The Sutra of Utmost Golden Radiance (Suvarnaprabhasottamasutra), like other Buddhist sutras in the same selfreferential sub-genre, extols its own transformative potency. The actualization of this potency, according to the text itself, occurs when the sutra is preached by an eloquent orator and heard by a receptive audience. The sutra explicitly theorizes its transformative potential through the multivalent notion of rasa (“taste,” “flavor,” “liquid essence”), a central term in South Asian discourse about cosmology, cuisine, medicine, alchemy, and kingship, as well as drama, literature, and aesthetics. I investigate the sutra’s representation of itself as a sonorous, luminous liquid substance, the transformative potency of which is made manifest through oral performance and aural reception, and consider how listening to the sutra has the potential to transform scholarly interpretive practices, as well.

Week 3 - Tuesday, July 1 - Film

Munnabhai MBBS (2003)

Hindi with English Subtitles

Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. is a 2003 Indian comedy directed by Rajkumar Hirani and produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra. The story is close to the 1998 film Patch Adams and involves protagonist, Munna Bhai, (Sanjay Dutt), a goon, going to medical school. He is helped by his sidekick, Circuit (Arshad Warsi). It is the first film in the popular Munna Bhai series of Bollywood. It stars Sanjay Dutt, Arshad Warsi, Sunil Dutt, Gracy Singh and Boman Irani.

Week 4 - Tuesday July 8 - Lecture
Dr. R. Balasubramaniam - Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur

Iron Technology of the Indian Subcontinent

This lecture will look at the important development of iron technology in the Indian subcontinent and the impact that it has had on technological development over the ages.

Week 5 - Tuesday July 15 - Lecture
Prof. Aparna Dharwadker - University of Wisconsin-Madison

The Contest of Languages in Contemporary Indian Theatre

The cultural politics of language in present-day India invariably addresses the dominance of English (the “non-native” language) as a medium of communication, education, scholarship, and business, as well as an elite medium for literary forms such as the novel, non-fictional prose, and poetry. In the fields of theatre and performance, however, “indigenous” Indian languages such as Bengali, Marathi, and Hindi have had continuous dominance since the mid-nineteenth century, while in the post-independence period such other languages as Kannada, Malayalam, Gujarati, Manipuri, Punjabi, Tamil, Chhattisgarhi, and Oriya have also become more or less vibrant mediums for drama. In theatre, an individual language also functions not in isolation but in relation to other languages, making translation and multilingual circulation the foundations for contemporary practice. This talk will discuss and explain the relative position of the modern Indian languages as theatrical media, and clarify their paradoxical connection to English as a language of original composition as well as translation.

Week 6 - Tuesday July 22 - Film

Sivaji The Boss (2007)

Tamil with English Subtitles

Sivaji The Boss revolves around a well-established Software System Architect, who returns back home in India. After his return, he begins implementing his dream of giving back to the society with free medical treatment and education. His dreams face a roadblock in the form of a highly affluent and influential businessman. When corruption also raises its ugly face, he is left with no option, but to retaliate the system in his own way.

Week 7 - Tuesday July 29 - Film

Samsara (2001)

Tibetan with English subtitles
A spiritual love-story set in the majestic landscape of Ladakh, Himalayas. Samsara is a quest; one man’s struggle to find spiritual Enlightenment by renouncing the world. And one woman’s struggle to keep her enlightened love and life in the world. But their destiny turns, twists and comes to a surprise ending.

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