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Volume XXXII No. 4 July – August 2018

sari. It was just this nostalgia that the recent exhibition by Of Designs and Motifs Bengaluru-based Vimor reached out to. Established in 1974 EXHIBITION by Chimy Nanjappa, Vimor focusses on reviving traditional weaves and designs; and often, the founder’s daughter, The Story of Vimor Pavithra Muddaya, does a bit of creative tweaking. She 12 to 17 July 2018 also documents designs, motifs and weaving techniques. Her children—Arup and Vipra—too have become the third After the 1960s and 70s, those who wore saris to college generation to be involved in this unique venture that has were soon to become part of an extinct generation—at helped weavers become successful business persons. least, among certain social groups in the big metropolises. On display at the exhibition were 56 saris, a few In those days, it was not unusual for Indian girls to cycle with the well-worn original displayed, along with the around the streets of Oxford, hanging on to pleats, lest contemporary weaver’s version. Some were Pavithra’s these got entangled in the wheels. It is also a generation adaptation and revival of local saris, as well as those from that has moved on to comfort clothes for daily wear—but Assam and Rajasthan, and the delicate chanderi from one that also harbours a great fascination for a beautiful Madhya Pradesh. This sari, named Bangalore Nanjappa Sari by textile aficionado Martand Singh, is a temple sari in interesting hues and the diamond weave design. The pallu combines variations of this weave and, according to Vimor, it is `the subtle progression of that element in the weave that makes this a master piece’. There was no shortage of masterpieces at Vimor’s tastefully curated display, the gorgeous magenta with unusual fish and paisley motifs being another. Brief notes on the saris provided an appropriate history and contexts for these beauties of our textile wealth. ■ MALAVIKA KARLEKAR

Bangalore Nanjappa Sari

1 known—captured at various places in India formed part Celebrating the Past and of this series. The week-long exhibition entitled ‘A Dancer Looks Back: Sharon Lowen’s 45 Years in India’, curated Present of Indian Classical by Sanjit Devroy, was inaugurated on the first day of the Dance festival by Ashok Lavasa, photographer and Election Commissioner of India. FESTIVAL Seminars were simultaneously held on all three days Manasa—Art without Frontiers to discuss various aspects of continuity and change 25 to 27 July 2018 in the domain of Indian classical dance. The panels were designed with utmost care to make sure that they True to its name, the main vision of the festival ‘Looking were reflective of the various dimensions of the field— Back to Move Forward’—the ‘Manasa: Art Without be it performance, distribution or reception. Eminent Frontiers’, was to look back to the past of Indian personalities, stalwarts in their own fields, were selected performing arts, to study how it has been and can be to represent their respective areas as part of these successfully transmitted to subsequent generations. The panels. Among them were Pt. Birju Maharaj, Raja Reddy, event, which ambitiously put together performances, Karnalim Dutt, Rupi Mahendroo and Justin McCarthy, to seminars, workshops, photographic exhibitions and a film name a few. The brilliance of these sessions was further screening, saw an impressive turnout of both performers enhanced by the presence of deft moderators who and scholars alike. The list included big names in the managed to keep the discussions compact and pointed. world of Indian performing arts, as well as academia. Each day ended on the grand note of dance The diverse group was assembled in such a fashion, performances—traditional, contemporary or a mixture that the discussions would inevitably veer towards of both—by dancers from India and abroad. On the first enabling intersections between the different art forms— evening, there was a Mohiniattam performance by Brigitte visual and performing—in both the traditional and the Chataignier from France; the second evening saw the contemporary format. coming together of a group of young classical dancers The event showcased some 60, rare, never-seen-before including Carolina Prada (Chhau), Divya Dikshit (Kathak), photographs of Indian classical and folk dancers, clicked Vasudevan, Katyayani (Bharatanatyam), and Purva by renowned Odissi dancer and guru, Sharon Lowen, Dhanashree (Vilasini Natyam); and on the last evening, on her Nikon camera during the 70s and 80s when there was an Odissi recital by Vishwanath Mangaraj, she was in India as a Fulbright Scholar. Photographs of Nitisha Nanda, Arunima Ghosh and Madhur Gupta. dancers/dance-forms—both well-known as well as lesser ■ ANURIMA CHANDA

