International Womens' Day-IV -- Aruna Kumar & Rajashree Nedungadi

Digital Art & All that....

Aruna Kumar- ---A post graduate in marketing, Aruna has over 15 years of experience in animation and visual effects education training business. Besides setting up training centres across the country singlehandedly while handling the operations, logistics and business targets, Aruna has also played a key role in the lives of students who have successfully made the transition from training institutes to animation studios. She has played a significant role in the training process of over 20000 animation and visual effects professionals in the country today.

Maya Digital Studios’ first of its kinds ‘In Studio Training’ initiative for young animation, VFX, & 3D stereoscopy professionals, MIST  was launched in August 2011 and Aruna heads MIST which provides advanced studio ready training modules, with employment at Maya Digital Studios in Mumbai & Goa.

Many of these candidates are successful studio professionals across the leading studios worldwide. Aruna’s in- depth understanding of the need gap in the industry with regards to the advanced training facilities and the studio ready Training Modules offered at MIST will be the important agent of change for the animation and visual effects industry.

“MIST has born out of a critical studio need”, says Aruna .” Recently when Maya was recruiting freshers for its upcoming animation, visual effects and 3D stereoscopy projects the studio interviewed/tested over 2000 candidates from across leading training institutes in the country. However their production skills weren't up to the mark and hence even 200 candidates could not be selected for Maya. Taking a cue from this abject dearth of good quality studio ready talent, Maya decided to launch MIST. “Speaking about her role at MIST Aruna says, “At MIST there will be stringent selection norms and the applicants will go through a meticulous selection process with the various heads of departments at Maya, who will also be mentoring the selected MIST interns. These interns will work on Maya’s current projects including TV shows . This is the first time ever that interns will get to work on live domestic & international projects.”

Rajashree Nedungadi’s story can in many ways qualify for a modern day fairy tale. After pursuing a masters degree from Mumbai university in economics, an early marriage and two kids in quick succession brought to an end what would possibly have been another successful yet predictable professional career in the world of hi-finance. Thanks to her never -say -die attitude her childhood fascination for art and craft quickly became the perfect creative release she needed.

What started as a hobby gradually metamorphosed into a potential career.A born entrepreneur, she however ensured that any money earned from teaching art was reinvested in acquiring new skills. Her deep rooted belief  in giving   back her knowledge to society manifested in numerous vocational training assignments she undertook in Delhi for the under privileged through NGOs. Today Rajashree is widely recognized in professional art and craft circles and her reputation of being a complete professional precedes her--- her credentials include art therapy sessions for leading corporate houses, art and craft training in leading schools, professional institutes, art judge for competitions, among other things..

What kind of art forms do you specialise in?

Traditional paintings, Kerala mural, Varali from Maharashtra, Madhubani from Bihar, Pichwai from Udaipur. Charcoal, pencil sketches, oil paintings, abstract, multiple levels in paper quelling, breadcrafts (artefacts made from bread), lamasa(artefacts out of cornflour), soap craft.

What kind of vocational training programmes did you undertake? Which are the NGOs associated?

I am associated with Swayam Siddha NGO in Powai, Hiranandani and train kids in Shilpakar, Glass paintings etc to better themselves at quality products.

What exactly are art therapy sessions and how do they benefit corporate houses?

Stress is a major issue in corporate houses. Art therapy sessions help them calm down, break-free from their mundane tasks, dirty their hands in clay and colors and engage in an artistic workshop. The end product is substantial and often surprises as they do not have any background training.