Contributors

Aditi Garg is a journalist by education and a copywriter by profession. She has contributed dozens of cover-stories, articles and book reviews for the magazine section of many national dailies over 25 years. She has recently published a book of poetry and is working on short stories and a novel. She loves impromptu travel, comfort food and reading books with notes in the margins, underlined in as many different hands and inks as possible. Her work has been accepted by online journals and magazines such as Verse of Silence, From My Window, In Parentheses and Cool Beans Lit.

‘Alakh’ Niranjan (Niranjan Pedanekar) works as the Head of Data Science at Sony Research India, and was formerly a Chief Scientist and Distinguished Engineer at TCS Research. He conducts research in applications of AI to Media and Entertainment. Niranjan is also a playwright-director-actor, and has written, adapted or translated more than 20 plays. He is the 2018 recipient of the prestigious Tendulkar-Dubey fellowship awarded annually to five theatre artists chosen from all over the country. Recently, Uchchad, his Marathi translation of Yasmina Reza’s God of Carnage won the Zee Gaurav award for best experimental play of 2023. He conducts workshops on artificial intelligence, acting, direction, writing and Urdu poetry, and has been teaching as a guest lecturer at institutions such as FTII and Lalit Kala Kendra, SPPU. He has also given a TEDx talk on experimenting with AI and scientific methods in theatre.  

Ashariya Gadhavi is a Ph.D. candidate at the Department of English, The Maharaja Sayajirao University, Baroda, Vadodara. He has received the prestigious SHODH Fellowship (July 2021 to June 2023) by the Education Department, Government of Gujarat and Junior Research Fellowship by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India (July 2023 onwards). His areas of research interest include Chāran literature, Cultural Studies, Heroism, and Mnemocultures.

Ashutosh Potdar is an award-winning writer of several one-act and full-length plays, poems, and short fiction. He also writes scholarly essays in Marathi and English. Ashutosh teaches literature and drama at FLAME University, Pune.

Avikal is an Independent Filmmaker and Activist currently based out of Delhi. His work revolves around Mobility Justice, Climate Justice, Corporate Crimes and Agriculture. Besides filmmaking, he works with various organisations around action research, advocacy, campaigns, facilitation and activism. He seeks to be around people and organisations who believe in small, slow and sustained efforts to fight structural injustices

Chintada Bindu is a Doctoral research scholar in the Department of Philosophy, University of Delhi, India. Her academic interests include the philosophy of humor, Indian aesthetics and practical philosophy. 

Christine Herzer is the author of three chapbooks of poetry, most recently, Orange, which was published by Ugly Duckling Presse (USA). For 12 years, she lived in India, where she taught creative writing in Pune (SSLA) and Ahmedabad (NID). Christine’s poems have appeared in Asphalte Magazine (the Film Issue), Fence, Revue Cockpit (France), Tupelo Quarterly, and other journals. She has her work forthcoming in Fence Steaming. Christine has shown her pieces at Cité internationale des arts, Centre des Récollets, Village Reille, Galerie Arnaud Lefebvre, and l’anah in Paris.

Dr. Abin Chakraborty currently teaches English Literature in Chandernagore College. He is the author of the monograph Popular Culture and the editor of Postcolonial Interventions, an online interdisciplinary journal. His papers have been published in several national and international journals and anthologies.

José Saramago (1922-2010) was a Portuguese novelist and man of letters who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1998. A well-known, world-famous novelist, Saramago also wrote poetry, plays, and several volumes of essays and short stories, as well as autobiographical works. 

Khaqan Sikander is a steadfast proponent of the road less travelled having been, over the course of his career, fortunate enough to work in conflict zones, live in refugee camps, survive a full scale war, travel the world, handle nationally televised crises, start a company, and pen a book. He is an executive management professional, educated at University of Paris and University of Arizona with degrees in Management, Economics, Diplomacy, French, Spanish, Arabic & Creative Writing. In addition to United Nations Millennium Development Goals (now SDGs) focused projects in Middle East (UNRWA, Lebanon, 2006), Latin America (UNESCO, Costa Rica, 2007) and Africa (UNIDO, Senegal 2009), he has been working in the development and corporate sector of Pakistan over the last decade.  