surviving remnant of ancient Sanskrit theatre is not able A Remnant of Ancient Sanskrit to command even on its own soil of Kerala, with mostly excerpts of plays presented from time to time. An ancient Theatre theatre form, but with actors of a contemporary world, PERFORMANCE notions of tradition/ modernity are thrown asunder in this A Kutiyattam Performance—Surpanakhankam spectacular language of theatre, where one chosen verse from Saktibhadra’s Ascharyachudamani from the Sanskrit text can unfold in multiple layers of interpretation through the actor’s elaborate language of COLLABORATION: Sahapedia; Parekh gestures and facial expression. Immersed in a world where Institute of Indian Thought, CSDS; and Seher the tyranny of the clock has no meaning, in the non-linear 16 to 21 August 2018 narration with a back-and-forth of past, present and future not existing in independent time zones, the actor moves Watching a complete rendition over six evenings of a between being a narrator and/ or representing a special Kutiyattam performance of Surpanakhankam, the second character, frequently switching gender roles. A minimal act of Shaktibhadra’s Sanskrit play Ascharyachudamani, tucking up at the waist, of a side rim of the skirt turns the by Kerala’s Nepathya Theatre, was the rarest of rare performer into a female character, and the knotting up of experiences. The dream-child of Sudha Gopalakrishnan the tasselled uttareeya in front signifies reverting into a of Sahapedia, enabled what this still miraculously male character. With complete interpretative freedom, the

2 actor’s improvised narrative comprises dramatic devices like Nirvahanam (retrospective or recall of the past), and prakaranatyam, wherein the actor takes on several roles: male and female.

The constant co-travellers on the actor’s journey are the brilliant Mizhavu (copper drum with ox-hide top base) players (Kalamandalam Manikantan, Nepathya Jinesh and Nepathya Ashwin), seated behind the actor, providing the rhythmic pulse for the performance (one providing the basic beat, with the other the fillers), and also evoking mood build-up in masterly fashion, through myriad drum resonance tones.

The actor’s space is just a small square in front of the Mizhavu and Edekka players. Demanding lung power and breath control, the stylised sing-song recitation (called raga) of the to-be-interpreted Sanskrit verse is by the character actor, or in a Nirvahanam, by the female cymbal/ talam player seated at the side.

The strong contemporary resonance differed from deified Valmiki Ramayana characters. Rama (different actor each evening) is vulnerable, making a plaything of Surpanakha, sending her to Lakshmana after refusing her advances, with an untruth that the brother unmarried is available. The Nepathya team head Margi Madhu, in a retrospective as Lakshmana, building with myriad details the Parnasala; and the amazing power of his Ninam Artist applying makeup scene as the mutilated Surpanakha, entering splattered in blood and gore, evoking mixed disgust and pathos, young Sita) stood out. So too, the Uttara Rama Charitam were unforgettable. Wife Dr. Indu’s abhinaya depth and Nangyar Koothu, when Indu, visualising Sita, tenderly brilliance as Lalita in the Nirvahanam on the fifth evening interacts with the baby elephant and peacock. Nepathya (Nepathya Yadukrishnan as Rama and Anjana Chakyar as Rahul Chakyar as Lakshmana, tempted by Lalita’s beauty till good sense prevails; Vishnu Prasad recapturing the grief and sorrow of Dasharatha ‘s arrow shooting the young boy of blind parents; Nepathya Yedukrishnan’s exchange as Rama with Sita; and above all, the young master Srihari Chakyar as Rama in the first scene conversing with Sita, and on the last evening as a feisty Lakshmana showed himself as a great hope for the future.

■ LEELA VENKATARAMAN

Kutiyattam being performed in the Fountain Lawns

3 Raagas. Ustadji gave concerts till he was 105 years Travelling Film old. Hearing him sing some of his own compositions on camera as a centurion, one is moved by their profound South Asia—2018 aesthetic beauty. Popli must be thanked for recording FILM FESTIVAL this valuable part of a great master’s life, albeit, its last decade. DOCUMENTARY BEARS WITNESS: Travelling Film Southasia 2018—A Festival Of South Lock and Key (Director: Shilpi Gulati) is also worthy of Asian Documentaries Organised with Film attention. It is a quiet, compassionate record of victims of drug addiction in Punjab, the concern and support of Southasia, Kathmandu; and in collaboration their respective families, and the doctors and counsellors with New Imaginations: Jindal School of at the rehabilitation centre where they are treated. The Journalism and Communication, O.P. Jindal interviews with all the parties concerned express their Global University, Sonepat fears, hopes and aspirations. 1 to 4 AUGUST 2018 There was an onstage conversation on ‘Documentary as Protest’ between filmmakers Pankaj Butalia, Sanjay Kak, Each year, Travelling Film South Asia brings a set of very Vani Subramaniam and Nakul Sawhney.The problems interesting documentary films.Amdavad Ma Famous by of making documentaries relating to the burning issues Hardik Mehta, a 30-minute short, manages to convey the of the day, like communalism or any other, inimical to passion and total commitment to kite-flying of eleven-year- the current political dispensation, were highlighted. A old Zaid and friends. An amazingly fluid camera captures possible way out of the impasse was sought. the sheer pleasure of the activity and its dangers, as the boys chase after kites brought down ‘in battle’, that get ■ PARTHA CHATTERJEE stuck on the wires of electric poles, or even drift into the speeding traffic on the street. The director captures effortlessly the joy and spirit that guide Zaid and his companions in their innocent quest.

