Hello everyone! As I said in my last blog about Darapana Academy, today I will be talking about Mallika Sarabhai. I am very excited to introduce her not only because I look up to dearly, but also because I would like to highlight the fact that I was lucky enough to meet and interview her! Mallika Sarabhai is the daughter of the founder of Darpana Academy, and she has been the director of the performative arts school since 1977! However, I would also like to talk about the amazing things she has done outside of the academy. She started acting at the young age of 15 in the Peter Brook’s Play The Mahabharata. Since then she has been featured in many other films for her acting and dancing skills. She is very well known for her acting, dancing, and choreography. However, the influence I would like to emphasize is how she was able to become a well known activist while also being a performer, and how she used both dance and social change hand in hand. The questions I ask her in my podcast interview are listed below. If you are interested in hearing about her and her fascinating stories, please tune in! I know you have had a flavorful and successful career, but I do want to talk about your upbringing before we start talking about the present and future. So I know that your mother, Mrinalini Sarabhai was the founder of the Academy and your father Vikram Sarabhai was a physicist and astronomer who is a pilar in space research here in India, so how did being raised by such influential individuals shape your early life and and your ideologies that you still carry today? I would love to ask you about your activism in general before we jump into more specific parts of arts for social change. So, what made you decide to become an activist? Everyone has opinions, but only certain brave individuals take those opinions and demand change. Was there a specific occurrence that motivated you to become an activist? When did you first realize the unlimited potential of art forms when it comes to social change? In your TED talk from 2009 I believe you said that “Art can go through where other things can’t”. Why do you think this is possible? I know your mother was the founder of the academy, but you have made very substantial developments since you became the director and I would love to talk about some of these developments. The first one I would love to talk about is Darpana for development, the official sector of the academy that promotes the use of performing arts to tackle difficult social issues. Can you tell me about how you went about forming this department and how you shape your students’ ideologies in order for them to realize the true potential of the arts?
You also founded another department called Janavak that has a mission of preserving tribal folk arts which has also been very successful. Why do you believe that preserving the rich history of India’s art forms is beneficial for the future generations? You have also created a center for non-violence at Darpana. As you said in the panel at Boston University, violence is everywhere. How does this center promote non-violence and aim to bring about change? What are some of your goals for the future? Is there anything specific you have in mind?
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