Ali Sethi live in concert
With keynote speakers Amartya Sen and Syed Babar Ali
The Mittal Institute at Harvard University invites you to a concert celebrating 75 years of South Asian independence from British colonial rule, featuring Pakistani-American musical sensation Ali Sethi. His hit song “Pasoori” has topped the global charts and is “uniting India and Pakistan,” according to the New Yorker.
The all-star evening will open with a conversation between Nobel-prize winner Amartya Sen and philanthropist and former finance minister of Pakistan, Syed Babar Ali, as they share their thoughts on the past 75 years of independence. This unforgettable event will be moderated by Leela Gandhi of Brown University.
This event is supported by the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences’ Community Renewal Fund.
The qawwali concert previously announced as part of this program will not be taking place.
7:30 – 8:15 pm
From British India to Modern South Asia
Sanders Theater, Harvard University
Two of South Asia’s most-prominent public figures will share the stage together in an unforgettable discussion on the region through their experiences. One from India and one from Pakistan, both born in British India.
Amartya Sen
Nobel Laureate in Economics, Thomas W. Lamont University Professor, and Professor of Economics and Philosophy at Harvard University
in conversation with:
Syed Babar Ali
former Minister of Finance of Pakistan, businessman, philanthropist and founder of Pakistan’s leading institution of higher learning, Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS)
Moderated by:
Leela Gandhi
John Hawkes Professor of Humanities and English, Brown University
8:30 – 10:30 pm
Ali Sethi
Sanders Theater, Harvard University
Ali Sethi is a writer and musician. Born in Lahore, Pakistan, he trained in the raga tradition and is known for fusing North Indian melodies with contemporary global beats. He was a soloist at Carnegie Hall in 2019, and performs regularly on the popular Coke Studio TV show. He has collaborated with Riz Ahmed, Abida Parveen, Du Yun and Nicolas Jaar. His song ‘Pasoori’ was the first Pakistani track to enter Spotify’s global weekly chart, rose to number one on the streamer’s Viral chart, and has garnered more than half a billion streams since its release in February 2022.
