SCENOGRAPHY IN INDIAN THEATRE

Dr. Satyabrata Rout

A Scene from Karnakatha Directed by Rout

(Copyright reserved)

A performer creating the scene through Abhinaya

......Bharatmuni has provided enough materials to understand the detail pictures of Prekshagriha—Theatre-- in Natyashastra. Accordingly he has also codified the performances and their presentations in different types of theatre houses. Out of four types of [i]Abhinaya—acting— one major aspect is dedicated to Aharyabhinaya also, which means performance with the help of other external elements. It broadly includes; makeup, hair style, costumes, ornaments and jewelleries, stage props and other scenic elements. While he has discussed about all these things with specific descriptions along with their designs, he didn’t talk much of scenography and scene making. In the context of Indian theatre we only know about an empty space. It is true that Indian theatre performance never allowed external scenic elements in the performance. Neither any set nor any hand props were used to communicate the story to the audience in Sanskrit drama. Bharat has given emphasis on a neutral space where all the scenes can happen. But the stage which seems blank from its outward look is really empty? The answer is no. Bharat has never indicates towards an empty space.

We all know that modern theatre is segregated into many disciplines; acting, stage-design, costuming, light-design, makeup, choreography, etc. This is a western concept which we have adopted from the British. This division requires specialization in each field to achieve perfection in that discipline. But Natyashatra never discussed on these compartmental divisions.   It indicates towards a wholistic theatre which can be achieved in its entirety. Scenography is also a segment of this wholistic performance theory. The speciality of Classical Indian drama lies in its performance which is presentational in its style of presentation rather than representational, a common practice in Occidental culture. An Indian performance never adopts life in its true form. It never perceives life from its external viewpoint. In theatre the life is presented through metaphor and symbols. Stylisation in the presentation is a common practice in Indian theatre. The principle of presenting a [ii]patra- character- on stage is also applied to the spatial presentations and scene makings. The Aristotelian concept of space- unit of space- can’t be implemented in Indian theatre. The space and the locals are constantly established by the actors’ performance ability along with the power of the text and their physical expressions. An existing local can be transformed into another by a ritualistic performance of the actor- [iii]parikrama-in front of the audience as per the demand of the text. The performance never carries out anything with it; be it a space, character or a plot. For that reason there are many locals, events and characters exist in one given time and space in a single performance. Everything is expressed through the actors’ way of presentation in an allegorical and symbolic approach.

Paul Kuritz in his legendary book on “The making of theatre history” analysed;

[iv]“The Indian stage used little scenery. The makeshift nature of the performance required few scenic items; it exploited instead the Indian love for symbolism, imagery, and costume. Sanskrit texts didn’t even indicate scenery, though female stagehands may have changed the yavanika to suggest various rasas—white for erotic settings, yellow for heroic, a dull colour for pathos, multicoloured for farce, black for tragedy and red for violence. The Indian ranga was, like the world, a neutral place where many different locations existed simultaneously. Indian theatre thus aimed for less illusory imitation than the Greek theatre.”

Abhinaya through hasta mudra

The Scenography in Indian theatre follows the strong concept of make belief in which text plays an important role. The actor establishes the scenes with the help of narration and the expressions which can be achieved through Chari- foot movement and Mudra -gestures, postures and mime. For example if a performer wants to establish a scene inside a forest, he has to enact the atmosphere of the forest through his physical gestures and body movements. By the power of his presentations and the subsequent narration, the audience would understand the situation. To have a clear understanding on Indian scenography  we can exemplify a scene from the classical play [v]Abhijñānaśākuntalam, where [vi]Dushyant the great Indian king enters the stage on a chariot following a deer inside the jungle,. As we have already discussed, the performance area is a neutral empty space where the whole world can be created out of imagination and this particular scene is not an exception. The performer who is holding the patra of Dushyant would enter into the stage with elaborate foot movement – Chari- showing as if coming on a chariot. He would establish the horses and the cart by his hasta mudra and Natya. After establishing his entry with the help of movements, he would create the environment and the scenes (jungle) through his body movement and text. In the similar way the deer could be created out of hand gestures and movements. For the entire performance where scenograpgy is an integral part would be well received by the audience, whom in Indian term is called Rashika- A person who is able to receive the rasa (sentiment). In the whole episode of performance the audience mental participation to imagine the scenes is essential. In other words the Scenography in Indian theatre is the outcome of the imagination of the audience which can be established by the ability of the performance.