Maitreyee Rajput is a visual artist, currently based in Pune. A largely self-taught artist, who has put together an education path for herself, Maitreyee’s works have been significantly influenced by her childhood spent amidst nature, her choice of a minimalistic and planet friendly lifestyle, her back-packing travels across the world and the way she finds a sense of purpose, through painting. Maitreyee wishes to encourage herself and the viewer to reflect upon self exploration desires through her works.

Manik Naik, now performing her favourite role as the ‘cool grandmother’ has been a Marathi theatre artist since her college days. Balancing her time between acting and leading the Maharashtra kho-kho team, she has also done her post-graduation in Marathi Literature and spent 10 years as a Marathi newsreader and translator with the All India Radio. Now, in her free time, she writes and translates – either her grandchildren’s holiday homework or freelance projects. 

Pradeep Vaiddya is a theatre trainer, writer, director, set designer, music composer, and light designer  and has been active in theatre for over 35 years. He has a considerable body of work as a playwright and he has also adapted several plays into Marathi. Of his many adapted plays, Chaitra (original Falguni by Rabindranath Tagore), Tichi Satra Prakarne (original Attempts On Her Life by Martin Crimp), Ek Rikami Baju (original Tissue by Louise Page), Gajab Kahani (original novel An Elephant’s Journey by Jose Saramago), and Uney Purey Shahar Ek (original Benda Kalu On Toast by Girish Karnad) were widely appreciated. At present, his plays Kajwyancha Gaav, Hutashani‘, Kora Canvas, and Utkhanan are being staged. For his contribution to theatre, the prestigious Tanveer Natya Dharmi Puraskar was conferred upon him in 2012 by Late Dr. Shreeram Lagu and Smt. Deepa Lagu’s Roopavedh Pratishthan. Pradeep and his wife Rupali Bhave, actress and writer, have co-created ‘The Box’ – Pune’s first black box theatre.

Pravin Kavita Gulabrao Kale is a current Ph. D. research scholar specializing in the Cultural History of the Dhangar tribe from Maharashtra. He is affiliated with the Department of History and Research at ACS College, Narayangao, under Savitribai Phule Pune University.

Puja Vaish is Director at the Jehangir Nicholson Art Foundation, CSMVS Museum, Mumbai. Previously, Vaish was a curator at the Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum. She was lecturer at the Faculty of Fine Arts, Baroda, Delhi College of Art and the Kamla Raheja Vidyanidhi institute of Architecture. Puja completed her Bachelors and Masters at Faculty of Fine Arts, Baroda.

Purvi Rajpuria is a writer and graphic designer, currently based in Bangalore.

Raavi is a visual artist based out of Goa. She is a recent Master’s graduate of the Photography Design Department at the National Institute of Design, Gandhinagar, and holds a Bachelor’s degree in painting from Sir J. J. School of Art, Mumbai. She has displayed her works in group exhibitions at the UCA Farnham M. FA Photography Show – The Lightbox Gallery Museum, Woking (2020), Bombay Art Society Annual Art Exhibition-Jehangir Art Gallery(2018),  and at the Kochi Muziris Biennale (Students Biennale) (2016).

Rajdeep Savenkar is a product designer from Mumbai who specialises in problem solving. He believes in developing cultures, lifestyles and technologies by integrating them with the beauty of materials and the essence of aesthetics in our lives.

Shalini Maiti is a Hyderabad-based writer, and a performing poet. She often performs her pieces at various open mics. She took her exit from a long corporate career to pursue her love for writing. She published her first book Liminal People (Storymirror), a collection of poems, in Nov 2022. Her work has also been featured in the Reflections and Redefine Z quarterlies.

Shreya Santosh Panchal has been pursuing her Ph. D. research at the University of Mumbai. She writes prose and research articles. Shreya works as an associate for Josh App at Verse Innovation.

Sujyot Parkhe completed his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Drawing & Painting at Sir J. J. School of Art, Mumbai, in June 2022. Currently, he is pursuing a Master of Fine Arts in Painting at the same. Hailing from Baner city, Pune, Maharashtra, Sujyot’s expressive prowess extends beyond the canvas to the realms of writing and poetry, where he intricately weaves the tapestry of his life’s emotions. His artistic journey reflects a profound commitment to capturing and conveying the nuances of his inner world through diverse creative mediums.

