Kannada literature deep influence on Indian thought: Pratibha Patil
New Delhi, Mar 18, DHNS:
Friday, March 19, 2010

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President Pratibha Patil on Thursday paid glowing tributes to Kannada literature and said it had deeply influenced Indian thought.
Speaking after honouring Union Law Minister and writer M Veerappa Moily with the Moortidevi Award for his work “Sri Ramayana Mahanveshanam”, she said: “There have been great literary works in Kannada literature from ancient times, which have had a deep influence on Indian thought. Its ‘Vachana Sahitya’ is literature for the common man in simple language and is unique.”Patil said she had been told that Kannada literature had received the highest number of Jnanpith awards, besides many Sahitya Akademi awards and pointed out that the Moortidevi Award, instituted by the Bharatiya Jnanpith, was yet another acknowledgement of the significant ongoing works in Kannada literature.Praising Moily’s work, she said: “As a writer, Moily forayed into many forms of writing. His literary armoury consists of novels, books of poems, collections of essays and plays, including his magnum opus “Mahanveshanam””.India’s futureThe President said what the present day India has to learn from the “Ramayana” is to build a nation out of many voices, many cultures and many peoples. “Clearly, Moily’s vision, the values of secularism and multi-culturalism are essential for the future of India. When we talk of the future, we cannot forget that it is the youth who are destined to play a major role in taking India forward, and making it a developed nation.”Patil also praised Moily for his literary contributions and said he has the exceptional distinction of being a prolific writer and a person actively involved in public life. “He is, indeed, a rare combination of a politician and a literary figure. His own life has been remarkable.“He has constantly struggled against odds and through perseverance and hard work, he has overcome constraints to achieve success.” Moily said he was now writing a classical epic poem on Draupadi called “Shreemudi Parikramanam”. “Writing is my oxygen and source of energy in sorrows and joys. This has continued to be my companion along with my beloved wife,” he remarked even as he said his wife, Malathi, was his greatest critic who cleared every page he wrote. “Nobody writes for an award but awards function act as incentives for the writer to have confidence in himself and continue his work more zealously.”Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan and Sri Sri Ravishankar spoke on the occasion praising the works of the Union minister.

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Aditi DesaiAditi Desai is an actress trained under the guidance of her father Mr. Jashwant Thaker, a well known theatre director from Gujarat. Acted in more than 30 major play productions with directors like Bharat Dave and Naushil Mehta. She has also been concentrating on doing street theatre workshops and performances with various NGOs focusing on women’s, tribal and environmental issues and trained around 60 groups in Gujarat and Rajasthan. She is also a recipient of Mac-Arthur Fellowship to practice and promote the ideology and techniques of Theatre of the Oppressed. Post 2002 Gujarat riots, she presented one woman shows with different directors from Gujarat and Rajasthan. Currently she heads Jashwant Thaker Memorial Foundation that trains concerned citizen groups to carry forward its process though theatre. She is also an award winning documentary film maker.Aijaz Ahmad Aijaz Ahmad is Senior Editorial Consultant at Frontline magazine, Chennai. He has been Visiting Professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University and Jamia Millia as well as Professorial Fellow at Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, New Delhi. He has published widely on issue of politics and culture. Currently, he is also working as Senior News Analyst with a developing web-based news outlet in video format, The Real News (www.therealnews.com).Akshara KV Akshara KV works at Ninasam, theatre and cultural group at Heggodu, Karnataka. He has undergone training in theatre at the NSD and the Workshop Theatre, University of Leeds, UK. Has directed several productions in Kannada and has written 3 plays apart from several adaptations and books on theatre and culture. He also heads, Akshara Prakashana, a publication in Karnataka.Akshara KVAkshara KV works at Ninasam, theatre and cultural group at Heggodu, Karnataka. He has undergone training in theatre at the NSD and the Workshop Theatre, University of Leeds, UK. Has directed several productions in Kannada and has written 3 plays apart from several adaptations and books on theatre and culture. He also heads, Akshara Prakashana, a publication in Karnataka.Alan BrodyAlan Brody is Associate Provost for the Arts and Professor of Theater at MIT. His plays have won numerous awards and have had productions and staged readings at theaters such as The Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, The Aspen Playwrights Conference, The Live Oak Theater in Austin, Texas, The Berkshire Theater Festival and Theater Forty in Beverly Hills. His plays include Invention for Fathers and Sons, The Company of Angels , The Housewives of Mannheim, Matchpoint, Five Scenes From Life, Greytop in Love ,One-on-One and Medea's Nurse. He has also writtten a dramatic oratorio, Reckoning Time: A Song of Walt Whitman in collaboration with composer Peter Child (MIT Professor of Music). Among his credits as a director are Vinie Burrows' internationally acclaimed one-woman show, Sister! Sister! and the world premieres of two operas, T.J. Anderson's Soldier Boy, Soldier and Ken Guilmartin's The Marriage of Heaven and Hell. Mr. Brody is also the author of two novels, Coming To (1973) and Hey Lenny, Hey Jack (1975).Amitesh Grover Amitesh Grover has created 16 Live Art pieces which have taken a total of 70 shows. His interventions range from multimedia creativity (fluxing live with recorded arts), site-specific work, designing & directing for proscenium theatre to evolving pedagogy for Advanced Performance. His work has been shown in Delhi, London, Mumbai, Kolkata, Pune & Bangalore. He continues to contribute to contemporary theatre discourse through workshops, talks and articles. His recent works include Hand Over Fist (live & multimedia, NSD, Delhi), Memorable Equinox (on-site, digital & live, British Council, Delhi) and I Hate My Body (video installation & performance, WCA, London). NSD alumnus and a Charles Wallace scholar (2005), he completed his research degree from University of Arts, London, UK in 2006. His show Electronic City (staged in collaboration with Max Mueller Bhavan in Sep.07) was invited to 10th National Theatre Festival, India held in Jan 2008. At present, he is a visiting faculty member for Modernism & Visual Culture at NSD and a freelance artist. He is leaving for a 6 months Artist-in-Residency at Rote Fabrik in Zurich, Switzerland this year.Amjad AliAmjad Ali is a journalist from Pakistan and a member of South Asian Free Media Association which addresses the political issues of the region. He is the Pakistan convenor of National Youth Project to promote peace between India and pakistn. Now he is studying at Asian School of Journalism.Anil Kumar S GAnil Kumar S G is an alumnus of Asian Institute of Management, Manila, Philippines where he did his Masters in Management. A career banker with over 15 years of experience in various areas of Banking including agricultural lending & retail banking. Has worked for 5 years in a PSU bank before joining ICICI Bank in the year 1996. After several challenging assignments in the Retail Banking area in ICICI Bank, he is presently Head – Microfinance Development Team in the bank. The Microfinance Development team at ICICI Bank focuses on providing financial services to that segment of the population which does not have access to formal financial institutions.Anis Azmi Anis Azmi is the author of 32 plays, including many for children. Some of his popular plays include Khul Ja Simsim and Inqilaab Zindabad.Anita CherianAnita Cherian teaches English at the University of Delhi’s Indraprastha College for Women. However, her research interests are directed towards the study of Cultural Policy, Performance and the State. She completed her doctoral thesis, titled ‘Fashioning a National Theatre: Institutions and Cultural Policy in Post-Independence’ from the Department of Performance Studies, Tisch School of the Arts, New York University.Anmol VellaniAnmol Vellani leads the India Foundation for the Arts. He has served in an advisory capacity for a number of Indian and international organizations and networks working in the arts, education and philanthropy. Anmol has written papers on a range of subjects, including the arts and religion, corporate patronage, arts entrepreneurship, intercultural dialogue and performance translation. He has served as faculty for training workshops in grant making and used theatre methods to conduct creativity workshops in management programmes. He has directed over thirty plays and is presently working on a version of Georg Büchner's 'Woyzeck'.Anupam BarveAnupam Barve completed her formal training in theatre from Lalit Kala Kendra, University of Pune under the guidance of Satish Alekar. He has acted in many play productions of noted directors and his directorial venture 46 Chromosomes… 1 Cell was has been much acclaimed. He has also directed Mahapur written by Satish Alekar. Also worked as music arranger, production coordinator, publicity designer for a number of play productions. Recently he has undergone advanced actors’ training at Chorus Repertory in Manipur under the guidance of Ratan Tiyyam. The Dept. of Culture, Govt. of India awarded Scholarship in the field of theatre for his study on Theatre Games and Improvisation in Theatre in 2007.Anurupa RoyAnurupa Roy is a free-lance puppeteer based in New Delhi. She is the founder/Managing Trustee of the Katkatha Puppet Arts Trust. She works as a director for puppet performances, a puppet builder and manipulator and also a workshop conductor for puppet theatre.Aparna DharwadkerAparna Dharwadker (Ph.D., Pennsylvania State University, 1990) Professor Dharwadker joined the University of Wisconsin faculty in Fall 2001, and is currently Associate Professor in the Departments of Theatre and Drama and English. Her principal research and teaching interests are in Restoration and eighteenth-century British theatre, comparative modern drama and theatre theory, and postcolonial studies. In 2006, she received the Joe A. Callaway Prize for her recent study, Theatres of Independence: Drama, Theory, and Urban Performance in India Since 1947 (judged the best book on drama or theatre published in 2004-05), and the H. I. Romnes Faculty Fellowship from the UW Graduate School and Alumni Research Foundation for exceptional scholarship in the Humanities. Professor Dharwadker's essays and articles have also appeared in a range of journals and collections Professor Dharwadker has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Institute of Indian Studies, the Folger Library, and the Newberry Library, among others. She has also lectured at institutions in the U.S. and abroad, including the University of Chicago, University of Pennsylvania, Yale University, the University of Georgia, Texas A&M University, Delhi University, and the Indian Institute of Technology. Her current project is an edited collection of modern Indian theatre theory and criticism, titled A Poetics of Modernity: Theories of Drama, Theatre, and performance in India, 1860-2005, and scheduled for completion in 2007-08.Archana RamaswamyArchana