K. Srilata, writer and academic
K. Srilata explains that her careers as an academic and as a writer overlap “in the sense that both fields demand an engagement with ideas and with language. But the entry points and the approaches are very different”. Srilata has written three poetry collections including her latest one titled Writing Octopus , and a novel, Table Four Four , which was long-listed for the Man Asian Literary Prize. Srilata’s work as a translator as well is notable. As an academic, she teaches creative writing, fiction and translation studies at IIT-Madras.
So what is a day in Srilata’s life like? “There is no typical day, really! But the ebb and flow of the semester and the needs of my children have a way of shaping the day, and I do my bit to shape the day too in the best way I can. The one thing I do try to do is to write a little every day, but I don’t necessarily manage it. I have just learnt to be more patient and forgiving about that!” she says.
About her interest in academic research, Srilata says, “I like the energy that comes with meeting people on a daily basis and so I like to teach. Sometimes, inevitably, that drains me as well and then I need to write in order to recover my energy.” So does she find the academic work contributing to the richness of her craft? “That is hard to say, but I am sure it seeps in. A certain perspective that comes with doing academic work finds its way into my writing, I am sure. But perhaps, equally, it also gets in the way.” Srilata, who has always wanted to write, adds that the fact that she can create a world of her own and that she can persuade people to see the world as she sees it, makes fiction and poetry enjoyable for her. “I like the freedom of it, the sense of small power,” she says.
Kavitha Ramu, dancer and District Revenue Officer
For Kavitha Ramu, the difference between passion and profession is vast and yet she manages to gracefully straddle these worlds with poise and a sense of purpose. Kavitha is a District Revenue Officer by day and a senior Bharatanatyam artiste by night. She has been performing as a solo artiste for 20 years now and has over 500 stage performances to her credit. Kavitha’s day starts at 5.15 a.m. “I leave for yoga or functional fitness classes on alternate days. Then I get back home and practise dance for some time. I leave home by 9.15 a.m. and get back at around 8 p.m. If I reach earlier, I love unwinding in our neighbourhood park,” she says. Kavitha muses that she doesn’t know exactly how she has managed to do justice to both these demanding endeavours in her life. “But” she adds, “Since dance is a major stress buster, I don’t feel any pressure.”
Kavitha’s father was a civil servant. “As a youngster, I used to be fascinated by the Indian Foreign Service. But as I grew up, my ideas changed, mainly because I thought I would be better off in India, to pursue my dancing alongside.” About choosing to do both Kavitha says, “It was not a deliberate choice. I have been in the performing arena for quite some time now. And when I took up the exams, I was a widely performing-artiste and there was no reason whatsoever for me to forsake one for the other.”
Many accolades have come this talented artiste-bureaucrat’s way — from Yuva Kala Bharati to the Balasaraswati Endowment. So what about dance does she love the most? “The tranquillity it gives me while I am in abandon!”
Maria Kavita Thomas, lawyer and singer
Kavita Thomas believes music has been part of her life even before she was born. “My aunt would play the piano for my pregnant mother everyday,” she says. At age three, she started learning Bharatanatyam and to play the piano. But a few years later, when Kavita got together with some friends, she realised her love for singing surpassed her other two skills and they started an all-girl band called Mantra. Now, this well-known city-based singer sings with bands such as The Speakeasy Poets, 7even and The Acousti-crats, and works on putting together different bands.
Coming from a family of lawyers, becoming one seemed only natural. progression. As a kid, a trip to a holocaust museum in Israel got her interested in law and human rights. “I've been fortunate to be able to pursue law and the arts — professions I’d been passionate about. While I believe one can pursue both professions simultaneously, I've understood that sometimes just pursuing one can be all-consuming. And to be truly great at anything needs commitment. Juggling two professions is tricky. While So juggling two professions has been tricky. However, being a lawyer gives me a sense of purpose, being an artist is therapeutic,” she says.
Lekha Washington, actor and product designer
Lekha Washington is a woman of the arts. And that’s what has made her popular. She also runs a product design company called Ajji. “I have always been interested in art. As a child, my mom used to give me lessons,” says Lekha, who did a course in fine art at Stella Maris, and product design and filmmaking at National Institute of Design. Acting was something that was at the back of her mind. “Since a career in films seemed uncertain, it was business was considered dubious so only after I finished my course at NID and started earning that I decided to give acting a shot,” she says. Her recent release is the successful Kalyana Samayal Saadham . Her design work is mostly done in Mumbai at her quirky studio Upstairs as also in Delhi. She’s looking forward to exhibiting her work at Evoluzione and is currently working on an installation art video project. She pursues her acting career mostly in Chennai and Hyderabad. “It’s a huge problem balancing two careers. Hence, design keeps me working late into the night. My design team is in Mumbai.” That’s a whirlwind schedule. “I like whirlwinds,” she laughs, adding, “As an artist, I am in control of my output but, as an actor, I am part of someone else’s ideas as well as of a larger picture. However, films have given me the visibility that my products might not have.”
Supraja Dharini, conservationist and artist
She is an artist by profession who holds a doctorate in Philosophy. But it’s in sea-turtle conservation that her heart lies. Supraja Dharini, founder and chairperson of TREE Foundation, a marine conservation NGO, successfully balances a career as an artist and work at her NGO. It has been involved in community-based marine conservation activities in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Odisha.
The turning point in her life came in December 2001, when she encountered a dead sea turtle that was washed ashore in a fishing village near her home. Supraja has been drawn to them ever since. While she goes about rescuing and rehabilitating olive ridleys caught in trawl nets on one hand, Supraja runs an art studio at Injambakkam on the other.
“We do murals, stained glass and glass painting,” she says, adding that they restored the stained glass at St. George’s Cathedral in the city. Supraja also creates mural designs based on the requirement of her clients. She has a team that does the rough sketches for her.
How does she balance her careers? The trick, says Supraja, is not to look at them as work. “For me, art is not work. And conservation is my lifeline,” she says. “When you love what you do, you don’t get tired.”
