The Core Team
Nagina
Program Lead - Community Mobilisation, Actor, Facilitator
Nagina is an actor and facilitator from Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti. She has performed in over 12 plays and is a founding member of Aagaaz. She has been involved in arts based work with multiple communities, including Nizamuddin Basti, Khirkee and Badarpur Jaitpur. Other than theatre she has been facilitating co-leading Aagaaz’s sessions on gender and sexuality through Darpan. Nagina has been a fellow with People for Parity, YP Foundation and the American State Department, as well as a fellowship from the Sahitya Kala Akademi. She graduated from Delhi University and is our Community Program and mobilization leader.
Shahid
Fundraising and Partnerships Coordinator, Actor, Musician, Facilitator
Shahid is a founding member of Aagaaz Theatre Trust and is a part of its Core Group of theatre practitioners. He has been performing professionally since 2015. As an actor and co-facilitator, he has been a part of plays that have performed in theatre festivals, school, public performance venues, public spaces, and many national level events. Always a smile on his face and willing to listen, he is also one to speak his mind, even if that means challenging voices of authority in any space. Over the years we have seen Shahid pause every once in a while to reflect on who he is and where he is headed. He is never afraid to face his faults and always ready to embrace aspects of himself. He is intelligent and hardworking as a performer and always willing to go back to the drawing board.
Zainab
Library Programme Leader, Actor, Facilitator
Zainab is the chirpy member of the group, who has a wide range of interests. She enjoys theatre, singing, dancing, sketching, fashion, travelling and engaging with conversations around gender and sexuality. She has been with Aagaaz since 2009, and looks at theatre as a free space that allows her to express her feelings and helps her navigate the world. She graduated in Home Science from Lady Irwin College in DU. She is keenly interested in engaging with facilitation, as she believes in the unifying power of creating spaces that nurture common experience.
Muzammil
Actor/ Facilitator/ Director
Muzammil is a founding member of Aagaaz Theatre Trust. He has been performing professionally in plays from the organization’s repertoir since 2015. As an actor and co-director, he has been a part of plays that have performed in theatre festivals, school, public performance venues, public spaces, and many national level events. He continues to surprise all the facilitators with his astute sense of stagecraft and his engagement with theatre as a language. He is also quite exceptional in terms of his abilities as a director and a leader. On multiple occasions he has facilitated creative processes with Aagaaz, the last being a new version of our constantly adapted production Duniya Sabki – taking a close look at demonetisation and what it meant for people around him. He chose to work with the language of physical theatre rather than words to tell the story.He graduated from Zakir Hussain College’s BA Programme course through ECA quota in Theatre and currently teaches with CKS Foundation's program in Delhi and Uttarakhand.
Jasmine
Library Programme Leader, Actor, Facilitator
Jasmine is one of the most confident and quirky actors at Aagaaz, who started doing theatre in 2012, because her father was interested in the art form. Currently, she acknowledges it as a medium that allowed her to recognize her own talent and potential. She works with the youngest children in Aagaaz, and wants to help them find their passion. She graduated in BA(Hons.) in Political Science, spends her time sketching, drawing and cooking. She recently completed the SMART AAC fellowship and is passionate about using the arts to create meaningful engagements.
Ismail
Production Manager, Actor, Facilitator
Ismail Sheikh is a founding member at Aagaaz Theatre Trust. He has been performing professionally since 2015. As an actor and co-director, he has been a part of plays that have performed in theatre festivals, school, public performance venues, public spaces, and many national-level events. Ismail is possibly the most sincere and hardworking member of the core group of Aagaaz. He has grown into a confident performer with an exceptional talent when it comes to movement-based work. He played one of the lead roles in Raavan Aaya, and while his performance was exceptional, what stood out was his ability to reflect on the play and his character. At 18, his ability to think critically along with his knowledge of history and current goings-on in the world would make him an asset to any theatre group/ company. If not in a theatre workshop, he is very often found debating something or the other with any group of people willing to engage. He graduated PGDAV College’s BA Programme course through ECA quota in Theatre. He leads the production work of the repertory and also works with children in the community.
Saddam
Administration Officer, Actor, Facilitator
Saddam has been with Aagaaz since 2009, and is now practicing theatre and working on the ECCE program with Aagaaz. He finished his schooling and is mostly found listening to music, drawing or playing cricket. He is passionate about theatre because it exposes him to a world outside his milieu. Theatre facilitation with young children is one of Saddam’s fortes and he holding fort as the organization's Administration officer.
Naghma
Programme Coordinator - Community Mobilization, Actor, Facilitator
Nagma is one of the younger powerhouses in the group. She has been with Aagaaz since 2011 and loves singing, dancing, embroidery and of course- theatre. She expresses that theatre offers her a new world, that has a set of rules that are different from those in real life. This allows her to do the things, she would otherwise not be able to do. She is pursuing her graduation from IGNOU and simultaneously trying to delve deep into facilitation, since she values the give and take relationship it creates.
Aslam
Actor, Facilitator
Aslam started doing theatre in 2015 three years ago and worked on himself tremendously. His presence on stage has been valuable in both Duniya Sabki and Raavan Aaya. While acting remains one of his major interests, he is also a rugby player, representing his team at nationwide championships and also coaches now. He works part-time with Aagaaz where he's also completing his education.
