The Mitra Tantra Archive of Personal Narratives and Oral Histories is a digital encyclopaedia of experiences and wisdom of citizens of India, eminent, ordinary and extraordinary.

The work on Mitra Tantra consumes hundreds of man hours, money and  much hard work to produce. It is necessary work, as our collective views, narratives and experiences matter–now more than ever.
If everyone who refers to the project – likes it, admires it and benefits from it, then please help fund it. It will make the future of this project much more robust and reassured.

To this Archive,  we are including the story of :
Prasanna - The Yarn Spinner

Legendary theatre actor and director Prasanna is a ‘city-dweller’  has spent the last 25 years in a tiny village called Heggodu in Karnataka’s Shivamogga district.
In the Malnad region of Karnataka, he is revered like a sage by the theatre community. He trained at National School of Drama, where his book Indian Method in Acting is a veritable textbook.
25 years ago Prasanna quit theatre, and inspired by Gandhian teachings, founded the Shramajeevi Ashram, and Charaka, a dynamic rural khadi co-operative, managed entirely by local women. The ashram and weavers have the distinction of having revived traditional dyeing techniques and textiles such as the Udupi handloom saree that was teetering on the brink of extinction.
Today, Charaka is synonymous with women’s empowerment and handlooms, a success story scripted by one man and taken forward by hundreds of women.

The former IITian hopes that one day every machine in the world will be dismantled.