Summary: (http://kamlashow.com/podcast/wp-content/uploads/Anupama-Kevin-Berne-150x150.jpg)Anupama Chandrasekhar's (http://kamlashow.com/podcast/2013/04/08/playwright-anupama-chandrasekhar/) play Disconnect (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2-d6OkKHzg) was staged at San Jose Rep (http://www.sjrep.com/) in March 2013. We caught up with the Chennai-based playwright when she was in San Jose to attend the West Coast premier of her play. In Part-2 of our conversation Anupama takes us back to her childhood growing up in Madras, now known as Chennai. How did she discover plays? How does she write? What are her writing rituals, and how has playwriting changed and made her brave are some of the things Anupama shares in this interview. Anupama grew up at a time when her world was not controlled by smart phones, Internet or Google calendar. Her childhood was filled with books, music and long stretches of laziness that fed her fecund imagination. She was allowed to roam free and explore her neighborhood with friends, be lazy and devour books is how she put it. Her indulgent family fed her books all through her childhood and that sparked off her interest in English literature, which is what she majored in college. She went on to become a business journalist. She was shocked to discover that her creative streak had diminished during her stint as a journalist. She quit her journalism job, went back to graduate school and discovered a whole new world of plays in Chennal. She went on to win a playwright competition and scholarships that took her to the UK and USA. After completing her graduate studies at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (http://illinois.edu/) she went back to her hometown in India where she has carved a niche for herself as a playwright (http://www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/theatre/50-shows-and-still-going-strong/article3711858.ece). She has written 5 plays and is in the process of writing her 6th play Bay, Sea, Ocean. Her plays have been translated in a couple of European languages and staged in India, UK and the USA. Writing is not an easy process and gets even more difficult as you get to know the truth of it points out Anupama. Truth is not easy to discover and it is slippery is how she describes her writing process. Emotional fortitude is an important element in her writing process. "I grow with every play. I become brave with every play." she says. Anupama lives in Chennai when she is not traveling. Related Post: Anupama Chandrasekhar on Disconnect Part-1 (http://kamlashow.com/podcast/2013/04/08/playwright-anupama-chandrasekhar/) - audio Photo credit: Kevin-Berne