In sharp contrast is the tragic Demons in Paradise by Sri Lankan filmmaker, Jude Ratnam, a Tamil based in Canada. It is about the aftermath of the two-and-a-half decade long civil war between the Tamils of Indian Origin in the Jaffna Peninsula, and the native Sri Lankans. The army ultimately overwhelms the breakaway Tamils, and the various armed factions representing it. The landscape after war is bleak and desolate. Ex-revolutionaries of different factions talk about the reasons for their failure, and infighting emerges as the prime reason. The senseless cruelty and sadism that a war brings with it comes through poignantly.

Rasan Piya by Niharika Popli is a loving tribute to the memory of Ustad Abdul Rashid Khan (1909–2016), a deeply knowledgeable exponent of Khayal in Hindustani vocal music. The Ustad was discovered by Vijay Kichlu, along with his brother Ravi Kichlu of the Sangeet Research Academy, Kolkata, an institution sponsored by their former employers, Indian Tobacco Company. Abdul Rashid Khan was in his early 90s when Kichlu heard him on one talent search tour, and was astonished to hear him sing his repertoire of compositions in different Ustad Abdul Rashid Khan

4 country. Once the East India Company established itself The Story of the Sarabhais and setup the banking system, the indigenous Gujarati DISCUSSION bankers lost their hold. Gujarati businessmen invested in the burgeoning textile industry. This overlay of the As Times Change, The Story of an ancient and the modern manifested itself in architecture Ahmedabad Business Family: The Sarabhais too. 1823-1975 by Aparna Basu Guha said that there are three unique families in 20th INTRODUCTORY REMARKS: century India—the Tagores, the Sarabhais and the Dr. Mrs. Kapila Vatsyayan Tyabjis. In the Tagore family, the first generation were BOOK RELEASE by Ramchandra Guha businessmen and landowners; the second, social followed by a dialogue with Aparna Basu reformers; and the third distinguished themselves in art, CLOSING REMARKS by B.N. Goswami architecture, music, education, etc. The Sarabhais and Tagores followed a Marxist teleology—the base gives COLLABORATION: Sarabhai Foundation rise to superstructures. There was also seamless fusion 3 July 2018 of the best of the West and the East. However, Guha felt that the institutional legacy of the Starting with the subject of economic and social history, Sarabhais has not been replicated by any Indian family. Guha said that Basu had challenged the Bengal-centric They have contributed to physics, space, architecture, view of historians, and described Ahmedabad as a design and management. It is a combination of the crucible of modernity, or a centre of economic innovation pragmatic Gujarati entrepreneurial instinct coupled with and entrepreneurship, growth and social transformation. the selflessness of the Jain ethos. Also noteworthy was She had also located the Sarabhais in the larger social the emancipation of women in their family. They also and economic history of Ahmedabad. contributed to Gandhi’s freedom struggle, and his efforts The answer to what is special about Ahmedabad is that it to free the untouchables by saving Kochrab Ashram. was an ancient city before it became modern. It is different ■ RACHNA JOSHI from the Presidency towns and medieval towns, in that it was a centre of business and textile production before the British came. The mahajans gave loans all over the

