Aroon Shivdasani: Ambassador Of Indian Culture Abroad

Aroon Shivdasani

Aroon Shivdasani's laughter and joi de vivre are her signatures. Executive Director and founding member of the Indo-American Arts Council, which is in its 10th year of steady growth and success, Aroon is passionate about its mission to build an awareness of Indian artists and artistic disciplines, performing, visual, literary and folk arts, in North America. She believes life is not a dress rehearsal, embraces each new day completely and intensely. She has lived in India, England, Canada and the United States, traveled extensively all over the world, is interested in every aspect of life and has friends of all cultures, ages and religions.

Born in Karachi, which was then part of the undivided India, on January 28, 1946, her family moved to India, soon after India gained independence from Britain, and the country was divided into India and Pakistan. Aroon had her Bachelor of Arts Degree at St. Xaviers College, Bombay; and a Diploma in Marketing & Advertising from the University of Bombay. She came to the United States to do her Masters Degree in English Literature and Drama at Iona College, New Rochelle, NY.

A Masters Degree in English literature and drama, Aroon has worked in marketing, advertising, media research, taught both school and college, run a theatre company in Canada, been a docent at the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, been Editor of the Junior League Newsletter, acted, danced, painted, thrown pots, worked in ceramics and stained glass. She left her position as Adjunct Professor of Creative Writing & English literature and VP of her husband's marketing company, to take on her current position in 1998.

Immersed in the arts, Aroon concieved and produced the first Festival of Indian Theatre in North America, annual Playwrights Festivals in conjunction with the Lark Theatre, several film premiers, two annual film festivals one of New Films from India at MOMAand the other of Indian Independent & Indian diaspora films, an annual Erasing Borders visual art exhibition, as well as myriad fascinating theatre, film, dance, music, literary and fine arts events under the auspices of The Indo- American Arts Council.

"I have always been involved in the arts," she says. "My mother was a professor of English and Drama, my sister is a celebrated artist and I myself used to act, sing, dance, paint and do pottery," she explains. "When I and my fellow Board members founded it in 1998 NY was a cultural desert re Indian arts," she recalls. "Artists from India performed one night stands in Queens or Edison and no one else heard of or saw them.

There was no awareness of the artists or arts of India anywhere. We were determined to promote, showcase and build an awareness of performing, visual and literary arts of India or influenced by India all over North America. It worked....several young theatre, film, dance and music groups gradually came into existence after our path breaking... leading to today's Indian summer!"

The annual Film Festival of the Indian Theater in North America has become a much sought after event. "This festival was conceived to celebrate our filmmakers who live and work outside India," Aroon explains. "Some like Ismail Merchant, Mira Nair, Deepa Mehta, Jagmohan Mundhra, have achieved recognition among the art film genre across the board. Other young independent filmmakers featured in our festivals last year and this year hope to gain recognition through visibility, distribution and exposure to mainstream media," she adds Equally passionate about humanity, Aroon has always supported and worked for social causes through the arts: raising money and awareness for FREA India, a Front for Rapid Economic Advancement of India; The Spastics Society, SAKHI (prevention of domestic violence), CRY (child relief and you), Project India (the street children of Bombay), and many more.

"We are all human - we have a conscience," Aroon explains. "Artists through the ages have reflected their times...commented on them...influenced them...We, at the IAAC like to live life to the fullest. To do that we have to participate in life and help wherever we can. Because the arts are our forte, and because we know the arts heal and force people to look and listen, we raise money, awareness and alleviate pain through the various art forms."

Her concern for those affected by the tragedies in her native land came to the light during the earthquakes in Maharashtra and Gujarat. She along with her friends and colleagues raised more money from the United States than any other group. In 2001, she was successful in getting former President Bill Clinton to address a fund-raiser in New York City.

