Category: Uncategorized

Art that can comfort the disturbed & disturb the comfortable.

National Language of India: a myth or reality a talk by Shyam Rudra Pathak

“Compulsory status of English is causing large scale ruination of our talents from the group of non-English knowing people. There is a high correlation between the English knowing people and the affluent sections of the society. The compulsory status of English in all India competitive examinations produces a merit list which is in favour of the English knowing society of the country. This leads to the exclusion of the talents who are not in a position to receive education in the English medium. Government schools by and large teach the vast number of students in the media of Indian languages, whereas the competitive examinations held on the all India level are mostly held in the English medium and they contain compulsory English language paper as well. This situation not only deprives the students of the lower and middle stratum of the society of getting the developmental opportunities, but it also deprives the country of using its vast pool of the natural resource of the talents of its majority of the people. This is one of the root causes of the backwardness of this country. One additional dimension to the discrimination on the linguistic basis is among the Hindi belt and nonhindi belt people because there are many developmental opportunities being made available in the Hindi medium but not in the nonHindi Indian languages’ media. Indians are the rarest of the unfortunate people in this world where people cannot seek justice in their own languages in the high courts and the Supreme court according to the constitutional provision laid down in article 348 of the Indian constitution. However, the central government goes beyond the constitution of India in discriminating between the Hindi belt and nonhindi belt people while making linguistic provisions in the high courts.

A brief about the Speaker: Shyam Rudra Pathak is India’s social-cultural worker. He is the coordinator of ‘Campaign and Development Campaign’ campaign.

He has written about himself: “If I recollect my childhood days I realize that I took deeper interest in agricultural activities before I started taking interest in studies. I remember I was considered a weak student for many years in my village school. I started taking interest in studies when I was asked to prepare for the admission test of Netarhat Vidyalay at the age of eleven or twelve. I passed that admission test and took admission in that school in class VI from where I appeared in my matriculation board examination. I was provided a silver medal by the Bihar board for securing one of the top ten positions in the 1979 secondary school examination. In 1980 I took admission in 5 years integrated M S Physics course in IIT Delhi after obtaining an all India rank of 1330 in the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) for the IITs. I got the first position in the All India GATE 1985 examination and took admission in M Tech in Energy Studies in IIT Delhi in 1985. The biggest achievement of my life is the removal of compulsory English Language Paper in JEE from 1988 and the introduction of optional Indian Languages media in JEE from 1990. My efforts for this included several fasts as well, the longest among which was of nineteen and a half days duration undertaken in July/August 1989.

I wrote my MS Physics project report in Hindi in IIT Delhi and it was first rejected on that ground but was later on accepted after the issue was highlighted in newspapers, magazines and finally in the Parliament. The degrees started being given in Hindi and English in IITD from the convocation of 1985 after I refused to accept it in English alone, for which the convocation of the year 1985 had to be postponed in which the then PM Rajeev Gandhi was the chief guest. I wrote my M Tech Project Report also in Hindi, which was also not accepted in the beginning but was later on accepted after the issue was raised by some parliamentarians.

I worked as a research scholar in Energy Studies in IIT Delhi and in Astrophysics in TIFR Mumbai and TIFR Pune. I was expelled twice from TIFR Pune during this programme, although I held the first rank in the all India written examination for the research scholars selection of the TIFR and I had also obtained the first rank in the graduate programme (course woks and project) for the research scholars of TIFR Pune of my batch.

I took part in the anti Mandal agitation in 1990 and was sent to Tihar jail in that connection for about two days.

I remained in the Tihar Jail for the second time from July 17 till July 24, 2013 after refusing to stop my Dharana in spite of being arrested and released every day on 225 days from December 4, 2012 till July 16, 2013 in front of the residence of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and the National head office of the congress party in Delhi. This Dharana was undertaken with the demand of amending article 348 of the Indian Constitution so that people can seek justice in their languages in the High Courts and the Supreme Court of India. I was made the sole leader of the CSAT agitation during its later half period by the thousands of agitating UPSC aspirants in 2014 in Delhi. I am still facing a criminal case filed by the Modi govt against me in this connection.”

Based on a real-life story, the 48-minute pocket film “I REMEMBER…” traces the journey of a woman and her family as they come to terms with the early onset of Alzheimer’s disease. Produced and directed by a senior journalist Geeta Lal Sahai, the movie moves through the intense experience of both – the affected individual and the caregivers evoking questions about the fragility of memory, the aesthetics of care, institutional support for mental health and the difficult choice of loving and letting go.

The movie has won six awards – Los Angeles Film Award, Accolade Global Film Award, Awareness Film Award, Cult Critic Award, New Delhi Film Festival Award and the Virgin Spring Cinefest Award.

It has been officially selected for the Kolkatta International Film Festival, Bioscope Film Festival and the Depth of Field Film Festival.