to discuss the origin and the evolution of the text. This was Dharmasastric Studies followed by a panel discussion in which Martha Selby and BOOK DISCUSSION Kumkum Roy participated. The Law Code of Visnu by Patrick Olivelle Selby commended Patrick Olivelle, a life-long student and scholar of Sanskrit texts, for his poetically rendered SPEAKERS: Pratap Bhanu Mehta; Anne translation of Vis n uSmr ti. She pointed out that while the Feldhaus; Kumkum Roy; Martha Selby; . . . Vaishnava Dharmasastra was not a popular text when Kunal Chakraborty it was first produced around the 7th century CE, it was COLLABORATION: Primus Books widely referred to in later commentaries. It is the only 6 July 2018 Dharmasastra that can be geographically located, and also displays a deep influence of the bhakti tradition. This was followed by Roy’s comments on the book, Patrick Olivelle’s The Law Code of Vis. n. u, a critical edition which had high praise for the rich appendices, and for the and annotated translation of the Vais. n. ava-Dharmaśāstra, multivocality of the translation that allowed for a variety of was released at the Centre along with a discussion. interpretations of the word. For her, this book is significant Anne Feldhaus introduced the key features of the book, as it is a timely reminder that the Brahminical tradition is and the significance of the translation in its contribution not monolithic, and also because through it the author to Dharmasastric studies. Following this, the author of the revisits and rethinks his own earlier positions. book, Patrick Olivelle, Professor Emeritus of Sanskrit in the Department of Asian Studies at the University of Texas, ■ ISHITA SINGH Austin, connected with the audience, via video conference,

5 Poverty and Nation Building DURGABAI DESHMUKH MEMORIAL LECTURE 2018 Human Insecurity in South Asia: Challenging Market Injustice by Rehman Sobhan OPENING REMARKS: Muchkund Dubey PANELLISTS:Ashok Pankaj, Raunaq Chauhan, Muchkund Dubey, Air Marshal (Retd.) Naresh Verma CLOSING REMARKS: Durgabai Deshmukh Memorial Lecture Dr. (Smt.) Kapila Vatsyayan COLLABORATION: Council for Social Poverty: Agendas for Inclusive Development in South Asia, Development based upon case studies across South Asian countries. He redefined poverty as a process where certain sections 15 July 2018 of the society were excluded from equal participation in decision-making and development opportunities. He In the lecture, mention was made of how Durgabai identified the education system as one of the culprits Deshmukh shone as a freedom fighter, and then as a responsible for divisive social spokes, perpetrating the fearless nation-builder wanting to simultaneously address wide social divides across South Asia, and suggested poverty, justice, and the related economic concerns of some of the egalitarian European education models. There redistribution with growth and development. were also a variety of operational ideas for policymakers, Rehman Sobhan examined what is human insecurity— political activists and civil society advocacy groups to market driven insecurity— since the Second World War: in take up in the commitment, to not just build a welfare state industry, in agriculture and the service sectors, going on to with security, employment, etc., but to build a more just the issue of what is poverty and its sources, leading into and poverty-free society. the need for an inclusive nation-building process. Much ■ MEKHALA SENGUPTA was drawn from his work on Challenging the Injustice of

Speaking Out 26TH ROSALIND WILSON MEMORIAL LECTURE 2018 The State of Indian Television SPEAKER: Karan Thapar CHAIR: Shri Soli J. Sorabjee COLLABORATION: Rosalind Wilson Memorial Trust 28 July 2018 Rosalind Wilson Memorial Lecture

Before delivering the lecture on the ‘State of Indian Karan Thapar’s hard-hitting and provocative style of Television’, eminent journalist Karan Thapar expressed journalism is well known. After 35 years in journalism, his gratitude to the educationist, socialist and journalist he has chosen to take a break, and feels perturbed by Rosalind Wilson, who was deeply engaged in Indian certain trends repeatedly noticed. He now feels a moral culture and values. He said, ‘she believed in the beauty compulsion to speak up; not to do so would in a sense of poetry and education and the unique part of both to let down the profession he loves. And in his lecture he change the society with a deep and abiding connection.’ successfully analysed Indian television critically.

6 During his talk, he didn’t forget to mention the other dark side of Indian news media, which haunts one every now and then. ‘The older I grow the more I learn to value those qualities; the truth is that while some of us have them, the majority probably don’t. As no other medium can, it sickens you, it stabs at your conscience and all of that is very welcome, but what television does not do is to explain why this happened’, he exclaimed.

■ M. SHAHID SIDDIQUI

the dominant representation of madrasas as outmoded Madrasas Pillars of Refuge? religious institutions. DISCUSSION Women’s education in the Islamic world is not new; it was inspired quite early by Muhammad’s wives: Khadija, a Madrasas and the Making of Islamic successful businesswoman, and Aisha, a strong leader Womanhood by Hem Borker and the first interpreter of his prophecies. Researchers at SPEAKERS: Ashis Nandy, David Mills, the Oxford Centre for Islamic studies are putting together Mohammad Talib, and Aseem Prakash 40 volumes on muhaddithat or women scholars, and have COLLABORATION: Jan Pahal Trust; and audited texts by 8,000 women already. According to Oxford University Press the Sunni scholar Ibn Asakir, women in medieval Islamic societies not only read or wrote in private, but attended 28 July 2018 lectures, public discussions in mosques, libraries, and earned higher academic degrees, called ijazahs. Hem Borker began the discussion with an introduction to her book, released on this occasion, entitled Madrasas The Arabic word madrasa means a school, and it includes learning subjects like astronomy, history, literature, and the Making of Islamic Womanhood. Her study of girl’s algebra or medicine, though in India we seem to associate madrasas in India is based on vivid ethnographic portraits madrasas erroneously with only Quranic teachings. As of young women’s lives, as they journeyed from madrasas Ashis Nandy pointed out in the discussion, madrasas are to the social world outside. Many of these students found also more than just schools; in distressed societies, they that their horizons widened as a result of their interactions are like pillars for people to build their lives and value in the madrasas, and raised questions regarding certain systems on. idealised notions of religious piety. These heart-warming and thoughtful ethnographic portraits clearly challenge ■ SABA HASAN

Air Marshal (Retd) Naresh Verma opened the discussion Power and Dominance by elaborating on the Pakistan Army’s dominant role TALK in the nation’s power structure, which ranges from commercial ventures to manipulating the elections.The The Military in Pakistan larger question he put forth was, what made the military SPEAKER:Maroof Raza in Pakistan so powerful? CHAIR:Air Marshal (Retd.) Naresh Verma Maroof Raza explained the difference between civil– 19 July 2018 military relations in India and Pakistan, despite their militaries having common historical and institutional origins in the colonial era. A key explanation was the passing away of Jinnah soon after Pakistan’s creation, as opposed to Nehru’s long tenure which gave the much needed stability. A weak civilian leadership ceded space for the military to emerge as a strategic player in Pakistan’s national security initiatives, unlike the Indian military which has had no say in the larger security considerations. This was further consolidated by the Pakistan army’s strong ties with the US. The role of the military–business complex in the military’s domination over the nation’s politico-economic landscape was also discussed.

The military’s motivations have been endemic to Pakistan’s internal political structure as well, with its earliest attempt to seize power from the civilian leadership dating back to the Rawalpindi conspiracy case of 1951.

In conclusion, Raza discussed the military’s monopolisation of the Kashmir policy, which also became the basis of its

7 combat doctrine, along with the use of irregular warfare to compensate for conventional disadvantages vis-à-vis India. The extent of the Pakistan Army’s obsession with India is also evident from this doctrine, which also encompasses political destabilisation of Afghanistan, to use the Afghan territory as a fall-back option in case India invades Pakistan. ■ PRATEEK JOSHI

The debate began with acknowledging the systemic Joblessness and Growth failure of growth models in job creation and employment. While acknowledging the impact of technology, artificial POLICY AND INCLUSION CONVERSATIONS intelligence, robotics and automation, what are the ways Long Shadow of Joblessness in the High forward to both secure jobs and income. There is vast Noon of Growth uncertainty involved in making predictions about the emerging giga economy of the future. Even the most DISCUSSANTS: Montek Ahluwalia, Jayati effective growth models of the past, even the China growth Ghosh, Renana Jhabvala and Atul Sood model of the 1980s, cannot be replicated today and cannot CHAIR: Harsh Mander be relied on to provide ‘full employment’. This is a fact COLLABORATION: Centre for Equity Studies, known to policymakers, economists and the government. the India International Centre and the Wire Reference was made to the sobering conclusions of the 13 August 2018 World Development Report of 2019 and the International Labour Organisation report of 2018: that governments should look at measures to protect people, not jobs, and to compensate for earnings difference by reducing costs. The level of employment is determined by interventionist macroeconomic policy, and despite the continued role of the state, there are growing numbers of job seekers and growing dissatisfaction among those in employment. With the nature of work being reshaped by technological progress, as living standards improve, there is inevitable disruption forcing new production methods, expansion of markets and social evolution. There is need to smoothen the transition, to guard against rising inequality, and to protect those in vulnerable employment. The investment in human capital must increase through a person’s lifecycle, to retool skills to enable them to stay competitive and relevant. Prime Minister Modi has spoken of a crisis of data of job creation and not job creation itself. We need consistent definitions of jobless growth, self-employed, contract workers, and structured jobs in the changing nature of work. This will mean investments in human capital and improved private sector policies to encourage start-up activity and competition. There is urgent need for more information and better measurement of human capital in terms of health and education, better measures of wages, employers, employees and retirement to enable social transfer to families as part of the social protection systems. Policy makers and governments will need additional revenues to fund the investments demanded by the changing nature of work, ageing populations, growing gender gap, and the increasing numbers of those in vulnerable employment. Governments must create revenue surplus from existing taxes, increased tax rates and widened tax base, new taxes, and improvements in tax administration. Perhaps it is time to revisit Hyman Minsky’s work on redistribution with growth during post-war development and the precursor to what would become the war on poverty! ■ MEKHALA SENGUPTA

