majestic garas were arranged across the gallery. Also on display were a kusti (sacred girdle) weaving loom, a glorious embroidered toran hanging, tanchoi work, and furniture. Curated by Ashdeen Lilaowala, it was an embodiment of a living tradition. A small area also 'displayed Parzor's revival of the dying art of Parsi embroidery. This glimpse of Parsi culture comprised an exhibition, A seminar featured several eminent scholars who a seminar, a three-day workshop on Parsi embroidery, discussed various topics, from Parsi crafts and their and a gala musical evening. Complemented by its religious and ecological significance,to Parsi textiles in delectable cuisine, the event ended with an extravagant India and Iran, the practice of kusti weaving and the lagan-nu-bhonu dinner. challenges facing attempts to revive these dying arts. The embroidery work- shop proved an interesting gathering of participants from Ahmedabad to Iran. Special demonstrations of the difficult and precise art of kusti weaving and toran making were shown by experts from Navsari. The gala evening on the final day presented Penaaz Masani, who sang not only ghazals but also some Persian songs, Parsi monaiats, a Sufi number and even a Punjabi song on popular demand! Dr. Parsi Festivel Kapila Vatsyayan was The exhibition, when Parzor also released a souvenir, honoured at the ceremony and Mrs. Gursharan Kaur was truly a panorama of everything Parsi. Walls was the guest of honour. were adorned with photographs depicting the religious ceremonies; interiors of the Meherjirana The event was truly an introduction to the syncretic Library; people and palatial houses; the unique water nature of Parsi culture, a vital part of the rich cultural harvesting system Tanka and the medical Hadvaid tapestry of India. tradition; Parsi arts and crafts, and archival pictures from Parzor's collection. Mannequins draped in • KRITI BAJAJ x have written one ghazal a day with music and words. Amir Ihusrau's Pluralism Up to nine volumes of poetry and prose in both TALK: FRONTIERS OF HISTORY: Appropriating Persian and Hindustani are also ascribed to him. Amir Khusrau to Create Yousuf Saeed lays bare, however, the claims made by Versionsof Cultural Identity in India and Pakistan various sources to inventions in music as enormous . Illustrated lecture by Yousuf Saeed as Khusrau's literary output: the sitar, the tabla, the Chair: Professor Sunil Kumar, March 11 qawwali form, and various genres and techniques of music, or their variations such as taranas, khqYal~ Amir Khusrau is a household name to Indian classical bandishes, ragas and talas. While oral tradition is not music lovers and exponents of Sufi poetry. India and to be dismissed, written sources ranging from his Pakistan both claim him as their own; but Yousuf contemporary, Ziyaddin Barani, to fourteenth Saeed, a filmmaker and archivist by profession, and fifteenth century textbooks on music, which do not even mention him or the sitar or tabla, to demolished some of the commonly accepted more recent scholarship, question some of these shibboleths that have prevailed, in an extensively claims. Neither does his Muslim heritage limit him researched deconstruction of the legendary mystic to a particular religious identity, as has often been poet. Particularly citing the research done by two claimed. If anything, Khusrau was one of the icons scholars-Rashid Malik of Lahore, and Shahab of the subcontinent's pluralistic culture, so beautifully Sarmadee Saheb of Aligarh-he elaborated on the proved by the songs of Gokul Krishna, bhakti, and dissonance between oral and documentary sources. others that he wrote in Hindavi. That Khusrau was a multi-faceted genius, there is no doubt. Among other achievements, he is reputed to • RAZIA GROVER transformation. Lit by candles, decorated with flowers, and low couches bedecked with brocade cushions, it Daslan-e-Purani Dilli evoked a bygone era of gracious living and refined PURANI DlLLI FESTIVAL: April 23 and 24 speech. Zakia Zaheer-dressed in a traditional gharara--ablY steered the evening's programme by Just as the candle burns brightest before being introducing the various segments- poetry by Murad snuffed out, so too did the city of Delhi shortly Ali, dance by Shovana Narayan, music by Renee Singh before it was ravaged by the revolt of 1857. And it and dastangoi by two bright young dastan-g(}-and is this city, poised as it is on the brink of disaster, narrating the story of Delhi in all its decadent glory its culture, its poets and, above all, its language- just before its decline. Syeda S. Hameed took time the exquisitely elegant zaban-e-dehli-threatened off from her duties at the Planning Commission to by extinction that was faithfully re-created by a brilliantly recapture the drama and