Dazzling performances mark Majha House opening in Amritsar

AMRITSAR : Dazzling artistic performances, rich and textured conversations with celebrity authors and presentations on art, architecture and culture of Punjab marked the opening of a new cultural centre, Majha House, in the city over the weekend.

A robust discussion on Saturday on politics and events in the trouble-torn Punjab of the 1980s drew a full house at the Majha House, in Basant Avenue, between veteran journalists and commentators Mark Tully and Satish Jacob, formerly of the BBC, with Caravan political editor Hartosh Bal.

Members of the city’s elite, officials and students listened raptly to Mark’s stories of reporting on slain militant leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale as well as with former president of India late Giani Zail Singh. Interspersed with his trade mark, selfeffacing humour and occasionally breaking out into Hindustani, Mark kept the audience fascinated, but also drew applause with his repeated calls for an inclusive and respectful approach to all religions.

The opening day was packed with events, including architect historian Gurmeet Rai’s presentation on Amritsar’ s architecture and the critical challenge of protecting it while art curator Alka Pande from Delhi shared paintings and poems of late Shivdev Singh. The evening closed with a spell-binding Dastangoi performance by artistes Sunil Mehra and Askari Naqvi. Dastangoi has its origins in Iranian storytelling and the performed two stories from Ishmat Chutgai’s writing.

“Much of our inheritance of a rich syncretic culture is shattered today,” said Preeti Gill, who conceived, designed, developed and curated Majha House. In her opening remarks, she said, “It is important to remember and to reconstruct, to discuss and dialogue, to delight in the visual to conserve and value the richness we have inherited.” The house and its annexe are a 40-year-old property in Basant Avenue which she and her husband Kulminder have inherited.

The next day, the audience attendance including city mayor Karamjeet Singh Rintu and Asha Kumari, AICC member in-charge of Punjab, heard Punjabi poetry reading by journalist Nirupama Dutt.

There was also a conversation between KS Dhillon, former DGP, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh, and Kawaljeet Deol, IPS (retd), who reflected on Punjab, the challenges before the police and society in India and the need for a more robust civil society.