Performance of Kathakali

Classical Indian drama is full of with this kind of imaginary visual practices which are created with the help of text and performances. In another example of establishing the war field in the beginning of the play [vii]Urubhangam (Breaking the Thigh), a chorus of three soldiers enter into the stage and establish the atmosphere of war field through narrations and mime. In the similar situation in [viii]Madhayam vyayog the fight between Bhima and Ghatotkacha (Father and son) was established by pantomime and natya. The scenic visuals of the dense forest and mountains are well established by the actors’ physical presentations. In other way round, emphasis is given to costuming and makeup. The imageries are so intricate and spectacular that puts Indian drama as one unique performative practice in the world platform. With the exploration of costume, makeup, headgear and natya, Indian theatre is able to establish aesthetics of performance tradition over the years.

We can’t completely deny with the fact that Indian drama completely rejects the scenic elements. There are few properties used by the actors in the name of scenography. In the ritualistic practice of [ix]Purvaranga- prologue befor the play, the performers enter the stage with Jarjara dwaja and fix it on the up stage near vedika. This colourful flag, visually enriched was placed on the stage to mark the performance as a celebration, since the colours in the flag represents the colours of life. Rangapatti is another symbolic prop which was used for the entry and exit of the characters in different scenes. The entry of actors behind this colourful curtain provides visual elevation to the actors which add to the grandeur of the performance. There are evidences of using some hand props by the subordinate characters like; paricharika- female attendants and servantsor chatra dharini (who holds the royal umbrella).

The scenography in Indian drama is more related to the spiritual experiences than the bodily visual experiences. It flourishes by the power of choreography and Natya. With the help of all the elements the performance is able to transmit Rasa (sentiment) to the audience.

(Excerpts from my underwritten book "POETICS OF SPACE IN PERFORMANCE"

Notes....

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[i] Aharya abhinaya: Chapter-XXI, Natyashastra

[ii] The literary meaning of Patra is container. An actor in Indian theatre is always compared with a Patra, means a medium which can carry any ranga (colours or emotions) and can be able to reflect the colours in its purity. Broadly we can compare Patra with characters.

[iii] Parikrama is a ritualistic practice of the Hindus. The Hindus encircles the temple yard three times while visited the deities. Probably the concept entered into the theatre practice where an actor changes his locale by encircling the stage as a ritual.

[iv] The making of theatre history by Paul Kuritz, Pg: 79

[v] A play written by the great Indian poet Kalidasa.

[vi] A mythical king and the father of Bharata on whom the name of the country Bharatavarsa (India) is adorned.

[vii] The play is written by Mahakavi Bhasa in 2^nd century BC. Thirteen number of plays written by Bhasa has been discovered yet.

[viii] Another play written by Bhasa.

[ix] It was a ritual, performed before the Ranga (play). It consists of certain activities which includes Jarjara sthapane, Nandi patha, Vishkambhaka etc.

FOUNDING OF ALTERNATIVE THEATRE SPACE

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Breaking the convention

Eklavya Uvaach at International Theatre Festival at Pasto, Colombia
Dir: Satyabrata Rout

From the very beginning there is a quest continued to break the convention of theatre and its grammar. Time and again the directors and scenographers have tried to come out of the conventional spaces to an alternative theatre space in order to wipe out the strong line between performers and audience; to bring both of the team in one platform. The concept of togetherness is not at all a new phenomenon in our folk and traditional theatre which can be traced in the performance of [i]Ramalila of Banaras, or [ii]Dhanu Yatra of Orissa. We have a long history of integration in these ritualistic performances. But somehow our Indian urban theatre couldn’t adopt this total integration and audience participation easily. Our urban theatre couldn’t come out of the spell of British colonial theatre which restricts the possibility of interaction with the audience. This happens because of two major reasons;

a)      There is a clear distinction of performance space with an aesthetic distance which easily separates the actors from the audiences. Active participation between these two groups is practically not possible because of this separation which sometimes enters into the nerves of the audiences who prefer to become a passive viewer rather than an active member of the performance.

b)      Most of our urban performances still follow the concept of Proscenium. The conceptual imaginary wall; the fourth wall, which is the characteristic feature of a Proscenium theatre can’t be broken logically. The audiences only have to peep through this imaginary wall to watch what is going on inside the frame. Accordingly, a performer also shouldn’t associate directly with the audience by involving them in the dramatic situations. Audience participation can’t be possible in a proscenium performance. The audience only can watch a play, enjoy and appreciate passively.