pathos of the last programme of unusual proportions. Conceptualized mushaira of Delhi. and directed by Kulsoom Noor Saifullah and Zakia The other programme, also organized by the India Zaheer, Dastan-e-Purani Dilli consisted of many Harmony Foundation, The Sacred Word, an illustrated parts: songs, readings, theatrical enactments, dance. lecture on Islamic calligraphy was remarkable for And holding these diverse parts together were the the refreshing candour of its speaker, Farhan Mujib, charismatic sisters-Zakia and Syeda. who confessed at the very outset that he knows little The spartan stage of the newly-built multi-purpose about his subject! hall in the conference block witnessed a remarkable • RAKHSHANDA JALIL Tara, vishwa bhara pran, followed by NrtYiera talry, Celebrating Tagore taley Hey Natarqja, and Ruma Ghosh's recitations. INTERNATIONAL POETRY YEAR 2011: Jayati concluded the session with the beautiful Aqj Rabindranath Tagore - A Tribute Khela bhangar Khela. Seminar: Myriad Minded Personality and The main concept behind the seminar was to Translating Tagore, March 21-23 re-introduce Tagore and his myriad-minded personality, to unwrap his stereotyped (and over flaunted) image To mark the celebrations of being only a Bengali poet of World Poetry Day, a and hero and re-establish his befitting tribute was extended importance in the national to Gurudev Rabindranath and international scene. The Tagore through his memorable contemporary relevance of poems, and songs. The special his ideas on education, the programme series included an environment, universalism, interesting seminar spread over cultural unity, the notion two days. of inclusiveness in development, gender issues, This was a fascinating journey and translating his works, through Tagore's celebrations were discussed. of nature, through his music and recitation. Tagore called Conceptualized by Shiela himself a disciple of Nataraj Sengupta, scholars and and his mind resonated with intellectuals unravelled the the sound of the seasons: many-sided personality of 'Each season plays its role Tagore. She concluded the in the cycle of creation and special programme series destruction', he once declared. quoting the memorable Jayati Ghosh and Ruma Ghosh lines of Tagore himself, recreated the presentation of Tumi rabe nirabe bndye Tagore's musical Nataraj. The mamo'. (In silenceyou remain programme began with Jayati in our hearts). Ghosh's mellifluous VOlCe singing Akash bhara 5 urya Rabindranatb Tagore • MANDIRA GHOSH The Publications Division, In Analysts, politicians, academics and collaboration with HarperCollins artists familiarize the reader with India, launched its theme volume of various political, cultural, economic the IICQuarter!J, A Tangled Web:Jammu and social issues at play, concerns & Kashmir, before a distinguished of ordinary men and women, as audience. The book attempts to well as the beauty, art and cuisine comprehend the current unrest of typical of the region. a land that is culturally, linguistically The Journal was released by Dr. Karan and geographically diverse, and Singh and was followed by a panel traces the journey of a land once a discussion. The panelists were Madhu paradise on earth to a paradise lost. Kishwar and Salman Haidar. corruption. He said India was losing its credibility in the international market and suggested that civil society fill the breach left by the State. To make this point, he cited instances where NGOs and civil society groups have succeeded. He felt media and civil society together could help in rolling back corruption, and suggested that appointments of CVC, CIC, EC, CAG should be made by a collegium. Noted journalist Prem Shankar Jha, the second The lecture on Corruption Free Governance by the speaker, rejected the notion that civil society could Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) combat corruption. He attributed this to the absence Vinod Rai, chaired by former CVC Pratyush Sinha of state funding for elections, and Article 311 of and introduced by former Cabinet Secretary Prabhat the constitution which virtually conferred immunity Kumar, coincided with the Wikileaks story of cash on civil 'servants. Both these are derived from for votes which ostensibly helped UPA I to survive Britain's unwritten constitution and have become the the no-confidence motion. fountainhead of corruption. In the U.S.,he said, laws for electoral funding have been amended nine times Rai traced the history of bhrashtachar, gave recent to plug leakages. illustrations of its working, and concluded by saying that the State and governments have failed in fighting • ASHOK K. MEHTA philosophy. 'We are the result of all we have thought,' Padmapani lecture, 2011 the Buddha has said, and the vividly imagined TALK and EXHIBITION: