Download UDGS Foundation ( Activity Report: 2014

UDGS Foundation ( Activity Report: 2014-2017)
Activity Report ( 2014-16)
2016
Inside
 From the Promoters Desk
 About UDGS
 Our Projects
 Express and
Lead
 Unfold Yourself
 Our Upcoming
Projects
 UDGS in news
 Some Unforgettable Moments
The Humble Beginning
Initial Years for any Organization are the most crucial years. UDGS started in year 2014 with
few young enthusiasts is slowly but steadily building its strong foundation . This Activity report
presents the initial journey and progress of our Organization.
UDGS Foundation
Registered office : D-100A, Gali No-4 Laxmi Nagar, New Delhi-110092
Contact info: [email protected], [email protected] ; www.udgs.org
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UDGS Foundation
About UDGS
Started with a vision of contributing to the society in
our own way instead of contributing a donation to any
other NGO run programs.
UDGS was founded by few
young enthusiast who were
struggling themselves in the
initial years of their respective careers against the established notion that you
need experience to start
and build any Organization.
UDGS bring together professionals from different fields
who have joined hands to
Started in 2014, UDGS has
touched lives of thousands
of adolescents and still going strong through its project ‘Express and Lead’ and
has partnered with a leading
theatre group in Delhi to
come up with theatre shows
that are not only thought
provoking but also challenge
the conventional beliefs
under its project ‘Unfold
Yourself’
Express and lead
There is a leader in each and
every one of us, we may
realize it or not but each
and every one of us is making a difference in other
people lives in our own way.
We all are born with enormous talent and potential.
Whatever field we might be
in, we are born to lead, than
why is it that some people
excel and some people not,
why us it that some people
are not able to show up
their true worth. Is it because they lack capabilities
or urge to succeed or is it
because they themselves do
not realize their power.
A leader takes control of the
situation, stands tall in moments of crises, motivates
other, give others a purpose
to live and die for.
With this philosophy in
mind, UDGS members came
out with its ‘Express and
Lead’ project. More than a
project it’s a mission to
reach to the maximum people around, make them realize their true worth, make
them express themselves
Unfold Yourself
“Let there be no restrictions on anyone to express themselves, let there be opportunities
equal for all , let there be willingness to succeed and then the Life you are living will
become the most beautiful , the most precious gift of yours.”
The whole idea behind this project was to create opportunities, give everyone a chance to
come forward, express his feelings and unfold his hidden dreams and talents to the world
and bring a smile to every one around including one of the most important person in his
life , 'Himself'.
Thus , you have 'Unfold Yourself' in front of you , a project and a mission to try different
art forms where a person can express himself, fuse some creativity in his life and move
forward to a more fulfilling and happy life.
From the Promoters Desk
Page 3
There are times when you wish to contribute to the society , we all want to
work towards the betterment of the society but limit ourselves to just donating
a small sum to some organization working towards the cause we most care
about. The reasons may be many- job requirements, family pressures, unawareness to name a few.
The team behind UDGS foundation also faced the same limitations, we wished
to do more than donating but couldn't find a way.
Either we didn't feel connected with the ongoing projects of the NGOs or being
a part of the projects demanded too much that we could not afford to join
alongside our own Jobs/Business.
The noble thought of doing something for the society brought the team together and led to the formation of UDGS foundation in the year 2013 - a
platform where we are not bound by anything except our commitment to contribute a bit for our society.
Naveen Gupta
( Founder)
And hence you have UDGS foundation in front of you. An organization where
anyone with a zest of living not just for themselves but for others can come and
Join the Mission.
UDGS foundation have a wide span of working including, Promotion of art and
culture, Education, Productive aging , Working for differently able , Poverty
eradication , Rural development etc.
Team UDGS is committed to give its very best in whatever field it steps in and
the beginning has been made from changing the apathy, negativity and fear
which surrounds the sector of education, and arts through its specially designed
workshops, Seminars, performances under two of its current projects ‘Express
and lead’ and ‘Unfold Yourself’
Our Name
Mohnish Malhotra
( Founder)
In the iconic race between ‘The Rabbit’ and ‘The Tortoise’ , tortoise was with no
chance of winning was an underdog but he emerged out as the winner and one
strong reason behind his win was that he was considered as an ‘Underdog’ by
all.
Team UDGS believes there is an Underdog in each and every one of us. In one
situation we might be doing good but in some we might be back stepping . So,
we wanted the underdog in us to come out and perform and take the additional
advantage of being taken as an Underdog by others. So we found our name
which reflected its purpose, its mission :
Under- DoGS Foundation.
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Activity Report ( 2014-16)
Our History
It all started in the year 2012
when our founder Naveen
Gupta after qualifying his
finance degree and after
working with one of the top
consulting firms in the world
decided to pursue his passion for acting and theatre.
With no formal training and
any godfather he didn’t receive any response from the
established theatre groups
in Delhi so he decided to
produce his own show, he
consequently approached
many theatre directors active in Delhi .
During this period, he
thought to incorporate a
registered entity and then
produce theatre shows under this entity and then the
idea from just theatre widened to promotion of art
and culture, education ,
productive aging , working
for differently able , poverty
eradication , rural development etc.
So finally in 2014 with the
support of fellow friends
UDGS foundation was
formed as section-8 company under Companies Act of
India and its first project
‘Express and Lead’ was
launched to conduct personality and skill development
workshops with the underprivileged children.
tion is still in a learning stage and
that stage will never end. Along
with the support of its members
and partners,UDGS will continue
touching lives of many.
Soon after launching
We are in process of expanding
‘Express and lead’ , ‘Unfold
our scope, reach through more
yourself’ was also kick started and udgs foundation col- programs and redesigning the
existing programs and by bringing
laborated with one of the
together a like minded people
leading theatre group in
who wish to contribute for the
Delhi , ‘Collegiate Drama
Society(CDS) ’ to provide
development of all.
onstage, backstage and financial support in various
productions of CDS.
Still in initial years of its
operations, UDGS founda-
Our Projects
UDGS Foundation has wide span of working areas from promotion of art and culture, to education , productive aging ,
working for differently able , poverty eradication , rural development.
Currently we are working on two projects:
Our Express and Lead program through its workshops and seminars transform the personality and thinking skills of
children of all age group. It enables children to think beyond books, take a positive outlook towards life, motivate
themselves to follow their own path towards success. Along with life skills, the program also focus on advocacy on
social issues, health etc.
Thus with a dual goal of improving the life skills of the children and informing them about various social and ethical
issues prevalent in our society, the program has been successful in shaping the thinking skills and personalities of thousands of children so far.
The program has played pivot role in shaping the outlook of children towards life and has been able to sow seed of
positivity and self confidence amongst them. Feedbacks from the participants prove that the workshops under the program has been able to give them a new way of thinking and these feedbacks fuel us to try different thinks, make the
workshops more interesting and move forward.
Our Unfold yourself program was a step towards our contribution in promotion of the art and culture. Our program
provides a platform to raw talents in the field of arts may it be music, acting, stage designing, event organizing to
sharpen their skills by working with the experienced and the experts of the field, thus the program bridges the gap
between the experienced and fresh talent and bring them together to work on a project together and exchange their
knowledge and skills.
Theatre as an art form is generally looked as a medium entertainment but we look at the theatre in four ways:
1.
2.
3.
4.
as entertainment / art
as instrument of education
as weapon of social / political change
as a document of history -the plays and the theatrical events of various periods can be seen as historical documents reflecting that period.
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Unfold Yourself
( Project Overview)
Unfold Yourself
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The Philosophy Behind the Project
“Let there be no restrictions on anyone to express themselves, let there be opportunities equal for all , let there be willingness to succeed and then the Life you are living will become the most beautiful , the most precious gift of yours.”
We all say that everyone is born with a talent but most of us live our entire life not realising this fact. Many of us build
our life around the expectations of
our family and society , which is not wrong in a way , but at times we do not give our self enough chance to think and
realise if we are doing what we really
wanted to or if in the pursuit of fulfilling our responsibilities we are missing out the responsibility towards one of the most
person in your life , ' Yourself'.
We are all here for a limited period, we all come with an expiry date but we live like we are here till eternity and we drag
our dreams till eternity . Why most of us can't realise that time is now. Why we cannot stop, think and realise that it is
important to give your dreams, your feelings, your thoughts a chance to come out of our minds and become a reality. We
might succeed, we might fail, people might lough at us but we will be much better than those who lead their entire life
making resolutions after resolutions .
We understand that saying all this is easy, who doesn’t want to pursue his dreams, who would want to live someone else's
life but in today's era when we are entangled with our responsibilities , professional and personal both, Is it practical to
leave all this and start something for which we are also not certain. Is the risk worth taking?. Not every one is blessed in
this world to realise his dream at an early age and not every one in this world get the support needed to pursue his
dreams so he could follow his passion and make his passion his profession.
We at udgs also felt the same way and in fact most of us are of the same category of people whose passion and profession
didn’t match but yes we didn’t let it all go, we wanted to give our dreams a chance to come out of our minds and the results were amazing. We pursued our dreams alongside our profession and yes this needed extra efforts, this needed some
extra time, this needed some extra investment and we knew that we might not be successful as our peers and competitors
but one thing we were sure was that we would be happy .
The whole idea behind this project was to create opportunities, give everyone a chance to come forward, express his feelings and unfold his hidden dreams and talents to the world and bring a smile to every one around including one of the
most important person in his life , 'Himself'.
Alongside this we thought we may or may not help a person pursue his dream or passion but one thing we can surely do is
to create environment and opportunity where he can at least express his feelings which is the first step in our opinion in
the pursuit of happiness.
Further, we thought of fusing some creativity in the approach and use the different art forms like Theatre, music, dance,
story telling etc. to have a long lasting impact.
Thus , you have 'Unfold Yourself' in front of you , a project and a mission to try different art forms where a person can
express himself, fuse some creativity in his life and move forward to a more fulfilling and happy life.
Unfold Yourself
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What we are upto...
As per United Nations report (2016), India is projected to dominate the growth in the working-age population
in Asia Pacific by 2050, becoming home to over a billion people eligible to enter the job market. Not only this,
In India every third person in an Indian city today is a youth. In about 3 years , the median individual in India
will be 29 years, very likely a city-dweller, making it the youngest country in the world. (State of the Urban
Youth, India 2012: Employment, Livelihoods, Skills,’ a report published by IRIS Knowledge Foundation in collaboration with UN-HABITAT).
Thus by 2020, India is set to become the world’s youngest country with 64 per cent of its population in the
working age group.
The above facts undoubtedly presents the enormous potential and future prospects India has. In coming
years , India will undoubtedly surpass many countries in terms of economic growth but what about the quality
of life of the people of India. Whether being called as economic power in itself a soothing factor for the people
to feel happy and satisfied.
Is the today's generation in the pursuit of progressing economically compromising on their own happiness and
feelings, well at least facts tell you that this s true.
According to the The World Happiness Report 2016 published by Sustainable Development Solutions Network
( SDSN) , a global initiative of the United Nations, India ranked 118th in the list and was among the group of 10
countries witnessing the biggest happiness declines, along with Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Egypt , Yeman and
Botswana.
Isn't the two statistics given above present a contrary picture, At one side, we are heading towards becoming
the youngest country with more than 64% of our population in the working age group but on other side we
rank in bottom ten in terms of happiness .
It is not wrong to succeed economically but why not succeed economically alongside creating moments for
yourself where there are no rules, no peer pressure, no societal pressure just you, your hidden talents, your
feelings.
We would like to create some moments of happiness for our working youth and the moments which not only
entertain them but also bring out the hidden talent and potential . Those events where expressing one's feeling, opinion is not bounded by the fear of peer but is supported to fly around and who knows we might create
a masterpiece out of it.
We at UDGS are up against this sadness, loneliness which is stopping us to laugh, live and which create an
unwanted boundary around us . We are up for creating some lovely moments of joy, happiness, experience
sharing and creativity for our working youth to fuse some more excitement and energy in their lives.
Unfold Yourself
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Target beneficiaries
The target beneficiaries of ‘Unfold Yourself’ is the ‘YOU ’.
It is for everyone who wish to give himself a chance to explore the unexplored .
Value Proposition ( What we wish to Contribute)
To fuse the element of creativity and self recognition in people's
life which will add more positivity in their performance at work
and the way they care and maintain their relationships.
How the Project Work
What can be done to bring out the hidden wishes, talent of anyone. What moments can be created where the
person not only enjoy but also get the feeling of self recognition and creativity and we came across following
five activities which are capable of achieving the objective of the project.





Theatre
Theatre impromptu
Story Creating
Story Telling
Creative Visualisation
The reason for shortlisting these activities lies in the inherent benefit of each . They not only pamper your inner
feelings and thoughts to come out but also provides you with an effective medium to show what you feel.
These activities on one hand permits you to show yourself individually and also as an team and lastly, they are
all are creative in nature by default so the lovely moments which will be created while challenging your thinking
chords and extending your creative limits will be beautiful beyond imagination.
We conduct our sessions program for each of this activity separately and also in a combination to give a long
lasting and impact full experience to the participants. We reach our target beneficiaries through one of the following channels:




Open public events
Collaborating with Corporate Organisations
Collaborating with Non Corporate bodies/NGOs
As a part of our Express and Lead Workshops
With the growing demand of building human capital, investing in welfare of working teams we see huge prospect for unfold yourself in coming future and since its launch in 2014 , the project is gradually making its mark
with over 25 theatre productions, 35 theatre impromptu, story creating, story telling and creative visualisation
activities over these years .
Unfold Yourself: Activities Involved
Theatre
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Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or
imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage.
It is one of the oldest and most influential art forms . It combines interpersonal skills with intra personal
awareness. Playing, practicing, and performing theatre develop a sustained focus of mind, body, and voice
which helps with other areas of life including school. enhances verbal
and nonverbal expression of ideas. It improves voice projection, articulation, fluency of language, and persuasive speech.
Theatre comes with many types and forms. Some of these are:
Drama
Musical Theatre
Comedy
Tragedy
All of these forms primarily categorises different emotions of human and each of the form has its own significance and style. Any theatre production can e grouped in one of these forms or it can be a mix of different
forms to creative a new masterpiece.
Impact of theatre on a person's personality needs no mention . It is one of those few activities which can
play significant role in complete transformation of a person's behaviour and approach and also, it is one of
the strongest medium to raise your opinion and transform others in an impactful manner.
As of now, we have provided financial, onstage , back stage and technical support in multiple productions of
a leading theatre group in Delhi ' Collegiate Drama Society, Delhi' under the leadership of Mr Ravi Taneja
and Our members who have been a part of more than 25 theatre productions in these years have experienced a new outlook towards life and going forward UDGS foundation will continue exploring the endless
opportunities theatre provides for self growth and realisation.
Theatre impromptu
Improvisational theatre or Theatre Impromptu is a form of theatre where most or all of what is performed
is created at the moment it is performed. In its purest form, the dialogue, action, story, and characters are
created collaboratively by the players as the improvisation unfolds in present time, without use of an already
prepared, written script.
Improvisational theatre exists in performance as a range of
styles of improvisational comedy as well as some noncomedic theatrical performances. It is sometimes used in
film and television, both to develop characters and scripts
and occasionally as part of the final product.
Benefits of theatre need no further explanation but what if
we create the entire production on the spot from story to
designing characters, their inter relationship, dialogues , on
stage design and then finally performance and all this in
maximum half an hour.
This time bounded exercise not only keep the participants on their tows but also challenge their limits. From
nowhere , non writers, non actors, non theatre person create a theatrical masterpiece and the experience
will leave you spell bounded.
A group exercise, people create their stories using the ideas of different members in the group , they discuss , share and deliver the performance as a team. The overall exercise is so engrossing that people forget
Unfold Yourself: Activities Involved
Story Creating
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"You write your life story by the choices you make . You never know if they have been a mistake . Those moments of
decision are so difficult."---- Helen Marren
There is a story in each and every moment. There was a story in all the moments we have lived so far. Those moments which we might have forgotten or remember. Each and every moment we are living today leaves us with a
never returning experience. Why not re create those moments , relive those moments and make them eternal by
creating a story out of it.
Story writing is an art and not every one is a writer but the story you are writing each and every passing moment
can be best described only by you.
It doesn't matter what choice of words you make, what artistic emotions you bring out , what really matters is
whether you are able to relive that moment or not and how many moments for life you can create for yourself.
With this thought, we included 'Story Creating' in our project where we build an environment of story writing and
let you can create your own story and relive your lovely memories in a different style.
We have seen tears coming out , we have seen people smiling yet again, we have seen people reassessing their
relationships after recalling a moment , we have seen relationships getting stronger after this exercise.
Reliving previous moments and describing them in words give you a chance to stop, re look, re think on how
things happened in that moment, how you reacted, behaved and if anything went wrong what was the reason.
A most effective activity used to create stories in team is ' Story Circles', A group of 5-6 participants is made to sit
in a circle and with in a allotted time frame they are made to discuss on different plots and share their thoughts
on it. After a brief discussion and walk through on the plot, A step by step procedure is followed to build a story
from listing the probable characters to building relationships between them, designing the different situations,
building each situation in to a conversation and then finally interweaving of different situation to create one story.
The entire exercise becomes so engrossing and lively that people
loose track of time and the feeling of building a story from a collective effort becomes one big memorable moment for everyone
involved.
As we say, there is a story teller in each one of us. This exercise gives an impactful medium to participants to express their
feelings, thoughts in the most impactful manner possible.
The most interesting thing that comes out of these kind of activities is the 'Stories', from real life experiences to
fictional modulation inspired from real events, from biographies to pure fiction. Over the years we have witnessed some great stories being told in a great manner .
Over last 2 years hundreds of participants have expressed their feelings, their thoughts and experiences in the
form of creative story telling. They have experienced a change in them, many of them came in front of people for
the first time and the feeling of seeing yourself turning in to a public speaker is something which cannot be described in words.
Unfold Yourself: Activities Involved
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Creative Story Telling
"We Cannot create a world we can't imagine and stories are the engines of our imaginations"
Let the engines of your imaginations work at full speed, let the story in you come out in its purest form and let
the world know about it.
Story telling is one of the most powerful form of learning and sharing knowledge and have a far reaching emotional impact and has the power to inspire people to change their behaviours.
If creating a story is an art, telling it in effective manner is the medium to make your art reach to the world. A
emotion badly communicated has no meaning. A relationship badly developed can change the entire story.
So, at UDGS we make people not only create their own story but also tell them in an effective manner to people.
A story well created if can also be expressed and told in a creative manner can do wonders . We come across
many writers who write some brilliant stories, amazingly interwoven characters and situations but they lack
the art of creative story telling.
It doesn't matter whether you are telling your story in front of a crowd or writing a book, if you do not master
the art of creative story telling, your entire efforts is a waste. So whether you are unhappy with any thing happening around, you have a opinion on a particular subject or you have a story to tell, it is important that you
express your story, your opinion in an impactful manner and that is where we step in.
Using the theatrical techniques we let people mix various emotions, modulate their voice, use postures and
make story telling a complete public speaking experience for them. It is important for the story teller to live
the situation , feel like the characters, behave like them, react like the, then only a normal story becomes extra
ordinary.
As we say, there is a story teller in each one of us. This exercise gives an impactful medium to participants
to express their feelings, thoughts in the most impactful manner possible.
The most interesting thing that comes out of these kind of activities is the 'Stories', from real life experiences
to fictional modulation inspired from real events, from biographies to pure fiction. Over the years we have
witnessed some great stories being told in a great manner .
Over last 2 years hundreds of participants have expressed their feelings, their thoughts and experiences in the
form of creative story telling. They have experienced a change in them, many of them came in front of people
for the first time and the feeling of seeing yourself turning in to a public speaker is something which cannot be
described in words.
Unfold Yourself: Activities Involved
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Creative Visualisation
'Creative visualization' is the mental process of purposefully generating visual mental imagery, with eyes closed, simulating or
recreating visual perceptions, in order to maintain, inspect, and transform those images, consequently modifying their associated emotions or feelings with intent to experience a subsequent beneficial physiological , psychological, or social effect, such
as expediting the healing of wounds on the body, minimizing physical pain, alleviating psychological pain including anxiety, sadness and low mood, improving self esteem and self confidence and enhancing the capacity to cope while interacting with others.
Creative visualisation can be done to recreate your past moments or to create your future , Both previous and future visualisations have their own effects. While recreating your past moment you mentally walkthrough the situations, you analyse how
you and others had behaved in that situation and why that moment is so precious to you.
People redefine their relationships after this exercise, many people experience a sudden shift, a sudden uplift in the way they
manage their relationships after this exercise.
Similarly, the Creative Visualization is equally effective when you create your future mentally. Actually, the subconscious mind
accepts the thoughts that you often repeat. When it accepts them, it changes your mind-set accordingly, as well as your habits
and actions. This brings you into contact with new people, situations and circumstances.
Thoughts are endowed with a creative power that molds your life, and attracts what you think about. Thoughts travel from
one mind to another, and if they are strong enough, they can be unconsciously picked up by people, who are in a position to
help you achieve your desires and goals.
Most people think and repeat certain thoughts quite often. They focus their thoughts on their current environment and situation, and therefore, create and recreate the same sort of events and circumstances.
This process preserves the same "world" and status quo. It is like watching the same film over and again. The good news is
that you can change the film by changing your thoughts. You can visualize different circumstances and situations, and in this
way, create a different "reality".
By changing your thoughts and mental images, you change your "Reality". You are not employing magic or supernatural powers, but using only natural powers and laws that everyone possesses. It is not something "Material" that you change. You only
change your thoughts and attitude, but they change and reshape your world.
In our 'Creative visualisation' we use both backward and future visualization techniques with participants of all age groups
and the effect has been amazing. People come to us with their stories that how this exercise has improved their personal
and professional life. The feel more confident, relaxed and energetic. They feel as if a new spark has been added in their life.
We use this exercise as a mix with our other activities namely, theatre impromptu, story creating and telling and the collective
impact on the participants is beyond expectations and when they come up with their feedbacks and stories, we feel motivated
to keep moving forward.
Unfold Yourself: Our Journey So Far
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The project started in 2014 with our collaboration with 'Collegiate Drama Society' to provide them on stage, back stage ,
financial and technical support in their theatre productions. Our first theatre show 'Konark'- A Classic Indian play which
shows the story of famous Sun Temple in India was staged in Bodhgaya, Bihar and from there the project has come a long
way with more than 25 shows across India and this included with our other activity events and the way it has been appreciated and accepted by people is equally motivating for us to continue further.
Unfold yourself is all about giving your thoughts, your hidden talent a chance to come out and let the world know about it.
We started with the most recognised form of creativity and expressing one's feeling and thoughts, 'Theatre'. Theatre
comes with many types and forms. Some of these are:
Drama
Musical Theatre
Comedy
Tragedy
All of these forms primarily categorises different emotions of human and each of the form has its own significance and
style. Any theatre production can e grouped in one of these forms or it can be a mix of different forms to creative a new
masterpiece.
Our members along with a leading theatre group in Delhi ( Collegiate Drama Society )was a part of more than 7 Original
plays with over 25 repeat shows staged all across Country. We during these years through our members have provided
financial, on- stage , back stage and technical support to Collegiate Drama Society in its various productions. The plays
staged during last two years covered diverse issues and topics which needed a fresh look through. The plays were not only
from the modern era but also covered the classic plays which brought major historic events and characters live.
At UDGS, we in last two years have worked on each of these art forms and our efforts to be a part of more innovative ,
new theatre productions is continued and we are exploring different genres for future shows.
Some of our shows done in each of the above categories are:
Drama : Drama in a sense refer to a play which is neither a comedy nor a tragedy in complete sense. It can be clubbed with
music and dance to create an entertaining show. UDGS in last two years has been a part of numerous dramas like ' 3 Sisters: By Chekhov' , 'Nastik Shaheed', 'Konark', 'Sikander ki Jeet', 'Half way house' . All of these are great examples of drama .
Musical Theatre: As the name suggest In a musical theatre, music forms an integral part . A musical show can either be
completely music based or may use elements of other forms to create a more engaging show. We are currently exploring
this genre however we have fused music and drama in our shows like 'Nastik Shaeed' and ' Konark' where music holds a
very special significance.
Comedy : Perhaps on of the toughest genre. Theatre productions that use humour to tell a story is categorised in this category. We have done one comic play 'Bingad ki Joru' and two other theatre productions where we fused tragedy in Comedy . Our Production , ' Kal College Band Rahega' and 'Retro' perfectly fused these two emotions to create a impactful
theatrical piece.
Tragedy : A melo drama or a serious play where the emotions which are sad or particularly serious in nature holds prime
importance.
In our two theatre productions we fused tragedy in Comedy . Our Production , ' Kal College Band Rahega' and 'Retro' perfectly fused these two emotions to create a impactful theatrical piece. Another production which fall in this category is
'Half way House' which shows the journey of a lady and her interaction and relationship with 5 different man and how she
deals with it and unfolds the different faces of a man's character.
Along with theatre, our other activities 'Theatre Impromptu', 'Story Creating' , ' Creative Story Telling' and 'Creative Visualisation' has also come a long way with our coverage crossing more than 1500 people in last 2 years and continuing.
Unfold Yourself: Our Journey : Our Plays
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A Detailed description of theatre productions where our members contributed in different roles have been given below:
Konark ( Hindi) :
'Konark' is the story of the famous Sun-temple located in Odisha, India is one of the famous temples buit in 13th Century by
King Narsimhadeva. The temple is the classic example of world class architecture and some beautiful stone work. Perhaps
one of the youngest temple in the category its major part is in ruins. Written by the famous writer Jagdish Chandra Mathur, 'Konark' is the story behind the reasons for its current state. As the legend goes, the architect- creater of the Konark
temple was constrained by the circumstances to destroy this marvel of this architectural excellence so as to save thousands
of craftsmen and his generous king from his rebellious minister, who had revolted in connivance with the royal army.
The play is the perfect example of a classical masterpiece where in different emotions of various characters were meticulously interwoven to leave a lasting impact on the audiences.
Directed by Mr Ravi Taneja ( from Collegiate Drama Society ), this play holds a special place in our hearts because it was
this play we began our journey . Our members Naveen Gupta and Monika Maini were in the on stage and back stage
team for this play and Naveen Gupta played the leading characher of 'Dharampad' in the play. Till date more than 5
shows of this play has been staged in different parts of the Country including Bodhgaya ( Bihar ), Jabalpur ( Madhya Pradesh ), Chandigarh (Punjab), Hissar ( Haryana) and Delhi.
Kal College Band Rahega ( Hindi)
Written by famous playright ' Dr. C.D Sidhu', this play is a tragic -comedy inspired from real events and highlights the st
dent and teacher politics prevailing in different education universities . The Play has been written so wonderfully that it
keeps the audience and the actors on their tows.
The play is the comic satire on the sad state of the affairs of our Universities these days which exposes the rather abominable picture of soe of the ugliest faces of this noble profession which leads to unrest in the students. The plot is very engrossing in which a meeting is being held in the college for the prosecution of a student by a board of teachers and Principal. The student is accused of calling a female student in his room at the boy's hostel . The meeting exposes the irresponsible behaviour of the teachers towards students wherein the teachers are largely engrossed with their gossips and interests
rather than discussing about the student in question.
A production by Collegiate Drama Society, our member Naveen Gupta played the character of 'Manoj Sethi : Leader of
Student Union'. The play was staged to thunderous response of the audience in Allahabad ( Uttar Pradesh ).
Sikander ki Jeet ( Hindi )
Directed by Ravi Taneja, Sikander ki Jeet (Alexander's Victory) is a historical play that takes you back to the age when Sikander ( Alexander) invaded India in 326 BC. The mighty King of Macedonia was compelled to turn back due to many hardships in his battle with Indian kings and also in some part - his solders' will to return to homeland.
Presented by Collegiate Drama Society and written by Dr. C.D. Sidhu' the play is indeed a historical lesson in a dramatic
form. Even if one has already well versed with history books; there are certain questions that have been confronting our
civilization since the dawn of time.
It is now history that in spite of his strong desires to reach the "Ends of the Earth" by conquering India, Alexander was
forced to head back with an unfulfilled wish. But why? Did the powerful Indian kings like Porus strike terror in the hearts of
Alexander's soldiers? Did the WISDOM of the Indian sages and philosophers like Calanus teach Sikander a lesson? The lesson of Peace against War, Life against Death? Did India's credo of non-violence and universal brotherhood, preached by
Buddha and Mahavir, win a victory over Alexander's blood-thirsty mind?
The play attempts to seek answers to some questions: Who is Mightier? The PEN or the SWORD? PEACE or WAR? LIFE or
DEATH? EAST or WEST?
Our member Naveen Gupta has been part of multiple shows of this play as an onstage, backstage and technical support
and played the lead character of Sikander ( Alexander) in the show staged in Katni ( Rajasthan ) and of Indian King Chandragupta maurya in the show staged in Delhi.
Unfold Yourself: Our Journey : Our Plays
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Nastik Shaheed ( Shaheed Bhagat Singh)*Hindi+
The play is based on the pamphlet which Bhagat Singh wrote while in prison in 1931, he wrote this pamphlet
entitled 'Why I am an Atheist' in which he discussed and advocated the philosophy of atheism. This pamphlet
was a result of some criticism by fellow revolutionaries on his failure to acknowledge religion and God in jail;
the accusation of vanity was also dealt with in this pamphlet.
He supported his own beliefs and claimed that he used to be a firm believer in The Almighty, but could not bring
himself to believe the myths and beliefs that others held close to their hearts. In this pamphlet, he acknowledged the fact that religion made death easier, but also said that unproved philosophy is a sign of human weakness. In this context, he noted:
As regard the origin of God, my thought is that man created God in his imagination when he realised his weaknesses, limitations and shortcomings. In this way he got the courage to face all the trying circumstances and to
meet all dangers that might occur in his life and also to restrain his outbursts in prosperity and affluence.
God, with his whimsical laws and parental generosity was painted with variegated colours of imagination. He
was used as a deterrent factor when his fury and his laws were repeatedly propagated so that man might not
become a danger to society. He was the cry of the distressed soul for he was believed to stand as father and
mother, sister and brother, brother and friend when in time of distress a man was left alone and helpless. He
was Almighty and could do anything. The idea of God is helpful to a man in distress....
A beautiful play written by Dr. C.D Sidhu and produced by Collegiate Drama Society celebrates the beliefs and
disbeliefs of the legendary Bhagat Singh who sacrificed his life for the freedom of his mother 'India'.
Staged in 'Rangamanch Utsav' in Delhi , Our member Naveen Gupta played the leading character of 'Shaheed
Bhagat Singh' .
Unfold Yourself: Our Journey : Our Plays
Half Way House ( English )
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Sangeet Natak Akadmi award winner Mohan Rakesh is a paramount name in the genre of contemporary Indian Lite ture.
Influenced by the western theatrical stencils and with his unique experimental techniques, Mohan Rakesh gave a new
anatomy to the Indian Drama and Halfway House (1959) emerged as the highly contributing factor towards the modernization of Indian literature.
The play even though written in 1959 still continues to attract young theatre lovers and has been staged by
multiple production houses over the years.
The play depicts a dysfunctional family. The sole breadwinner of the family is the mother, Savitri, and her husband Mahendranath is a parasite. The son, Ashok, is unemployed who has no intention to look out for a job. He
is a kind of a rebel without a cause. The elder daughter, Binny, has eloped with Manoj, a one time lover of the
mother. Her relations with her husband are cold and both are indifferent to each other and she loathes staying
with her husband and returns to her mother. The younger daughter, little Kinny, remains all the time in a defiant mood and frequently remains absent from home and constantly reprimanded by family members for her
erratic behaviour. In fact, she is lonely and victim of neglect by the family. It is a house at war against itself. It is
a kind of a hell from which there is no exit.
To impart a touch of irony, the name of the mother is Savitri. The mythological Savitri finds her life without her
husband, Satyawan, meaningless and no purpose to stay alive in the event of the death of her husband. In the
play the modern Savitri tries her best to get rid of her husband so that she could live in peace. She is desperate
to discover a perfect man.
In the process the men that come to her life are Jagmohan, Juneja, Manoj, Singhania who are all successful
with social status and wealth and honour. In comparison, her husband is nincompoop, wretchedly poor and
brute. Her much maligned husband Mahendranath tries to liberate himself from his family to get rid of perpetual disgrace but deep down in his rotten family there is something that brings him back to the family-it is his
undying love for Savitri who hates him from the bottom of her heart.
The play as a series of confrontations which director has aptly projected, one confrontation leading to another
maintaining rhythm and pace to lead the action to a climax which is deeply affecting. Staged in Delhi, our
member Naveen Gupta played the character of 'Ashok' : Son of Savitri .
Unfold Yourself: Our Journey : Our Plays
3 Sisters ( English translation of a Russian play ) * English+
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Written by the famous Russian playwright Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (29 January 1860 – 15 July 1904) , this classic play of his was staged on February 27, 2015 at Russian Center for Science and Culture to celebrate the 155th
birth anniversary of the famous playwright .
Three Sisters is a naturalistic play about the decay of the Russian bourgeoisie and the search for meaning in the
modern world. It describes the lives and aspirations of the Prozorov family, the three sisters (Olga, Masha, and
Irina) and their brother Andrei. They are a family dissatisfied and frustrated with their present existence. The
sisters are refined and cultured young women who grew up in urban Moscow; however for the past eleven
years they have been living in a provincial town.
Moscow is a major symbolic element; the sisters are always dreaming of it and constantly express their desire
to return. They identify Moscow with their happiness. Thus, to them it represents the perfect life. However as
the play develops Moscow never materializes and they all see their dreams recede further and further. Meaning never presents itself and they are forced to seek it out for themselves
Staged in the heart of the city, the play received great response of the audience. Our member Monika Maini
played the leading characher of 'Olga' in the play and Naveen Gupta played the character of 'Lt. Tusenback :
the love interest of one of the sisters*Irina+'
Unfold Yourself: Our Journey : Our Plays
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Retro ( English translation of a Russian play ) * Hindi+
Retro is a situational comedy dealing with loneliness and old-age melancholy. The play’s protagonists are stuck
in the past unable to leap at exciting openings in their lives. The story unfolds with an old man trying to adjust
with his daughter and son-in-law.
Written by another famous Russian Playwright Alexander Galin , its english translation has been done by Ved
kumar Sharma.
The play is a journey of an old man who is living a life of solitude in the lovely city of Moscow. Even though he is
lives with his daughter ( Leudmila) and son in law ( Leonid) , he is alone since both of them are busy in their own
lives and work. In pursuit to help the aging 'Nicolai ' they plan to get him married with a lady in Moscow itself
but didn’t inform Nicolai anything about this. Son in Law , Leonid plays cupid here and invites three prospective
brides to his home to meet Nicolai but the situation turns worse when all the three women instead of coming
separate as planned by leonid come together leaving leonid and leudmila all four old people in the state of confusion. The entire scene turns out to be laughter riot for the audiences. Settling things down , the second half of
the play is about the journey of love , struggle and experiences of the four old characters wherein the writer has
brilliantly mixed various emotions which leaves the audience in tears and make them think on the plight of the
aging one in their family. The play ends on a positive note where all the four main characters join hands to live a
life of happiness and friendship with no support of the so called young generation.
Staged in different cities of India, our member Naveen Gupta played the character of 'Leonid': The son in law .
Unfold Yourself: Our Journey : Our Plays
Bingad ki Joru * Hindi/Haryanvi+
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Bingad ki Joru is a satirical comedy set up in a village of Haryana, written by Dr. C.D Sidhu , this play is inspired
from real events and takes you to a journey filled with action, laughter and all other human emotions and makes
you face the reality at many villages of our country still tied with age old social practices and stigmas linked with
the most precious emotion of humans: love.
The play unfolds with the a romantic scene between the lead character 'Sito' and 'Daulti' both in their 20s love
each other. Sito is married to 'Bingad' a 60 year old merchant who bought the teen aged 'Sito' from her father
when her father was unable to pay his outstanding loan taken from Bingad. The love affair of Sito and Daulti
soon comes in the knowledge of Bingad and he proceeds to kill 'Sito'. On other Villagers interference and after
the Village panchayat's decision Daulti is sent to Jail . On His return , Village Panchayat again sits on the case ,
where the lead characher Sito and other ladies of the village raise their opinion on the false superiorhood of
men and their right to equality. Sito effectively convinces everyone about her future plans to study and become
a teacher and marry Daulti.
The play brings out the situation which is still prevalent in many villages of India and the writer has created situations which not only make the audience laugh but also make them realise and think of the position of women
in India who is still being underrated by the men.
Staged in different cities of India, our member Naveen Gupta played the character of 'Daulti: the love interest
of Sito'
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COPE
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Career cOunselling and Personality Enhancement Programme
Background:
India with the population of 1.2 billion, 17.5 per cent of the global population as on March 2011 2 has a potential
"demographic dividend"; its millions of young people could be some of the major global consumers of the coming decades
but only if they get the right education and work. However the fact is that 30 lakh graduate’s join the Indian job market every year of which only around 5 lakh are considered employable. Few of the sectors which are facing acute manpower shortage are IT, BFSI, pharma, healthcare, infrastructure, retail, auto and consumer durables. By 2025, India’s demographic dividend is expected to raise upto 25% of global workforce. This reflects the magnitude and significance of the skill Gap challenge that India is facing. 4
India has 40% of population below 25 years, of which only 5% of total workforce is skilled, in comparison to 85% in South
East Asian Countries. Of 500 million (approx.) workforces in India, only 9% is engaged in the organized sector and only 5%
have marketable skills. It is predicted that the largest share of new jobs would come from the unorganized sector, which
also accounts for most of national workforce. The National Sample Survey reports states that only about 2% have received
formal vocational training and 8% received non-formal vocational training. (CII and City and Guilds Summit).
