Name: Padmini Rangarajan

Affiliation: Founder Director of Sphoorthi Theatre for Educational Puppetry, Art and Craft- STEPARC , Resource Person at Centre for Cultural Resources and Training –CCRT, Hyderabad, Editor of Puthalika Patrika- A Digital Puppetry Magazine and Sanrakshan- A Natural BioDiversity E Magazine

Email: steparc1@gmail.com / sphoorthitheatre@gmail.com

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Padmini Rangarajan is Founder Director of Sphoorthi Theatre for Educational Puppetry, Art and Craft- STEPARC , Resource Person at Centre for Cultural Resources and Training –CCRT, Hyderabad, Editor of Puthalika Patrika- A Digital Puppetry Magazine and Sanrakshan- A Natural BioDiversity E Magazine.

Educational Qualifications:

• M.Phil. in Sociology from Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Open University, Hyderabad, Telangana, Hyderabad
• Post Graduate degree in Social Work (MSW), Karnatak University, Dharwad, Karnataka, India
• Post-Graduation Diploma in Women’s Studies, Karnatak University, Dharwad, Karnataka , India
• International Online Diploma in Puppet Therapy Program (2021-2022) awarded by UNIMA International, School of Puppet Therapy, Chile

Professional Experiences:

• Founder and Director for Sphoorthi Theatre for Educational Puppetry, Arts and Crafts (2003- Till date)
• Lecturer of Basic Chinese Mandarin and Spoken English at Vivekananda Institute of Languages, Ramakrishna Math, Hyderabad, (2005-2010)
• Resource Person for The Hindu Newspaper in the Education-NIE programme from 2003-2010
• Resource Person at Centre for Cultural Research Training-CCRT, Hyderabad Region from 2010 till date
• Educational Puppet Resource Centre- EPRC-Oxford Grammar School, Hyderabad Centre In-Charge 2021- till date

Puppetry And Storytelling Related Courses During Pandemic-2021-22:

• The Little Angel Theatre, London, United Kingdom’s “Online Puppetry Ensemble Course”, from January to March 2022
• The National Capital Puppetry Guild—NCPG Washigton, MD USA
• Extended a scholarship for ;Tetro Lambe Lambe a four-week course in November - December 2021 led by Mr. Fagner Gastaldon and Cass Gastaldon of Puppet Soup Ltd., Wales, United Kingdom
• The National Capital Puppetry Guild—NCPG Washington, MD, USA—extended a scholarship toward 'Pop Up for Puppet Performers,' a three-week course in September 2021 led by South African puppeteer Peter Court
• Selected to participate in the four-week ‘World Diabetes Storytelling Lab’ in India from Sept 25-Oct 16, 2021, supported by the World Diabetes Foundation and USAID and developed by Dalberg
• “Sharing Our Stories: Personal and Creative Storytelling and Drama activities for Teachers”
• “Beyond- Creative and Engaging-2022 Storytelling for Teachers-Beyond -CrEST”
• Creative and Engaging Storytelling for Teachers-CrEST” 2021 byMr. David Heathfield and Ms. Tammy Heathfield, United Kingdom

Recent Accomplishments:

• Senior Fellowship awarded for the year 2021-22 by the Ministry of Culture, India
• General Secretary of UNIMA Puppeteers Trust India -2023-25
• Swachhata Sarathi Fellowship 2021-22 ( Govt of India)
• Recipient of Tata Fellowship in Folklore 2012-2013
• International Online Diploma in Puppet Therapy Program (2021-2022) awarded by UNIMA International
• 'Magic in our Hands,' Vicky Hart's 2012–2013 documentary on Sphoorthi Theatre for Hart In Media Ltd, "Real Stories That Make a Difference," www.hartinmedia.com, has been shown at a number of international film festivals in Europe and the United States. Seeing this film has brought together a diverse group of people from all over the world who share a love of Sphoorthi Theatre
• “Bommalollu” –a Documentary Film: My Tata Fellowship study on “Revival of Traditional Wooden String Puppetry of Ammapuram” that has moved the Director Ajit Nag produced Bommalollu –a documentary film on Traditional Wooden String Puppeteers of Telangana Telangana in collaboration with Department of Language and Culture, Telangana and is uploaded on Youtube.com in four parts and I had the privileged to be part of the documentary film -2016
• “Successful Women Award” at “Shodha Swatahcha”-International Women Conference by Vidarbha Youth Welfare Society,Amaravathi in March 8, 2016
• “Women’s Day” 2016 by Sunnetwork.in Gemini Kushi TV Vanita Award
• Editor of Puthalika Patrika-a Digital Puppetry monthly magazine 2019-till date
• Editor of Sanrakshan-Natural Bio-Diversity –e magazine from 2022-till date

