Budhan Theatre to offer two IGNOU-recognised courses

Budhan Theatre of Chharanagar, which works for social uplift of denotified tribes (DNT), will offer IGNOU recognised two new courses from this June. The group will start 'Diploma in Theatre Arts, Journalism and Media Studies' and a certificate course in dramatics.

The theatre already runs a one-year certificate course in journalism, but from this academic year, the group will add two new courses recognised by Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU). For the diploma course, a candidate should be a graduate of any discipline, whereas for the certificate course, standard XII pass is the minimum required educational qualification.

Talking to DNA, Kalpana Gagdekar, founder member of Budhan Theatre, said, "This course will be available to DNT candidates as well as to candidates from other communities and the fee will be only Rs1,800. The main idea is to provide exposure and training to the youngsters of socially backward communities."

The theatre group started as a library, then formed a children's theatre group. Later, it came up with a certificate course in journalism and now onwards, it will offer these diploma and certificate courses recognised by one of India's largest open universities. The theatre was started in 1998 after a movement by members of the community seeking justice. Magsaysay award winner and social activist Mahashweta Devi and Dr Ganesh Devy, a tribal activist, came to know that Chhara community exists in a particular area of Ahmedabad. "After a movement by our community people, they both asked us what we wanted. We said we needed a library and thus the theatre was formed," added Kalpana.

The theatre has become a favourite place for the children of nearby localities as they can engage in a whole range of activities there. "Children here can read books in the library, can participate in dramatics and can also learn computer here. So, children prefer to be here whole day and busy themselves in various activities," Ankur Garange, deputy in charge of the theatre, said.
The theatre also runs a non formal school (NFS), teaching basic subjects like mathematics, social science and science.

Presently, 70 children are being benefited by the NFS.
Housed in a single room in a compound, the theatre runs activities like dramatics, a journalism course, a computer course, the NFO, a library etc. It also organises various competitions and events. Interestingly, the nomenclature Budhan Theatre is derived from the name of an individual. Garange said, "Long time back, Budhan of Sabar community was arrested by police in a theft case. Cops assumed that since he was passing through that area, he was the culprit."

He said, "Communities like Sabar and Chhara were once notorious as thieves. So, police mistook him for a thief and tortured him. Hence, the name 'Budhan' has been selected to voice our cry for justice."