Ramaswamy is an actress and a trained Bharatanatyam dancer. She also has some training in Odissi. She has recently been working in dance-theatre productions with Ranan, Calcutta, and is currently a member of the cast touring with British Council’s production of Tim Supple’s Midsummer Night’s Dream. Archana has also worked closely with Prithvi Festivals for the last few years, in various organisational capacities, and collaborated with Prithvi to take Footsbarn to Chennai during their all-India tour in Jan – Feb 2005. She has a dream of setting up an arts resource centre that will provide both material resources and a platform for artist interactions with each other and their audiences.Arjun GhoshArjun Ghosh has been awarded a Doctorate in 2007 by the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi for my thesis on the Jana Natya Manch. I have also written in various Indian and international journals on issues related to politics and theatre and participated in seminars and conferences as well.ArumughamArumugham is an actor with the Kattaikuttu Sangam and leads his own Kattaikuttu groupArun MozhiArun Mozhi is a film maker who studied at the Film Institutes at Adayar and Pune. His films were screend at International Film Festivals in London, Germany and Edinburgh and he won an award at the Moscow International Film Festival in 1982. He has also directed a play ‘Ethir Kural’. He also works as the lecturer of screenplay at LV Parasad Academy, Saligramam.Arun Mukherjee Arun Mukherjee, born in 1937,had been associated with the Cultural Wing of the State Co-ordination Committee durin late fiftees, with the IPTA in the sixtees and formed CHETANA in the seventees. His two major productions are MAREECH SANGBAD& JAGANNATH.Arundhati NagArundhati Nag is an actress with a career of 35 years on stage and screen. She is the Creative Director of Ranga Shankara, Bangalore.Ashish MehtaAshish Mehta is an active member of Aasakta, a Marathi experimental theatre group and take care of its administrative side. Apart from the production coordination he design set and music for the plays of Aasakta. He has traveled widely in the country with the group. He is also associated with other theatre groups in Pune like Progressive Dramatic Association and Maharashtra Cultural Centre. He is a mechanical engineer by profession.Ashish RajadhyakshaAshish Rajadhyaksha is an active member of the editorial collective of the Journal of Arts and Ideas and a regular contributor to Framework and Sight & Sound. Senior Research Fellowship from the Indian Council of Social Science Research (1989-91). He has published widely on cinema and contemporary art, and presented papers on these topics in conferences across the world. Also he has taught film studies at the University of Iowa, The Korean National University of Arts, Seoul, Birkbeck College/British Film Institute, Jadavpur University, University of Bombay, and the National Film Archive of India/Film and Television Institute of India. Author of Ritwik Ghatak: A Return to the Epic (Screen Unit, 1982); editor, with Paul Willemen, Encyclopaedia of Indian Cinema (British Film Institute and OUP, 1994); editor, The Sad and Glad of Kishore Kumar (Research Centre for Cinema Studies, 1988); editor, with Amrit Gangar, Ghatak : Arguments/Stories (Screen Unit/Research Centre for Cinema Studies, 1987); editor, with Marco Muller, L'Avventurose Storie del Cinema Indiano (2 vols., in Italian) (Mostra Internazionale del Nuovo Cinema, 1985); editor, with Rani Burra, Looking Back, 1896-1960 (Directorate of Film Festivals/Film India Retrospective of Indian Cinema, 1981). Currently coordinating the Media Archive of CSCS, and working on a collection of essays titled Who's Looking?. Co-curator (with Geeta Kapur) of the exhibition Bombay/Mumbai 1992-2001, part of Century City: Art and Culture in the Modern Metropolis, Tate Modern, London, 2001.Ashok TiwariAshok Tiwari is an actor with Jana Natya Manch in Delhi and has been associating with it for the past 17 yearsAshutosh PotdarAshutosh Potdar did active theatre from Ichalkaranji and Kolhapur in Maharashtra. He adapted Dario Fo, Jean Genet and the groups performed the plays at different places in Maharashtra. He wrote few street plays and directed them for performing at small places in colleges in district of Kolhapur. Also, he wrote few one act plays and two full length plays. Apart from this, as an activist, he worked to organize theatre performances. Also he taught at Lalit Kala Kendra, University of Pune.Balasaravanan TBalasaravanan T teaches at school of Drama, Thrissur, University of Calicut, Kerala. He is closely associated with Magic Lantern, Chennai. He is an experienced light designer and has directed a number of play productions.Bandhu PrasadBandhu Prasad has been with Abhinaya Theatre Research Centre, Thriuvananthapuram, taking care of its administrative aspects since 2001. He is part of the administrative team of India Theatre Forum. Also works as freelance media relations manager and content developer for print/web publicity. He is closely associating with Kerala State Chalachitra Academy for its film festival events. Recently floated an informal group that offers organizational support to artists and performers.BasavalingaiahBasavalingaiah has been working in Kannada Theatre for a decade and a half.Brijesh Brijesh is a playwright and actor with Jana Natya Manch. He is the author of Shambukvadh, Varun ke Bete and other proscenium plays, and has worked on several street plays as well.ChandradasanChandradasan is the Founder Director of Lokadharmi, one of the important theatre centre of the country and Mazhavillu the children’s theatre wing of Lokadharmi. He is a theatre director, actor and writer. He has worked in collaboration with eminent theatre activists from all over the world in workshops and productions. He is also the resource person for theatre in many institutions and universities. He is continuously working in theatre by designing and directing plays, acting, writing about plays and translating, organizing workshops and training actors etc. He and Lokadharmi dream the emergence of a village theatre culture with immense energy rooted in Indian ethos and tradition and depicting Indian realities.ChannakeshavaChannakeshava works as the designer with the Kannada journal Deshakaala, in Bangalore and has undergone training in visual arts at Chitrakala Parishat, Bangalore, and in theatre at the Ninasam Theatre Institute. Has directed several productions in Kannada and also does freelancing designing workChoiti GhoshChoiti Ghosh is a free-lance theatre artist. Growing up in a family of theatre persons, she started her work in children’s theatre and ‘Theatre & Education’, with ANANT, Delhi and NEEV, with Prof.A.K.Jalaluddin. Having dabbled in various aspects of theatre like acting, writing, design, administration and documentation, she now works as an actress with Habib Tanvir’s, Naya Theatre, Bhopal; with ANANT Theatre in Delhi; aRANYA Theatre in Mumbai. She is also a puppeteer with Katkatha Puppet Arts Trust in Delhi. She is currently handling the ITF administration.Civic ChandranCivic Chandran, active in the theatre scene of the seventies in Kerala, played leadership role in the evolution of the third theatre movement in Kerala. He wrote the first street play in Malayalam language. Ningalare Communistaki, a counter play based on the famous KPAC play created much debate, and a case related to it is still pending in the Supreme Court. He leads the Surasu Memorial Theater festival in Kerala for the last 4 years.D ReghoothamanD Reghoothaman is Director of ABHINAYA, a theatre research centre functioning from Thiruvananthapuram since 1992, for which he took the major initiative and interest. Now Abhinaya is a theatre group of international repute; Reghoothaman has been working as its Director since its inception. In 1995, Reghoothaman was one of the artists from Kerala selected by Footsbarn Travelling Theatre (France) in 1995 to work with them. He worked with Footsbarn till 1997, staging more than 150 productions of the play THE ODYSSEY across the world. Reghoothaman has also worked extensively with his mentor, Prof. G Sankara Pillai, assisting him and acting in several plays. He is a graduate of the School of Drama at University of Calicut, before which he was associated with Nataka Yogam, a theatre group in Thiruvananthapuram. Soon after graduation he led a four member team on a six month All India Performance Tour. On his return to Kerala in 1989, he started learning Kathakali, Kalarippayattu and sculpture.Dakxinkumar Nandlal BajrangeDakxinkumar Nandlal Bajrange is a graduate from Gujrat University in Psychology. He is an award winning film maker whose works dealt with development and social issues. He is the founder member of Budhan Theatre, a group that works amongst h Chhara community. He has written, directed and acted many play productions including Budhan which was translated into many languages and performed world wide. He is a faculty at National Tribal Academy, Tejgadh, Gujarat and a fellow at Bhasha Research and Publication Centre in Baroda. He represented Nomadic and De notified Tribes (DNTs) of India at United Nations in 2007 and various universities of USA including Georgetown, Princeton and Maryland Universities. Currently working on Mrichkattikam play with Budhan Theatre group.Damayanti NaregalDamayanti Naregal is a well known Kannada writer who has two novels and three short story collections to her credit. She has also published three one act plays in Sankalan and Dharwar. Her unpublished plays Devaru iladdaGode fetched her the B V Karanth Rang Pratishtana Award in 2006 and another unpublished play received Suchitra Kala Kendra Award in 2006. Currently working on a biography of Gangubhai Hangal.Deepa GaneshDeepa Ganesh actively involved in Kannada amateur theatre. She regularly writes on theatre. She is a journalist with The Hindu, Bangalore.Deepthy ChandrasekharDeepthy Chandrasekhar works closely with Bangalore Little Theatre, one of Bangalore’s oldest theatre groups. She has acted and worked backstage for many play productions. She focuses on Children’s Theatre.DeviDevi is President, Praja Natya Mandali, Andhra Pradesh. Praja Natya Mandali is the largest people’s cultural organization of Andhra Pradesh, with 1180 teams and 25,000 members across the entire state. The teams do street theatre, proscenium plays, folk forums (like dappu, kolattam, bhajans, tappetagullo, oggukatha, etc). A large majority of the teams are rural. More than 70% of the membership of Praja Natya Mandali is composed of dalits and tribals. Praja Natya Mandali organises many theatre festivals through the year.DevikaDevika is an actor with Magic Lantern, a theatre group based in Chennai. She has acted in many play production of the group over several years.Dr Shripad BhatDr Shripad Bhat is from Honnavar and is working as a High school Teacher.He has reached 'Uttara kannada Ranga Bhoomi' in Karnataka University Daravada. .His work focuses on implementing folk, Yakshagana elements in Modern plays. He has conducted theatre workshops in many places in Karnataka .He is one of the leading directors of the repertory group ‘Chintana’. .He has directed more than 60 play production ranging from proscenium plays, children’s plays and street plays. He was awarded Sikshana Sri for his contributions in the field of education and theatre.Dr. Ajay JoshiDr. Ajay Joshi has been writing on theatre in many Marathi dailies and English dailies. Worked as the core team member of many national theatre festivals held in Maharashtra. He has translated many Marathi plays into English and plays a key role in the networking initiative of Marathi theatre. He also holds a Phd on Role and Contribution of Theatre