The screening will be followed by a Discussion.

ALL ARE WELCOME!!!

The story begins when Sudheer comes to ‘see’ Aarti for marriage and goes on to evaluate, through these two characters, the existentialist tussle between what one has to be vs what one wants to be, how one chooses to live vs how one wishes to live. Aarti has this unusual idea of role playing each other in order to momentarily be what they each wish to be. It turns out to be more than just ‘Chuhal’ (meaning playful tease) and starts getting serious. But, does it help them answer their questions? Does it raise more questions? Watch this play to see where it goes.

Written by – Manav kaul Directed by – Pallavi Verma

“MinMon” is the abbreviation for ‘Mini Monologues’. Every weekend, we present the written verse in its spoken form with the flavour of theatric, in the form of short monologue performances. This is the second production of Unmasked Theatre Collective after ‘An Evening with Chekov’. Come watch our actors dabble with their favourite writers and see them add a twist to the words, only at the theater!

In this dark examination of love and money, Fox (Rainer Werner Fassbinder) is a young, gay member of the German working class. When he meets the older and dapper Max, who has upper-class roots, Fox thinks he may have found someone to help him out, but Max refuses to do so. However, this changes when Fox wins big on the lottery, and Max becomes friendlier and helps to reinvent Fox. But, in fact, Max and his friends are slyly trying to swindle him out of his new fortune.

A Tale of Two Extremes: Islamist Reactions to Hindutva Nationalism – A Talk by Hari Prasad

The establishment of Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent and the Islamic State coincided with the rise of a Hindutva government in India. Today, both ISIS and AQIS are competing throughout South Asia to win recruits, conduct terror attacks, and foment religious turmoil—and both have increasingly fixed their gaze on India. While it has been widely recognized these two Salafi-Jihadist movements are seeking to exploit Muslim-Hindu communal tensions in India for their own gain, less attention has been paid to their rhetoric about the Modi government and the social and political ascendancy of Hindutva or Hindu Nationalism. This dynamic demands greater attention.

This presentation followed by an encompassing discussion will take a look at how these extremist organizations have discussed Hindutva activity in India, and the narrative they form.

About the Speaker:

Hari Prasad is a Research Associate at Critica Research and Analysis where he focuses on the Middle East and South Asian politics and security. He has previously worked for renowned Washington DC-based think tanks like the Hudson Institute, the United States Institute of Peace, and obtained his MA International Relations from the George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs.

His writings have been published in prominent academic journals and media outlets such as the GW International Affairs Review, The Diplomat, The Harvard Journal of Middle Eastern Politics and Policy, The Wire, and the Stimson Institute’s blog – South Asian Voices.

Prasad’s latest academic research publication “The Salafi-Jihadist Reaction to Hindu Nationalism” was recently featured in Volume 21 of The Hudson Institute’s prestigious scholarly journal “Current Trends in Islamist Ideology.”

He recently gave a more formal presentation on Countering Extremist workshop organized by Nanyang Technological University – S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies’ Centre of Excellence for National Security. At this two day workshop, his presentation – based off his latest research paper – helped policymakers, mid to senior-level officers/analysts, and academics tips in examining radicalization, countering violent extremism, and terrorism.

For more of his work and about him, please visit his website, hkprasad.com

• ALL ARE INVITED. ENTRY FREE & OPEN TO ALL!!!

Mohiniyattam- the lyrical dance form of Kerala

A one and a half hour programme by LasyaDrutha, Centre for Performing and Fine Arts Foundation

Samahaara Workshop Productions presents

PISINARI (An adaptation of Moliere’s “Miser” in Telugu) & Appalachari’s “Mancham Meeda Manishi” (A satire in Telugu)

Date: 4th Oct 2019 Time : 8.00pm Venue: Lamakaan, Banjara Hills, Hyderabad.

PISINARI Written by Moliere and translated into Telugu by Vinayamani PISINARI is about a miser whose only concern in life is his cash. He’s so obsessed with money, in fact, that he nearly tries to strip search everyone who goes in and out of his house. We also find out that the miser has buried a small box filled with a lot of money in his backyard that he’s paranoid about someone stealing.

Meanwhile, his son and daughter have both fallen in love with their respective partners. But the miser wants his son’s lover for himself and wants his daughter to marry a rich old man. The son and daughter hatch a plot to make the miser give up his designs so they can finally be happy. Will they succeed in their plan?

MANCHAM MEEDA MANISHI Written by Appalachari this satire is about an old man Govindam. One day Govindam falls sick and this news reached his sons and daughters. They arrive at his home and start squabbling about who will get Govindam’s property and wealth. While this is on, the doctor arrives and gives them an interesting update on their fathers health. What happens to Govindam? Who gets the property? Lets find out by watching this hilarious satire.