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Diamond Oberoi Vahali

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Affiliation

  • Professor , School of Letters

Email

    diamond@aud.ac.in

Qualification

  • Diamond Oberoi Vahali teaches English at AUD in the School of Letters and the School of Undergraduate Studies. She did her M.Phil from H.P. University Shimla. Her M.Phil thesis was related to the study of the Confessional Novel. She was awarded her PhD from JNU from the School of Language, Culture and Literature in 1998. Her PhD thesis was a semiological analysis of the cinema of Ritwik Ghatak. Between 2007 and 2008 she attended clinical workshops on Psychoanalysis and Psychodynamic Psychotherapy, at the Centre for Psychoanalytic Studies, University of Delhi.

Past Experience

  • Diamond Oberoi Vahali joined St Bede’s College Shimla in 1994. In 2006, she joined Daulat Ram College, University of Delhi. Since 2011, she is teaching in Ambedkar University Delhi.

Area of Expertise

  • Research Interests: Diamond Oberoi Vahali has published several articles on various aspects of literature and cinema. Her interests include literature, cinema studies, psychoanalysis, the human condition, empathetic and experiential pedagogies, engaged spiritualties, life writing and memory studies, folk, oral and indigenous cultures, and narratives of love, resilience, forgiveness and resistance and in documenting real life narratives and testimonies.

Publications

Books

  • Ritwik Ghatak and the Cinema of Praxis: Culture, Aesthetics and Vision. New Delhi: Springer Nature, 2020.
  • Life and Times of Shanta Toofani: Story of a Survivor. Co-authored with Dimple (Amreen) Oberoi Vahali. New Delhi: Daanish Books, 2009. ISBN number-81-89654-76-4.
  • Once upon a time. . .  A Collection of Short Stories, co-edited with Charu Sharma.  Delhi: Foundation Books (Cambridge University Press), 2003.  ISBN number-81-7596-172-4

Chapters in Books

  • “Trauma and Restitution, the Healing Power of Compassion: A Psychoanalytical and Cinematic Analysis of Kaya Taran.” Remembering the Past: Critical Perspectives on the Anti-Sikh Violence of 1984. Ed. Ishmeet Kaur Chaudhry. New Delhi: Orient Blackswan. 2025. ISBN 978-93-5442-584-4
  • “Reading Mahasweta Devi’s ‘Kunti and the Nishadin’ as a Political Transcreation of the Mahabharata”. Mahasweta Devi in Defence of the Human: The Poetics of Translating Resistance. Eds. Anuradha Gosh and Mahmoud Al-Zayed. New Delhi: Routledge, 2025. ISBN 978-1-032-95509-4
  • “Chetan Anand’s Neecha Nagar: Reconfiguring the City through Struggle and Resilience.” South Asia in Alternative Cinema(s). Eds. Vivek Sachdeva, Hariprasad Athanickal, Chandrakant A. Langare. New Delhi: Routledge, 2025. ISBN 978-1-03-245460-3
  • “Doodhnath Singh’s ‘Mai Ka Shok Geet’: An Intervention into the Formation of New India and its Lessons for Emancipatory National Liberation Discourses Today.” Language, Literature, Culture and Cinema: Essays in Honour of Professor Harish Narang. Eds. Madhumita Chakraborty, Anuradha Gosh, Mukesh Ranjan. New Delhi: Aakar Books, 2025. ISBN ; 978-93-5002-891-9
  • “Dialogues with a Teacher.” Semiotics and Dialectics: Essays in Honour of Harjeet SIngh Gill. Ed. Saitya Brata Das. New Delhi: Aakar Books, 2021.
  • “The Beautiful Being of Teaching.'’ A Song Called Teaching: Ebbs and Flows of Experiential and Empathetic Pedagogies. Ed. Honey Oberoi Vahali. New Delhi: Aakar Books.  2019. pp. 42-50. ISBN no 978-93-5002-590-1.
  •  “Recognition and the Re-emergence of the Disappearing Self: Reading Intizar Husain’s ‘The City of Sorrow’”. Literary Aesthetics and Conflict Studies. Ed. Alka Tyagi. Delhi: Ramayan. 2018. pp. 27-39. ISBN No. 978-93-5281-230-1.
  • "Epic, Apertures and Spaces: Ritwik Ghatak and the Epic Tradition". Signification in Language and Culture. Ed. H.S. Gill. Shimla: Indian Institute of Advanced Study, 2003, pp. 601-663. ISBN No. 81-7986-015-9 

