Breath is the flow of air between life and death. Breathing is an involuntary action that functions as the basis of all human activities, intellectual, artistic, emotional and physical. Breathing is the first autonomous individual action that brings life into being and the end of breathing is the definitive sign of disappearance. Starting from the question how breathing affects the body, levels of consciousness, perception and meaning, this book, for the first time, investigates through a variety of philosophical, critical and practical models, directly and indirectly related to breath,...

The plays in this collection reflect on the political and social issues of contemporary Indian society. Stone Idols retells the story of Buddha through the experience of an actress in a theatre group. The play addresses the complexities of self and identity while deconstructing the mythical story of Buddha. The Beauty Parlour shows the contradictions of an urban middle class girl who is victimized by the male gaze and market economy. The play is set in an Indian urban metropolis where the central character lives a life with tremendous pressure in terms of day-to-day living. The plays in this...

The Natyasastra is the deep repository of Indian performance studies. It embodies centuries of performance knowledge developed in South Asia on a range of conceptual issues and practical methodologies of the body. The composition of the Natyasastra is attributed to Sage Bharatha, and dates back to between 200 BC and AD 200. Written in Sanskrit, the text contains 6000 verse stanzas integrated in 36 chapters discussing a wide range of issues in theatre arts, including dramatic composition; construction of the playhouse; detailed analysis of the musical scales; body movements; various types of...