dramatic contrasts of the old and that he does for a living?' the new, existing cheek by jowl. Instead, it attempted • RAKHSHANDAJALIL a field of study emerged during the last two decades and was mainly prompted by UNESCO's concern Enlllnl8radlapluaaes about viewing linguistic rights as human rights. SfMlNAR: lote/nationa/Seminar on According to the Atlas, 196 Indian languages are now fndllfflJered Languages 10/lIdi8 endangered, some on the point of vanishing altogether, CoUabor,tioo; II\ITAC6r Gil, NUEPA, while others are in various degrees of attrition. These Sabitya Akademi,Octofie1'22 languages are usually spoken by small communities, some of them in danger of extinction themselves. Several eminent international and Indian scholars The number of such languages is far larger than the presented papers at this important seminar. After an powerful mainstream languages. This is borne out by introduction by S. K. Misra and Kamalini Sengupta the fact that four per cent of the world's population of INTACH, Dr. Kapila Vatsyayan also addressed the speaks ninety six per cent of the languages of the participants. The key note speech by Dr. Christopher world. These languages are dying at the rate of about Mosely, a linguist who has been working with UNESCO one every fortnight. In India, although these languages to produce the latest and third edition of the Atlas are found in every part Of the country, the majority on the World's Languages in Danger, was a detailed are found along the Himalayan belt, the northeastern account of the formulation and methodologies of states, and Jharkhand. With language loss are also lost this important interactive atlas, easily accessible on the vast amounts of knowledge of environmental and UNESCO web site. As Professor Udaya Narayan Singh medicinal practices, of music, lore, wisdom, as well as explained, the concept of 'language endangerment' as the identity of the speaking community. deity in 966 AD, to which most of the rituals are offered; Tbelord of tbe Seven Hills and by the Vijayanagara Emperor, Sri Krishnadevaraya (1509-1529), who got the roof paved with gold in TALK: The lord of the Seven Hills- Tirumala 1518; and finally, the evolution of the pattern of the Temple rituals of worship and the role of the great Vaishnava Illustrated lecture by Dr. Pappu Venugopala Rao saint, Ramanujacharya (1017-1137) in installing the Collaboration: American Institute of Indian typical symbols of Vishnu and in the codification of Studies, September 8 the procedures. The enduring appeal of the presiding deity at Inspired by intense devotion, Annamacharya (1408- Thirupathi, variously referred to as Venkateswara, 1503) had composed more than 30,000 songs Srinivasa, Balaji, Kaliyuga Varadha, is a unique ('sankeertanam-s) in praise of the Lord, of which about phenomenon. The eight feet tall idol is widely believed 14,000 preserved in copper plates were retrieved. A to be a 'swqyambhu' (self-manifested). dedicated project for the identification of the music content, teaching and propagation, was undertaken The salient features, legends and practices relating to and these songs are now a part of the Carnatic music Tirupati were explained in a scholarly illustrated talk that concert repertoire. spanned several aspects: historical evidence including literary references and inscriptions, the gradual addition Among the world's richest religious Trusts, the of structures after 900 A.D. when the sanctorum was set income of this well managed temple is used to run . up; the endowments made by different rulers, particularly educational institutions, hospitals and various other the Pallava Princess, Samavaayi, who had got the idol welfare activities. of Bhoga Srinivasa installed at the feet of the principal • 'MANNA' SRINIVASAN admiration for the meticulous research of the book., Taking the discussion forWard,· Romila Thapar Remembering Meenakshi recalled her long and affectionate association with Mukheriee Meenakshi, who had persuaded her to read Dutt's work. This is how she became interested in a certain An Indian For All Seasons BOOK DISCUSSION: genre of nineteenth century writing on ancient - The Many Lives of He. Dutt by Meenakshi India, Thapar's own field of interest. She praised Mukherjee (New Delhi, Penguin, 2009) Meenakshi's understanding of history and felt that Panelists: Professor Romila Thapar, such historical work, if undertaken by other scholars Professor Sudhir Chandra; Or. Malavika Karlekar of literature, would enrich both disciplines. Chair: Professor Sabyasachi Bhattacharya Sudhir Chandraalso began with a warm personal Collaboration: The Book Review Literary Trust, tribute to Meenakshi and her late husband, Sujit, September 17 by recalling their long association. He then drew attention' to the contradictions that bedevilled What should have been a discussion of the life and nineteenth century colonial' intellectuals, specially works of R.e.