May 08 2026 to May 08 2026 6:30 p.m.

Where

Bangalore International Centre

7 4th Main Rd, Stage 2, Domlur 560071

Event Description

What does it mean to write in English, in India?

It is not a simple act. The language carries the weight of history, the suspicion of elitism, and the quiet insistence of something that has, despite everything, become entirely ours. Tagore knew this. He wrote in Bengali, translated himself into English, and in doing so redefined what it meant to be an author in modern India.

In tribute to Tagore on his 165th birth anniversary, Vijay Padaki examines the challenges of writing and performing in English in India. Drawing on over half a century of experience in theatre and writing through Bangalore Little Theatre (BLT), Padaki brings the insider’s account of what it takes to develop a play; be it an adaptation, translation, or original script. The evening is illustrated with excerpts from the ten volumes of BLT’s 2020 publication of plays developed over decades, including his own writing. 

Padaki then joins Arundhati Raja, co-founder of Jagriti Theatre, in conversation. The evening concludes with an audience Q&A.

Speakers

Vijay Padaki
Trustee Emeritus, Bangalore Little Theatre Foundation
Vijay Padaki has spent over sixty years in theatre as an actor, director, designer, administrator, and writer. He was part of the founding faculty of IIM Bangalore, where he taught for many years, but theatre has been his constant. He has been associated with Bangalore Little Theatre since its inception in 1960, building programmes that have shaped theatre education in India: New Voices, which fostered new writing for the stage; the History of Ideas series of bio-historical plays; the Education Enrichment programme for schools, with a particular focus on disadvantaged children; and the annual Summer Project on Theatre, which has inducted new faces into the theatre since 1988.

He has written over fifty original plays in English and is considered the foremost playwright in the English language in India today. He is the Series Editor of BLT’s ten-volume publications project, and has more recently published two volumes of short stories. He is currently Trustee Emeritus at BLT. In 2024, ASSITEJ International honoured him with the Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to theatre for children and young audiences.

Arundhati Raja
Founder Trustee, Jagriti Theatre
Arundhati Raja made her debut on the Bangalore stage with Bangalore Little Theatre in 1977. She began directing in 1982 with One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, forming the Artistes’ Repertory Theatre with her husband Jagdish Raja. She has since directed over forty productions. In 2005, she premiered the English version of Girish Karnad’s one-woman play A Heap of Broken Images, performing over thirty shows across Bangalore, Delhi, and Chennai. Her landmark productions include Karnad’s The Dreams of Tipu Sultan, Yayati and Bali the Sacrifice, and Lorca’s The House of Bernarda Alba.

Before theatre, she trained in science, graduating from the University of Birmingham in Physiology in 1971 and working at the London School of Pharmacy before returning to India in 1972. She went on to teach, first at the Sheila Kothawala School for the Deaf, then as founder faculty at what is now Mallya Aditi International School. In 2006, she served as festival coordinator for Kannada Rangabhoomi Namaskara, a six-day festival of six plays by eminent Kannada playwrights in English translation. Arundhati and Jagdish are Founder Trustees of Jagriti Theatre, a 200-seat theatre in Whitefield, which they launched in 2011.