Journal Articles

  • “Social and Psychic Prisons: An Intergenerational Reading of Krishna Sobti’s Dil-o-Danish.” The Criterion: An International Journal in English.  Vol. 16, Issue-1V.  ISSN: 2278- 9529.  August 2025. Pp.076-093.
  • “Punjab 1984: A Plea for Tolerance and Democracy”.  Co-authored with Dimple Oberoi Vahali. Thapp journal:  Pakistan, 2019.
  • “The (Im)possible Embrace: A Search for Non-violent Possibilities in the Aftermath of Violent Uprootedness.”  Co-authored with Honey Oberoi Vahali. Psychology and Developing Societies 1–23 © 2019. Department of Psychology, University of Allahabad. DOI: 10.1177/0971333618819154 Sage.
  • “The Subalterns and their Margins: A Psychoanalytical Reading of Mahasweta Devi’s ‘Bayen’”. Panjab University Research Journal (Arts). Vol. XLV, No. 2. ISSN: 0970-5260. July-December 2018. pp. 15-30.
  • “Partition and the Betrayal of India’s Independence: An Analysis of Ritwik Ghatak’s Cinema.” Revista Canaria de Estudios Ingleses, 76; April 2018, pp. 91-101; ISSN: e-2530-8335.  DOI: http://doi.org/10.25145/j.recaesin.2018.76.007. pp. 91-101.
  • “The Confessional Novel: Its Form, Aesthetics and Themes (Guilt, Immersion and Surfacing).” Literary Quest 3.4 (December 2017): pp. 49-66.Web. DoA.
  • “Crossing: A Journey Within and Beyond in Alice Walker’s By the Light of My Father’s Smile.”  Literary Quest 3.3 (November 2017): pp. 1-16. Web. DoA.
  • “Epic, Apertures and Spaces”. Bede Atheneum: A Journal of Research Papers. Shimla: St. Bede's College, 2006. pp. 41-46.
  • “Structure in Ritwik Ghatak’s Meghe Dhaka Tara”. Ajantrik. Ed. Dipankar Bhattacharya, Hooghli: Uttarpara Cine Club, 2000.
  • "Voices from the Dark Cellar: A Psychological Exploration into Dostoyevsky's Notes from the Underground". Co-authored with Honey Oberoi Vahali, Panjab University Research Bulletin (Arts). Vol. XXV1, No. 1&2 April-October 1995. pp.
  • "In Search of Potent Fragments: The Old Playhouse and the Poetry of Kamla Das".  Panjab University Research Bulletin (Arts). Vol. XX1V, April, 1993.
  • "John Fowles' The Collector: A Confession", ‘Panjab University Research Bulletin’, Vol. XX11, NO.2 October 1991.pp. 99-110.
  • "Intertexutality, Self-Consciousness and Self-Reflexivity in Iris Murdoch's The Black Prince", ‘Panjab University Research Bulletin’, Vol XX1, No.2 October 1990.pp. 53-57.

. 
 Book Reviews

  • "Advaita Malla Burmn's: Titash Ekti Nadir Naam". Echoes. Shimla: St. Bede's College, 2006. 
  •  “To Do Something Beautiful by Rohini”. Echoes. Shimla: St. Bede's College, 2006. 

