Shruti Sharada

It is difficult to quantify the tyranny of depression. It is, for some of us, like being abruptly dunked into a silo full of ice water. Everything freezes, everything darkens, everything seems to exist in a vacuum with no past and no future.

Pic credits: www.facebook.com/Sim.g6 and www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2…0&type=3&theater

What does Katy Perry stand for? What is her brand? From the snatches of understanding I have about her, I guess it is somewhere in the region of power, self-reliance, being your own person, empowerment, etc. But when her name popped up again recently, it was for neither of these affectations.

VP@80 Special: RJ Shruti Sharada Speaks with Theatre Artist Rashmi Vadavi about Credit Titles

Hoshang Merchant at BPF 2019 - The Body is Also in the Soul

When theatre artist Deepika Arwind started researching on women writers whose works had been censored, it all came up short. She couldn’t find many names; very few, in fact.
Why was that? Didn’t women write? Didn’t they write enough? Where were these writings? Where were these women? Who or what was keeping them down?
‘I am not here’ the play came out of the intellectual and emotional churning that followed Deepika’s realisation that not enough women’s writing had been out in the public consciousness.

The act of giving, of participating to further a social cause, often asks for prolonged commitment. But what do you do if you are at a station in life when that is not always possible? This is where community organisations can come in to fill the gaps. Bit We Can is one such effort.

The Bengaluru Poetry Festival has become an unmissable part of the city’s literary calendar. In its 4th edition this year, BPF will expand its linguistic commitments with a focus on ‘bhasha’. Poetry-lovers will be treated to panel discussions featuring artists who create works in Bangla, Malayalam, Kannada, Urdu, Hindi, and more, aside from poets who write in English. There is a focus on poetry of rebellion. There is also a ‘surprise’ in the waits for persons interested in poetry on LGBTQIA+ themes.

Here is a chance to catch a play about a theme that fascinates theatre-makers no end - dysfunctional families! In this episode of #ActiveBengaluru, RJ Shruti Sharada speaks with actor Sangita Nambiar about 'Home Movies', a play in which she plays a strong, complex, vulnerable character named Harini.

This play is part of VP@80, a theatre festival celebrating Vijay Padaki.

After what may seem like a lifetime of shedding unfertilised eggs and uterine lining in a bloody monthly spectacle, uteruses start on a slow retirement journey. At first gradually, and then at a quicker pace, they start dropping estrogen levels and giving up on ovum production.

Remember the fun Tales of Tenali Rama?

In this special episode of #ActiveBengaluru, RJ Shruti Sharada speaks with Shatarupa Bhattacharyya and Sridhar Ramanathan about Court Jester, Tales of Tenali Rama, which is part of the expansive VP@80, a theatre festival celebrating Vijay Padaki.

The term ‘toxic masculinity’ has been present in feminist parlance since the 90s. Its many meanings and connotations have, surprisingly, changed from then to now, when it is being used more assertively to highlight conventional masculine behaviour that wrongly prioritises aggression and physical and intellectual superiority of those identifying as male.

Infertility can be distressing. In an environment where your reproductive capabilities define the conventions of your gender, infertility can become a social curse.

“Daughters didn’t inherit the silence of their mothers.”
I had noticed this phrase doing the rounds of social media the whole of last week. It is not surprising, because that one line articulates a fundamental aspect of feminist understanding and generational evolution – that of anger borne out of trauma, both familial and societal.

Every person who has been assigned female at birth or identifies as female, anywhere in the world, has experienced being told what they can do and what they cannot do. This comes from all directions – from family members, friends, peers at school, and sometimes, even from strangers.