Critic in Marathi Theatre.Dr. H V VenugopalDr. H V Venugopal is the Professor and Head of the Dept. of Sankrit, National Degree College, Autonomous, Basavanagudi, Bangalore.Dr.Veena NaregalDr. Veena Naregal is a cultural historian. Her recent articles and research papers include Performance, Caste, Aesthetics : the Marathi Sangeet Natak Era and the Regulation of Theatre Discourse and Cultural Arenas 1880-1920, Eds. Nandini Sundar and Satish Deshpande, solicited for festschrift, forthcoming. Lavani, Tamasha, Loknatya and the Vicissitudes of Patronage, Eds. Kotani et al, Culture and Political Patronage in Western India, Manohar Publications, Delhi 2007. Provincial Elites, Urban Intellectuals and a New Marathi Theatre (1840-1875), in special issue, Hanne De Bruin ed., Seagull Theatre Quarterly, Calcutta, December 2001. Her recent initiatives are international conference on Reviewing Disciplinary Agendas in Theatre Studies: Cultural Arenas, Policies, Institutions, Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi, January 23-25, 2008 and Discussion sessions on Cultural Policy and Democratisation at Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi, AprilEkbal AhamadEkbal Ahamed has been working in Children’s Theatre in Karnataka and closely works with Ninasam. He also runs a craft shop in Bangalore. He recently started a children’s repertory group played by the adults, which is first of its kind in India.G P DeshpandeG P Deshpande is a Marathi playwright. His best known plays include Uddhawastha Dharmashala, Andheryatra, Satyashodak and Chanakya Vishnugupta. He also writes regularly on theatre, culture and politics. He taught Chinese Studies at the International Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, before retiring in 2003.George JoseGeorge Jose taught Sociology for several years before joining India Foundation for the Arts, Bangalore. He was responsible for grants management especially the arts education programme, and most recently was the Associate Director of Pukar, Mumbai. He has acted in theatre productions of the Mumbai-based theatre groups, spontaneous Assembly and Arpana.Gopal GuruGopal Guru teach course on Social Justice and Modern Indian Political Thought and Politcs at the Centre for Political Studies, JNU. His research and Publication are in the field of Indian Politics, Cultural Politics, and History of Ideas. Currently he has been working on the theory of Humiliation and its opposite-Self-Respect. He has published mainly in EPW, and contributed chapters in several books edited by scholars in India and abroad.Hanne M de BruinHanne M de Bruin: The foundation of the Tamil Nadu Kattaikkuttu Kalai Valarchi Munnetra Sangam (the Sangam for short), a union to promote the economic and artistic interests of the players, originated through the work of P. Rajagopal and Hanne M. de Bruin. Hanne M. de Bruin is a Dutch Indologist, who has published a number of essays and books on Kattaikkuttu and other Tamil theatre genres. She supports the work of the Sangam actively through fund raising, facilitating the Sangam's activities, making of theatre costumes and co-producing new plays.Hareesh PHareesh P, a post graduate in Sociology is a playwright. He works with the Praja Natya Mandali in Andhra Pradesh. He is also a training coordinator with UNICEF.Hasan ImamHasan Imam is the founder vice president of Prerna,the cultural organization in Bihar, established in 1986 .Besides the organisational responsibility writing plays especially street plays, acting in both street & stage plays.Organisation seriously active on cultural front.I wrote regular columns focussed on theatre in particular & culture in general in hindi daily from patna .Nowadays an additional study on The element of resistances in dalit folklores of Bihar-is going on.Heiko Sievers Heiko Sievers is Regional Programme Director for South Asia at the Goethe-Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan New Delhi. He studied Philosophy and Social Sciences and obtained a Masters degree in Psychology from the Berlin Free University (FUB) where he subsequently taught Epistemology, History of Science and Film Aesthetics (1981-1986). In 1987 he joined the Goethe-Institut and served as Director of the Max Mueller Bhavan Bangalore from 1990 to 1995 and of the Goethe-Institut Lisbon from 1996 to 1999; he then headed the Cultural Programme Dept. in the Goethe-Institut's Head Office in Munich before being again posted to India in 2003. In India he has co-edited Structural Adjustment. Economy, Environment, Social Concerns (with Shobha Raghuram & Vinod Vyasulu, Macmillan, 1995); Rules, Laws, Constitutions (with Satish Saberwal, Sage, 1998); Reason, Morality and Beauty and Terror, Peace and Universalism. Essays on the Philosophy of Immanuel Kant (2 vol.s, with Bindu Puri, OUP, forthcoming 2006).Indira ChandrashekarIndira Chandrasekhar is a publisher working with Tulika BooksIqbal AhmedIqbal Ahmed has been working in Children’s Theatre in Karnataka and closely works with Ninasam. He also runs a craft shop called Gudi in BangaloreJaya RaoJay Rao has worked with Koothu p Pattarai, Chennai for fifteen years. He works in the capacities of director/actor/organizer with Theatre Lab.Jehan ManekshawJehan Manekshaw has been working and training in Theatre in multiple capacities for well over 10 years. He has received professional Training in every aspect of creating a Theatrical work in this time, be it acting, directing, design, scripting, or producing. He completed his BA with High Honors from Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT, USA. After a year of working in Theatre in New York, Jehan returned to India to work in Theatre, Television and Film and worked under Zarina Mehta at UTV, Quasar Thakore Padamsee, and Nagesh Kukunoor. He then returned to the UK to complete his further education. He received a Masters in Media and ommunications at Goldsmiths College, University of London. He then completed his Masters of Fine Arts from Birkbeck, University of London in Theatre Directing and Theatre Producing, the only course of its kind in the world. After which he started to produce Theatre Productions in London that recieved 4 and 5 star reviews in some of London's most influential theatre review papers and magazines.Joyoti RoyJoyoti Roy started her tryst with theatre through the children’s workshops conducted by Sahitya Kala Parishad. Since 1999 she has been working as an actor and administrator with ANANT (An association for Nascent Art and Natural Thetare), a Delhi based group. Later, 2001 onwards she started to act in plays of Jana Natya Manch also. She has conducted many workshops for children and workshops on voice training. By profession she is an art conservator with Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage. Recently she worked on the design and care management of Jana Natya Manch’s archival, audio visual and play materials.K KashiK Kashi is the secretary of Purisai Duraisamai Kannappa Thambiran Parambarai Therukoothu Manram. He acts in Therukoothu and modern play productins. The selection of the story for the Therukoothu and management of the group are taken care of by him. He is one of the founder members of Koothu . p . PattariK KasiK Kasi alias Kannappa Kasi Thambiran is a fifth generation Theru-k-koothu artiste. He has been performing for nearly 30 years now in his father’s troupe Purisai Duraisamy Kannappa Thambiran Paramparai Theru-k-koothu Mandram, in the most important and demanding role as Kattiyakaran. He has performed all over the India. He has accompanied his troupe at the festival of India performances in France and Sweden. He has also performed in Singapore and Colombia. The important cultural festival he has performed includes SAARC festival, Madras Festival organized by South Zone Cultural Centre (1984), Interstate Cultural Exchange Programme in U.P. He has trained students in Koothu at the National School of Drama, New Delhi, students at Central University, Pondicherry. Kasi is also actively interacting with contemporary theatre in Tamil. He has participating in many plays of Koothu-p-pattarai and workshops conducted by internationally well know theatre directors like Peter Brook, John Martin, Inga Mayer, Prof.S.Ramanujam, Anmol Vellani and N.Muthuswamy.K R OmkarK R Omkar is formally trained in theatre from Ninasam Theatre Institute and National School of Drama, New Delhi. He is specialized in design and direction from NSD. After his studies at NSD, he has directed a number of plays for various groups in country like Ninasam, Nirbok Abhinoy Academy, Bengal, Samudaya, Bangalore etc. Some of his noteworthy plays are Malgudu Huli based on R K Narayan’s Tiger for Malgudi. He has recently done a scene work for Ninasam based on the Cherry Orchards.K R R Ravi VarmaK R R Ravi Varma is a theatre practitioner from Chennai, working with Chennai Kalai Kuzhu.K S Karuna PrasadK S Karuna Prasad was with Koothu-p-Pattarai from 1984 to 1990 and started his own group, Moonram Arangu in 2003. He has worked with all the leading Tamil theatre groups and theatre directors. Presently, he enjoys working with schools and colleges and has done a lot of children’s theatre.K.G. KrishnamurthyK.G. Krishnamurthy is the founder of Kinnara Mela, a theatre group working mainly with Children's theatre in Karnataka. He has undergone training in theatre at Ninasam and the NSD. Has directed several productions in Kannada and has taught at various places including School of Drama, Trichur.KailasamKailasam, one of the founder members of Kattaikuttu Sangam is an actor with the Sangam and teaches at the Sangam school.KalairaniKalairani is an actress with a prodigious amount of talent and a special gift for both comic and serious roles. She has exploited this with panache in live theatre performances with the avant-garde theatre group Koothu-p-pattarai. Her forays into popular cinema have been equally successful. Kalairani's solo works, reflecting the artist's own concerns, have been performed at various stages. Kalairani has worked extensively with children through various workshops imparting to them the innovativeness and spontanaiety that she is known for. She has also conducted workshops for management professionals, educationalists, women's groups, political activists, folk artists, musicians and dancers. Kalairani has had the good fortune of undergoing workshops from some of the finest theatre practitioners from around the world and she brings all this experience into her professional work. Kalairani has also taken part in the UCLA's (University of California at Los Angeles) APPEX program, interacting academically with other theatre professionals.Kavita PaiKeremane Shivananda HegdeKeremane Shivananda Hegde has Yakshagana in his blood from his ancestors. The constant guidance of his highly impressive grand father and father molded his elegant career. He learnt Kathak and many folk dances of India. He toured all over India and abrode i.e.USA,U K,Chaina,South East Asian Country,Nepal,Spain,France etc.He participated in APPEX Workshop organized by the University of California, Los Angeles, USA in 1996. A lively, eminent member of the troupe he holds the position of secretary of Mandali and Yakshagana School.Indian junior Chamber has awarded Shivananda Hegde as an outstanding young person. He received Govt. of India scholarship of Young workers in different cultural fields (Yakshagana) in 1990 - 93. And in the year 2000-2 he received junior fellowship from Government of India for higher studies of traditional Yakshagana (A practical study of Uttara Kannada Style of Yakshagana with special emphasis on Nritya and Abhinaya)Keval AroraKeval Arora teaches drama at the Dept. of English in Kirori Mal College, University of Delhi. He does theatre in