Makkala Koota

She has been storytelling to children in trauma, as she believes that the power of stories is an excellent therapy. She has used this therapy in conflict areas, with cancer patients and Tsunami orphans. She has authored a number of children’s books, and written articles on children’s literature. She conducts workshops in making eco friendly stick puppets and trains children to use them in skits. She conducts workshops for parents and teachers on how to use stories for the emotional well being of children. She is a founder member of Bookalore, Bangalore’s big little book club.

Anusha has completed her law degree from Ramaiah College of Bangalore, and her Master’s degree from Manipal Centre for Humanities, MAHE. Having worked in content, teaching, and in the social sector, Anusha believes in the overall holistic development of an individual while approaching any skill. Education, arts, as well as social awareness for her, are key aspects of life that can be inculcated into everyday learning and unlearning. Presently, Anusha works as a workshop coordinator at iDare and conducts awareness workshops for young adults on the topics of abuse, safety, and wellness. She will be conducting the awareness section of the workshop.

Vaamaa is the founder of iDare, India’s first tech-based platform that has a 360 degree approach to working on relationships, abuse and mental well-being. iDare was born out of the bottlenecks seen in the safety space while conducting DARE workshops. Vaamaa started DARE in 2015, an initiative to equip children to take safety in their own hands. DARE has conducted workshops for 10 lakh students on self-defense, educating them on their rights and laws related to sexual abuse and harassment, and creating safe spaces for them to open up about their problems. She is a trainer in Jeet Kune Do, a martial art that is designed for self defense by Bruce Lee. She will be conducting the physical self defense section of the workshop.

Sandeep Jain is a theater artist from Bangalore. Completing his Masters in Business Administration from RV Institute of management, Sandeep is now pursuing his passion as his profession and practicing theater as an actor for the past 18 years. Sandeep is practicing terracotta art for the past 3 years. conducted a residential terracotta workshop, Introduction to terracotta at RV University along with few places in Bangalore. Recognised artisan from Govt. Of India. Also has worked as an actor, filmmaker, sound designer, translator & assisted for international documentary films. Sandeep has acted in more than 350 theater shows of around 50 productions. Presently working in The Valley School as a theater educator for the past 7 years.Sandeep S is an artist, painter & sculptor from Bangalore. He has completed his bachelor of visual arts from Ken School of Art, Bangalore, and a master’s in visual Art from Bangalore university. Completed his certified course from RDTDC, Bangalore, Sandeep holds an artisan card from the central government of India. Sandeep has been practicing the above-mentioned art forms for the past 10 years. He has conducted art workshops for people with disabilities and worked for few art charity shows. Sandeep has also participated in art exhibitions at RECUR art exhibition and the annual sculpture exhibition conducted by Shilpakala Academy.

Lakshmi Kaushik is an architect and natural builder. She is part of the The LooRoo Club team which is all about sparking that inner curiosity in your child through play! The LooRoo Club is run by two mothers – an architect and an early years educator who are both inspired by the wonder and magic of nature! Our playdates revolve around nature based activities, where children come together to create art, work with natural elements, enjoy messy play and of course, have a whole lot of fun!

Sangeetha Arjun is an early years educator. She is part of the The LooRoo Club team which is all about sparking that inner curiosity in your child through play! The LooRoo Club is run by two mothers – an architect and an early years educator who are both inspired by the wonder and magic of nature! Our playdates revolve around nature based activities, where children come together to create art, work with natural elements, enjoy messy play and of course, have a whole lot of fun!

Ishita is trained as a designer and historian, my curatorial practice focuses on cultural preservation, creative interpretation, and community engagement. Due to my keen interest in furthering these initiatives in different parts of India and engaging in conversations across the Global South, I have curated a range of activities from publications, exhibitions, learning experiences, and incubation programs, to public dialogues in collaboration with or for, a wide range of organizations, offices and/or practitioners.

Curating for Culture is primarily driven towards enabling projects of cultural preservation with continuous and conscious efforts for addressing representation; whether it is the representation of minority groups in national narrative or documentation of everyday histories over popular or iconic propaganda. Community engagement and creative collaborations rooted in ethical practice are critical to our efforts within the collective as well as within our approach to growing across borders.

We are passionate about furthering the culture of archiving and creating safe spaces for dialogues of differences. At times, we also take up institutional roles or engage in constructive activism to unpack these positions.

The primary themes under which Curating for Culture strives to further its work, but not limited to, are South Asia/India in the archives, beyond the institutional narratives, empowering the local and a day in the life of an archivist or a curator.  The fifth theme in-making is to look critically at the socio-politics of underrepresented narratives in popular histories.

Beneath-A-Tree is an interactive learning experience company that works in ten states to design gender+STEM curricula, make reinvent-it-yourself kits, houses an archive, makerspace and museum on the same theme. Flagship offering is the Cabinets of Curiosity, a treasure hunt based experience of STEM artefacts whose interesectional history is figured by users themselves with clues and an escape room experience.

Farah Ahmad is part of the 10000 Women Entrepreneur Program by Goldman Sachs at IIM Bangalore. She curate toys and believes wooden building blocks are integral for a child’s cognitive, emotional and social development.

Rohan Raman has always been the tinkering type. You know that person who loves to break something, take it apart, and put it back together to see if they can make it work? That’s him. When he was younger, he would do the same with his computer much to his parents’ horror. He would hack into them and try to figure out how they worked. Back in the eighties, he didn’t know that was something that would come in handy many years later. He just thought it was fun. Fast forward to the present day, and Rohan has successfully traded in his IBM PC for a high-flying career in technology focused consulting with one of the world’s leading technology services companies. But he’s still never lost his love for tinkering. A handyman around the house and the one man IT department for his family, he is forever finding new ways to apply his skills to everyday problems. This enterprising streak saw him build his first website in the 90s dedicated to motorsport in India and build multiple gaming PCs with focus on small form factor builds. More recently he has taken to “wrenching” and working on his 2 motorcycles. Rohan has an MBA from NMIMS, Mumbai.