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Pushpesh Pant-

Food Cultures
and Transformative Governance

Pushpesh Pant

Chair: Sohail Hashmi

Wed. 9 December – 7:00pm | Gulmohar Hall – India Habitat Centre, New Delhi

Food is a common fibre connecting great culinary, medical and religious traditions as well as local heritages that form and continue small communities revolving around shared indigenous knowledge. Food is the key to many cultures in India and the language of food, including practices in food production, processing, consumption, and conservation, is central to cultural identities in the country. This lecture will examine how food as cultural heritage can provide valuable insights towards governance thinking, social cohesion and revitalisation in our times. It will also try to address the diverging and changing economic, social-political and cultural meanings of food heritage.

Pushpesh Pant is a teacher, author, columnist, television anchor, broadcaster and independent producer of television documentaries. Born in Nainital, he has studied History, International Relations and Law. His interests include Ayurved and related traditional knowledge systems, Himalayan folklore, IT enabled Gadgets, Hindustani Music. Obsession: Indian Cuisines. He has also written books on diplomacy, travel, religion and food.

begumpur-e1439055844128-Sohail Hashmi will chair the lecture and moderate the discussion. Sohail Hashmi graduated from DU and completed his post-graduation and M.Phil, from JNU, gave up his Ph.D. mid-way to work full time with the CPI (M). He Conducts Heritage walks in Delhi, writes about Delhi, its language, its food, its water bodies and its monuments. He also makes documentaries, writes and blogs on Issues of Culture, Language, Education and Communalism. Sohail has worked with PTI TV, National Literacy Mission, Home TV, BITV and kingfisher.com. He was Director of Leap Years – a Creative Activity Centre for Children, currently works with Knowledge Infrastructure Systems Pvt Limited and is the founding Trustee of SAHMAT.