Jamia teachers' solidarity group, AWAM theatre group and South Asia initiative for peace engaged the residents of Jamia Nagar, where there was a police encounter following the Delhi blasts, and thinking citizens of the capital in an evening of petry, music and ideas. Eminent academicians from the the three major universities in Delhi were present, sharing thoughts and participating, along with poets, musicians and people of the embattled neighbourhood of Jamia Nagar. The evening was a welcome start to proaction on the part of academia in public life. The patterns of sectarian violence and its possible roots in geopolitical manipulations by nation states and the weapons business suggest that more than security forces and terror laws, academic studies of society and culture and greater engagement between research and the public interest will guard the interests of people and ensure peace and harmony.