In order to make the growth inclusive and opportunity provider for majority of India’s young people, skill gaps in informal
sector needs to be closed with utmost efficacy by addressing these gaps. The Indian Confederation of Industries (CII) is conducting analysis of skill needs in various high growth sectors and already has completed a number of studies which confirm
that skills gaps in employability, soft, technical, and English language skills are extensive and are found at all levels of enterprises – from entry level to professional and upper levels and with all levels of education –basic through university. This finding is echoed by World Economic Forum’s Global Talent Mobility report.
Thus, the major skill gaps are uneven manpower distribution across the employment sectors and poor employability/ soft
skills amongst youths. The latent reason behind this skill gap is lack of awareness about employment industries leading to
incongruent aspiration mapping and absence of soft skills training which pre requisite for sustaining in any job are.
In order to address this issue, Besides soft/ employability skills training the other vital thing is to introduce education and
career counseling as a significant part in adolescent engagement programs since the same goes hand in hand for right career
choice.
About UDGS career counseling & personality enhancement model * COPE + : To contribute its bit in filling the existing skill
gap in country’s economy, UDGS proposes counseling and personality enhancement model (Henceforth referred as COPE)
for adolescents and youths. This program model will addressing the major concerns related to skill gaps in India, viz; Counseling for informed decision making and soft / employability skills training. The objectives of proposed model are as follows;


To provide opportunities to the youths for taking informed decision about their career.
To provide soft/ employability skills training to the youths for their personality enhancement.
The program would envisage holistic learning and personality grooming of the community youths by providing information
about market employability potentials against their aspiration and skill set. This helps in selecting best suitable education
stream/vocational training program through planned counseling sessions. Besides opting for suitable education stream/
vocational training program, the youths get soft skill sessions with the intent of preparing them for gainful and sustainable
livelihood opportunities.
Unfold Yourself: Part-II
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Unfold Yourself: Part-II
Census 2011 data revealed that 2.21 percent of the population in India is suffering from one or the other kind of disability
and it talks about eight types of disability. To look a decade ago, census 2001 has shown that 2.1% of the population in our
country is affected by one of other disability and it mentioned about five types of disability. The population of persons with
disabilities increasing day by day due to various factors and in most of the cases, disability is caused by road accident. For
Looking at the unfriendly nature and infrastructure in the country and the perception of the society towards the PWDs
make their life more miserable and difficult. Every one or other day, there are reports of discrimination towards the disabled people in their day to day life.
The first ever world report on disability, published jointly by WHO and the World Bank, which suggests that more than a
billion people in the world today experiment disability. People with disabilities have generally poorer heath, lower education achievements, fewer economic opportunities and higher rates of poverty than people without disabilities and one of
the major factors is non-availability of equal opportunities.
The report calls on governments to review and revise existing legislation and policies for consistency with the Convention
on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and to develop national disability strategies and action plans. WHO had
also come up with its action for the 2014-2021 which envisage to have more just and equal society.
The objectives of the WHO global disability action plan 2014-2021 are:
 supporting the awareness and implementation of CRPD;
 mainstreaming the rights of people with disabilities in the work of WHO;
 Promoting the inclusion of disability and rehabilitation as a component in national health policies and programmes
From last few years we have been working on one aspect of 'Unfold Yourself' now taking it to the next level, we are taking it to the next level:
Unfold yourself, means to open, spread out and rediscover you. The statement itself communicates the core idea of the
project. So the main agenda of this project is to providing space people to express their life journey using theatre as a medium.
Theatre is the one of the best available medium to express the powerful message to a larger audience, so the focus part of
the project is an Inclusive Group working together in the theatre to express themselves and to show the real picture of the
current situation in the society and how it affects the life of a human being mentally or emotionally. The inclusive theatre
group actually believe that everyone have certain strength and capabilities which can be harness by giving proper guidance
and space, theatre forum is the space where people can explore their talent as a team and also perform to bring awareness
in the society about various issues matters to the society.
I have had the opportunity to work and observe closely the journey of people with disabilities and their families to get the
practical perspective and to understand their life style and experiences they go through, on the other hand as part of academics, I did my research on the Experience of Inclusive Education and how people/s struggle in making their own identity.
One of the major outcomes of my research was people’s attitude toward PWDs; people want to work with PWDs not to
explore their potential but to help them to live their life. Another outcome, general perception in the society is that PWDs
are and cannot perform particular task and usually they considered as undeserving section of the lot. So, the need to work
towards improving or changing the attitude of the public using theatre as a medium and also to communicate underlying
idea that disabled people can also perform task if given proper guidance and opportunities. Hence, Inclusive forum will be
right platform to bring people together and make them showcase their talent
That’s why the model is designed in such a way where we can cater people from any age group and to provide space where
they can think, rethink and discover their self and to provide them opportunity to empower themselves. The plan is to create awareness and promoting art and inclusive society using theatre as the medium of communication.
Objectives of the project:


Creating an inclusive structure where people with disability and non – disabled people can work together
Creating social awareness and to promote art and culture in the society
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UDGS Foundation
Registered office : D-100A, Gali No-4 Laxmi Nagar, New Delhi-110092
Contact info: [email protected], [email protected] ; www.udgs.org;
91 9811964594