NEWSLETTER
March 9, 2018
Applications for the 2018 SAI Crossroads Summer Program open on March 15! Last year, we welcomed 50 first-generation college students from South Asia, Africa and the Middle East to Dubai for a fully-funded career development opportunity with Harvard faculty.  The 2018 program will run from September 24 – 28 at the  DIFC Academy of the Dubai International Financial Centre  (Dubai, UAE).
Sneha Shrestha (also known as IMAGINE in the art world) transcends easy categorization. As a calligraffiti artist, arts educator, curator and social entrepreneur, her day to day – much like her art – is never predictable. "My paintings are my way of carrying my culture and my experiences with me. They are mindful mantras based on Sanskrit Scriptures, married with contemporary graffiti."
"As a third-generation Indian, I often feel a dissonance between the four identities that I hold. One of the reasons I applied to the internship with SAI was to feel a sense of belonging and connection to South Asia.  My personal interest in identity and belonging sparked my investigation of a heterogeneous South Asian identity within the North American framework." - Sheliza Jamal , HGSE '18.
FEATURED PUBLICATIONS
"The Prime Minister has formed a high-powered committee, headed by former Chief Election Commissioner N. Gopalaswami, with Houston University President and a senior Harvard academic on board to select India’s 20 world-class ‘Institutes of Eminence.’"

Ronak D. Desai, SAI Affiliate, reports in Forbes on the rising costs of iPhones in India: "For Apple to effectively compete in India, it must capture a greater share of the lower-end smartphone market and manufacture these devices locally in accordance with governing rules and regulations. It otherwise faces additional import taxes and tariffs like the ones the Modi government introduced earlier this month."
FEATURED EVENTS
Friday, March 9, 12-2 PM, CGIS S153

In collaboration with partners in the Indian education and public health sectors, Professor Doris Sommer (FAS and Director of Cultural Agents) hopes to contribute to development in India with Pre-Texts by engaging local strengths to promote: Literacy, Innovation, and Citizenship.
The seminar includes lunch and will be followed by a demonstration of Pre-Texts with audience participation. 
Saturday, March 10, 2018, 9:10 AM

Tarun Khanna will deliver the opening Keynote Address at the Babson India Symposium, which will explore entrepreneurship in India. Other featured speakers include Abhinav Bindra , Olympic gold medalist and entrepreneur; Malini Agarwal, founder and blogger-in-chief at MissMalini.com; and Harsha Agadi , president and CEO of Crawford & Company. 
Thursday, March 15 - Saturday, March 17,  

India is in the throes of a dramatic process of accelerated urbanization. The conference attempts to bring together varied interests, perspectives and contexts that go into an understanding of the state of housing in India. The accompanying exhibition was co-curated by Rahul Mehrotra (Harvard), Ranjit Hoskote, and Kaiwan Mehta.
Friday, March 16, 6-7 PM, New Delhi, India

To launch the official opening, The Lakshmi Mittal South Asia Institute (SAI), Harvard University, India Office will be hosting a series of events in March and April. For the opening celebration, Mark Elliott , Vice Provost of International Affairs at Harvard, will perform a ribbon cutting at the new office space in New Delhi.
 
SAI OPPORTUNITIES
The SAI Delhi office is looking for a Communications Consultant to develop a website that highlights projects funded under the Tata Trusts grant. Responsibilities include electronic, print, and outreach efforts related to the project.
 The Lakshmi Mittal South Asia Institute, Harvard University (SAI) offers two grants to support the work of Harvard University Faculty on fields related to South Asia. The Application Deadline for the 2018-2019 academic year grants is March 23, 2018, to be used after July 1, 2018.
FLASHBACK FRIDAY
Marisa Houlahan '17 received a Summer Grant from SAI to conduct ethnographic research for her senior thesis on the shipbreaking industry in Chittagong, Bangladesh. "These ethnographic encounters lead me to wonder, what is waste? When is waste? How is waste managed, commodified, and contested? What assumptions and responsibilities, legal and moral, are variously seen to be attached to the narrative designation of waste? What regimes of value does waste connect or challenge?"