Papers Presented:

• A paper titled “Puppetry: Unclean to Clean art form-A Paradigm Shift. Role of Women in Indian Puppetry” 2019
• A paper titled “Changing Roles of Women-A cultural Ranaissance of Indian Puppetry: A Study” 2017
• A paper title, “Revival of Traditional Wooden String Puppetry of Ammapuram, Andhra Pradesh” 2013
• A paper title ‘‘Gotul Pito-Gondi Culture a Dance forms’’ 2013
• A paper titled, “Contributions of Dalits to Folklore-an observation” 2012
• A paper titled, “Endangering Orality in Performing Folk Art Forms’ 2012
• A paper titled, “Deprivation of Public Healthcare in Government Hospitals-Basic human right violation-A Case Study 2012
• A paper titled, “Theatre Education and Theatre in Education: Inclusive of Puppetry-A form of Theatre in Theatre Education 2012
• A paper titled, “Puppets-Agents of Awareness Campaigns in Modern Times” 2012
• A paper Titled, “Puppetry- A child Play than Serious Art Form”, International Theatre Conference on ‘Body, Space and Technology in Performance’ 2010
• A paper Titled, “Assertion of Respect and Rights for Domestic Workers and Children”- Positive Intervention of National Domestic Workers Movement-NDWM, Andhra Pradesh, UGC Sponsored National Seminar 2010
• A paper Titled. “Sustaining of traditional practices towards Sustainable Agricultural Growth and allied practices by women: A study of ITDA Parvathipuram Region--A study” 2010. A Joint Presentation
• A paper Titled, “urbanization- Opportunities and Challenges of Domestic Workers- A Sociological Study” 2010. A Joint Presentation
• A paper Titled, “Urbanization, Education and One Child Norm OCN’ 2010
• A paper titled, “Suicidal Fever Wiping Dubbak Weavers Community- a Case Study” 2010
• A paper titled, “Exploring Suicidal tendency among youth and extending counselling through Puppet presentation - A study” 2010
• Paper Titled, “Globalization: Language and Exclusion Institutional efforts for Social Inclusion”- a Case Study, National Seminar on “Economic Reforms: Social Exclusion and Social Justice in India” at Dr. B.R.Ambedkar Open University, Hyderabad 2008
• Paper Titled, “Institutional Participation and Responsibility towards Education Sri Sharadamatha Belavedika – A Part of Ramakrishna math. A case study, “Conference organized by International Sociological Association, Research Committee 10 in collaboration with the University of Piraeus 2009

Conferences, Seminars, Workshops attended and Research Papers Published from 2008-till date:

