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Showing posts with the label HIV/AIDS

Mandala Magic

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It was right from childhood that Vaishali Lall, a visualiser cum graphic designer at International Centre Goa, Miramar, had an affinity towards doodling mandalas. At the time, she had no idea what they were called or what they might stand for. ‘The process was soothing and beautiful,’ she says. Mandala is the Sanskrit word for ‘disc’, ‘circle’, or ‘completion’, where a design is created within a circle. It goes back to ancient times when yantras were depicted on mandalas. Yantras are mantras, or chants, invoking the name of a particular deity. To create a yantra mandala, one had to study mythological texts for a number of years and detach oneself from the allurements of the world to work in perfect silence. The mandala has been found to be an essential part of major religions. Western history shows us churches with representations on stained glass windows; there is the Celtic cross with the circle in the centre; and there would be a maze like structure, where the centre contains an ene

Dramatically Yours, The Mustard Seed Art Company! (Theatre)

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In Goa, Isabel de Santa Rita Vás is a name synonymous with English drama. Having written and directed numerous plays, this playwright of exceptional calibre, allowed us to partake of her vision of this art form. Her illustrious career as a college professor of English Literature has included becoming the head of the English department at Dhempe College of Arts and Science. Her position as an English Literature lecturer indubitably led to her acquaintance with other forms of literature. She was often entrusted with the duty of putting up performances to embellish regular college programmes or whenever occasion demanded it. Her passion for literature and the bond that she shared with her students enabled her to immerse herself wholly in drama and its nuances. In time, the challenge and charm of transmuting play scripts into stage performances encouraged a more adventurous endeavour. Along with a group of young people, she set out independently to stage a well-known American play in the t