The speakers in the discussion pointed out that the India and Australia metamorphosis of ‘Asia-Pacific’ to the wider lexicon ‘Indo- Pacific’reflects the geopolitical convergence of countries DISCUSSION that lie in the region, stretching from the US Pacific Coast India–Australia Relations in a Changing to Australia and beyond, to India. While this idea of Indo– Geopolitical Landscape in the Indo–Pacific Pacific accords the international community’s recognition PANELLISTS: Stephen Smith, Peter Varghese, of India as one of the world’s fastest growing economies, and Gordon Falke it also spells the need to close ranks at a time when CHAIR: Shri Shyam Saran there are major worries about the assertion of economic powerhouse, China, in the region. COLLABORATION: Perth USAsia Centre It is through this prism that the India–Australia 21 August 2018 relationship can be viewed. Moreover, the Quadrilateral

8 Security Dialogue, also known as the Quad—a four nation strategic alliance between the US, Japan, India and Australia—can be a careful balance against the growing influence of China. India and Australia can do their own bit to put such checks and balances in place by strengthening regional institutions like the East Asia Summit process. Ultimately, the need is to create a more inclusive region.

■ KAVITA CHARANJI

A History of Postcards TALK PAPER JEWELS: Postcards from the Raj. Discussion and launch of the book by Omar Khan (Mapin Publishing & The Alkazi Collection of Photography, 2018) COLLABORATION: Mapin Publishing; and The Alkazi Foundation 27 August 2018 Postcards from the Raj

Introduced by Rahaab Allana, curator of the Alkazi subcontinental identity. These cards were complicated art Foundation, Omar Khan, summarising his book Paper work, printed on lithographic press, with multiple colours Jewels: Postcards from the Raj, gave a fascinating and a bit of white space on the front to write on. The back overview of the transcultural and transnational history was only used for the address and the stamp. of picture postcards, winding it up with a detailed and The first postcards printed in India were done on the Ravi illustrated talk on the postcards of Delhi. Varma Press. The other well known painter of postcards The first postcard was printed in 1869 in Austria, and the was M.V. Dhurandhar. H. A. Mirza & Sons became the first one designed in India was also printed in Austria. first All-India publishers of postcards. A common theme The popularity of these picture-messages can be gauged of images on Indian postcards was that of people from the fact that at the end of the 19th century, 1.2 billion riding the bicycle. The ones from Delhi were of course postcards were being circulated globally. The itinerant easily identifiable with images of the Durbar of 1903, photographers and globetrotters who took pictures to send Kashmere Gate, Jama Masjid and the Qutab Minar. So the as postcards lent the cards a photo-journalistic character. representation was as much subaltern as upper crust.

Though the postcards were first popularised by the ■ SWATI DASGUPTA colonisers, Indians played an important role, giving them a

Historic music recordings of Indian music came to the fore Historic Music Recordings in the presentation ‘Unlocking our Sounds’, an illustrated presentation by Janet Topp-Fargion and Shubha TALK Chaudhuri. A very valuable collection of ethnographic UNLOCKING OUR SOUNDS: Historical wax cylinder recordings, dating back to the early years Recordings from the Indian Subcontinent of the last century, provided an interesting look back into Illustrated presentation by Janet Topp- the early days of recorded music from the subcontinent. Fargion and Shubha Chaudhuri The selections were remarkable in their detail as they contained instrument descriptions, the category of the COLLABORATION: The Archives and music on record, and even technical problems such as pitch Research Centre for Ethnomusicology, fluctuations that faced the recorders who had travelled to American Institute of Indian Studies; and the grassroots level for this purpose. What struck us lay British Library, UK listeners is the fact that, these pioneer recorders were 10 July 2018 not professionals in the contemporary sense, for Edgar

9 Thurston, for instance, was a medical practitioner, and had built up the Madras Museum as a centre for anthropological research, which had led him to the task of recording songs and instrumental music from the region.