the extra curricular space with the college students. He is also a freelance theatre critic.Kiran BhatKiran Bhat works with Samudaya, Karnataka and chintana Ranga Adhyayana Kendra as a director and designer. He has directed many children’s play such as Iggappa Hegade Vivaha, Prahasana, Sultan Tippu, Patha Nataka. He attended a national level workshop on children’s theatre led by Swedish Theatre experts. He has also participated and done presentations a national and international seminars.Komita DhandaKomita Dhanda is a trained filmmaker and an actor. She has done my M.A. in mass communication from Mass Communication Research Centre, Jamia Millia Islamia. I have worked as a camera person and as an editor in college as well as outside projects. She has been working with Jana Natya Manch for quite sometime now. She has acted in prosenium as well as street plays of Jana Natya Manch.. At the moment I am working in LeftWord Books, a publishing house in Delhi.Koushik SenKoushik Sen, born in 1968, the director of Swapnasandhani has directed all major plays of the group. A renowned television, film and theatre actor in his own right, Koushik has led the group right from the outset in 1992. He has twice been adjudged the Best Actor by the Paschim Banga Natya Akademi and has received the Best Supporting Actor Award from the BFJA for his performance in Mrinal Sen’s Amar Bhuban. Koushik has very recently directed the play Ru-ba-Ru (inspired by Ingmar Bergman’s celebrated film Persona) for the National School of Drama Repertory. In his career as a theatre director, Koushik has experimented with a variety of subjects and has explored different theatrical genres through his productions. He has staged works of greats like Chekov, Brecht and Tagore. He has also worked with contemporary creations of Selim Al-Deen and Bratya Basu. He has staged a fairy tale by Jaya Mitra and has staged the translated version of a short story by the celebrated French writer Vercor. He has directed adapted versions of a Satyajit Ray short story and Jibanananda Das novel for the Bengali stage. He carved a niche for himself when he first staged the play Pratham Partha, a complex verse-drama by Buddhadeb Bose in the year 1997.Krishna DevanandanKrishna Devanandan is a performer who has been working with Magic Lantern for several years as an actor. She has also worked with Padmini Chettoor Dance Company. She works with the body in imaginative ways and has conducted workshops based on dance, yoga and martial arts for young people and aspiring actorsLawrence LiangLawrence Liang is a graduate form National Law School subsequently pursued his Masters degree in Warwick, England on a Chevening Scholarship. His key areas of interest are law, technology and culture, the politics of copyright and he has been working closely with Sarai, New Delhi on a joint research project Intellectual Property and the Knowledge/Culture Commons. A keen follower of the open source movement in software, Lawrence has been working on ways of translating the open source ideas into the cultural domain.Leela SamsonLeela Samson trained in Kalakshetra from an early age and was deeply influenced by its founder - Rukmini Devi Arundale. Her career of dancing and teaching were spent in Delhi from 1975- 2005, where she trained the young, danced at leading festivals all over India, formed a company called Spanda for alternate expression in Bharata natyam and wrote regularly on dance. In the summer of 2005 she was invited to head her alma mater where she has served for 3 years. Leela is a recepient of several awards in icluding the Padma Sri and two short films have centered around her - Sanchari by Arun Khopkar and The Flowering Tree by Ein Lall.Lisa StepfLisa Stepf was born in 1979 in Kassel, Germany She has been an actress of the independent company Flinntheater since 1998, was Assistant of the International Ambassador at the New York City Fringe Festival 2001. She has a Bachelor in Cultural Management from the University of Lüneburg, Germany and a Master in Applied Cultural Studies, Focus on Theatre, Music and Cultural Studies, University of Hildesheim, Germany 2006. Lisa Stepf will be writing for www.theaterpolitik.de and Kultur.Politik.Diskurs about the Policy Forum.Loitongbam DorendraLoitongbam Dorendra hails from Imphal and started performing at a very young age. He got guidance from pioneer theatre practioners like H Nilamani, N Tombi and many more. He participated in the 3 month intensive workshop of NSD held at New Delhi in 1980. He then joined the Chorus Repertory Theatre and worked under the guidance of Ratan Tiyyam for more than 10 years. He participated in many national and international theatre festivals as an actor with the group. He also participated in the workshops led by John Martin, Pravir Guha and Sue Weston. He has conducted North East Theatre Workshop in 1996 and served as the member of various academies and expert committees. Many of his plays were presented at different prestigious theatre festivals across the country.Lynne HenryLynne Henry works with Vikalp, an organization that promotes good films. Lynne is an organizer and educator.Madhuri M DixitMadhuri M Dixit is a lecturer in English at undergraduate level.She recently came up with a paper titled Sudarshan Rangmanch: Shaping Creativity through Economic Compulsions. This paper was presented at 13th Annual Cultural Studies Workshop organized by CSSS, Kolkata in PuneMaheshMahesh is a state committee member of Praja Natya Mandali and writes songs for the plays. He is also the manager of the magazine of Praja Natya Mandali.Makarand SatheMakarand Sathe has been writing plays, novels and serious articles for last two decades. His has writren plays like ‘ Charshe Koti Visarbhole’, ‘Roman Samrajyachi Padzad’, ’ Thombya’, ‘ Surya Pahilela Manus’, ‘ Sapatnekarache mool’, ‘Chowk’ etc. and novels like ‘Achyut Athawale Ani Athawan’, ‘Operation Yamu’ in Marathi. His writing expresses his wide range of concerns, from the socio-political scenario of today, to the philosophical aspects of time and space, from human existence and ethics, to the impact of science and technology on the post-modern society and the absurdity in the modern urban life. Many of his plays have been translated into English, Hindi, Kannada, Urdu etc. His plays and novels have received many prestigious awards. He has written feature film scripts and directed a few documentaries. He has been associated with the Dept. of Performing Arts ( Lalit Kala Kendra), University of Pune, as visiting faculty for 3 years, from 1996 to 2000, for postgraduate (Drama) students. After practicing as an Architect and designer for more than twenty years Makarand Sathe is now a full time writer. He lives in Pune with his economist wife and their daughter.Maloy MitraMaloy Mitra is a filmmaker and has worked with major Television channels in the country. He has worked with eminent film makers like Rituparno Ghosh. He contributes to leading dailies Anandabazar Patrika, Aajkal etc. on film, theatre and television. He had the opportunity to attend theatre workshops with renowned theatre personalities like Peter Brook, Barbara Mundell, Niranjan Goswami and Shambhu Bhattacharya and also worked with Rudraprasad sen Gupta and Probir Guha. He also works as theatre instructor for under privileged and marginalized sections of the society.Manav KaulManav Kaul is a young writer-director with aRANYA theatre, Mumbai. He has written plays like ‘Shakkar Ke Paanch Daane’, ‘Peele ScooterWala Aadmi’, ‘Bali Aur Shambhu’, ‘Ilhaam’, ‘Aisa Kehte Hain’, ‘Park’. His plays have been translated in other languages like English, Marathi, Bengali and are being performed in various parts of the country. He recently directed 2 plays for Rangshankara, Bangalore, one of which was in Kannada. He is currently rehearsing for his new play called ‘Red Sparrow’.Manoj ShahManoj Shah is a Gujarati playwright & Director with ‘Ideas Unlimited’. his JAL JAL MARE PATANG is third in line after MAREEZ and APURVA AVSAR of the unsung and little known biographies of Gujarati luminaries, who have excelled in Literature, Philosophy and the Arts.Maya Krishna RaoMaya Krishna Rao lends a new dimension to contemporary Indian theatre – both on and off stage. She creates, performs and directs her own shows. These have been received with critical acclaim and been at prestigious festivals at home and abroad. She engages school children and teachers in the use of drama as a teaching device in the class room. She is one of the few Indian women who do stand up comedy in India. In recent years, her multi-media works have been noted for taking urban performance in a new direction. Maya is also member, visiting faculty, National School of Drama, Delhi, where she teaches Acting.Mohit TakalkarMohit Takalkar has been active on the Marathi experimental theatre front for the past 8 years. He is the founder of Aasakta Kala Manch in Pune. He has directed 10 full length plays and 6 one act plays. Apart from being a directed he acted, designed set and music for a number of play productions. He has travelled all over the country with the play productions of the group Aasakta. He also works with Progressive Dramatic Association, Samanvay and Maharashtra Cultural Centre etc. He has received several awards including the maharashtra State Award for his various works.Moloyashree HashmiMoloyashree Hashmi a school teacher by profession, (born 1953) is possibly India's best-known street theatre activist. For more than the last thirty years, she has been engaged in theatre, and since 1989 has been Secretary, Jana Natya Manch, India's premier street theatre group. She has been involved in the creation of more than 70 street plays and has more than 5,000 performances to her credit. She has worked with directors like Habib Tanvir, Anuradha Kapur, M.K. Raina, N.K. Sharma, and others, and playwrights such as Govind Deshpande. . She has been on the editorial board of Nukkad Janam Samvaad since its inception. She has worked in the field of elementary education for the last thirty years as primary school teacher and as a consultant. She has also used theatre as a pedagogic tool in the classroom. She has written several textbooks for English Education) and Environmental Studies, and evolved new educational material in other subjects as well. She has regularly conducted workshops for innovative techniques for several subjects at the elementary level for teachers in government and private schools. At present, she conducts the Theatre Practicum for students of the Bachelor of Elementary Education in five colleges of Delhi University.Murugan Rao Murugan Rao comes from a traditional shadow puppet theatre family. He is a very talented, multifaceted personality and an enthusiastic puppeteer, well versed in all aspects of shadow puppetry and many other folk art forms. Usually he is accompanied by his wife, Muthalammal.Niloufer SagarNiloufer Sagar is currently working as part-time Program Associate with the Arts and Culture cell of the Sir Ratan Tata Trust, a funding agency. She was with the management of the Jaipur Heritage International Festival from July 2004 to March 2006. She has also done Stage Management and Production Control for RAGE Productions, an English theatre company in Bombay, from 1995 to 2002 (part-time) and full time from May 2003 to July 2004. Productions include I’m not Bajirao, Six Degrees of Separation, Going Solo, Jesus Christ Superstar, Going Solo 2: Living on the Edge, Love Letters, Class of ’84, Pune Highway and Hard Places. She has also done production control for Writers’ Bloc, a festival of new Indian writing produced by Rage, programme Co-ordination for the Jindal Arts Creative Interaction Centre of the National Centre for the Performing Arts, theatre Programming