Chandrasekhar Indla - Holding the baton of Telugu theatre
All the world's a stage, Shakespeare famously wrote, and all the men and women merely players. Chandrasekhar Indla, drama faculty at the Academy’s theatre arts department, would take a dim view of such a simplistic description of a stage play. As director, lighting designer, sound technician, mask-maker and writer, Chandra has been a part of hundreds of performances and, talking to him, you would believe that the stage is possibly more than the world, and players perhaps more than merely men and women. “Drama is an important instrument that can build a sense of consciousness in society,” he shares. “There is a need to save and reinvent drama.” For over five years now, he has dedicated his career to introducing children to the world of theatre arts.
A prolific academic, Chandra was among highest scorers in the National Eligibility Test, an exam held nationwide by the University Grants Commission (UGC) which qualifies people to teach performing arts at a collegiate level. His work since his first tenure as a master’s student at the University of Hyderabad has been about introducing drama to a young audience. He was among the first members of the university’s Theatre Outreach Unit, created to expose children all over the state to theatre arts. He joined the Aga Khan Academy Hyderabad in 2015 to continue in this effort. “Our Academy is one of the best places where the teacher-student relationship is so strong in terms of respecting each other and sharing thoughts,” he says. Chandra, not a technical direcor for drama at the Academy, was very happy to teach at the Academy because the IB curriculum gives theatre arts the importance of a elective, rather than just tacking it on as a co-curricular activity as other school programmes do.
With two master’s degrees and a PhD on the way, Chandra surprisingly admits he wasn’t very good at school. In fact, he even struggled through his first degree, a bachelor’s in computer science. “I don’t remember any programming today,” he confides. Once Chandra relieved himself of his pursuits in technology and began honing in on theatre, his academic performance drastically improved. He finished his master’s in performing arts with a gold medal from the University of Hyderabad, and went on to earn two prestigious research fellowships from the UGC to write about theatre arts. These fellowships sustained him for nearly six years. “My family was happy to find out I was going to pursue theatre arts, because my paternal uncle is an author, and they thought he could help me.”
Chandra was born in Kanduluru in Andhra’s Prakasam district where his parents worked for daily wages, often at construction sites or in the tobacco fields of of the coastal district. “He was into old, traditional theatre arts,” Chandra says of his uncle. “Today I’m in national theatre festivals. I have more contacts than him,” he adds, laughing. Indeed, Chandrasekhar Indla has become a recognisable name in Telugu literary circles. This began when his final master’s project, a play adaptation of the book Gopathrudu by K.N.Y Pathanjali, became a sensation in theatres across Andhra Pradesh (before the creation of Telangana State). He followed this with another adapted play called Miss Meena, based on the tragicomedy The Visit by Friedrich Dürrenmatt. Ms. Meena was performed over a 100 times statewide, earning Chandra a reputation as tested thespian. Apart from this, Chandra has also spoken and presented about Telugu theatre at international conferences.
“As a professional admirer of drama I would like to hand over the future of drama to the students to take it further,” he says. Since his joining the Academy, our students have held performances across the city, attended several festivals and plays, and most notably, entered the Amaravathi National Theatre Festival in 2017. “I had the freedom to run and develop the department,” he says of being the first drama teacher at the school. “I have used this freedom to develop the students’ abilities in acting, communication, confidence, creativity and thinking skills.” With the addition of George Macpherson to the drama department as of August 2018, the programme has only gained in strength. “We’ve built a whole new teaching strategy together,” Chandra says of his friend and colleague George. “As a practioner, I'm more comfortable teaching the the practical aspects of theatre, whereas George is very good at teaching theory."
Inevitably, Chandra went from adapting literature to the stage to creating literature himself. As of date, he has been published in Telugu literary magazines 12 times, and has a collection of short stories on the way. One of the major motifs in Chandra’s writing is social equality and social reform. At the Aga Khan Academy Hyderabad, where pluralism is one of the tenets of the school’s ethos, Chandra is a person students can look up to who shows these values in his work and personal life. Chandra met his wife Ezhilmathi in 2009 when they were doing their master’s of philosophy in performing arts at Pondicherry University. His area of focus was drama while hers was music. “She taught me Tamil,” he says, “I think that’s where it began.” The two had to convince their parents before they could get married. “My marriage is inter-state, inter-faith, inter-caste,” he laughs. In August 2012, Chandrasekhar and Ezhilmathi were married in a wedding with both Hindu and Christian rituals.
