In an honest commentary on the creative process, filmmaker Stanley Kubrick said, “I do not always know what I want, but I do know what I don’t want.” The philosophy behind this method can be extrapolated to the lives of creatives, who wear many hats on their way to becoming who they are.

Yamini Nibhanupudi graduated from the Aga Khan Academy Hyderabad in 2014 having focused on maths and sciences in the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme. Since then, she has roamed the highways of academia, always preferring the scenic route. She studied social sciences, stopped along the way to dabble in research and policy work and ultimately discovered a passion for filmmaking. “For me,” she says, “deciding to stay in India and continue a life here is the best decision I made.”

After graduating from the Academy in Hyderabad, Yamini joined the Tata Institute of Social Science (TISS), Tuljapur, enrolling in their School of Rural Development. Here she studied political science, gender studies, history and sociology. During this time she worked with the Foundation for Democratic Reforms in Hyderabad, a think tank dealing with policy making. She also interned with the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme at Khandwa in Madhya Pradesh, working with farmers and marginalised communities.

“I always wanted to work with people who spend every single day without any resources at their disposal, to work on the pressing issues that exist in India, issues that most of us never see through our rose-tinted glasses. I never lived under the illusion that I would be able to improve the lives of people in India, but I would like to.”

Writing her final paper as an undergrad, she realised how she could authentically contribute to society. Yamini wrote her dissertation on "Gender Roles in the Telugu Film Industry". As she delved deep into the paper, she recognised her long-held passion for film. She was then accepted by TISS, Mumbai’s School of Media Studies the same year.

Her choice was validated almost immediately, getting to work at a production house in Mumbai at the end of her first year. She then won a competition, getting a one-minute silent film, “A Mute Point”, funded, which was screened at the 16mm Film Festival by Harkat Studios. “It’s been quite a ride since graduating in 2014,” she says looking back, “and I honestly wouldn’t have it any other way.” She is on track to graduate with a master’s in media and cultural studies in May 2019.

Using her passion for filmmaking, Yamini hopes to make a responsible, self-aware contribution to help be a part of a positive change in her country.

“I would like to be able to tell the people's stories with them, with their permission and with their direction. I know for a fact that I can’t, and in fact shouldn’t be their voice, but I can do everything in my power to back their voices.” 

Yamini is a strong proponent of public and government universities. She believes they are the gateway to a range of education opportunities available in India and they create an avenue to meet people from across the nation.

“I think most people who go to IB schools don’t see India as a viable option to study for their years in university,” she says. “Unfortunately, most of them never truly realise the kind of exposure that you can receive here. A lot of people might argue that they would gain more exposure and a better understanding of the rest of the world by going abroad. But they have never stepped out of their city in India and a lot of them rarely have friends out of their social class in the country. I have been lucky to learn from wonderful people about the work they have done or what they intend to do with their lives, and India in itself has such wonderful and diverse cultures that I would probably never have ever been exposed to had I studied elsewhere.”

For Yamini, the IB education she received at the Academy was significant to her and went beyond the learning she received in the classroom.

"The IB teaches you to think critically and to question everything. Rote learning is so persistent and the norm; the IB existed as a breath of fresh air fo­r me. The Academy also prepared me for a lifelong affair with academia. I learnt to love research to the extent that I have considered going into teaching and pursuing a PhD. Being part of a community like this, which continues to check up on its alumni, and which continues to be there for us years after we have graduated, is an immense source of pride.”

Yamini’s education has been broad and diverse, incorporating the complexity of sciences, the gentility of humanities and the adroitness of cinema. But unlike the Kubrik-ian creative littering the highway with discards, she uses detours to inform her work and her personality.

“I never really had any clarity about what I wanted to do, but now that I do, I’m pushing towards it with all the energy in me.”

Written by Ajay Sundaram