Co-ordination for the National Centre for the Performing Arts from October 2001 to March 2003, and various other freelance jobs and volunteer activities in theatre programming and management.Nirmala RavindranNirmala Ravindran started off as an actor and director in 1993, and pursued it actively till 1998 before moving to the organizational side of theatre and to the back end of theatre. She hasactively involved with theatre in Bangalore, as part of the core group that built Ranga Shankara from 1997 to 2004. Involved with all aspects from fund raising to organising theatre festivals to programming for the festival(till 2005). She is also an active member of The Company Theatre based in Mumbai, where our greatest challenge is to raise funds and create a theatre residency (laboratory) in Mumbai for dedicated actors can live and work together. She has also curated the Theatre section of the Bangalore Habba(2007) and assisted Director of the Theatre Translation workshop that was funded by SRTT and conducted at Adishakti in Pondicherry. Her long term endeavour is to explore the possibility of creating a module for self sustenance for actors/directors/groups /institutions involved in non commercial theatre.Omkar GowardhanOmkar Gowardhan is active on the Marathi experimental front for the past 5 years. He has been working as an actor and also into the oraganisation and management of Aasakta Kala Manch, Pune. He has acted in a commercial play Manomilan as well as in experimental plays like Fridgemadhye Thevalela Prem, Chandralok Complex. Presently he is acting in the play Charshe Koti Visarbhole written by Makarand Sathe and directed by Mohit Takalkar. Omkar had the opportunity to enact lead roles in the Hindi feature film Bewaqt Baarish and Marathi film Sangeet Savitri Akhyaan, directed by Sumitra Bhave and Sunil Sukthankar respectivelyP K Sambandam ThambiranA fifth generation artist of the Purisai School of Therukooth, Sambandam has been performing since 1977 in the main roles. Over the years he has worked extensively with Koothu-p-Pattari, both choreographing their plays and training their actors. He has participated in many national and international theatre workshops and has directed the Therukoothu versions of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s ‘An oldman with huge wings’ and Brecht’s ‘Caucasian Chalk Circle’. He has performed extensively with his troupe, Purisai Kannappar Thambiran Theru-k-koothu Manram, both in India and abroad.P RajagopalThe foundation of the Tamil Nadu Kattaikkuttu Kalai Valarchi Munnetra Sangam (the Sangam for short), a union to promote the economic and artistic interests of the players, originated through the work of P. Rajagopal and Hanne M. de Bruin. P.Rajagopal is an actor, director and playwright. He comes from a family of Kattaikkuttu actors and musicians.Padma VenkattaramanPadmaja HuilgolPadmaja Huilgol is a radio artiste and works with the group Sriranga. She has portrayed lead roles in the amateur productions of Sriranga. She lives in Dharwad, Karnataka.Padmaja ReddyPadmaja Reddy is the founder of Spandana and is responsible for starting the organisation in 1998 and growing it to its present size. Spandana is one of the leaders in microfinance industry in India and reaches to over one million customers, manages over one million loan accounts and has an asset base over Rs 3 Bn. It has disbursed loan of about Rs.15 Bn since its inception.Ms Reddy's academic qualifications include a Post Graduation in Business Administration with specialisation in Marketing Management from Nagarjuna University and micro finance courses at Naropa University, U.S.A, Certificate Course on Credit and Micro Enterprise Development at Durham University Business School, England and Diploma in Project Management in Germany. Her work experience has been in various capacities with renowned National and International organisations. Some of the main positions held were as a consultant with Department For International Development (DFID) and British Council Division, as a monitor for Rashtriya Mahila Kosh where she appraised more than 100 voluntary organisations. She also worked as a monitor for CAPART, Hyderabad; had appraised 25 voluntary organisations for funding, worked as a consultant for a Netherlands assisted project, served as Board member for APMAS, Worked as Deputy Director in a voluntary organisation called ASSIST and was involved in project planning, designing, implementation, monitoring and evaluation, organized numerous training camps including workshops on gender, Micro- enterprise development, irrigation, watershed, health, sanitation etcPadmini ChetturPadmini Chettur began her dance training with Bharatanatyam. Between 1991 & 2001 she worked with choreographer Chandralekha performing in productions like Lilavati, Pran, Angika, Sri, Bhinna Pravaha etc. Her own artistic research began in 1994. She departs from the Classical repertoire of gestures, posturing & mythical tales to shape an alternative, no less strict but very condensed. At the core of Chettur’s work is resistance. It unveils a taut vision that takes the contemporary dance of India from what it is and how it should look, to radical dimensions.Palagummi SainathPalagummi Sainath is the winner of the 2007 Ramon Magsaysay award for Journalism, Literature, and Creative Communication Arts. Over decades of reporting, he has established himself as among the pre-eminent chroniclers of rural life in our times. His stories, photo-essays, and other work record an India seldom visible to many of us. Sainath received the A.H. Boerma Award in 2001 for his contributions. In July 2004, he was awarded the Prem Bhatia Award for excellence in political reporting and analysis for 2003-04 in recognition of his "outstanding, indeed exceptional, work on the problems of the poorest of the poor, especially in Andhra Pradesh." He is the Rural Affairs Editor of The Hindu.Partha SenPartha Sen is a professor of Economics at Delhi School of Economics. He has taught Economics at prestigoius instituitions like London School of Economics, University of Illinois and University of Bristol. A vast number of his publications appeared in many international economic journals. His contributions has enriched many books and reviews on economic theory and policies. He is also the editor of Indian Ecocnomic Review.Pawan WaghmarePawan Waghmare is a puppeteer who works with the Ishara Puppet Theatre Trust and The Katkatha Puppet Arts Trust in New Delhi. He is also a project manager for the UNESCO HIV/AIDS project of the Ishara Puppet Arts Trust. He is the Production Manager for all Katkatha performances. Pawan has toured many festivals with the shows of these two puppet companies. He is also currently assisting Ms Ranjana Pandey at the MCRC Jamia as a teacher for the Traditional Media segment of the Mass Communication course.Prabir PurkayasthaPrabir Purkayastha is an engineer by profession and a science activist. Founder member of the Delhi Science Forum and All India Peoples Science Network. Also a part of the core group that organized the World Science Forum in India. He has written extensively on the issues of science, technology and society.Prakash BelawadiPrakash Belawadi directs plays in Kannada and sometimes in English. He has written and directed for TV and one national award winning film. He also trains in film and drama.Prakash GarudPrakash Garud a Theatre Director is hailing from Theatre family. Prakash Garud completed his B.Sc. degree and then he did his Diploma in Theatre at NINASAM. He completed his Post Graduation course in Theatre at Madhurai Kamaraj University. He also holds a Phd in Theatre. He took a research work in Puppet making and finally evolved a special shadow puppet repertory company and named it as a CHAYACHALANE. He performed a shadow puppet show throughout Karnataka. He and his wife Mrs. Rajani Prakash Garud are the founders of PUPPET HOUSE (Gombe Mane). With this Puppet House they are engaged in puppet performance activities. With the help of puppet showing activities they engaged in Alternative Education in Education field. They are the founder members of BALABALAGA SRUJANASHEELA SHIKSHNA TRUST also. He has directed play productions like Hamlet, Othelo, Shudra Tapaswi, Smashana Kurukshetra, Haddina Kannu, Anjumallige.PralayanPralayan has been working in theatre for more than 20 years. He is the convener of Chennai Kalai Kuzhu, which is leading the open air theatre movement in Tamilnadu. Pralayan worked as the chief resource person for the Arivoli Kala Jatha in Tamilnadu, Pondichery and Andaman & Nicobar islands He is also a writer, poet, a freelance broadcast journalist and makes documentary films. For the last 10 years he has been focusing on a theatre in education programme.Prasad VanarasePrasad Vanarase is a graduate of the National School of Drama (NSD), New Delhi. He has directed more than 50 plays and short plays in Marathi, Hindi, Konkani, Kannada and English. He has also translated and adapted plays in Marathi. Prasad works in three interrelated areas, those of Direction, Administration, and the Management of arts and performing arts. He is a founder trustee of Abhijaat Rangabhoomi, Pune. He has been associated with the London International Festival of Theatre for the last 3 years. He also works as National Creative Coordinator of Project Phakama in India. He has been involved in theatre training for more than 12 years and has worked as visiting faculty / guest director at the University of Pune, the NINASAM Theatre Institute, and the Shriram Centre for Performing Arts to name a few.Prasad Vanarase Prasad Vanarase is a graduate of the National School of Drama (NSD), New Delhi. He has directed more than 50 plays and short plays in Marathi, Hindi, Konkani, Kannada and English. He has also translated and adapted plays in Marathi. Prasad works in three interrelated areas, those of Direction, Administration, and the Management of arts and performing arts. He is a founder trustee of Abhijaat Rangabhoomi, Pune. He has been associated with the London International Festival of Theatre for the last 3 years. He also works as National Creative Coordinator of Project Phakama in India. He has been involved in theatre training for more than 12 years and has worked as visiting faculty / guest director at the University of Pune, the NINASAM Theatre Institute, and the Shriram Centre for Performing Arts to name a few.Prashant Daya PawarPrashant Daya Pawar is Senior Sub-Editor with LOKSATTA, an imprint of Indian Express Group. He has done extensive research in Folk music and Folk dance of Maharashtra. He has in his credit a number of articles and columns addressing the issues of folk culture. In association with Padmasree Daya Pawar Foundation and Madhyam Event Management he has been organizing folk festivals all over Maharashtra. Mumbai District AIDS Control Society and Maharashtra State AIDS Control Society collaborate with him to spread awareness on AIDS through folk artists in rural areas. He has set the background score for the documenarty ‘We are not Monkeys’ directed by Anand Patwardhan.Pravin K PPravin K P is one of the founders of Magic Lantern, a Chennai-based theatre group. He has undergone professional training in theatre at the Strasbourg school of Theatre, France. Having directed ‘Don Juan’ and ‘Caligula’ for Koothu-p-pattarai, Pravin went on to direct ‘Wings and Masks’(contemporary dance), ‘Fables’, ‘Jeremy’, ‘Veshakkaran’, ‘Mashali Mohalla’ and ‘Ponniyin Selvan’ for Magic Lantern. He has been a vital part of many theatre and artists symposiums in Europe. Pravin mainly directs and produces plays, while also co-ordinating administrative matters and painting.Pritham K ChakravarthyPritham K Chakravarthy is an actress working freelance. She