I am Kaarthikeyan R and I am Teach for India Fellow, teaching in Puliyanthope, Chennai. I teach English and social science for grade 9 students. 

I have long wondered about the impact that arts, theater and creative expression can have on students, especially in their teen years. While me and my students try our best every single day to progress on the academic front, we find a strong need to explore the idea of expressing ourselves in the most creative way possible, theater. 

 

I along with a group of 20 of my students are venturing on what we think is a bold idea. We dream to learn, develop and bring our creative best to perform on a big stage 6 months from now. We dream of scripting, producing and directing our show with the support of experts, putting up the best theater performance the city has seen. We want to do this, towards understanding our own potential and letting the world see our true potential. 

I believe that this will be the beginning of a lifelong journey for both myself and my students. I am hiring a professional theater arts trainer who has agreed to train my students. Through the next 30 days, students will go through intense training sessions through a series of workshops and post that we will get into the actual production, preparing for a period of 5-6 months with the trainer. 

In the beginning stages, we are in need of 2 lakh Indian Rupees, more than 80% of which will cover the cost of trainers and travel for practice sessions and 20% towards miscellaneous expenses. I assure you that the book of accounts for this amount will be maintained diligently with bills and the same can be provided to donors as per their request at any point in time. We plan to step onto the BIG Stage performing in front of hundreds of spectators in February 2023, the cost of which we are confident of raising in due course of time.