Theatre remained as the most powerful communicative medium of the society. The Primitive Theatre, Greek Theatre, Roman drama, Indian Sanskrit Theatre, Folk traditions, Comedia del Arte, Noh and Kabuki theatre and all other kinds of performance cultures over the world have served the humanity as major community activities. One must have observed that in a traditional or folk performance, the performers are surrounded by the audiences from all possible angles; from three sides, four sides or in round. There is no restriction for the audience to participate directly or indirectly during the show. The audiences associate themselves with the characters, consider the feelings of the character as their own; believe it as a part of the happenings of their own life and enjoy the performance to the heart content which can’t be possible in an urban proscenium situation with a conceptual fourth wall in between the actors and audiences.

A scene from Iphigenia
at an open space near Theatre Dept. Univ. of Hyderabad
Dir: Satyabrata Rout

Attempt has been made to break away with this fourth wall concept which may be the reason why parallel and alternative theatre space exists along with the proscenium. Even sometimes the proscenium theatre has been re-modified in order to involve the audience as an active member of the team. In India, the Parsi theatre and other company dramas have attempted to involve the audience though they had to perform inside a proscenium. If we remember the performance culture of 16^th Century Elizabethan theatre of England, we can understand how important were the audiences, who watched the shows by standing in the yard. How they appreciate the performance of certain actors and tease someone’s acting by pulling their costumes and even by climbing up the stage with enjoyment. Sometimes the actor had to repeat the scenes on public demand. But somehow with the passage of time and with the growing elite class audience in theatre, the distance between the performers and spectators increased.

Concept

But the visionaries across the globe have tried many times and in many ways to bridge the gap by involving the audience as active members than the passive viewers. Bartolt Brecht, Jerzy Grotowsky, Badal Sircar, Augusto Baol and Richard Schechner are known to the world for deliberately encouraging the audience to participate in the productions psychologically and physically and allowed them to think critically about the social issues. Brecht’s theory of [iii]alienation, Augusto Baol’s [iv]invisible theatre or Badal Sircar’s [v]Third Theatre provides ample materials to break through the fourth wall.

Skandh Gupt: Directed by: B.V Karanth
at a dilapidated space inside  Aater Fort near Gwalior-1985

The passion for explouring the Interactive space grew during the second half of Twentieth century. The American director and author Richard Schechner traced the root of his concept of [vi]Environmental Theatre in Ramnagar’s Ramlila where the performance can happen in specific spaces around. At the same time an audience can choose his own way of seeing the performance and move along with that.  These kinds of spaces reject the conventional arrangements in the audience gallery and include them as an integral part of the production. The actor-audience relationship becomes so close to each other that sometimes they fall in the paradox of seen and seeing at the same time and space. The idea behind the alternate space for theatrical presentation is to offer a spatial experience to the audience as if they are the partakers of the happenings and not merely witness.

The performers in these conceptual performances interact with the audiences and comment on the social issues. In Dorothy Heathecote’s Drama- in- Education for the school children of England or Barry John’s Theatre-in-Education programme with National School of Drama, New Delhi, the children frequently are asked to carry out the project—an activity taken from their school syllabus-- somewhere in between the play along with the actor-teachers who allow them to interact the plot to lead them to a total education through the experience of theatre which can be referred to as Interactive Theatre.

An Experience:

I still remember the production of [vii]The Cherry Orchard directed by Richard Schechner in the year 1980-81 for National School of Drama repertory company. [viii]Meghdoot open-air complex was selected for the presentation. The main acting area along with the surroundings became the part of this memorable presentation. I can recall the space design of the play. The main location the house of Mrs. Ranevskaya was placed towards the rear left of the stage proper which was extended up to the nearby area with lots of trees towards the off stage. These trees around the performance space represented the orchard. A reception in the play was arranged in the coffee lawn at the entrance of the auditorium. The play opened with Schechner’s address the audiences who were searching for a place to sit (Our Indian audience was not habituated to this kind of performances before and there was no specific sitting arrangement as we found in other theatres.). He briefed the concept of the performance and told the audience to feel free in finding a place to watch the play, move around with the action, stand and even can participate in the action, the way they want.

