"This is the first meeting of the project we started off with the lecture at the institute. We have called all those who expressed interest in the project for the meeting"
"I'm kay and he is Ben, we are here on a two month project"
"I direct plays. I have been with the cultural center since some years. I have directed plays, acted in plays for fifteen years then I was bored. I worked with the different artist groups in different parts of the world particularly what people call the conflict zones, Palestine, Darfur etc. Now I have come here on this project. I am resident here for two months"
"I am a social worker I work with women and human trafficking. I have worked in sub saharan Africa."
"Talking about the project. We have a text Virginia Woolf's "A room of one's own". We intend to work to create a social sculpture as defined by Joseph Beuys, it says every person is an artist and together we can all create art."
"To begin with we want you to read the text, then take a passage,line, idea and express what it means to each one of you. While we begin, there is always this question of what will be the end, what are we working towards. But we have consciously not defined the end, we want us to evolve in the process. It could be in the form of an art, a play, a song, a lecture or anything. We could work together or individually."
"I understand we are not supposed to think of the end but I'm still not able to resist, what are we working towards", asked Melanie
"It could be anything, it could be an exhibition, a women's museum, a cabinet anything. "
"Here Woolf talks about how it is important to have a room of one's own and five hundred pounds a year for a woman to be able to write fiction, then she also says she is privileged to have it. We are also from the privileged section.....
"We have marked a few pages, you can read this, it is on page number four"
"That a famous library has been cursed by a woman is a matter of complete indifference to a famous library. Venerable and calm, with all its treasures safe locked within its breast, it sleeps complacently and will, so far as I am concerned, so sleep for ever. Never will I wake those echoes, never will I ask for that hospitality again, I vowed as I descended the steps in anger. Still an hour remained before luncheon, and what was one to do? Stroll on the meadows? sit by the river?", read Swetha.
"hmm..haha", reacted Aditi, as if responding to the text. Neha just stared, she couldn't help but wonder if Swetha had really understood what was being read, she wondered if only she lacked the context and concentration. "I can't concentrate when others read", she thought
As Swetha read, a woman in her late fourties arrived, "sorry I'm late. You need to brief me on what happened so far", she said. The reading continued.
and the book was passed to Ritesh, "Let me imagine, since facts are so hard to come by, what would have happened had Shakespeare had a wonderfully gifted sister, called Judith..."
The book was passed until all the people present got a chance to read and paragraphs from the six chapters were completed.
" If I'm not wrong, we need to interpret the text using any medium, as in what it means to us", said Ankita.
"Okay so when do we meet next. We generally work during the day and quite regularly in other countries. Here you have to tell us when it would be suitable for you. Day or evening"
"Before that I don't know any of them.", said the old lady.
"Yea, we missed that bit can we start"
"I'm Ritesh, I worked with a banking company for 4 yrs and then quit, now I'm have joined theater finally"
"I'm Ajay. I have worked with the corporate for thirty years. Now I have left it. I'm a chairman in attakalari center. honorary member of some NGOs. I write some short stories."
Then Ritesh jumped in, our short film has been selected, he said to Ajay.
"I'm into theatre, but this part of life I have neglected since a long time. I come from a family of theater artist. I did a lot of other things, now I finally have decided to take up theater permanently. My great grand father was a theater artist, it is in the blood.....", said Anita.
"I'm a teacher. I used to teach in different city but came back. I also curate poetry We recently organised a poetry recital. The students took different different poetry of great poets of different languages and they read out on the evening....", the old lady Anita went on.
"I act in plays", said Swetha
"We are here, if any of you wants to talk. Otherwise you can leave. The next meeting is on the Monday next week"