Saturday, January 5, 2008, 5.30pm to 6.30pm, at Open Space
Open Space invites you to a presentation on the structure and functioning of the Primary Education Dept. in Maharashtra by Meher Gadekar, President of ARPAN, an NGO working primarily on water and heritage conservation. He has been awarded a National level Media Fellowship by the Ministry of Water Resources (GOI) for his writings on droughts.
The presentation will be in two parts:
Part I will introduce the structure and functioning of the Primary Education Dept. in
Maharashtra to include its achievements and drawbacks and conclude with suggestions to reform and improve its governance.
Part II will introduce the Gyanshala project (GSP) suggesting effective, feasible and viable ways to improve the quality of primary education in municipal schools in Pune.
The project is being implemented in Ahmedabad and has been conceptualized by Prof. Pankaj Jain, a former faculty at IRMA. The project provides good quality primary education to children from slum localities studying in municipal schools as well as to out of school children at an affordable cost.
GSP is the biggest partner of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) in Gujarat. This project is now to be replicated in other cities and districts of Gujarat.
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Friday, January 18 & 25, 2008, 4.00pm to 6.30pm, at Open Space
January 18, 2008:
Shadows of Freedom
Director: Sabina Kidwai
35 min, DVD
The film traces the history of three women in a Muslim family in India, and how the issues of identity and gender conflict with their lives and those of their family.
January 25, 2008:
Love Film
Director : Istvan Szabo
123 mins, DVD
It's a story of two childhood friends growing up in Budapest just after World War II. The girl leaves for France after the aborted uprising against Communist rule in 1956, but the boy stays behind in Hungary. Some years later, they are briefly reunited, but ultimately decide to return to the separate lives they have created. A bitter-sweet love story which is also about both of them missing a "home" that has vanished. Hungary, apparently for much of the 20th century whether one stayed in that country or left it, something irreplaceable was lost either way.
ENTRY FREE ON A FIRST-COME-FIRST-SERVED BASIS ONLY! |
Friday, January 11, 2008, 5.00pm to 6.30pm, at Open Space
Open Space invites you to a screening of the documentary film, ‘Mahua Memoirs’ (Dir: Vinod Raja) followed by a discussion moderated by Ashish Kothari from Kalpavriksh.
Saloo, the bard and Thirku, the Baiga take us on a journey through the lives of the many Adivasis communities who live in the mountain tracts and forests of the Eastern Ghats across the states of Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Chattisgarh and Jharkhand. As in most indigenous homelands the world over, these regions too are rich in natural resources including minerals; resources that have become the source of their greatest insecurities.
Through their stories and songs interwoven through the metaphor of Bewar, a form of shifting cultivation practiced by many adivasis, the film unravels and unfolds both their life visions and their struggles against the merciless mining that is consuming their lands and their lives.
Since the early nineties particularly, as part of the new wave of liberalisation, thousands of mining leases have been issued, giving away prime Adivasis lands to national and global private mining corporations. And this despite a number of constitutional safe guards that attempt to protect the interests of these vulnerable communities and their fragile but ecologically rich environs with which they share a symbiotic relationship.
ENTRY FREE ON A FIRST-COME-FIRST-SERVED BASIS ONLY
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Wednesday, January 30, 2008, 11am to 12.30pm, at Open Space
Violence Against Women: Men’s Responsibility
Sexual crimes against women are on the rise across the country. Current figures indicate that 18 women are sexually assaulted every hour. Countless more are molested and harassed. A recent Hindustan Times survey of 500 men aged between 20-25 across various cities conducted after two young women were molested by a mob outside a 5-star hotel in Mumbai on New Year’s Eve revealed that 46% of these educated urban Indian males believe that women are “asking for trouble” by just going to a pub with friends.
What is the solution? That women should dress modestly, not step out late at night or send out the wrong signals? Or that women have the right to a safe and secure environment and that it is the responsibility of men to provide this? Join the Open Space Debate on the role and responsibility of men in arresting violence against women.
The debate will be moderated by Adv.Rama and Aseem Sarode – Practising lawyers and human rights activists. Pune and Anand Pawar – Expert on Gender issues.
Entry Free on a first-come-first-served-basis only!
For queries call Rakesh on 25457371 between 10am and 4pm.
OPEN SPACE OUTREACH ACTIVITIES
- Regular ‘Follow Your Heart’ workshops for the youth at various city colleges, facilitated by Rahul Chandawarkar, senior freelance journalist.
- Monthly documentary film screening cum discussion at St. Mira’s college.
- Rights of PLHIV workshops for law college students facilitated by Rama Sarode, human rights lawyer.
- Film screenings at Open Space on alternate Fridays.
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