Author: admin

Samahaara Theatre Co-operative presents

An adaptation of Chalam’s “MAIDANAM” A play in Telugu

Produced by Rathna Shekar Directed by Nasreen Ishaque

Date – 10th & 11th August 2019 Time – 07.30pm Venue: Lamakaan, Banjara Hills, Hyderabad.

Maidanam, one of the most famous and most controversial of Chalam’s novels, dramatises his ideas on marriage, freedom and the moral issues involved in them. Rajeswari, is a young, frustrated housewife. It all starts with her thorough disillusionment with her tradition-bound, unfeeling, emotionally sterile lawyer-husband who is given to treating her as a piece of property, as one who fulfills his sexual and social needs.

Her deliverance comes in the form of Ameer, a client of her husband. Their very first meeting is an emotionally charged and sexually exciting experience. His looks pierce her clothes and caress her all over her body. This is a new experience for her. She has never known anything so exhilarating like that before. When finally Ameer embraces her, in the absence of her husband of course, she reacts with a cry of joy. She feels that Ameer has endowed divinity on her. This realization marks the death of her old self. She plunges headlong into a life of passion and bliss with Ameer.

Soon enough Ameer, asks her to “come away” with him. They decide to go away to “Maidanam,” a wide open plain where they will not be disturbed by society. For a while Rajeswari agonizes over whether she is driven by animalistic lust or noble love or the simple desire to free herself from the shackles of soul-killing traditions.

After living like that for months Rajeshwari gets pregnant. Ameer does not want the baby and wants Rajeshwari to get rid of her pregnancy. Maternal instincts take over her and she refuses. They have a fight and Ameer leaves her alone and vanishes. After Ameer has gone away Rajeswari turns to Meera a handsome sixteen years boy in a major way for emotional and material support.

Hoping to get back Ameer she decides to get rid of her pregnancy with the help of Meera. Things get complicated when Meera starts developing feelings for Rajeshwari. Meanwhile Ameer comes back. He does not like how close Rajeshwari and Meera have become. Now Rajeswari has to choose between Ameer who she truly loves or Meera who acted as her pillar of support in desperate times.

Curbing Democracy: UAPA / RTI / ART 370 Bills

One side Modi Government’s anti people policies are pushing majority of the masses towards unemployment and misery and on the other side the government has recently passed subsequent bills in Parliament which will curb the democracy further and establish a complete authoritative fascist state. Bill like UAPA is aimed at suppressing any dissenting voice by labelling them as terrorists. RTI bill is also amended so that the government can operate without any accountibility and at the same time propagate misinfomations among people. And the recent Bill to abrogate article 370 is an anti democratic and autocratic step towards the people of Kashmir which will fuel fire in future and adversely impact the whole country. It is the duty of everyone now to get back the lost democratic freedom through these bills by raising their voices against it. In order to understand further about these bills in details, all are invited for a discussion at Lamakaan.

Date: 9 August 2019 Time: 07:00 pm – 9:00 pm Venue: Lamakaan Open Cultural Space, Banjara Hills, Hyderabad-34 ALL ARE WELCOME! Entry Free!!

Panel discussion–“Keep the climate, change the economy: Need for a rainbow coalition” Climate change is here! We are already seeing monsoon vagaries every year and frequent extreme weather events like the very heavy rainfall in Mumbai in July 2019, and in Kerala in August 2018. The probability of remaining within 1.5-2oC temperature rise above pre-industrial times that scientists consider a do-not-cross redline now appears to be low. If greenhouse gas emissions do not come down drastically in the near future, temperature rise is likely to be 3-4oC, and the consequences of this will be catastrophic. South Asia is one of the two most vulnerable regions to climate change impacts. The 2015 inter-governmental Paris Agreement to check climate change does not seem to be succeeding. People need to step in now. What should we do to form a people’s rainbow coalition to tackle a now imminent climate crisis? What should its programme be?

Panel: K Babu Rao, Kajal Gupta, NS Prasad, Gangadhar Pandey, Arpit Sharma Chair: T Vijayendra

ALL ARE WELCOME!

This panel discussion is a curtain raiser kind of an event for the forthcoming SAPACC meeting, Hyderabad 18-21 September 2019

More details about SAPACC: https://www.ecologise.in/sapacc/

A psychologist is sent to a station orbiting a distant planet in order to discover what has caused the crew to go insane. Director: Andrei Tarkovsky (as Andrey Tarkovskiy) Writers: Stanislaw Lem (novel) (as Stanislav Lem), Fridrikh Gorenshteyn (screenplay) (as F. Gorenshteyn) Stars: Natalya Bondarchuk, Donatas Banionis, Jüri Järvet

Open discussion on the eve of upcoming Handloom Day on 7th August 2019. Why a handloom Day? Importance of Handlooms N Handicrafts? Need to feel responsible to protect our cultural heritage?

A unique and creative workshop for all art enthusiasts , Art lovers, join us to create 3 dimensional wall murals ,with hands on experience of moulding and casting, using clay and plaster of Paris in a very easy and safe method, This will be a two day/two session event which is open for all age groups, Children below 12 need to be accompanied by parents, but they will be considered as individual participants, participants can take away their creative works at the end of the session. This will be a 3 hours workshop on day one (clay design moulding, casting)and two hours session on day two (painting the murals ) All the required Materials will be provided for the work shop, Participation fee is 300 per day, The workshop is conducted by National award winning artists ( sculpture Sri.Kota Partha Saradha, & painter crimson ) For queries contact : 9959864467,9182783684 .

The Journey of a Kidney Donor, Anil Srivatsa who went through emotional upheavals and the subsequent making of a champion for the cause of Organ Donation. He has driven across 40 countries and over 85000 km in his own car and taken the message about organ donation to schools, colleges and social clubs. Come hear Anil share his fascinating story about his travels and travails.

It is a different rather seldom Love Story which evolves in a routine college life, A Hindu Middle class girl who is very Confident, Practical, Smart, Bold, Beautiful, Bindass and Extrovert falling in love with simple & reserved Muslim Boy who suppresses his identity in his college. The story unfolds their respective fathers Friendship, Trust, Admiration, loyalty and great respect towards each other and its family. The story also deals with the bomb blast, riots, political issues, communalism, terrorism, fascism, mythos, intolerance and patriotism.

Sports Movie Month – Hoosiers

A coach with a checkered past and a local drunk train a small town high school basketball team to become a top contender for the championship. Director: David Anspaugh Writer: Angelo Pizzo Stars: Gene Hackman, Barbara Hershey, Dennis Hopper

Conversation with Prof Anil Sadgopal on National Education Policy 2019

Lamakaan invites one and all to this interesting conversation with one of the finest educationists in the country on the National Education Policy 2019.

The draft of NEP 2019 was the first document to be released by the newly elected government in May 2019 and was made public on June 2019. There were suggestions invited from the public. The draft policy is an important document about the education in the so-called new India and its implementation will have a great impact on all the stakeholders Therefore, Lamakaan believes that it needs to be discussed widely.

About Prof Anil Sadgopal: Prof Anil Sadgopal is an Indian educationist and activist, known for the Hoshangabad Science Teaching Programme and for advocacy related to the Right to Education (RTE) Act. He is a recipient of several awards and honours, including the Jamnalal Bajaj Award for ‘Application of Science and Technology for Rural Development’. He was instrumental in setting up the Eklavya foundation in 1982. For over a decade, he was Professor of Education at Delhi University and headed its Department of Education during 1998-2001. Since 2004-2005, he has been campaigning for changes in the RTE Act, which he believes is flawed.

ALL ARE WELCOME!