lives in Chennai.PriyadarshiniQuasar Thakore PadamseeQuasar Thakore Padamsee is a member of the core team of Q Theatre Productions (QTP), a young theatre group of Bombay, and a theatre junkie. QTP organises THESPO, a youth theatre festival held in Bombay and Bangalore, and brings out SCRIPT, a monthly theatre e-newsletter. Quasar is also a director whose plays can regularly be seen in Bombay. He is currently the Assistant Director on the British Council produced Midsummer Night’s Dream project, directed by Tim Supple.R K HudgiR K Hudgi is a writer and organizer and the State President of Samudaya, Karnataka, a cultural organization dedicated to people’s awareness. He also writes songs for the plays.R K ShivkumarR K Shivkumar is a theatre director working withy Samudaya and Chintana Ranga Adhyayana Kendra. He has directed many plays such as Yana, Matantara, Nanoo Gandhi Aagtene etc. He has also attended numerous theatre workshops.R. RamakumarR. Ramakumar is a development economist working at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. His areas of interest are agricultural economics and rural development. He has a PhD in Economics from Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata. Earlier, he was a Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Development Studies, Trivandrum. He has a number of publications on the topic of microcredit and rural development.Rajarajeswari ERajarajeswari E is a writer and the founder member of Nireeksha, women’s theatre group based in Thiruvananthapuram. She has scripted several plays for the group like Kudiyozhikal, Pravaachaka in Malayalam and translated the play A Secure Home by Elena Garro into Malayalam. She has also organized about 10 workshops for Nireeksha and coordinated the production and performance of Kudiyozhikal, Pravaachaka etc.Rajendra Karanth Rajendra Karanth is a playwright, director, actor and organizer working with the group Chittara, Bangalore. He has written several plays and acted in umpteen numbers of play productions. He has directed several plays with college students, latest being a musical play based on well-known Kannada poet K S Narasimhaswamy's works.Rajendra NathanRajendran Nathan works in Hivos as a Programme Officer with sectoral responsibilities for the Human Rights and Democratisation and the Arts & Culture programme portfolios for India. Hivos is a Dutch development organization with its Head Office in The Hague. The India Regional Office is based in Bangalore. At a personal level he has been active in the Trade Union and cultural organizations.RajeshRajesh is an actor from Chennai working with the theatre group called Chennai Kalai Kuzhu.Rajiv KrishnanRajiv Krishnan first forayed into theatre with the group Magic Lantern in Chennai in the early '90s. He acted in Tamil plays, including the first staging of Kalki Krishnamurthy's classic, 'Ponniyin Selvan' in 1999. He has also been directing plays in English, including his most recent staging of 'Sangathi Arinhya! (‘Have you heard!’) a play based on seven short stories by the Malayalam writer, Vaikom Muhammad Basheer. This was part of a festival called 'Under the Mangosteen Tree' that Perch, a performance collective based in Chennai, organized to celebrate Basheer's centenary which falls this year.Ram BapatRam Bapat has been taking sustained interest in grass root Dalit, Adivasi and Women’s issues movements.From 1965 to 1991, he worked at Dept: of Politics and Public Administration, University of Pune with his area of emphasis on Political Philosophy and Political SociologyRam NarayanRamachandranRamachandran is founder and Director of Keli, an organisation dedicated to the preservation and propagation of the traditional and classical art forms of Kerala. Keli is now in its 15th year of activity, and has enjoyed years of collaboration with Prithvi Theatre. Ramchandran is also an independent documentary filmmaker – KAALAM, his debut film was on the art and life Appu Marar, a traditional percussion performer from Kerala. He is now working on a film project on the role of women in Kudiyattam.RangaswamyRangaswamy is the President of Kattaikuttu Sangam and and also the Mridangam player of the Sangam. He has been working with the Sangam since its inception.Rashmi VajpeyiRashmi Vajpeyi is the Director of Natarang Pratishtan, New Delhi.Rati TripathiRati Tripathi is a research associate at the Center for Micro Finance. She coordinates CMF's field experiments on credit product design and impact evaluation as well as research studies on microfinance sector wide and policy issues. She holds a masters degree in economics.Raxa NaikRaxa Naik is trained as an actress,director and documentary film maker. She has been doing theatre since 1965. She has worked under guidance of well known theatre director of Gujarat late Mr. Jashwant Thaker, Kailash Pandya,Damini Mehta and many more. She has acted in 50 full length plays, 30 one-act plays.She has also worked extensively on radio and television .She received many awards as an actress and as a film maker. She has also directed several plays. Raxa was part of the National Design Institutes's video and film making unit as a production manager. At present she is also associated with Jashwant Thaker memorial foundation as an actress and core group member.RevathyRevathy is a renowned film actress who has acted in most of the south Indian languages and Hindi. Her directorial ventures include Mitr: My Friend and Phir Milenge and for the former one she received the National Award for Best Director. She made her debut on stage with the play No: 1 Madhav Baug directed by Chetan Datar which was premiered at the Ranga Shankara Theatre Festival 2007. She also served as the Jury Member of the International Fil Festival of Kerala 2007.Ruchira DasRuchira Das is currently a core group member of RANAN helping out with publicity and arts administration. As part of her association with SPIC MACAY, she was involved with various organisational elements of performance arts. In the last 1 ½ year's association with Ranan she has been looking after publicity and outreach for the group. She is also presently the coordinator of Rabindra Utsav - an annual festival in Kolkata featuring performances in theatre, dance and music.S RamanujamS Ramanujam born in 1935 is one of the senior most theatre directors in the country. He has a post graduate diploma in Drama and taught at Gandhigram Rural University. He held the positions of Asst. Director, School of Drama, Calicut University for six years and Professor, Head and Dean of Dept. of Drama, Tamil University, Thanjavur for 11 years. He also taught at Pondicherry University, Hyderabad University and Mattakalappu University, Sri Lanka. He also worked with UGC, TULIR and FIP. He was at the helm of revival projects of many folk and temple theatre art forms like Thappattam, Kalsika Purana Natakam, Dummy Horse Dance etc. He has more than 75 plays in his credit as a director in Tamil, Hindi, Malayalam and English. Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Academy has bestowed him with a fellowship and many institutions have awarded him various titles in recognition of his contributions to theatre.S SanthakumarS Santhakumar is a full time actor with Koothu p Pattarai for the last six years.S. RaghunandanaS. Raghunandana (born 1957): Kannada playwright, translator, stage director, stage designer, and teacher of stage acting, design and direction. BA , Bangalore University NSD Diploma and Fellow, Stage Direction (1981-82). Before and after studying at the NSD, was associated with Samudaya (1977-89). Abhinaya Prashikshaka at Nataka Karnataka Rangayana, Mysore (1989 – 2001). Guest faculty and stage director at NSD, Ninasam Theatre Institute, Ninasam Tirugata, Bharatendu Natya Akademy, Lucknow and School of Drama, Trichur, among other institutions. Has designed and directed major productions of plays by Bhasa, Shudraka, Masti Venkatesha Iyengar, Samsa, Thoppil Bhasi, Omcheri Narayana Pillai, P.Lankesh, Sriranga, Shivarama Karanth, Pampa Mahakavi and G. P. Rajaratnam, M.R. Sreenivasmurthy, Siddalingiah, Brecht, Shakespeare, Chekov, Ibsen and Beckett, among others, and plays written by himself, as well as street plays, also all written by himself, for various radical movements such as Samudaya, Kerala Shastra Sahitya Parishad, Bharata Jana Vijnana Jatha, AITUC, and the National Literacy Mission. Has written the plays, ‘Etha Haaridhe Hamsa’, and ‘Sattavara Katheyalla’. Has adapted or translated, variously, plays by Odets, Brecht, Ibsen, Beckett, Euripides, Chekov, Bhasa, Ionesco and Kalidasa. Has published essays and papers on theatre in journals such as Theatre India and Humanscape in English, and in important Kannada journals such as Maatukathe and Deshakaala. Is, at the moment, a member of the Academic Council, National School of Drama. Is currently dedicated to the nurturing of Sambandha, a theatre company that seeks to do theatre professionally.S.ThaninleimaS.Thaninleima, masters in Linguistics completed three years Diploma in Dramatic Arts from the National School of Drama, New Delhi with specialization in Design and Direction. She also had the rare opportunity of getting training from the masters like Ratan Tiyyam and H Kanhailal. Her plays Macbeth and Ei Ngaoba Natte were presented at the Bharat Rang Mahotsav, New Delhi.. She visited Japan as one of the delegates of international theatre directors to study Japanese performing arts. She also went to Korea to study higher technology in theatre designing in 2007.Sachin KundalkarSachin kundalkar is a filmaker , playwright and novelist from maharashtra . His plays include "Chotyashya suttit" ( On vacation ) "Fridge madhye thevalela prem" ( Love in the refrigirator ) , "Chandralok complex" and "poornaviram" ( repose ) .his first marathi novel "Cobalt Blue" was published in 2005 . He is trained in filmmaking from FTII ( Pune ) and La Femis ( Paris ) He has written and directed three feature films and several short films.Sadanand MenonSadanand Menon writes on critical issues of politics and culture, makes photographs and creates light design for stage. He has practiced and taught radical alternatives in media, has edited interventionist journals, is deeply involved with the creation of a contemporary Indian dance, and has curated one major exhibition of visual arts. Presently visiting faculty at Asian School of Journalism, Chennai.Sameera IyengarSameera Iyengar (core administrative team, Theatre Forum) is Creative Director of the Prithvi Theatre Festival, and is also involved with various other Prithvi initiatives. Before joining Prithvi, she worked part-time with the Seagull Theatre Quarterly. She has a PhD focusing on theatre from the University of Chicago, but her theatre roots, funnily enough, were actually established when she was an undergraduate studying Math at MIT!Samik BandyopadhyaySamik Bandyopadhyay is a leading editor, scholar, and critic of the arts. He is a member of the Academic Councils at the National School of Drama, New Delhi, and Vishwa Bharati, Santiniketan, visiting faculty at the annual Film Appreciation Course organized by the NFAI and FTII, Pune, and visiting lecturer at Ninasam’s annual Culture Course.Sandesh KulkarniSandesh Kulkarni is a writer,actor & director from Marathi Theatre. The first full-length play that he wrote, PAHILA VAHILA was the only Marathi play to be performed in a festival organized by the British Council in association with the Royal Court Theatre, London. He was selected from India for an International Residency for Playwrights- A one month workshop in the Royal Court Theatre London in July 2003. His stage adaptation of Vijay Tendulkar’s columns ‘Kovali Unhe’ was a unique success. He even conducts theatre workshops and workshops in creative