Alternative Theatre Space for
Andhayug at Firoz Shah Kotla, Delhi/ Dir: E. Alkazi

Our contemporary Indian theatre was not exposed to this kind of experimental work in 80s. This was a life experience for audiences those who witnessed and participated in this production.  Indian theatre entered into the new realm of experiment with the production of The Cherry Orchard. The space became the vital element of a theatre presentation. Though the integration of creative space and performance was already been initiated by Ebrahim Alkazi in mid 70s with his production of [ix]Andha Yug and [x]Tughlaq, it couldn’t be widely taken over by the next generation because of so many  limitations. But Schechner’s concept of using the environment as an organic element of the production inspired many experimentalists to undertake space as a challenge. Thanks to Prof. Richard Schechner for providing us the opportunity to interact with this new idiom of theatre, the root which he found in Indian and Oriental theatrical forms.

Contd.....

Notes:

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i Ramlila is a Hindu ritualistic performance which is enacted from the epics of Ramayana during Ramanavami and Dasera festival. Ramnagar’s Ramlila at Banaras drew global attention because of its specific characteristics. It continues for 31 days and performs in different locations nearby the river Ganges. Richard Schechner found the root of his Environmental Theatre in Ramlila of Banaras.

[ii] Dhanuyatra of Orissa, world's biggest open-air theatre, is unique in much respect. It is a theatre having biggest assembly of actors that a play can ever have, with almost the entire population of Bargarh, a small town of Orissa state and its nearby villages making the cast. It is a cultural extravaganza where the same mythological play is enacted year after year but neither the audience nor the actors seem to get tired. In fact, it is a conglomeration of several   open - air theatres, with the action taking   place simultaneously at different stages and both actors, audiences moving from place to place according to   the requirement of a particular scene.

[iii] Theory of Alienation: A concept developed by Bartolt Brecht where the actors alienate themselves from their characters and critically analyse the situation and social issues which they are presenting in the play. This became possible by soliloquies, songs and other theatrical elements used in Brecht’s plays time to time.

[iv] Invisible Theatre: Invisible theatre is a form of theatrical performance that is enacted in a place where people would not normally expect to see one, for example in the street or in a shopping centre. The performers attempt to disguise the fact that it is a performance from those who observe and who may choose to participate in it, encouraging the spectators to view it as a real event. The Brazilian theatre practitioner Augusto Boal & Panagiotis Assimakopoulos developed the form during his time in Argentina in the 1970s as part of his Theatre of the Oppressed, which focused on oppression and social issues. Boal went on to develop forum-theatre.

[v] Third Theatre: Badal Sircar’s Third Theatre deals with a social commitment which reflects in his plays time and again. Third Theatre was formed by imbibing ideas from the traditional and folk theatre with the amalgamation of urban theatre. At the same time it had an identity of its own. It creates awareness among the common people on many social issues. There is no concrete characterization in the plays based on third theatre concept. The actors play according to the situation. Even the audience can take part in the live performances. Further, there is the freedom of movement and there is no restriction of space. Body language becomes important than facial expressions. The play can be performed anywhere.

[vi] Environmental Theatre is a kind of performance which occurs in different places according to the scenes. The audience keep on moving along with the play in different locations. R. Schechner is the first to identify the potentiality of this type of theatre. His research on Ramalila of Ramnagar remained the most important materials on performance theory.

[vii] A play written by Anton Chekhov

[viii] An openair theatre developed in 60s by E. Alkazi for National School of Drama. It is situated in the Ravindra Bhawan campus near Mandi house, N.Delhi.

[ix] Andhayug  was written by Dharmavir Bharti and wad directed by E.Alkazi in 74 which was presented in a space created at Purana Quila ruins, Delhi. It was a quest for alternative theatre space.