Sunil Tambe was the Editor, Multimedia with Reuters Market Light. He started his career in Marathwada, a lesser-known regional Marathi daily from Aurangabad;  gradually, moving to English newspapers with a brief stint in electronic media  and finally settling down at Reuters, a global leader in news and financial information service in 2006. Sunil led the Editorial of Reuters Market Light from 2007 to 2015.  As a journalist, he has travelled the length and breadth of the country covering politics, agriculture, and social issues and has also won the Jagan Phadnis Award for Investigative Journalism. He has written Marquez Chi Gosht, a Marathi book on the life and works of Gabriel Garcia Marquez and his Magical Realism and has also translated two books to Marathi—Free Voice by Ravish Kumar and 21 Lessons for 21^st Century by Yuval Noha Harari.  

Tarusha is a passionate researcher with a strong foundation in Geography. She earned her B. A. (Honours) in Geography from Miranda House, Delhi University, and furthered her education with an M. A. in Urban Studies from Ambedkar University Delhi. She has a keen interest in beyond-human geography, urban studies, animal studies, participatory urban planning, and child and women’s rights. Over the last three years, she has made significant contributions to the social impact sector, actively engaging in research projects addressing human-centered urban planning and design. 

Thasil Suhara Backer is a theatre-maker based in Kodungallur, near the erstwhile Muziris region, in the Thrissur District of Kerala. He was trained in theatre with a Master of Performing Arts (MPA) from the University of Hyderabad in 2016, and he completed two years of theatre training at the Intercultural Theatre Institute in Singapore in 2018. He was awarded the first rank for MPA at the University of Hyderabad in 2016 and the Young Artist Fellowship by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India in 2013.  

Uma Gowrishankar is a writer and artist from Chennai.  Her poems have appeared in online and print journals including the Yearbook of Indian Poetry in English, Poetry at Sangam, City: A Journal Of South Asian Literature, Qarrtsiluni, Vayavya, Buddhist Poetry Review, Silver Birch Press, Feral: A Journal of Poetry and Art, and Nether Quarterly. Her full-length collection of poetry Birthing History was published by Leaky Boot Press.  

Venu Parijat, a Bharatanatyam dancer, holds a master’s degree in performing arts from the University of Mumbai.  Venu shares her narratives and reflections on her time in America and England, engaging her creativity in choreography, curation, writing, and research. Presently residing in London, she finds fulfillment in teaching dance and exploring emotional literacy and performance through research.

Vikram Mervyn writes prose. He has been published in the anthology, The Cat People, edited by Devapriya Roy. Vikram is interested in alienation, existentialism, and problems of language. He attempts to explore these themes through his fiction, and he writes his non-fictional ponderings. 

Yash Gupta is a graduate student at the University of Münster, currently enrolled in the Master’s programme in National and Transnational Studies. He also holds a Bachelor’s degree in Literary and Cultural Studies with a minor in Graphic Design, and a diploma in Fine Arts. As a individual with multiple dis/abilities he is interested in non/human differences expressed in the disciplines of Death Studies, Critical South Asian Studies, Digital Humanities and Disability Studies, along with Gender & (A)sexuality Studies, practice-based Animal & Environmental Studies, and Oral History; reflected in his chapter contributions in Literary Representations of Pandemics, Epidemics and Pestilence (2022), Media Technology and Cultures of Memory (2023) and Asexualities: Feminist and Queer Perspectives (Anniversary Edition) (Forthcoming, 2024).

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Editor: Ashutosh Potdar

Guest Editor: Purvi Rajpuria

Review Process: Aishwarya Walavekar

Proofreading and copyediting: Asmita Choudhury, Amruta Joshi, Indu MG, Manasi Kakatkar, Manasi Marathe, Prajakta Karandikar, Yvonne Vaz.

Social Media Support: Mayur Salgar

Courtesy for slider images: Thasil Suhara Backer, Raavi Jaltare, Aasakta Pune.

Courtesy for Section images:Maitreyee Rajput, Sandesh Bhandare, Pravin Kavita Gulabrao Kale, Raavi Jaltare, Thasil Suhara Backer, Tarusha & Avikal.