writing for young people and adults too. He and his theatre group, ‘Samanvay’ are doing work that must be noted.Sanjay UpadhyaySanjay Upadhyay, with a Masters in English, graduated with specialization in acting, from the National School of Drama. The Founder Director of Nirman Kala Manch and Safarmaina (a children's theatre wing), he has been Director of the Shri Ram Centre, New Delhi. His dramatizations of autobiographical writing and poetry have been acclaimed stage productions. he has directed nearly thirty plays; and he has been popular for 'BIDESIA' ,the famous traditional folk of Bihar ,worked as music director in productions by eminent directors from all over India and abroad, including Satyadev Dubey, Bansi Kaul and Fritz Bennewitz; assisted Prakash Jha for his awardwinning film Damul; scored music and directed serials for televisions; conducted workshops for underprivileged children, creating a childrens's theatre wing with them; and has been associated as a resource person for workshop conducted by NSD, the Zonal Cultural Centres and Sangeet Natak Akademi.Sanjna KapoorSanjna Kapoor is the Director of Prithvi Theatre. In her years at Prithvi she has initiated a number of activities , including Summertime at Prithvi – children’s workshops centred on theatre related skills. Her current focus is working towards an all-India theatre alliance, based on a practical sharing of resources and ideas, as well as consolidating and strengthening the work and functioning of Prithvi Theatre itself.Sanjoy GanguliSanjoy Ganguli is the founder member and Director of Jana Sanskriti, centre for Theatre of the Opressed which was founded in 1985. He has written, directed and composed many play productions for Nirman Kala Manch and also published widely on Theatre of the Oppressed. The message of Theatre of the Oppressed has reached far and wide in India through the workshops he has conducted in association with different groups across the country. His plays were presented at the International Theatre Festival of Theatre of the Oppressed in 1991 and 1993 in France and Brazil respectively. He has performed widely in France and conducted workshops for the University of Sussex and University of London. He has also worked as a visiting lecturer at University of East Anglia, Manchester and Leeds. He is a recipient of Mac Arthur Fellowship for the project Empowerment of Women through Theatre.SantaraoSantarao is Vice President, Praja Natya Mandali, Andhra Pradesh. He directs plays and has a special interest in rural drama forms. He is also a journalist.Sarang SathayeSarang Sathaye has been active on the Marathi experimental front for the past 6 years. He has been working as actor-director, and also have designed sets and lights for a couple of plays. He has to his credit around 5 plays and 15 one act plays as an actor such as Pidhijaat, Chotyashya Suttit,, Tu, Poornaviram, Charshe Kot i Visarbhole. In 2004 he joined the theatre group ‘AASAKTA’ in Pune and the group has travelled with their plays to Delhi, Bombay, Kolkata and all over Maharashtra. He has also directed street theatre for Aasakta, and taught children for one year. He also acted in films like ‘Nital’ and ‘Paash’ and worked as assistant director for feature films ‘Restaurant’ and ‘Sangeet Savitree Aakhyan’Saurabh NayyarSaurabh Nayyar is an actor with Aranya theatre group, Mumbai and also acts in advertisements. He is part of the administrative team of India Theatre Forum.Shafaat KhanShafaat Khan is one of the leading playwright of modern Marathi Theatre. He has successfully evolved a unique style of play writing. He has written important plays such as , Shobhayatra., Bhumiticha Farce, Mumbaiche Kawale, Rahile Door Ghar Maze etc.Shaili SathyuShaili Sathyu started her theatre career from very young age, almost by default because both her parents were very actively involved in the field. She was primarily trained and worked with IPTA Mumbai for over 20 years and have worked in a variety of areas including acting, assistant direction, stage design, lighting, back stage work, costume design, etc. At present she is primarily working with IPTA Mumbai as a production coordinator / stage manager and also the General Secretary of the group. Apart from this she also work in the area of literary, visual and performing arts with a focus on children and young adults. Is setting up her own children’s theatre company. And is Director/Consultant of Akshara school.Shankaraiah GhantiShankaraiah Ghanti is a theatre director, actor and organizer working with Samudaya, Gulbarga. He has been working in the field for well over three decades. His recent proscenium play was Raavi Nadiya Dande Mele and directed a street play titled Bhagaavat Geete on communal harmony.Shanta GokhaleShanta Gokhale grew up watching Marathi theatre. After her return from Bristol University where she did bachelors in English language and literature, she began to review plays for the Marathi and English press. In 1981 she was appointed the Arts editor of the Times of India, Mumbai. During the three years that the page survived she was able to create interest among the readers for all the arts, including theatre. She also scouted for groomed young writers for the page. Some people who began their art criticism careers with the page are Ranjit Hoskote (art), Arundhathi Subramanian (dance), Himanshu Burte (architecture). She quit her job in 1992 to write a book on Marathi theatre entitled “Playwright at the Centre”. It was published by Seagull in 2000. She has written three plays. One was directed by Satyadev Dubey in Marathi and by Sunil Shanbag in Hindi. She has been a columnist with the Times of India, Mid-Day and currently Mumbai Mirror. Many of my columns are about theatre. The others are on Hindustani music, literature and other broad cultural issues.Sharvari SastrySharvari Sastry is a graduate in English literature from St. Xavier’s College, Bombay. Currently, she works for Theatre Professionals, a theatre company dedicated to professionalizing and improving the standards of practice for Theatre in India and is also involved in the administration of the India Theatre Forum website, an initiative of the ITF. In addition, she is pursuing a Masters degree in English literature, and is on the Executive Board of Tara Educational Association, a rural and semi-urban education initiative.Shiv VisvanathanShiv Visvanathan taught at the Delhi School of Economics. He was senior fellow Center for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), Delhi and is currently Professor, Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information and Communication Technology, Gandhinagar. He is author of Organizing for Science (OUP, Delhi, 1985), A Carnival for Science (OUP, Delhi, 1997) and has co-edited Foulplay: Chronicles of Corruption (Banyan Books, Delhi, 1999). He is a regular columnist to newspapers like The New Indian Express, Indian Express, Times of India, and DNA. He has held visiting professorships at Stanford, Arizona, Smith and London.Shyamala VanaraseShyamala Vanarase is a conulting psychologist. She has been working as a professional in the area of HRD for the last three decades. She taught film appreciation at different institutions in the country. She wrote a book on the celebrated play of Vijay Tendulkar, Ghashiram Kotwal and currently writing a series on Satyajit Ray on Roopavani a film magazine. She is also teaching at Dept. of Communication media for children at SNDT University, Pune.Siddharth NarrainSiddharth Narrain is working with Alternative Law Forum (ALF), Bangalore. ALF is working on a proposal with Prithvi Thetare to look at forms of theatre censorship in post independence India, especially at the enforcement of the Dramatic Performances Act. Censorship of theatre is one of the two forms of pre censorship that is enforced in India, (the other being cinema)but there has been very little research and public debate on the subject. We are hoping to collect case studies with the help of groups like Ninasam, Ranga Shankara and other theatre groups across the country to examine how the Dramatic Performances Act is being enforced , and what the other legal and extra legal forms of censorship that operate when it comes to theatre.Smitha P Smitha P is an actress who had worked with Abhinaya Theatre and Nireeksha Women’s Theatre based in Thiruvananthapuram. She is also a painter and was selected for the Kendra Sahithya Akademi’s workshop for young writers held in Kerala in 2006. She also acted in a short film directed by noted young film maker Vipin Vijay.Sophia Stepf Sophia Stepf worked in German Theatre for 10 years and for the last 5 years she has earned her living through theatre, mostly as a dramaturge for international theatre festivals (Theatrer der Welt in Stuttgart, Vienna Festwochen) but also with producing her own work in hometown Kassel. The lack of funding for independent theatre companies there has led to a certain aesthetic and her to the verge of commercial theatre. She has worked in India for the Max Muller Bhavan and also written reviews and articles on Indian theatre for the German theatre magazines Theater Heute and Theater der Zeit.Srijith SundaramSrijith Sundaram is an actor with Moonram Arangu, a theatre group based in Chennai.Sudhanva DeshpandeSudhanva Deshpande is a member of Jana Natya Manch, a Delhi-based theatre group, best known for its street theatre. Sudhanva is primarily an actor and director, and occasionally writes. He has co-directed, with Sanjay Maharishi, a film on Habib Tanvir and his Naya Theatre. He is a publisher by profession and works at LeftWord Books.Sudhi C VSudhi C V graduate Of School of Drama, University of Calicut., has been continuously working in theatre after graduation in 1993. Directed several plays like Chirakadiyochakal, Kudiyozhikkal, Pravaachaka, Oru urappulla Vasati etc in Malayalam. Also has several workshop productions notably Kanalpodu with the residents of Cheshire Home bringing for the first time on Malayalam stage actors on wheelchairs. She has conducted workshops for women’s groups using theatre techniques for developing personal skills, produced street plays on women’s and social issues. She is also the founder member of Nireeksha, women’s theatre group based in Thriuvananthapuram.Sundar SarukkaiSundar Sarukkai is Professor and Dean, School of Humanities and the Head, Centre for Philosophy at the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore. He works in philosophy and his interests include philosophy of science, philosophy of language and philosophy of art. He is the author of the following books ‘Translating the world: Science and Language’, ‘Philosophy of Symmetry’ and ‘Indian philosophy and philosophy of science’.Sushama DeshpandeSushama Deshpande is a playwright, theatre director, actor and organizer and has been working in the field for well over 20 years. Savitri bai Phule, Tichya aaichi goshta arthat mazya athavanincha phad, and Gandhi mala bhetle are some of the landmark plays written and directed by her. She has been writing on theatre and art on several dailies and magazines for the past few years. She has undergone training in Theatre of the Oppressed directly from Mr. Augusto Boal. She was also trained under Satyadeb Dubey and Amol Palekar. Her works are focusing on the women’s issues and using theatre as the tool. She has participated in several international seminars and workshops and also performed some of her plays abroadT Surendra Rao T Surendra Rao is a proud participant of the month-long Statewide Cultural Jatha in Oct-Nov 1979 organised by Samudaya as an actor in street plays. In later years, shouldered responsibility of Bengaluru unit of Samudaya for some time and also took part in proscenium plays mostly as an actor. Now in 2006, elected as General Secretary of Karnataka Rajya Samudaya Samanvaya Samiti, a co-ordinating body of different units of Samudaya spread throughout the State of Karnataka.T ThevananthT Thevananth heads Active Theatre Movement, Jaffna Sri Lanka. His group has conducted numerous workshops on spreading the awareness about landmine problems in Lanka, gender balance, human rights issues, health issues and psychological effects of war. Active Theatre Movement aims at building community theatre and using theatre for the social welfare of the people of Sri Lanka.Toral ShahToral Shah is a full time member of Q Theatre Productions since 2001. She works as an executive producer, production manager, designer and administrator for the organization. She is one of the core members of Thespo - an all India youth theatre movement.Tripurari SharmaTripurari Sharma has conducted numerous theatre workshop around the country to develop scripts around social issue & local problems with women’s groups, college students, factory workers and others. She has developed and directed many producations for her own company ‘Alarippu’ as well as directing such plays as Galileo (B.H.U, Varanasi) and Six Characters In Search of An Author.