Soon after the communal violence in Gujarat in 2003, equally concerned with this man-made tragedy, she responded to the Gujarat massacres with an artistic performance. She organized a dramatic reading in May 2002 of excerpts of Shashi Tharoor's novel Riot, which takes place leading up to and during a fictitious Hindu-Muslim riot in India. The reading, hosted by the World Policy Institute at New School University, was directed by Michael Johnson- Chase and performed by Indian actress Shabana Azmi, actress and author Madhur Jaffrey, Wall Street Journal reporter Tunku Varadarajan and Shashi Tharoor himself.

A staunch secularist, Aroon believes in equality and freedom of expression to one and all. Her support to noble causes had put her under the spanner of those opposed to secularism and want to glorify fundamentalism.
In addition to the protests and rally held against the bood reading of "Riot," when the Indo-American Arts Council sponsored performances of Feroz Khan's play Mahatma vs. Gandhi and Pradeep Dalvi's Nathuram Godse, Aroon Shivdasani again found herself at the receiving end of telephone threats, accused of being a traitor to her "homeland" and actually spat upon before the Godse play commenced.

fter the performance, a man got up on a chair shouting that he knew "the truth" and warned that the producers of this "indecent" play would be "punished for their lies." The show, needless to say, went on. None of those threats and attacks prevented her from expressing her voice for the sake of truth and those affected hatred.
Aroon’s contributions are not limited to the events that take place and affect South Asia alone. For instance, she contributed to revitalizing New York City at the behest of Mayor Rudi Guiliani by presenting the First Annual IAAC Film Festival in the aftermath of 9/11.

Her heart went out to those affected by the recent Tsunami that affected millions of lives in Asia. She put together a dinner fund raiser, fashion parade by artists, dances, and auction of colorful paintings at The Christies in New York in February 2005. Prominent among those who attended and addressed the event was Senator Hillary Clinton.

The $500 per plat dinner and the auction raised more than a quarter million dollars in a single night. Shivdasni said, "The money raised will be given to American India Foundation, which will directly distribute the amount to those non profit agencies that are providing for the rehabilitation of Tsunami victims in India." She believes life is not a dress rehearsal, embraces life completely and intensely.
She has lived in India, England, Canada and the United States, travelled extensively all over the world, is interested in every aspect of life and has friends of all cultures, ages and religions.

Equally passionate about humanity, Aroon has always supported and worked for social causes through the arts: raising money and awareness for FREA India (front for rapid economic advancement of India), The Spastics Society, SAKHI(prevention of domestic violence), CRY (child relief and you), Project India (the street children of Bombay), victims of the Maharashtra and Gujarat earthquakes, prevention
of communal violence in Gujarat, the Tsunami and several more. Aroon was an active participant in the raising of money and final placement of a Jagdish Bhagwati Chair for Indian Politics & Economy at Columbia University. President of the Indo-American Arts Council Board of Directors, Aroon sits on the Boards of the Queens Museum of Art, The Lark Play Development Company, Nayikas Dance Company, Rave Magazine, Save Bombay Group. Aroon also sits on the Advisory Boards of several other art and charity organizations, as well as the juries of the Emmys, beauty contests, grants, art, film and theatre contests.

She has received Outstanding Citizen awards from the City of New Rochelle, NY in 1988 "for the organization and execution of a French Fete to commemorate the 200th anniversary of New Rochelle"; the NY State Assembly in 2001 "for working to build an awareness of Indian artistic disciplines in New York City, to raise money & social conciousness for domestic violence victims, earthquake victims and the victims of AIDS"; from the City Council, NYC in 2002,"for exemplary service to the community"; and an Honor & Appreciation award from the Gathering International Health Professions Network, Greater Hudson Valley "for untiring efforts to serve the community".

Aroon's priority above all is her family: the one she was born into and the one she has nurtured with her husband Indur, daughters Sacha and Misha and pets Simba & Alley. Their unconditional love and support is her grounding. Aroon Shivdasani wants her to be remembered by everyone who has ever come in contact with her as a person who is full of "laughter, has a sense of humor, and as a person with passion, with a flair for life, with kindness, with humility."