The Buddha Papers: performed by Best of Kolkata Campus. Is The Buddha a person or a concept ? How would he react to these changing times of violence. Combining the past and questioning the dialectic of the present, Buddha is a play about the birth of a dream. A struggle of memory against forgetting.

The Dashanan Files: performed by Abhivyakti Dramatics Society of IP College for Women.

Dashanan is rich in black humour. The play uses the subtext of contemporary politics by probing Ravana’s views on Ram’s mind and Surpanakha’s anguish for her brother. Set in a small village which is the worlds largest Ravana’s effigy market.

Arun Kukraja has directed over 30 theatre productions including I.S.Johar’s Bhutto and Becketts EndGame. He has also made films on a large variety of subjects from Neruda’s poems to Elvis’ songs.
Parnab Mukherjee is one of the foremost directors of Alternative Theatre in the country. He is a journalist, also specializing in Shakespeare – in - education, installation theatre performances and café theatre.

Filmed in 2002 and 2003 this beautiful documentary draws us into the private life of tigers living in the stunning landscape of the Panna Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh. Dr. Raghu Chundawat has conducted nearly ten years of research on the tigers in Panna and he tells the story of tigress ‘Fifty-two’ and her daughters, of the Madla tiger and secretive ‘Hairy foot’. It is a poignant and touching tale, with tragedy contained within the story.

One of India’s leading wildlife academics, Dr. R. S. Chundawat started his career as a conservation biologist twenty years ago with pioneering research on the ecology of snow leopard and its prey species in the Ladakh mountains. Since then he has been involved intimately in the conservation of wildlife of the central Asian mountains. He currently holds the post of Regional Science and Conservation Director for the International Snow Leopard Trust, supervising their programmes in Mongolia, China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan and India. He has travelled extensively in the sub-continent and developed expertise on large carnivores, on the high altitude mammals of central Asia and on Indian dry tropical forest ecosystems. He was a member of the teaching faculty of the Wildlife Institute of India. He is very closely involved with tiger conservation. He is the recipient of several awards including Esso’s ‘Honour for Tiger Conservation’ in 2001; the ‘Carl Zeiss Wildlife Conservation Award’ 2002 for excellence and the ‘Tiger Gold’ award in 2003 for outstanding scientific work with wild tigers.

Few have equalled Begum Akhtar’s supreme artistry in light classical music , her finesse for setting her repertoire to simple and complex ragas , her incredible blend of all that was best in the Purabi and Punjab genres of light classical singing . Her death at the age of 60 in 1974 has not dimmed the memory of the youthful exuberance of her voice, the delicate grace of her musical phrasing or the poetic excellence of her ghazals. Pooja brings to us this evening a mixture of Begum Sahiba’s and her own compositions sung in the style made famous by the “ Queen of Ghazals “ in a belated tribute on her death anniversary.

Pooja Goswami was born in an environment forever reverberating with soul stirring music. She got her early training and still continues learning from her father Sh. Surendra Kumar Goswami, himself a disciple of the Kirana Gharana. She is also learning Thumri, Dadra & Ghazals from Vidushi Shanti Hiranand the acclaimed successor of Begum Akhtar. She is a M Phil in Music and has received a Doctorate in Hindustani Vocal Music from Delhi University.

tuesday 15th november
6.30 pm ‘Of Time and Place - Slide show/ Poetry reading’ by Seeme Qasim

This illustrated talk explores the culture and artistic traditions of the people of Kutch. Since travels in this area and amongst its people occurred some years before the shattering January 2001 earthquake, it takes on the flavour of the Kutch that was. This will be followed by a poetry reading, dealing with significant events that have also altered the country’s psyche. Some poems will look at the world from an oblique perspective. Seeme Qasim will read from her poetry collections, Beyond October (1997) and After Gujarat and Other Poems (2005).

Seeme Qasim is a writer and poet. She has also worked for several media groups which include The Times of India and the Indian Express. She has been taking pictures for many years and has a vast India collection. Besides articles in numerous publications, her essays have also appeared in The Penguin Book of Indian Journeys (2001) edited by Dom Moraes and City Improbable, An Anthology of Writings on Delhi (2001), edited by Khushwant Singh.

sunday 20th november
6.00 pm ‘Storytelling and Education’ by Shanta Rameshwar Rao

Mrs Rameshwar Rao will share some of her experiences of writing and telling stories in the classroom and outside, and discuss the importance of the telling and listening to stories Teacher, writer, and storyteller, Shanta Rameshwar Rao has been writing for children and adults for nearly fifty years, teaching for even longer, and is a born storyteller.Daughter of the renowned Kannada poet Panje Mangesh Rao, she was born in Mercara, Coorg, and educated at Mangalore, Patna, Lucknow and Hyderabad. She is the founder principal of Vidyaranya School at Hyderabad an alternative educational institution that she set up in 1961. She continues to direct and guide the school, its teachers and students. She is the author of several books, many of them retellings of myths, legends and folk tales; her novel "Children of God" is studied at several universities in India and abroad. She has also written and acted as series editor for school level English language teaching materials.

wednesday 23rd november to tuesday 29th november
10.00am to 5.30 pm( except sunday ) ‘Exhibition of Paintings’ by AlkaSirish

An exhibition with workshops of mixed media paintings on canvas and board using oils, acrylics and oil pastels.

Workshops on Saturday 26th, Monday 27th and Tuesday 28th from 2 pm to 4 pm Cost Rs 500 per class.

All materials provided. Various interesting techniques of painting will be taught on a variety of subjects. Learn how to paint on ceramic, glass and canvas using a number of unusual textural objects. Call Alka or Sirish 55257315 or 98102 64353 to register.

Alka and Sirish earlier student and teacher have been painting together for over 18 years in a wide variety of designs and styles. They are inspired by Tantrik art, Khajurao sculptures and Rajasthani beads and mirrors which are used to embellish their paintings.

wednesday 30th november
6.30 pm ‘Book Release’

Prof. John D Smith's 'The Epic of Pabuji' will be released by Padma Bhushan Shri Rajeev Sethi, internationally acclaimed promoter of South Asian culture and heritage followed by an interactive session with Prof. John D Smith & Sukrita Paul Kumar There will also be a performance by Ramkaran Bhopo & group from the epic of Pabuji.