Mark Tully: Media and Transformative Governance in the Indian Context
6 Aug 2015

Mark Tully: Media and Transformative Governance in the Indian Context

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“Indian media today is afflicted by a conscience deficit,” said Sir Mark Tully, at the inaugural LILA PRISM 2015 lecture on ‘Media and Transformative Governance in the Indian context’. “The media must create a demand for transformative government.” In the times of tear-jerking, sensational media work, Tully urged the community of journalists to come together and assert their right to objective, transformative journalism. For this, it is important to study and identify areas that need transformation, and do more coverage and follow up stories on those.

Kaapi LILA with EP Unny
26 Jul 2015

Kaapi LILA with EP Unny

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A cartoonist who has been travelling with time since he was 17, when the legendary Shankar recognised the mischievous connection-maker in him. A political observer for about four decades, who has seen our large democracy being handled by 12 Prime Ministers, starting with Morarji Desai, and witnessed the country welcoming coalition with all its ills as its chosen mode of government post-Emergency. A newspaper boy who lingers at the crossroads of memory and dream. Kaapi LILA with EP Unny revealed these facets of the man and the world about him, and more.

Kaapi LILA with Navtej Johar
21 Jun 2015

Kaapi LILA with Navtej Johar

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What does Yoga mean in today’s world? Is it a way for people to escape the humdrum of their weary existence? What does it mean to the yoga gurus who manage to reach across the seas and make it a common practice? Where does it all originate and how has it developed through the ages? Yoga, for me, has been a way of stress release and exercise. It manages to calm the mind, almost transporting one to another dimension. However, one sees that it is rather mindlessly practiced today as the instructors inform us what ‘aasan’ is associated with what part of the body.

Kaapi LILA with Ashish Dha
24 May 2015

Kaapi LILA with Ashish Dha

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Ashish Dha’s passionate engagement with the world of music became accessible to an eager bunch at the last Kaapi LILA. The muses conspired for an exploratory music appreciation session at Nasheman that day, despite a scary power shut down which resumed less than a minute to the scheduled 5 pm. Delhi temperature soared at 45 Degree Celsius and Nasheman felt like a real nest; in Urdu, Nasheman means a bird’s nest.

A Journey with Kumar Shahani
5 May 2015

A Journey with Kumar Shahani

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Andolan, Gamaka, Kan-Swar or Gitkari, Meend or Murki: the Alankars are multiple in types, and innumerable in practice. Each melody acquires its ornament, each note, its body. Alankar, a term for aesthetics in the Indian arts, is the adornment, the embellishment, the process that reveals the beautiful from within – the inherent beauty. Fascinating paradox: the Alankar is wilfully produced, coming above and beyond the theme, but it only enhances a beauty already proper to the art. Alankar permits beauty before the accompaniment – Alankar recalls how the inner light is still shining.

Kaapi LILA with Gitanjali Kolanad
26 Apr 2015

Kaapi LILA with Gitanjali Kolanad

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In the midst of my monotonous modern life (essentially my 10-6 job about which I have mixed feelings), last Sunday for Kaapi LILA at Nasheman, I met a girl in her 20s, a teacher of literature in English and a researcher at Sahapaedia, an online encyclopedia of Indian arts and culture. She told me about a month long workshop where you had to practice sensing your feet, and some more about the organisers or founders. She mentioned George Gurdjieff, the Armenian spiritual thinker who brought Einnegram, the Sufi symbol of transformation, to the West from the Naqshbandi order.

Kaapi LILA with Heike Fiedler
29 Mar 2015

Kaapi LILA with Heike Fiedler

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Through her poetry, Heike makes statements about various questions, such as gender issues or local politics. Broader topics also emerge, across societies, such as the way we treat strangers. My curiosity was caught, as Heike presented details of pieces that she created during her residency in India, and narrated their stories. Through her works, she tried reflecting on her experience here, on the incidents that inspired her process of working, thinking, expressing. It felt like entering a conversation with her, discovering pieces stuck out of one’s memories. The exchange also went into gender issues, her experiences in public spaces in India, her Kochi travel and… her discovery of the sweetest fruit she ever tasted!

Lila: The Choice Play of Governance
7 Mar 2015

Lila: The Choice Play of Governance

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The wait had been long to return to the crossroads, to the organic romance of this familiar yet deceitful opposition. Indeed: there is lightness in the serious, and seriousness in the light. Lila, the play, rejoins the realm of decisions, of choices; surrender and detachment merge again with the most active of engagements; immediacy and vision come back together. For the launch of its new banner for reflective thinking and philosophy entitled LILA Menso, the foundation brought together three very special kinds of players, to undertake a new event concept and a unique thought exchange. On this Saturday 7 March 2015, speakers, partners and audience accepted to play a game that started right outside their doorstep, as the skies found amusement in also inviting an unexpected springy rainfall… Yes: with Lila, the play is cosmic!