• Research papers uploaded on https://www.researchgate.net and https://www.academia.edu
• Published in the Book Titled: Performing Arts:Views and Reviews-Article ‘Creative games & Use of Puppets in Pre-Primary Schools-A Study’Edited by Dr. Chandrashekar Kanase ISBN -978-93-89003-89-5 January 2000. Publisher: Harshwardhan Publication Pvt. Ltd Beed, Maharashtra, India
• 2019: Participated and presented paper titled “Puppetry: Unclean to Clean art form-A Paradigm Shift. Role of Women in Indian Puppetry” at Department of Language and Culture, Government of Telangana and Dakshinathya Arts Academy National Senimar on “Role of Women in the Field of Culture” at Ravindra Bharathi, on February 5, 2019 Hyderabad
• Singificance of Rural Female Folk Dieties-Rituals, Culture, Belief System and Celebrations in TamilNadu’ Lokratna, Vol. XI (2) In collaboration with University of Cambridge World Oral Literature Project , 2018
• ‘Educational and Social Changes among Female Learners:Impact of Spoken English Language’ published in the Edited Book "Women Education Issues and Challenges in Modern World", Editor Dr. Vikram Singh, Publisher Satyam Law International, New Delhi, 2018
• 2017: Participated and presented paper titled “Changing Roles of Women-A cultural Ranaissance of Indian Puppetry: A Study” at India People’s theatre Association (ITPA), Amaravati, Indian Institute of Social Sciences and Folk Research, Parabhani and Mahila Pradhyapak Parishad S.G.B.A.U., Amaravati One day national Conference on “Cultural Renaissance” Amaravati, February 11, 2017
• Published in the Book Titled: Status of Scheduled Caste's Higher Education in India ‘Educational and Social Changes among Scheduled Castes:Impact of English Language on rural youth-A case Study on Scheduled Caste Students enrolled in Spoken English Course’ edited by Deepak Karbhari and Lokesh Kumar, Shree Parasmani Publications, 2016
• ‘Uncovering Mask’ Bhavan's Journal vol.62 no 2 August 31, 2015, 2015
• ‘Puppetry-Mother of All Folk Arts’, Bhavan’s Journal, Volume 61, No 2 August 31, 2014
• ‘Indian, Folk: Genesis and Origin of Puppetry’- article published in Social Vision Journal, Volume 1 Issue: 2 ISSN: 2349-0519 July-September-2014. http://www.sphoorthitheatre.com/docs/socialvision.pd
• 2013: Participated and presented a paper on ‘Revival of Tarditional Wooden String Puppetry of Ammapuram, Andhra Pradesh’ in the NFSC conference for Tata Fellows in Folkore- a collaborative conference between NFSC and NEHU, Funded by Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, Mumbai at North Eastern Hill University, Shillong, Meghalaya-September 24-26, 2013
• Published in book: ’Many Cultures, One Nation- Essay by Tata Fellows in Folklore’- Edited by M.D.Muthukumaraswamy. PP:278-299. ISBN 978-93-80431-09-3. Published by National Folklore Support Centre, Chennai
• 2013: Participated and presented a paper on ‘Gotul Pito-Gondi Culture a Dance forms’ in the National Seminar on ‘Dalit and Adivasi Literature and Art’ organized by Centre for Dalit & Adivasi Studies and Traslation (CDAST) & Centre for Dalit Literature and Art, New Delhi, Supported by ICSSR, New Delhi at University of Hyderabad on May -3, 2013
• ‘Theatre for Education’-Published in ‘RangKarm’ in Hindi -IPTA Raigarh Annual Magazine January 2013 Volume 10. PP-94-96
• 2012: Participated and presented in the National Seminar on ‘Dalit Culture in Indian Literature’ from 29th to 31st October 2012, organized by Potti Sriramulu Telugu University, Palamuru University and Central Institute of Indian Languages, Mysore, at Potti Sriramulu Telugu University, Hyderabad
• 2012: Participated in the National Seminar on ‘Oral and Written forms: The Literary Tradition in India’ from 31st January to 3rd February, 2012 organized by National Mission for Manuscripts, Potti Sriramulu Telugu University, Palamuru University and Vemana Foundation, Hyderabad at Potti Sriramulu Telugu University, Hyderabad
• 2012: Participated in the National Young Scholars Colloquium on ‘State of Research on Human Rights: Prospective and Retrospective’ organized by Center for Human Rights, University of Hyderabad from February 1-2, 2012
• 2012: Participated in VIII Annual International Conference of Indian Society for Theatre Research-ISTR in association with the International Federation for Theatre Research-IFTR on ‘Indian Theatre and Pedagogy: National and International Perspective from February 9-11, 2012 at FLAME Campus, Pune Maharashtra, India
• 2012: Participated in Two days National Conference on “Myth and Rituals in Indian Theatre” Organized by Department of Performing Arts, Bangalore University, Bangalore on March 27-28, 2012
