by Mallika Shah Before reopening in October for the first time since the pandemic, the four performers of Bhagi Hui Ladkiyan — Jasmine, Nagma, Nagina, and Zainab — met the singer-songwriter Tanmaya Bhatnagar on Instagram for a live interview. As is usual with Instagram Lives, one party (Tanmaya) is always…

It felt like I was gradually being brought into the narrative. At first they were just stories, and then they became more and more relatable, causing me to start introspecting into my own life, और फिर, वो कहानी जो शुरू में उस किरदार की थी , अपने introspection के through…

Library access is overwhelmingly driven by class and caste privilege, wherein reading as an act of leisure or for academic pursuits is a marker of intellectual “merit”, and pursued as such in domestic and educational spaces. The communities that Aagaaz works with in the Nizamuddin basti have little to no…

In July, members of Aagaaz Theatre Trust were invited to be part of the Dharamshala Residential & International Festival for Theatre (DRIFT). DRIFT is an entirely crowdfunded and volunteer-run theatre festival that has been taking place in Dharamshala since 2016. Nagina and Aslam of the Aagaaz Repertory worked with students…

I am Zainab, and I have been a part of Aagaaz since it was first formed. I am a professional actor and have been part of all major productions by Aagaaz (Duniya Sabki, Raavan Aaya, Bhagi Hui Ladkiyan, Rihla). The last few months, my colleagues and I have been working…

आगाज़ में मैं एक और कदम बढ़ाकर एक और नई जिम्मेदारी संभाली है। जब आगाज़ की शुरुआत हुई तो मैं बस अपने आप को एक अभिनेता की तरह देखता था। जैसे अगर कोई नाटक बना था तो मैं बस नाटक में अभिनय करने के लिए इच्छुक रहता था, जैसे जब…

मैंने और इस्माइल ने हाल ही में एक 4 दिन का workshop किया, जो एक think arts project का हिस्सा था। ये workshop हमने अपने निजामुद्दीन बस्ती के learning centre में ही किया, उन ही बच्चों के साथ जिनके साथ हम पिछले कुछ महीनों से sessions कर रहे हैं। पर…

Learning Sessions एक ऐसा space है जहां पर हम सब लोग अपने-अपने doubts, questions, problems और challenges लेकर जाते हैं। जब हम खुद बस्ती में बच्चों के साथ काम करते हैं तो हमारे बहुत सवाल होते हैं, जिनको हम learning sessions में सबके सामने रखते हैं और फिर पूरे group…

I’ve been trying to write this blog post since November. It was supposed to be a three-day thing (pause) But I stampeded over the deadlines Like a shady wildebeest because there is so much I want to say (embarrassingly intense stuff) Like Hey Everyone, I think I’m Madly in Love…