US college screens Sholay to kick off Year of India

An American college, which has on its rolls over 20,000 students from 170 nations, screened the 1970s bollywood blockbuster "Sholay" as it hosted a `Year of India' during the 2012-13 academic year that will also see presentations to explore India.

Queens College of the City University of New York (CUNY) is hosting a 'Year of India' with exhibitions, a film series, and performances and student-sponsored activities on culture, sports, and everyday life in India.

Presentations will explore India - its society and politics, arts and culture, math and science, religions and economics - as well as its influence in the South Asian region and the world, and its diaspora in the US, said a press release by Queens College.

"Sholay", the most successful Hindi film of all time, was screened Sep 12, to kick off the "Representing South Asia on Film" series, which includes 16 titles including "Lagaan", "The Namesake", "Awara" and "Aparajito", as well as three panel discussions on topics raised in the series.

A day before that New Age guru Deepak Chopra made a presentation.

"Hindustani Music of North India", a concert scheduled for Oct 12, will feature noted tabla player and Yale faculty member Samir Chatterjee and flautist Steve Gorn. This concert at the LeFrak Concert Hall in Queens College is the first performance of the Aaron Copland School of Music's Chamber Music Live fall season.

Queens College's 'Year of India' will also feature student and faculty exchanges, newly developed credit-bearing courses taught by professors from the college and their partner institutions in India, and programmes by members of the Indian community. To encourage collaborations and partnerships, faculty will lead three study tours to India for faculty, students, and staff.

An exhibition titled "Art from the Land of the Peacock" will spotlight India's distinctive and diverse artistic traditions while drawing upon the collections at Queens College's Art Library. It will run Nov 1 to June 27, 2013 at the Benjamin S. Rosenthal Library in the campus.

The Indian Consulate of New York is hosting a reception Sep 20 for Queens College celebrating what the college calls "a vibrant, diverse country with a complex history and globally significant economy".

The college, located in America's most diverse county, examines each year the history, art, and culture of a different country. China and Turkey have been featured before.

Queens College of CUNY, founded in 1937, has on its rolls over 20,000 students from 170 nations and gets cited every year by The Princeton Review as one of the nation's 100 'Best Value' colleges.