[x] Tughlaq, a play by Girish Karnad was directed by Alkazi for NSD and performed in the ruins of Firoz Shah Kothla, Delhi in 1973.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Dr. Satyabrata Rout/Associate Prof. Theatre/ University of Hyderabad/India

ALTERNATIVE THEATRE SPACE

The Environmental Theatre

________________________________________________

A Scene from the play: Iphigenia in Aulis by Euripides
presented by the students of Theatre Arts, Univ. of Hyderabad

From the very beginning there is a quest to break the rules of theatre and its grammar. Time and again the directors and scenographers have tried   to come out of the conventional focused spaces to an alternative theatre space in order to wipe out the strong line between performers and audience; to bring both of the team in one platform. This concept of oneness in theatre is not at all a new phenomenon in our folk and traditional theatre which we have already discussed in our previous chapter on Ramalila and Dhanu Yatra performances. We have experienced how the audience become an integral part of these ritualistic performances and how the space works. But somehow our Indian urban theatre couldn’t adopt the concept so easily.

Look back to the west, the polish director Jerzy Grotowski is the first who succeeded in finding an alternative space for his theatre expression. The passion grew during the second half of Twentieth century. The American director and author Richard Schechner named this alternate space for his theatre; The Environmental Theatre. He traced   its origin in Indian performances of Ramlila. These kinds of spaces reject the conventional arrangements in the audience gallery and include them as an integral part of the production. The actor-audience relationship becomes so close to each other that sometimes they fall in the paradox of seen and seeing at the same time and space. The idea behind the alternate space for theatrical presentation is to offer a spatial experience to the audience as if they are the partakers of the happenings and not merely witness. Whether it is in the form of forum theatre, third theatre or site specific theatre, it frequently changes the focuses by shifting the scenes from place to place. In an environmental situation the performance can happen anywhere around the audience. At the same time an audience can choose his own way of seeing the performance.

I still remember the production of The Cherry Orchard directed by Richard Schechner in the year 1980-81 for National School of Drama repertory company. Meghdoot open-air complex was selected for the presentation. The main acting area along with the surroundings became the part of this memorable presentation. I can recall the space design of the play. The main location the house of Mrs. Ranevskaya was placed towards the rear left of the stage proper which was extended up to the nearby area with lots of trees towards the off stage. These trees around the performance space represented the orchard. A reception in the play was arranged in the coffee lawn at the entrance of the auditorium. The play opened with Schechner’s address the audiences who were searching for a place to sit (Our Indian audience was not habituated to this kind of performances before and there was no specific sitting arrangement as we found in other theatres.). He briefed the concept of the performance and told the audience to feel free in finding a place to watch the play, move around with the action, stand and even can participate in the action, the way they want.

Our contemporary Indian theatre was not exposed to this kind of experimental work in 80s. This was a life experience for audiences those who witnessed and participated in this production.  Indian theatre design entered into the new realm of experiment with the production of Richard Schechner. The space became the most important element of a theatre presentation. Though the integration of creative space and performance was already been explored by Alkazi in some of his productions in mid 70s, it couldn’t widely taken over by the next generation scenographers because of its limitation. But Schechner’s concept of using the environment as an organic element of the production inspired many designers to undertake space as a challenge. Thanks to Prof. Richard Schechner for providing us the opportunity to interact to this new idiom of theatre, the root which he found in Indian and Oriental theatrical forms.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Dr. Satyabrata Rout/ Associate Professor, Theatre Arts/University of Hyderabad

Profile of                                                                                                                                                                           Dr. Satyabrata Rout

______________________________________________________________

Dr. Satyabrata Rout                                                                                                          

Associate Professor, Department of Theatre Arts,                                                                         

Sarojini Naidu School of Arts and Communication                                                                                                                            University of Hyderabad-500046                                                                                                                        India

Ph: +91-9959807901                                                                                                                              

email: satya00191@yahoo.co.in

 Qualifications:

Academic:

·         M.A in Theatre Arts Specialised in Design and Direction from National School of Drama, New Delhi-1983

·         Ph.D – Dept. of English, Chaudhury Charan Singh University, Meerut-2008

·         Studied Mask and stage design of Noh and Kabuki Theatre at Tokyo, Japan-1999

·         B.Sc (Honours) – Ravenshaw College, Utkal University, Orissa-1977

Professional:

·         More than 25 years of Teaching, Training and Practical experiences in the field of Theatre.