“Drama can build self-confidence in a person. However, most people do not have proper understanding or admiration of drama,” Chandra says. Looking out of his office window at an overcast December morning, Chandra’s thoughts about his art turn bleak. “No one reads scripts,” he says of the culture of literature in the subcontinent. “People will just read Shakespeare as a play, but that is not the case for Telugu literature.” The shields and trophies on his desk gleam in the wintry light. “Maybe this culture of drama will die out one day."
Though the thought is dark, Chandra doesn’t let it get in the way of his work, and rather uses it to fuel his work as a teacher. He knows that many of his students will go on to pursue, say, computer science, but that doesn’t deter him. “I want my students to be good humans who are not only responsible but also sensitive to others’ emotions and culture. Drama needs to be handled more as a legacy and its nuances need to be inherited and passed on generation after generation. This is possible only when I take up the role of a teacher.”
Written by Ajay Sundaram
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International Baccalaureate
The International Baccalaureate (IB) is a non-profit educational foundation, motivated by its mission to create a better world through education. IB programmes for students aged 3-19 help develop their intellectual, personal, emotional and social skills to live, learn and work in a rapidly globalising world.
Following in the footsteps of its sister schools in Mombasa, Hyderabad and Maputo, the Aga Khan Academy Dhaka plans to become an IB World School, subject to the necessary authorisations.
IB World Schools share a common philosophy – a commitment to improve the teaching and learning of a diverse and inclusive community of students by delivering challenging, high-quality programmes of international education that share a powerful vision.
Aims of the IB programme
Founded in 1968, the International Baccalaureate currently works with schools in 144 countries to develop and offer their programmes to over one million students.
The IB mission statement declares:
"The International Baccalaureate aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect. To this end the organisation works with schools, governments and international organisations to develop challenging programmes of international education and rigorous assessment. These programmes encourage students across the world to become active, compassionate and lifelong learners who understand that other people, with their differences, can also be right."
For further information about the International Baccalaureate and its programmes, please visit the IB website.
Meet Maryanne - our new Academy Fellow!
Diploma Programme
The Aga Khan Academy Maputo has received authorisation as an International Baccalaureate (IB) World School offering the IB Diploma Programme (DP). The programme is offered to students (aged 16–19) in the final two years of school.
The Diploma Programme is a demanding, pre-university-level course of studies. It is internationally recognised by over 2,000 universities worldwide.
The DP has a reputation for rigorous assessment of student achievement. Each student’s performance and levels of knowledge are examined internally by teachers according to set criteria. They are also assessed externally by independent examiners according to global standards applied to all IB schools.
Our students study all the subjects covered in a traditional, broad curriculum, including languages, social sciences, experimental sciences, mathematics and the arts. The DP also takes the curriculum a step further through three unique programmes:
- theory of knowledge
- creativity, activity, service
- extended essay.
Theory of knowledge
Theory of knowledge (TOK) is an interdisciplinary requirement unique to the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme. It encourages students to reflect on the knowledge they gain both inside and outside the classroom.
One hundred hours of classroom time are dedicated to the TOK programme. We challenge our students to question the nature of knowledge across disciplines, to recognise biases and to analyse evidence using rational thought and argument. By making our students consider and appreciate different perspectives, TOK contributes towards a pluralistic outlook.
Creativity, activity, service
Creativity, activity, service (CAS) is an important component of the IB curriculum and is required for every DP student at the Academy. Our students participate actively in a variety of creative endeavours, physical activities and community service projects. They develop self-confidence, teamwork and leadership skills, and a sense of civil responsibility.
Students take part in sustainable projects that have real and lasting effects on the greater Maputo community. They develop strength of character and an understanding of their ability to bring about change.
The CAS programme is valued for its power to transform the lives not only of students but also the people they work with. It serves as a platform for interpersonal exchange, personal growth and greater understanding of the issues we face as a global community.
Extended essay
The extended essay requires students to pick a subject of their choice and research and develop it into a 4,000-word essay. Students may choose to investigate a subject from one of their higher-level courses more deeply. Or they can broaden their academic experience by researching a subject in a field they are not currently studying.
Through the extended essay, we introduce students to the kind of independent research and writing skills expected at the university level.
Career-related Programme
The Academy is a Candidate School* for the Career-related programme.
*Only schools authorised by the IB Organization can offer any of its four academic programmes: the Primary Years Programme (PYP), the Middle Years Programme (MYP), the Diploma Programme, or the Career-related Programme (CP). Candidate status gives no guarantee that authorisation will be granted. For further information about the IB and its programmes, visit www.ibo.org.
For further information on the IB Diploma Programme at the Academy, please see the admission requirements or contact us.
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