(I.I.T., Kanpur). For the National School of Drama in Delhi She has directed Adhe Adhure, and her own Kaath Ki Gaadi [The Wooden Cart]. She was the Indian Representative at the first women's playwright conference in the U.S. in 1988; coordinated a year-long project on women and theatre for the Women's Conference in Beijing; and is co-director of the TV serial "Shakti" on women's issues. She is a recipient of the Sankriti and Natya Sangh awards, and currently teaches acting at the NSD.Usha RaniUsha Rani comes from a family of performing artists, and started her career when she was 10. She performs in the southern Tamilnadu genre known as ‘special natakam’ and also performs ‘novels’ in northern Tamilnadu style. She acts in both male and female roles.V VasanthiVaidehi RaoVaidehi Rao is one of the most significant writers of modern Kannada. Starting as a writer of short stories during the early eighties she has written poetry, fiction, reminiscences, essays, children’s plays, and translations. Most of her books are published by Akshara Prakashana, Heggodu. Her childrens’ plays have been staged successfully at Ninaasam, Heggodu, in Rangayana (the Karnataka State repertory) directed by B.V. Karanth and others. She has collected, edited and narrated memoirs of theatre stalwart B.V. Karanth in the name of Illiralaare Allige Hogalaare which is now translated into English and going to be published by National School of Drama. Some of her selected stories have been translated into several Indian languages. The English translation of her selected 20 stories has been published by Penguin publications as ‘Gulabi Talkies & Other Stories’ which is edited by Ms. Tejaswini Niranjana. She has received many awards Katha prize, Anupama award and the M.K .Indira prize , Sahithya academy awards as well as the prestigious Dana Chinthamani Attimabbe Award ((the highest award given to a woman-writer for her total literary contribution by the Govt. of Karnataka).Vidya VenkatVikram IyengarVikram Iyengar, Artistic Director, Ranan was initiated into Kathak by Smt. Rani Karnaa in 1981, Vikram Iyengar is graded solo artist with Calcutta Doordarshan, and registered with the Indian Council for Cultural Relations and the Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre. He has performed for several prestigious institutions including the Sangeet Natak Akademi and Kathak Kendra, Delhi; Prithvi Theatre Festival, Mumbai and National Centre for the Performing Arts, Mumbai. He has also travelled to USA, UK, Hong Kong, Moscow, Qatar and Bhutan. He is a recipient of the Government of India National Scholarship and National Junior Fellowship for Dance and holds a Sangeet Prabhakar from Prayag Sangit Samiti, Allahabad. An INLAKS scholar with an MA in Performing Arts from the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, Vikram has also taught Asian and Intercultural Theatre at BA and MA levels in the UK. He has contributed articles to various Indian and foreign publications, presented papers at international seminars, conducted a variety of workshops and worked on several arts research projects for institutions in India and abroad. Vikram's production work has spanned choreography for stage and film, dance-theatre, and performance collaborations. He has worked with several experimental performance directors in Europe in spaces ranging from traditional theatres to abandoned tram depots, medieval castles and Edwardian manors. Co-founder of Ranan, Vikram is Artistic Director of the company.Vimala K SVimala K S has been associating with theatre since 1980, both proscenium and street. She has directed and acted in many proscenium and street plays. For the past 5years she has been working amongst theatre lovers and activists in Banking industry. Chittara is a troupe of Bank employees and we produced many plays, the latest being Bhroona written & directed by Rajendra Karanth, based on female foeticideVinodhini VaidyanathanVinodhini Vaidyanathan is an actress with Koothu p Pattarai, a Chennai based theatre group.Vivek ShanbagVivek Shanbag writes in Kannada and has published four short story collections, two novels and two plays. He has also written many articles and literary essays. Vivek is editing a unique literary journal in Kannada named `Desha Kaala' (meaning `Space and Time') for last 3 years. Vivek works with Unilever and lives in Bangalore.

curtesy indian theatre forum

street play

Photos of Kannada Canada Performance
Theatre in the Basketball Court! : A Different GamePosted by centreforsocialaction on December 21st, 2006Thu,21 Dec: You surely missed it… if you weren’t present at the Christ College basketball court when the CSA street theatre team Drishti, in collaboration with a theatre team from Montreal (Canada) enacted a series of plays in front of a huge student audience!The play which dealt with human rights was enacted in 2 parts:1. A series of topics which included ‘respect for women’, ‘the need to wear helmets’, ‘smoking’, and ‘alcohol’ through a multi-lingual play by Drishti;2. The Biblical story of Adam and Eve interpreted in a contemporary context, with a focus on the plight of women, by a combined group of Drishti and the Montreal team. It talked about the pressure mounted upon women in today’s world.The enactment was true to the street theatre genre and involved a lot of expressing of ideas through body movement. To add to the fun, they used instruments like a flute, harmonica and drums. And guess how many people turned up at the basketball court to watch it?350 souls! (including teachers and the watchmen)The aim of the play besides promoting awareness on Human rights, was to provide a platform for a Drishti - Montreal team joint production, as well as performing for the students in college who were on their last working day of the month, before the Christmas vacations! (By the way, the college re-opens on January 2nd). Both the theatre teams have been undergoing a joint training programme in the college for the past 2 weeks which will culminate on the 28th of this month.To know more about them, check out their blogs:Drishti : www. streettheatre.blogspot.comMontreal team: www. rightshere.blogspot.com Script for the Street Play
All the members sing "Surangani" and start the formation of the circle. As soon as the circle is completed, the members start the play by singing the birdy song and then sing the "london bridge" song and create the formation for the smoking scene.
Scene I
All the members of the group hum the bond music and move towards Actor 1 who is busy smoking. They stop, stare and then copy actor 1. Then all the members start choking, suffocating and then finally die! Actor 1 watches all this, gets tensed, throws the cigarette. CHORUS: "Smoke up, smoke your life. Smoke up, smoke up your life" and form a circle.
Scene II
All the members in the circle start making sounds of various vehicles, horns,etc. Actor 1 and 2 start moving around the circle (as in driving a two wheeler). They come and hault in the middle of the circle. Actor 1 and all the members: Kya aap traffic rules follow karte hain? Kya aap helmet pehnte hain? Aap rules kyun nahi follow karte hain? (musical) Actor 2: Hello? Helmet kaun pehnta hai? Mera hairstyle bigadd jayega! CHORUS:(except Actor 2): Its coming! Its coming! Its coming! Bird shit comes and falls on Actor 2 (embarrasing and disgusting look) CHORUS: Sound of crow! CHORUS (in the middle in a smaller circle) : "Helmet hain jahaan, suraksha hai wahaan! Helmet!!! (Lifebouy jingle) All the members sing the birdy song (with actions) and come back into a circle. Humming of the "london bridge" song.
Scene III
Actor 1 is busy driving a two wheeler (in the middle of the circle) Actor 2 : Oye.... helmet kidhar hai? Headlight bhi nahi hai... Fine lage ga... 300 rupees!!! Actor 1: (shocked) 300 rupees??? Nahi saab... I'll give you Rs 50!! Actor 2: (surprised) Rs 50??? Gaadi bhi chori ka lagta hai!! Actor 1: Saab saab... 100 rupees dega saab!! Actor 2: 100 rupees??(happy)... chal de de.. Actor 2 takes the money and leaves. Actor 1 continues driving. Actor 1: (sarcasm) Arre... yeh sab toh aise hee hai!!! CHORUS: Na biwi na bachcha, na baap bada na bhaiya... (Bluffmaster).. ...STOP!! Actor 3 (from the circle) : Where's your liscence? ( Kannada) Actor 4 ( '' " ) : Where's your headlight? (Telugu) Actor 5 ( " " ) : Why did you break the traffic light? ( Hindi) Actor 6 ( " " ) : Where is your RC book? ( Malayalam) Actor 7 (coming near Actor 1) : And above all why did you bribe him? CHORUS: (moving in a circle) Who's corrupt? You or them?(3) Actor 1 : Corruption is not there, it is here. CHORUS: Act now! (3) All the members sing the birdy song (with actions) and form the circle. Everybody sings "london bridge" and create the formation for the drinking scene
Scene IV
CHORUS:(everybody in a small circle in the middle facing outside) Yeh jo mohabbat hai...yeh unka hai kaam... (all members sing this as if they are drunk) Actor 1 steps out of the circle and moves around Actor 2: (approaches Actor 1) Drink drink... Its good! Actor 1: (takes a sip and respondes) Hey, this is good..very good!.... I'm so lonely, I have nobody.... (sings) Actor 1 comes to the middle and then as she sings, the rest of the members form a circle around her. CHORUS: Drink, drink, drink, drink.... Actor 1 starts to choke and falls to the ground. All the other members surround her and mock at her. Actor 1 : Drinking thrills, but kills! CHORUS: Drinking thrills. but kills! (3) All the members sing the birdy song (with actions) and settle down for the women harrasment scene.
Scene V
All the members are a part of the circle, except Actor 1 (male) and Actor 2 (female) who are supposedly standing in a bus! CHORUS: Aashiq banaya, aashiq banaya.........(sounds of the break) When the chorus is singing the song, Actor 1 is eve -teasing Actor 2. When the sound of the breaks is heard, Actor 1 (almost) falls on Actor 2. Actor 2 responds with a slap! CHORUS: One tight slap! (2) Actor 2 : Dont you have a mother or a sister? (Hindi) Actor 3 : in Kannada Actor 4 : in Malayalam Actor 5 : in English CHORUS : Respect Women! (3) All the members do the birdy dance (with actions) and form a circle.
Scene VI
CHORUS : (Keeps singing) Hey, Hey... What's this?? Actor 1 : Stop smoking! (coming to the middle of the circle)
CHORUS Actor 2: Wear your helmet! ('' '')
CHORUS Actor 3: Who's corrupt? ('' ")
CHORUS Actor 4: Drinking kills! ('' '')
CHORUS Actor 5: Respect Women! ('' '')
All the members come into the middle of the circle and bow!!!

from dristi the vision