·         Conducted more than 100 theatre workshops in regional, national and international platform.

·         Teaching theatre design and direction in most of the Indian Universities, institutions and academic bodies including some Universities and institutions abroad.

·         Designed almost 150 plays for the renowned directors across the globe.

·         Directed more than 50 plays in different Indian languages.

·         Directed plays in SriLanka, Maldives, Colombia and Mauritius in Singhali, Divehi, Spanish, French and English languages.

·          Design sets for Television Serials.

·         Travelled more than 15 countries in connection to theatre training and research programme.

Employment History:

·         Technical Director, Rangmandal, Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal

·         Actor-Teacher in TIE (Theatre-in-Education) Company, National School of Drama

·         Resource person, Extension programme, NSD

·         Lecturer Lighting Design at National School of Drama, New Delhi

·         Director, School of Communication and Cine Arts, Faridabad

·         Producer, Educational Multi-Media Research Centre (EMMRC) at Punjabi University, Patiala under UGC programme.

·         Associate Professor, Department of Theatre Arts, University of Hyderabad

International Productions:

·         Communication to Communication- Directed for Voice of Maldives at Male - 1996

·         Naga Mandala: Written by Girish Karnad: Directed for Tower Hall Theatre Foundation, Colombo, SriLanka-1998

·         Hayavadan: Written by Girish Karnad- Directed for Javeriana University at Bogota, Colombia-2003

·         Devised Play: Prepared with the workshop students of Dept. of Culture, Mauritius-2004

·         Bio Drama: Spanish play prepared with the students of International School of Drama, Villa de Layva, Colombia-2010

·         Eklavya Uvaach: Directed a Kannada  play in Collaboration with International School of Drama, Villa de Layva and Adima Living School, Karnataka and presented at the International theatre festival at Pasto, Colombia-2011

Paper Presentation:

·         Mask: A lonely face- Indian mime theatre Association, Kolkata-2006

·       Indian stage design: East-West Encounter- ISTR (Indian Association for Theatre Research)  Conference, organised by Dept. of Theatre, University of Bangalore- 2008

·       Visual Language in Rameswar Prem’s play “Jaldambru baje…”-ISTR Conference, organized by JNU, Delhi-2009

·         Indian theatre from Classical to modern- Sangeet Natak Academy seminar, Delhi, 2010

·  Avant-garde Indian theatre: An amalgamation of tradition and modern--ISTR (Indian Association for Theatre Research) Conference, organised by Dept. of Theatre, University of Hyderabad-2011

·     Indian Theatre in the perspective of Tradition- Teatro Varasanta Conference, Organised by Teatro Varasanta, Bogota Colombia-2011

·        The issue of Post-modernism in theatre pedagogy and training- ISTR (Indian Association for Theatre Research) Conference, organised by FLAME school of Performing Arts, Pune-2012

Books and Publications:

·       On the Crossroad of Theatre.(Book related to Theatre)

            Published by Vijaya Books, Sahadra, Delhi. ISBN: 978-93-81-480-25-0

 Under Process of Writing:

·      Space, Performances, Developing Design: An Indian Perspective (A large volume of book on theatre design in India)

·       Saal Bhar (A creative writing on human relationships)

 Distinction / Award:

•         Senior Fellowship Award, Department of Culture, Govt. of India (2000)
•         Manohar Singh Smriti Samman-2006, by National School of Drama & Ministry of tourism and culture, Govt. of India, for overall contribution to Indian Theatre.
•        Rang-yaatri Samman awarded by Ranga Yatri Theatre Group, Allahabad, U.P (2008).

Membership of Professional Theatre Bodies:

• Director, Rang Vasundhara Theatre Group, Delhi
• Founder member, Sambhav Art Group, Delhi
• Founder member, Mukti theatre Group, Bhubaneshwar

·         Chairman, Avartan Theatre Ensemble, University of Hyderabad.

Other Professional Skills:

•      Oil Canvas Paintings and Graphic drawings  
•        Chhau Dance- Mayurbhanj Style
•      Sculpture Making and Wood Carving
•      Interior Designing
•      Community activity 
•      Administrative activities         

The above mentioned information is true to my knowledge and belief.

Dr. Satyabrata Rout

University of Hyderabad