VOL. 23, NO. 22	APRIL 24, 1998

or Hindu girls and women, the exhortation to “Be Like Sita!”—the idealized woman and wife of Indian myth and legend—has echoed through history. Sita’s powerful role will be examined during an international conference Apr. 30 to May 2 at Columbia. An accompanying exhibit that opened last week explores the meaning of Sita for the immigrant Indian community in New York.

  Sponsored by the Dharam Hinduja Indic Research Center at Columbia in collaboration with the Asia Society, the conference will bring together scholars, writers, artists, feminists and traditionalists to reflect on the meaning of Sita.

  An accompanying exhibit in Low Rotunda explores Sita in the imagination of New York through stories, memories, worship, rituals and popular images from the Indian community.

  The exhibit, “Sita in the City: The Ramayana’s Heroine in New York,” is on display 9:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. Monday through Friday through May 3 and features images of Sita as worshipped in Hindu temples and homes, by contemporary South Asian artists, in children’s art, books, comics, posters and other popular media acquired in the metropolitan New York area. Text and images are drawn from interviews with Hindu worshippers, community leaders, children and women’s organizations in the metropolitan area.

  Madhu Kishwar, editor of Manushi, an Indian women’s journal, will deliver the keynote address at 6:00 P.M. Thurs., Apr. 30 at the Asia Society (725 Park Ave. at E. 70th St.). Kishwar’s lecture, “Sita Sudhaar versus Ram Sudhaar” will explore two contrary responses to Sita: the “modernist-feminist” response which projects Sita as a slavish wife and wishes to goad her into rebellion and the mainstream response that wants society to become more worthy of Sita.

  Highlights of the program May 1–2 at Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs include a lecture by Nabaneeta Dev Sen of Jadavpur University, Calcutta, on women’s retellings of the Ramayana; a discussion of the role of Sita in the lives of immigrants in the United States and Great Britain; the premiere of a performance piece by choreographer and scholar Ananya Chatterjea, “From Sita: Lament, Fury and a Plea for Peace,” and lecture by Lauri Patton of Emory University on “The Politics of Sita.” Friday’s program will take place at the Dag Hammarskjold Faculty Lounge on the 6th floor of SIPA and Saturday’s program will take place at Altschul Auditorium on the 3rd floor.

  The events at Columbia are free and open to the campus community. For more information, call the Dharam Hinduja Indic Research Center at 854-5300.