 Translations

  •  “The Path to Hell” Co-translated in Premchand: The Complete Short Stories: Vol. 1. Ed. M. Asaduddin. New Delhi: Penguin Books, 2018.  ISBN13 9780143442653. 

Forthcoming  publications

  • “The Angst of Exile: Ritwik Ghatak and the Bengal Partition.”  New Delhi: Jamia Millia Islamia.  2026. (Forthcoming)
  • “Of Nations, Margins and Borders: The Nazms and Film Lyrics of Sahir Ludhianvi Contextualised within Progressive Poetics”. 2026. (Forthcoming)
  • “Peripheries and Peripheries: Centralising the Discourse of Ravan as Embodied in the Folk Epic the Kunkna Ramayan through a Psychoanalytical and an Existential Lens.” Indian literature, Sahitya Akademi. 2026. (Forthcoming)

 

 

Seminar/Conferences

Conferences presentations

  • “Cinema and Testimony: Cinematic Representations of 1984” in “International conference on Contemporary South Asian cinemas” organized by Association of Film Studies in South Asia AFSSA, .  2 to 4 Feb 2024.
  • Discussant: Research and Development Division Annual Festival “Book Talk by AUD Faculty: Film Studies: An Introduction Vibhuti Duggal”, 14th October 2024.
  • “War and Holocaust: The Cinema of Alain Resnais” in the “3rd AFSSA conference on Borders and Conflicts in Cinema” organized by Association of Film Studies in South Asia AFSSA online conference 2022 4-6th November 2022.
  • “Film Lyrics and Sahir Ludhianvi” in International Seminar on “Angarey and the Progressive Writer’s Movement” organised by Department of English Avadh Girls Degree College, Lucknow in Association with Indian Association of Commonwealth literature and Language Studies IACLALS 17th December 2022.
  • “Non- Western Film Cultures”. Distinguished Speaker FDP on ‘Literature and Film in the 21st Century’, Department of English, Mohanlal Sukhadia University, Udaipur, 10-16th Oct. 2022.
  • “Literary and Cinematic Languages” in “Interdisciplinary National webinar on Exploring the Intersections Of Film Studies, literary Studies and Gender Studies Department of English, Shivaji University, Kholapur, 28th Feb-2nd March 2022.
  •  “‘Kunti and the Nishadin’: A Subversive Adaptation” in an International Conference “Literary Commons: Comparative Frames”, organized by the School of Letters, Ambedkar University Delhi. February 19 & 20, 2019.
  • “The Angst of Exile: Ritwik Ghatak and the Bengal Partition” in “Understanding Partition(s) in/of the Indian Sub-continent through Literary and Cinematic Re/Presentations with special focus on Sindh”, organised by the Department of English, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi.  22 March 2018.
  • ‘Violence, Humiliation and Disappearance: An Analysis of Punjab 1984’ in the IACLALS International Annual Conference 2018, “Tolerance and Bigotry: Contestations in Indian Literatures in English”, organized by Aligarh Muslim University, February 8th to 10th, 2018.
  • “Between Darkness and Light: An Emergence; Reading Kaya Taran, a film on the 1984 Riots against the Sikhs” in the Fifth International Psychoanalytic Conference 2018 titled “Psychoanalytic Explorations of Darkness in Culture and Clinic: An Indo-Italian Conversation”, organized by Centre of Psychotherapy and Clinical Research and School of Human Studies, AUD in collaboration with the Italian Psychoanalytic Society, The Delhi Chapter of Indian Psychoanalytic Society and Psychoanalysis India, 12-15 January, 2018.
  • “Betrayal and Erosion of Self:  Reading Ritwik Ghatak’s Meghe Dhake Tara” in the International conference “The Fragmented Self: An Interdisciplinary Exploration into the notions of Self and Identity in Contemporary Life” organised by the Psychology Department at Indraprastha College for Women, (University of Delhi), Civil Lines, Delhi, India.30th-31st October, 2017. 
