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The annual IIC Experience enters its seventh year and the calendar,as usual,is packed with dance,music,films,seminars and exhibitions. The theme of the week-long festival is Trees,“in recognition of both,their beauty and threat to their survival,as well as the global agitation and awareness about preserving greenery,” says Indrani Majumdar of the India International Centre (IIC). In keeping with the theme,it was the king of one of the world’s greenest countries,Bhutan,who inaugurated the festival on Thursday amid Vedic chants and a procession of Bhutanese artists.

The evening ended with the aroma of Bhutanese cooking as the food festival called the Taste of Datshi served up the mountain kingdom’s famous cheese-based specialties like Sangay Shamu Datshi as well as a boneless chicken mince called jasha nyazam. “Every evening is dedicated to a different cuisine,from the Taste of Wild Mushroom (food from Poland) to El Banquete del Amazonas (the Amazonian banquet),” says Majumdar. There was even Aranya Bhoj (food from the forests) on Friday with a menu boasting delicacies like putorha (grilled arvi leaves with savoury fillings from Himachal Pradesh and Uttaranchal),and junglee maas (goat meat) and kudrat ki nemat (a bouquet of wild mushrooms served with wild rice) among others.

The performances,too,cover a wide arc — on Sunday,you can soak in the bhajans of the Bishnois of Rajasthan as well as Thinai Isai or traditional Tamil music of the woods,while Monday features dances from Myanmar,and Tuesday brings music and dance by a Brazilian troupe.

Puppeteers Anurupa Roy and Ranjana Pande will hold a workshop where children will make puppets from waste even as they learn about the environment they are inheriting. “There will also be a performance called Last Jungle on Earth where puppet animals like the elephant and owl find themselves on a planet that’s nearing devastation,” says Pande.

A selection of films,from Angel of the Aboriginals: Dr Verrier Elwin to the Venezuelan film Dragonfly and Satyajit Ray’s Sikkim,will be screened everyday under the section Forest Talkies. Step into the conference rooms or walk through the corridor,foyer and verandahs,and you will be greeted by photographs of the Scrublands of Rajasthan by Pradip Krishen,Ian Lockwood’s studies on forest ecology and landscapes as well as posters and maps exhibited by Bhutan’s Department of Forest and Park Services.

The festival is on till October 27. Entry is free except for the food festival,which has to be booked through a member. Contact: 24619431