Plays, readings, performances, cinema and discussions will mark the upcoming three-day festival themed on the life and ideology of Mahatma Gandhi. The event will open on Friday at the India International Centre (IIC) here.

The festival named ‘Words In The Garden’ will host noted people from the fields of literature, arts, social sciences and other public spheres.

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Curated by renowned Hindi poet Ashok Vajpeyi, the third extensive festival by the Sanatan Sangeet Sanskriti is themed ‘Bapu Ki Dilli’. Earlier events explored themes like ‘Meer Ki Dilli’ and ‘Ghalib Ki Dilli’.

It will kick off with screening of the 1996 film by legendary director Shyam Benegal, “The Making of the Mahatma”, which explores Gandhi’s participation in South Africa’s fight for freedom.

“Stay Yet a While”, a play by M.K. Raina capturing thought-provoking dialogue between Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore, will conclude festival’s day one.

“Har Qatra Toofan”, a theatrical reading of poems, directed by Vinod Kumar that depicts Gandhi in the eyes of women, will also be featured. The Gandhi-Ambedkar Study Circle’s session will include interactive poem recitals, acts and music.

According to the organisers, the festival will explore themes with contemporary relevance inspired by Bapu’s ideologies — ‘Significance of non-violence today’ (panelists Kumar Prashant, Lt. Gen. Ata Hasnain, Harsh Mander, Keki Daruwalla and Ashis Nandy) and ‘Sustainable Living’ (panelists Himanshu Shani, Ashish Gupta, Shripal Shah, Jwalant Mahadevwala and Monika Chaudhary).

Session ‘Look at the sparrows’ will explore Gandhi’s philosophy of living from moment to moment, and will hear voices of Vajpeyi, author-professor Apoorvanand, journalist-historian Vivek Shukla and author-journalist Sopan Joshi.

Two discussions on books “Spy Chronicles: RAW, ISI and the Illusion of Peace” and “An Undocumented Wonder: The Great Indian Election” will also be held.

Sessions on storytelling by Mahmood Farooqui on ‘Gandhiji’s Last Journey’ and Hindustani classical music vocalist Madhup Mudgal’s ‘Ashram Bhajanavali’ are also scheduled.

Among other sessions and a concluding heritage walk by India City Walks, an hour-long session, will feature Vajpeyi, Pavan K Varma and Sudhir Chandra shedding light on the essence of Gandhi’s Delhi. An interesting feature of the festival will be a lunch curated by political scientist and culinary expert Pushpesh Pant who will speak on Gandhiji’s nutrition philosophy.

The three-day ‘Bapu Ki Dilli’ is open to one and all. Registration details can be found on the Facebook page of ‘Words in the Garden’.