Besides technical asides, one was drawn to the music presented in them. The contrast in styles of singing, the rawness of the content, helped listeners connect with the rooted quality of the performers. The Baluch rendering, for instance, dating back to 1911, is well documented with the name of the instruments, included in the cylinder boxes, being proof of the thoroughness behind their research; but the selection of music, which is a serenade of high and low monotony at best, clearly indicates that the recorder was short of choices for his work. Similarly, the lullaby from the south by a woman singer was done at her home, and merits inclusion as a lullaby, rather than a musical rendering. However, it is the 1920s recording of Chitralekha Choudhury singing a Rabindra Sangeet that brings the clarity of the tone and the steadiness of the frequency to professional standards.

■ SUBHRA MAZUMDAR

Karma Yoga, or the way of work dedicated to the divine; The Essence of Vedanta and Raja Yoga, or the royal path. THE SECOND PROF. M.G.K. MENON The fourth concept is that of the world as a human family, MEMORIAL LECTURE 2018 or Vasudaiva Kutumbakam. What is also very important Vedanta Today is the essential unity of all religions as mentioned in the Vedas, Ekam Satt Vipraha Bahudha Vadanti. The truth is SPEAKER: Dr. Karan Singh one, the wise call it by many names. CHAIR: Shri N.N. Vohra The last concept is the welfare of all beings: Bahujan 28 August 2018 Sukhaya, Bahujan Hitaya. It involves the welfare of all humanity, and of nature. What better definition of Dr. Karan Singh spoke on the contemporary relevance of socialism could there be, Dr Karan Singh asked. He the philosophy of Vedanta. Today, humanity finds itself closed with a beautiful verse from the Kathopanishad poised between a disappearing past and an uncertain which exhorts us to awaken our eyes, and walk across future. It is at a time like this that we look into our scriptures the razor’s edge to the goal. for light and guidance, but not in order to go back in time. ■ RACHNA JOSHI We have a whole range of scriptures, from the Vedas, the Brahmanas, the Aranyakas and the Upanishadas, down to the Shrutis, the Mahabharata, the Ramayana and the Puranas. Among these, the Upanishads stand out. They are the Vedanta, and represent the high watermark, not only of Hindu, but of world philosophy.

Dr. Karan Singh placed before us five key concepts that he considers to be essential and of considerable importance to us now: the concepts of the Brahman; the Atman; four-fold Yoga; Vasudaiva Kutumbakam or Ekam Satt Vipraha Bahuda Vadanti; and Bahujan Sukhaya, Bahujan Hitaya.

Brahman is the unity of all existence. Whatever exists or has existed is all permeated by, inhabited by, the same divine light. It is about cosmic time and cosmic space.

The second concept, Atman, is that the divine which permeates the universe also exists in every human being; the inner light. And joining these two, the all-pervasive Brahman and the Atman within, is what is known as Yoga. Dr. (Mrs.) Kapila Vatsyayan, Life Trustee of the IIC and Chairperson There are four main paths to Yoga: Gyan Yoga, or the of International Research Division, unfurling the national flag at way of the mind; Bhakti Yoga, or the way of devotion; the IIC on the 72nd anniversary of India’s Independence.

10 NOTICE

Once again, we are pleased to inform Members that a Buffet-Lunch facility has been introduced in the Main Centre Bar, w.e.f. 11 June 2018

Timings 12.30 p.m. to 2.30 p.m. (Every day)

Rates Vegetarian `225/- Non-vegetarian `300/- (Taxes & Guest fee extra)

Change in System of Billing w.e.f. 1 July 2018 Members are informed that w.e.f. July 2018 the monthly bill will not be sent by post. Instead a statement of account will be sent on-line on the registered email address of the Member. Consequent to implementation of this system the original vouchers would be handed to the member at the time of using the facility.

The on-line statement would contain the charges in respect of the usage of the Centre’s facilities and any old outstandings.

Members are requested to kindly update their registered e-mail addresses with the Membership Department.

