An exhibition curated by Vidya Dehejia, with Dipti Khera and Yuthika Sharma

Dates: September 18 through December 13
Location: Miriam & Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery, 826 Schermerhorn Hall, 1190 Amsterdam Avenue
See Gallery website for full information at http://www.learn.columbia.edu/delight/

A film series to accompany the exhibition Delight in Design: Indian Silver for the Raj

Dates: Wednesdays, September 24 through December 4 (no screening November 26)
Time: 6:15pm
Location: Room 832, Schermerhorn Building, 1190 Amsterdam Avenue
October 8 screening: *A Passage to India
*Director: David Lean (1984), 164 minutes

A Presentation by Anna Stirr, Ph.D. student in Ethnomusicology

From Rodhi Ghar to Rodhi Bar: The Commercialization of Gurung Tradition in the Nepali Music Industry

The rodhi ghar is a traditional youth dormitory association particular to the Gurung ethnic group. Classic ethnography of the Gurungs describes the rodhi as a site for socializing youth into traditional labor exchange, and for its most famous aspects: all-night singing and dancing, including flirtatious dohori song duels between young men and women. Now, though the rodhi has died out in rural Gurung villages, it has become an important symbol of Gurung identity and cultural heritage among the urban Gurungs who aim to define a normative Gurung culture; they offer a "purified" version of rodhi as a symbol of their unique culture. At the same time, the dohori songs of the Gurung heartland have become a commercial phenomenon, with a burgeoning cassette industry and a major share of Kathmandu nightlife. For some, dohori restaurants and their rodhi symbolism represent a connection with a tradition of free interaction between the sexes that can serve as a traditional justification for more modern forms of love relationships. This paper traces the development of these two related trajectories, as the rodhi becomes a symbol both of a purified traditional heritage and of adolescent abandon. With particular attention to the youth who perform in dohori restaurants, I examine their investments in both discourses of purification and freedom, how they link them with their own aspirations, and how they define their generation in relation to previous generations in a modern Nepal.

The Forum format is as follows: 20-30 minutes: Presentation
20-30 minutes: Q & A and discussion
60 minutes: Reception (food and drink provided)

Date: Monday, October 6, 2008
Time: 4:00-6:00 p.m.
Location: Southern Asian Institute
1134 International Affairs Building
420 West 118 Street, New York City


The forum is open to all members of the Columbia community. If you have any questions about the forum or are interesting in presenting (graduate students only please), contact the forum coordinator, Audrey Truschke, at aat2120@columbia.edu.

Future forum dates this semester are:
Nov. 6 (Thursday)
Nov. 24

A talk by P. Chengal Reddy on "The Indian Agricultural Economy since Economic Liberalization"

Date: Wednesday, October 15
Time: 12:30-2:00pm
Location: Room 1128 International Affairs Building, 420 West 118th Street

P. Chengal Reddy will speak about the evolution of the Indian agricultural economy and the situation of Indian farmers since the onset of economic liberalization in 1991, and the role of farmers' movements in influencing national and international policies. Dr. Reddy is an affiliate of the Federation of Farmers Associations (FFA), Andhra Pradesh, India; and the Consortium of Indian Farmers Association and will visit SIPA immediately following his participation in a World Bank "International Conference on Nonrenewable Groundwater Resources."