The Urban Affair

Lahore is a city besides the river Ravi, seeped in history, dating back to Lav, the son of legendry Ram & subsequently, ruled in turns by Hindu kings, Mughal emperors, Sikh monarchs and British sovereigns. Lahore, the eyewitness of partition and now, capital city of Lehnda Punjab (Western Punjab), still boasts of being the political nucleus and carries fragments of past in form of heritage, culture & spirituality.

We talk about the transition of this historical city with Irfan Aslam and listen to his version about Lahore's architecture, urbanscape, politics, heritage & society.

𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐫 :

𝐈𝐫𝐟𝐚𝐧 𝐀𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐦 is a journalist and trilingual poet from Lahore with interests ranging from literature to culture.

He writes for Dawn and contributes to the Literary Review of The Hindu in India.

With MS in English Literature and Master's in literature as well as Political Science, he has been been working in the field of journalism for more than 13 years. He writes poetry in three languages, English, Urdu and his native Punjabi.

The Walled City or Shahjahanabad is one of the seven cities which comprise Delhi, as we know it. Old Delhi was encircled with a wall with 14 gates, from where Shahjahanabad or Purani Dilli gets its sobriquet of Walled City. Parts of the wall can still be seen.

𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐫 :

Sheeba Aslam Fehmi is an eminent journalist, feminist writer & activist. She was born in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India & shifted to Old Delhi after her marriage. Sheeba has also been the managing director of a daily newspaper and a magazine. Sheeba has a degree in Master of Philosophy from the Centre for Political Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Sheeba lives in Shahjahanabad from where Purani Dilli gets its sobriquet of Walled City. She runs a restaurant named 'The Walled City Cafe', which is based in a heritage haveli, offering view of the grand Jama Masjid.

Sheeba Aslam Fehmi shares her lived experience on the culture, society, architecture, heritage & food of Purani Dilli with us in this intriguing session.

'Anushree's Kolkata: Seven Stages of Love' is first in the series of 'The Urban Affair'. Anushree falls in love with Kolkata in seven stages, as described in Arabic poetry and she takes us along this enchanting journey.

About the Speaker :
Anushree Ghosh is a writer and theatre artist. She has written for Delhi’s oldest city magazine — Delhi Diary for a long time, and is an active storyteller too. Her initiative ‘Art Pickles’ is dedicated to exploring art/culture/literature and philosophy through events & dialogue. Anushree has recently come up with a digital photobook with poetry called 'Loving Kolkata in Seven Stages' under the Indo European Residency Project Kolkata, supported by EUNIC & CIMA, Kolkata.

Mumbai is a city that refuses to pause for a break; it is a city which is on a constant move; it is a city which is an epitome of dynamicity.

In '𝘔𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘢𝘪: 𝘕𝘰 𝘍𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘴' we talk with 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐁𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐚 about his lived experience in this evermoving city.

Dishant is an Architect who shifted his base to Mumbai three years back, practicing alone as a designer and graphic artist. Soon after graduating, he discovered the idea of taking visual notes and started making doodles and illustrations which eventually helped him in getting motion graphic projects. With more than eight years of practice in the field of architecture and graphics, he still likes to explore and learn new things and that has kept the urge of traveling in him alive. He looks forward to traveling to new cities, and learning about different cultures every second of his life and believes in keeping his travels 'Unplanned'. He is also an educator and has been associated with many institutes and now has started an initiative Un[Plan] to connect with young designers and enthusiasts in his free time, through his youtube channel.