Obituary HM-017 Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee

L-0362 Dr. Bhishma Narain Singh

M-0081 Shri Kuldip Nayar

M-0749 Shri S.S. Moorthy

M-0957 Shri Somnath Chatterjee

M-1340 Shri M. Bhaktavatsala

M-2786 Shri Rajendra Mohan

M-3021 Shri Ashok Pahwa

A-1934 Shri R.K. Dhawan

A- 2084 Ms. Bindu Batra

A-2634 Dr. Shakuntala Mahawal

A-2917 Smt. N.T. Unnikrishnan

A-3611 Shri Surindar Kumar Singla

A-4363 Smt Kamla Kapur

A-4752 Shri Kanu Gohain

A-7022 Prof. (Smt.) Roopa Vajpeyi

OA-209 Shri Ved Brat

11 Reg. No. 28936/77 Director’s Note

As the schedule of the annual IIC Experience 2018 draws close, the preparations for this grand event are gaining momentum. I wish to give you a glimpse of the activities during the five-day festival from 27th to 31st October, 2018. Festival 2018, titled ‘People of the Northeast: Memory, Inheritance and the Contemporary’, will focus on India’s North Eastern States—Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura. The audiences will be presented an awesome range of performances: music concerts include the renowned Shillong Chamber Choir; Moirang Sai and Lai Haroba Songs (Manipur); Jazz, Funk, R & B and Blues (Nagaland); Contemporary Rock Music (Sikkim); and Ras Leela (Manipur). A Play titled ‘A Being – Human; being Human Beings’, presented by Lapdiang Syiem from Meghalaya, will also be staged. Exhibitions will include Focus on Tripura; Contemporary Art from across the region; and Unbroken Threads, an exhibition of textiles which symbolises the Naga communities. Apart from documentaries and contemporary feature films, the Film Festival will celebrate the work of Aribam Syam Sharma, the renowned Manipuri film director. And can we leave out cuisine? Certainly not. The Food Festival, featuring award-winning Chefs drawn from across the region, will present traditional and contemporary twists in the cuisines of Manipur, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Sikkim. One event in August, which I want to particularly highlight, was the two-day Conference on ‘Rethinking Cultural Heritage: Indo–Japanese Dialogue in a Globalising World Order’, organised in collaboration with the Institute of Chinese Studies. Relevant to note: this Conference discussed the legacy of 19th and 20th century dialogues between Japanese and Indian thinkers, not just from the historical angle, but from the perspective of contemporary diplomacy between the two countries. The Library has accomplished its ambitious project of digitising the Dr. C.D. Deshmukh Collection of about 10,000 pages which contains his valuable collection of cartoons and newspaper clippings; his correspondence and information contained in his diaries; a collection of articles; and about 1,000 photographs. The collection has been uploaded on ‘DSpace’, the internationally known Database Management System, and can be accessed through computers installed in LAN environment available in the Library, Hostel and Annexe by using the Web address: http://192.168.1.57:8080/jspui/ We are indeed very happy to inform our readers that the IIC Film Club has yet again won the Pritiman Sarkar Memorial Award 2017–2018 for being the Best Film Society in the Northern Region. It is awarded by the Federation of Film Societies of India (Northern Region). It is the fourth time that our Film Club has received this honour. The Centre is sensitive to the need for conserving energy and, towards this end, an in- house Energy Audit was recently carried out to analyse the pattern of power consumption over the past four years. Among the measures which we have so far implemented to achieve energy conservation are: replacement of conventional lights with energy-efficient LED lights; installation of BLDC fans (which consume 66 per cent less energy); and conversion of urinals to systems which do not consume water. We are also presently examining the feasibility of installing a roof-top solar PV panel energy system. President Vohra is back after over a decade-long stint as the Governor of J&K, the longest tenure enjoyed so far by any Governor of this troubled State. During a recent visit to the Centre he went around the entire estate to identify areas where improvements/upgradations require to be made. He particularly inspected the lawns and gardens and guided us about the selection of various categories of flowers and blossoming shrubs and creepers, and the areas in which these should be planted. This winter, we are looking forward to presenting our Members with attractive gardens. Air Marshal (Retd.) Naresh Verma

This issue of the Diary has been assembled and edited by Omita Goyal, Chief Editor; Ritu Singh, Deputy Editor; Rachna Joshi, Senior Asstt. Editor. Published by Rohit Khera, for the India International Centre, 40, Max Mueller Marg, Lodhi Estate, New Delhi - 110003. Ph.: 24619431. Designed and printed by Niyogi Offset Pvt. Ltd., D-78, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase 1, New Delhi-110020; Phone: 49327000.

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