Yoni Ki Baat

The South Asian Women's Collective of Rutgers University (New Brunswick, NJ) is working on its second production of 'Yoni Ki Baat' (loosely translates from Sanskrit/Hindi to "Talks of the Vagina") The show will tentatively be in October, 2006.

Originated by "South Asian Sisters" on the west coast, the show will be the second of its kind, in the midst of one of the largest concentrations of people in the country who trace their origins to South Asia.

'Yoni Ki Baat' is a theatrical performance that strives to create a safe space for often marginalized South Asian experiences of identity along different lines of class, race, gender, nationality, religion, sexuality, immigration, and diaspora. The pieces will challenge stereotypes and reconstruct the figure of a South Asian woman. The result is an eclectic confrontation of issues from identity and labor rights to sexual violence-all critically engaged in the question of what liberation means for people of South Asian descent.

We are currently working on the script, and would greatly appreciate submissions. Below is a list of suggestions, although flexible. We're not limiting the pieces to monologues, so feel free to incorporate dialogue.

* abuse
* sexual orientation
* class
* labor rights
* post 9/11 violence
* hair
* body image
* motherhood
* marriage
* birth
* cultural identity
* menstruation
* smell
* genital mutilation
* masturbation
* sexuality

If you're interested in working on 'Yoni Ki Baat' in other ways such as
acting, the production team, PR, costumes/design/music, please contact us
at ykb_rutgers@yahoo.com.

Hope to hear from you all, as the show is only possible if we have new
voices! Please send submissions -to Suguna Sridhar at
sugunas@eden.rutgers.edu.

Be on the look out for more information about 'Yoni Ki Baat' in the upcoming
weeks, and spread the word! We look forward to your involvement. Thank you

ykb_rutgers@yahoogroups.com