  • “Coming to terms with the Other within the Self: An analysis of Intizar Hussain’s ‘The City of Sorrow’ in National Seminar on “Literary Aesthetics and Conflict Studies”, organized by the Department of English, Dyal Singh (Eve.) College, University of Delhi, April 20-21, 2017. 
  • “Reading Mahasweta Devi’s “Kunti and the Nishadin” as a Political Transcreation of the Mahabharata” in “National Seminar dedicated to the memory of Mahasweta Devi”, organized by the Department of English, Jamia Millia Islamia University,  November 24–25, 2016.
  • “Experiential Pedagogy” in Awaaz 2016, “Pedagogy as Psychological First Aid” on the occasion of the World Mental Health Day, organized by the CPHS, AUD, Delhi, 10th November 2016.
  • “The Dream of India’s Independence and the Nightmare of its Partition: A Psychoanalytical Reading of the Cinema of Ritwik Kumar Ghatak” in “Dreams and Nightmares: Psychoanalysis and Social Justice in the 21st century” in the Annual Meeting of the Association for the Psychoanalysis of Culture and Society, organized by the Association for the Psychoanalysis of Culture & Society, Rutger’s University, New Jersey, USA, 14-15 October 2016.
  • Delivered the Inaugural address, “Historicizing the Context of the All India Progressive Writers Association (AIPWA) and Indian People’s Theatre Association (IPTA)” for “Sarkash Alfaaz: the Progressive Writers Festival”, at Ambedkar University, Delhi held on 15-16 September 2015.
  • Delivered the Opening Remarks and chaired Session 2 in Seminar on ‘Interrogating Manuscript Traditions’: Centre for Community Knowledge, Programmes in English, School of Liberal Studies, Ambedkar University Delhi & Delhi Comparatists, 24th -25th March 2015.
  • Chaired “Talk on Keats” by Megharris Williams at Ambedkar University, Delhi 30th January 2015.
  • “Understanding Human Condition: A Legacy”, in a seminar on “Signification, Conceptual Structures and Human Existence: In Honor of Professor Harjeet Singh Gill, Professor Emeritus”. SLL&CS, JNU, Delhi, 13th January 2015.
  • “IPTA and its Connection with People’s Art”, in a conference organized in the University of Delhi, “Progressive Writer's Association and Indian People’s Theatre Association”. January 2012.
  •  “Mahasweta Devi’s ‘Bayen’:A Psychoanalytical Perspective”,  presented in ‘End Term Participant’s Seminar’ organized by Post Masters Workshop Course in Psychodynamic Psychotherapy Centre for Psychoanalytic Studies, University of Delhi. April 2009.
  •  “Ritwik Ghatak and the Epic Tradition”, paper presented in the Autumn School on “The Oral as Resource” organized by the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla. 1-14 November 2008.
  • “People vs. the Nation: Doodhnath Singh's ‘Mai Ka Shok Geet’: A Political Discourse”, in the National conference on “Narratives of Women and the Indian Nation”, Daulat Ram College, University of Delhi, 20-22 November, 2007.
  • Presented a working draft of a translation of Premchand’s story “Narak Ka Marg”, in ‘National Seminar cum Workshop Translating Premchand-II’, organized by Department of English and Modern European Languages, Jamia Milia Islamia, New Delhi 2-4 March, 2006.
  • “Social Activism and Literary Creativity: A Report”, in National Seminar on ‘Activism and Aesthetics: The Politics of Literary Theory and Representation”, H.P. University 26-27th March, 2003.
  • “Signification in Ritwik Ghatak’s Cinema”, in ‘International Symposium on Signification in Buddhist and French Traditions’, Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla. September 25-30 2001.
  • “An Analysis of Margaret Atwood’s Surfacing”, in XV IACS International Conference on Canadian Studies ‘Twentieth Century in Retrospect: Canada and India’, Centre for Canadian Studies, Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla.  April 12-15, 1999.
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