• 2010: Participated in International Theatre Conference on ‘Body, Space and Technology in Performance’ convened by the Centre for Performance Research and Cultural Studies in South Asia-CPRACSIS and Association for Asian Performance-APP at Thrissur, Kerala January 15-16, 2010
• Paper on ‘Puppetry: A child Play than Serious Art Form’ Published in Artistic Narration-A Journal of Visual & Performing Art Volume-III February 2012. ISSN: 0976-7444. Publisher:Journal Anu Books, Meerut
• 2010: Participated in UGC Sponsored National Seminar on ‘HUMAN RIGHTS and the Role of Law’ organized by S. K. Somaiya College of Arts, Science and Commerce, Department of Law and Department of Commerce Vidyavihar, Mumbai on February 15-16, 2010. Presented Paper titled ‘Assertion of Respect and Rights for Domestic Workers and Children- Positive Intervention of National Domestic Workers Movement-NDWM, Andhra Pradesh
• Seminar paper published in Souvenir book ‘Human Rights and Role of Law’- compilation of the proceedings of the seminar papers edited by Prof. V.Rama Kiran Head, Department of Commerce. S. K .Somaiya College of Arts, Science and Commerce
• 2010: Participated in UGC-SAP (DSA-3) Sponsored National Seminar on ‘Inclusive Growth in Agriculture’, organized By Department of Economics, Osmania University on 27th March, 2010
• 2010: Participated in the National Seminar on ‘ Urbanization & Urban Development in India: Trends, Problems and Prospects’ on August 26th&27th ,organized by Department of Sociology (Under UGC-SAP [DSA Program], Osmania University, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India
• 2010: Participated IX Andhra Pradesh Sociological Society- APSS National Seminar on ‘Suicides in Post –Modern India’ on 22nd & 23rd October, organized by Department of Sociology Sri Krishnadevaraya University, Anantapur, Aandhra Pradesh. Sponsored by Andhra Pradesh State Council for Higher Education, UGC and Indian Council for Social Science Research (S.R)
• Paper on ‘Suicidal Fever wiping Dubbakk Weavers Community-a Case Study’ published in Review Journal Philosophy & Social Science Vol. 36 Special Issue, 201. ISSN: 0258-1701. Publisher:Journal Anu Books, Meerut
• 2010: Participated in the International Conference on ‘Global Environment and Its Sustainability: Implications and Strategies-GESIS Part-I on November 7, Organized by RKM Vivekananda College, Mylapore, Chennai, India and Indian Society for Education and Environment(ISEE), Chennai, India
• Abstract and full paper on ‘Religious agencies, sweet shop and lower class group vendors as role models in awareness building with respect to growing urbanization’ published in Indian Journal of Science and Technology volume:3 Issue:11 November 2010 ISSN:0974-6846
• Abstract and full paper on ‘Education and Interactive Puppet Plays addressing Environmental issues and creating awareness in rural community-A case study of Mahaboobnagar District, Andhra Pradesh’ Published in Indian Journal of Science and Technology Volume:3 Issue 11November 2010 ISSN:0974-6846
• Book Review: ‘Labour, Education and Society: Social Innovation, The Social Economy and World Economic Development, edited by Denis Harrisson, Gyorgy Szell, Reynald Bourque’ in Vision: The Journal of Business Perspective Volume 14, Number 1 & 2 January- June 2010 ISSN 0972-2629
• 2008: Participated in Andhra Pradesh Sociological Society APSS National Seminar, conference on “Economic Reforms: Social Exclusion and Social Justice in India” at Dr. B.R.Ambedkar Open University, Hyderabad
• Published in Book ‘Social Exclusion in India: Synthesizing the Reality'. Published in Milind Books, New Delhi. Editor Dr. Chakrapani Ghanta, Head, Department of Sociology - Dr. BRAOU, Hyderabad
• 2009: Participated in the International Conference organized by International Sociological Association, Research Committee 10 ‘Citizen and Social Development’- Citizen Participation and Community Involvement in Social Welfare and Social Policy’ in collaboration with the University of Piraeus and the Hatzikiriakio Child Care Institution and participation of the University of Wuppertal, University of Osnabrueck, and University Aix-Marseille (Piraeus, May 22-24, 2009)
• Published in Labour, Education & Society: ‘Citizen and Social Development’- Citizen Participation and Community Involvement in Social Welfare and Social Policy’- Edited Volume 31 by Lista Nicolaou-Smokoviti, Heinz Suker, Julia Rozanova, Victoria Pekka Economou. PP-285-306, ISSN 1861-647 XPeter Lang GmbH
• Regular contributor of articles on Social Psychological aspects for Ripples Quaterly Newsletter Magazine of Hyderabad Psychological Association HPA, Hyderabad
• About Puppet performances and presentations, articles and news coverage published in various regional and English newspapers, magazines