Sanyukta
Founder & Artistic Director
Sanyukta identifies as an applied theatre practitioner. She primarily works with children and young people through drama to imagine and discover ways of acting to work towards their realisation. She has a postgraduate degree from the University of Leeds in Theatre and Development Studies. She has been mentored in her journey to strengthen Aagaaz by Unlimited Delhi, ARThink South Asia and Changelooms Fellowship. Her journey in applied theatre includes working with pandies’ theatre, Aga Khan Foundations Nizamuddin urban renewal Initiative, and Theatre Professionals Education. She currently also facilitates the practicum modules of theatre and self development work at the B.El.Ed Programme in Delhi University’s Institute of Home Economics. She is also an actor and has been devising shows and performing them for young audiences in the age range of 6 months to 8 years of age.
Subhadra
Programme Director, Community Initiatives and Applied Arts
Subhadra(Subu) is a musician, theatre practitioner, and arts based facilitator who enjoys working with diverse people using the arts as a tool. She is passionate about creative expression as a means to make connections within and outside ourselves and to have conversations about wellbeing and social justice. She has been working with diverse communities since 2009 using theatre and music and is studying art therapy currently to better understand tools to work these spaces with.
Alia
Consultant, Design and Development - Library Programme
Alia is an illustrator, theatre facilitator and library educator
Shoaib
Finance Officer
Performance Arts Team
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Neel
Director / Mentor
Dhwani
Director/ Mentor
Support & Governance Team
Anirban Ghosh
Managing Trustee
BAAN G, an interdisciplinary artist based in New Delhi, has more than two decades of experience in music, sound design, and production. He received training in Bass Guitar from renowned bass players Gary Willis and Karl Peters, and currently studies experimental and Hindustani Classical music under Michael Harrison. With his contributions to critically acclaimed projects in film, documentaries, live shows, and interactive media, BAAN G has performed and recorded with renowned musicians worldwide. Furthermore, he founded Dastaan LIVE, a political art rock live performance project, and has taught at Ashoka University. With a strong commitment to pushing boundaries and exploring the possibilities of music and sound, BAAN G's distinctive mix of musical styles and interdisciplinary approach sets him apart as a noteworthy mentor in the Indian music scene.
Vardhna Puri
Trustee
Vardhna Puri completed her Masters in Human Development and Childhood Studies from University of Delhi in 2010. Since then she has been working with various organizations in the development network. Her longest stint was with the Aga Khan Development Network where she worked as a Program Coordinator of the Early Childhood Care and Development Program which is part of the larger Urban Renewal Initiative. She was involved in designing and implementing programs for children below six years of age who live in Nizamuddin Basti. Currently she is enrolled as a PhD student with University of Delhi and she plans to study childhood, migration and policy implications. Her other interest are photography and art.
Paromita Ghosh
Trustee
Paromita Ghosh is a special educator and counselor with years of experience of working with children and young adults. She recently resigned from her job as a counselor in Bal Bharti Public school, Pitampura and now devotes her time to teach children with special needs. She is often seen sitting outside her home gardening or near the street dogs who adore her presence.
Jehan Manekshaw
Advisory Board Member
Jehan Manekshaw is the Founder Director of Theatre Professionals. He is also a co-convener on the faculty panel of The Drama School, Mumbai.
Jehan has taught as guest faculty at Ninsasam Theatre Institute, Attakallari Centre for Movement Arts, and St Xavier’s College, Mumbai, Shinshu University, Japan, and the National School of Drama’s T.I.E division in Agartala. He also has directed numerous plays in different languages in India, the US, UK, and Japan.
Anurupa Roy
Advisory Board Member
Puppeteer Anurupa Roy's views puppetry as not "manipulating dolls with strings" but an amalgam of plastic and performing arts where sculptures, masks, figures, materials, found objects and narratives come together with music, movement, physicality and theater to create the theater where humans and puppets are co actors. She started at her group Katkatha in 1998 which was registered as the Katkatha Puppet Arts Trust 2006. She has directed over 15 shows for children and adults ranging from the Ramayana and Mahabharata to Shakespearen comedy to the Humayun-nama. The puppets used by the group range from 3 inches to forty feet. The shows have toured across Europe, Japan and South Asia. A major aspect of her work is using puppets for psycho social interventions in conflict areas like Kashmir, Sri Lanka and Manipur to Juvenile Remand homes. She has worked with youth and women across the country using puppets to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS and gender issues. She is a recipient of the Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar in Puppetry(2006). She has been a visiting faculty at the University of California Los Angeles an Artists in Residence at Pro Helvetia Swiss Arts Council.
Kanika Sinha
Advisory Board Member
Kanika is the Convener of ComMutiny – The Youth Collective, where she looks after partnerships and outreach and in that role. She also serves in an advisory capacity as a member of the board of Farm2Food Foundation, Assam
After 17 years of designing and facilitating interventions for youth centric development, Kanika sees herself as an advocate for youth work in India. She comes with a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from Lady Shri Ram College and a Master’s Degree in Social Development from the University of Sussex. Kanika began her journey by volunteering at the relief camps in Ahmedabad post the Godhra riots of 2002.
Mohit Satyanand
Advisory Board Member
Mohit Satyanand is an entrepreneur, consultant, investor and policy wonk. After an M.A. from Delhi School of Economics, he joined Hindustan Lever as a management trainee, moving 4 years later to Delhi Flour Mills, where he established India’s first successful snack food brand, Crax. He still provides strategic direction to that business, as well as several other small- and mid-sized manufacturing firms. In 1989, he co founded Teamwork Films, which now produces several of India’s most prestigious arts festivals, including the Jaipur Literary Festival, and annual festivals in Singapore, South Africa, Europe and North America. In 2002, he co- promoted a chain of English language teaching centers in Delhi under the Swiss brand name, inlingua. Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Liberty Institute, a policy think-tank, he has a special interest in the policy thrust of education and macro-economics.
Mohit is also former consulting editor, Outlook Money.