The Governing Council

Darpana has had a distinguished Governing Council for the last three years, Chaired by writer-film maker Jayobroto Chatterjee, and including well-known painter Rekha Rodwittiya; activists Kamla Bhasin, Fr. Rappai S.J, Ms. Naina Kapoor, and Dr Indira Parikh, Dean of Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. Five distinguished people now join the Council: Sunita Kohli, the first to be awarded the Padmashree for achieving excellence in interior design and restoration; Subodh Bhargava, an independent director, who earlier served as the Chairman and Managing Director of Eicher Motors; Lila Poonawala, recipient of the Royal Order of the Pole Star from the King of Sweden; Prof. Anil Gupta, a professor at IIM-A and Anu Aga, former chairperson of the Pune based Thermax Ltd.

  

Governing Council Members

Ms. Lila Poonawalla:
	First, starring in the stellar role of the Exports Manager and then graduating to the plum role of the M.D of Alfa Laval and Tetra Pak. Suddenly Lila Poonawalla's world was awash with head-on challenges, marketing strategies and political correctness. A recipient of Padmashree award, she is also managing the Lila Poonawalla Foundation for the education of the girl students.
Ms. Rekha Rodwittiya:
	Rekha Rodwittiya was born in Bangalore, got a BA in Fine Arts in Baroda in 1981 and an MA in the same from the Royal College of Art in London in 1984. Rodwittiya has always been concerned with the representation of the female figure: she had sown the seeds for a feminist practice of painting during the course of her Fine Arts degree in Baroda.
The resistance of her male contemporaries towards a new gender representation spurred her desire to find the vocabulary to represent women without objectifying them, without allowing the viewer to play the role of voyeur. Rodwittiya represents large clothed Gauginesque women as the archetypal figure in their daily work rituals, dwarfing their tools and objects that surround them, in a celebration of the female protagonist.
Prof. Anil Gupta:
	Prof. Anil Gupta is the chairperson of SRISTI and Honey Bee Network, vice chairman of the National Innovation Foundation (NIF) and a professor at IIM-Ahmedabad. Dr. Gupta earned his Ph.D. degree in management from Kurukshetra University (India) in 1986 after his masters in Biochemical Genetics in 1974 from Haryana Agricultural University, Haryana.
Shri Jayabroto Chatterjee:
	Jayabrato Chatterjee, writer, filmmaker and corporate communicator started his career with a feature film 'Kehkasha' in Hindi. He has scripted, directed and produced over 35 documentaries, including short features and serials. His career in writing spans journalism and corporate communications, with Guest Keen Williams, Tata Steel, Dunlop and Ambuja group for 38 years.
Smt. Anu Aga:
	Anu Aga is responsible for turning around the fortunes of the engineering giant Thermax Ltd. The Social sector has always been close to Aga’s heart. She supports various organizations that promote education, in particular of underprivileged children from slums. She has started centres for slum children in Pune with the help of an NGO from Mumbai called Akanksha, which means hope or aspiration. Currently she is working on a number of projects in the area of corporate social responsibility with select NGOs.
Sunita Kohli:
	Ms. Sunita Kohli is the first to be awarded the Padmashree for achieving excellence in interior design and restoration. She has written several papers in design and is one of the authors of Architecture and Planning of New Delhi. She did her MA in English and started her career as a lecturer in Loretto College.
Ms. Kohli has designed the DLF corporate office (which is known as an architectural wonder), the Prime Minister's office in South block and the one where the Cabinet meetings take place, Cubbon House in Nandi Hills, which was a retreat for the heads of States during the 1986 SAARC meet. To mention a few of her overseas projects, she has designed 3 hotel boats in Egypt, the El-Arish, the Greenery Restaurant and the Public for the Oberois.
Smt. Kamla Bhasin:
	Kamla Bhasin, noted Indian human rights activist was born and grew up in Rajasthan, India. She received an MA in Economics at Rajasthan University and studied Sociology of Development for four semesters at Muenster University in West Germany. Bhasin's work has involved close collaboration with U.N., government, and bilateral agencies, media, researchers, academics and others.
As part of this work she has travelled extensively in Asia, specially in the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Bangladesh, Bhutan India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. She has been able to see the work of and establish personal contacts with a large number of organisations involved in development action and reflection at different levels.
Shri Subodh Bhargava:
	Mr. Subodh Bhargava, Chairman of VSNL has been a past President of CII, and served as Group Chairman & CEO of the Eicher Group until March 2000. He is presently associated with several boards as an Independent Director, and is currently Chairman of Wartsila India Ltd.
Shri R.K. Shah:
	R.K. Shah has been working with Nehru Foundation for Development for last 36 years. A commerce graduate from Gujarat University, Mr. Shah possesses excellent computer skills in Project Management and Accounting of voluntary and social organizations, and has developed Integrated Accounting Software for NGOs. Apart from supervising the accounts department of Nehru Foundation for Development.
Mr. Shah is offering his services as a Hon. Consultant to Water and Sanitation Management Organization (WASMO), Government of Gujarat and running an organization named 'Jansuvidha Medical Services' for providing free medical services to the needy.
Prof. Indira Parikh:
	Professor Indira Parikh, Professor of Organisational Behaviour at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad was the visiting Associate Professor of the College of Business Administration, Texas University College, USA and was previously a research scholar at the European Institute of Business Administration in France. She has also served as Executive Director and Dean - Research and Training of the Indian Society for Individual and Social Development, Ahmedabad.
Prof. Parikh who took a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Studies from the University of Rochester, USA specialised with a Masters degree in Education from the same university. Thereafter, she took a Doctorate from the University of Gujarat. She has designed and conducted many management development programmes on areas such as transformation of organisations, women in management and leadership roles, consulting strategies, general management, roles and authority of women managers and management education programmes. She is the author of several publications and books.
Fr. Rappai Poothokaren, S.J:
	Father Rappai Poothakaran, a father from the Society of Jesus, has traveled extensively, documenting the life, music and dance of the tribals of India. He is the Director of Gurjarvani, a communication centre committed to use the Mass Media for the integral human development. Gurjarvani also organizes/provides Media training and specializes in low-cost and group-media training for the grass root level personnel. Father Rappai is one of the founder members of Taru Mitra, a student movement to protect and promote a healthy environment on Earth.
Ms. Naina Kapur:
Â	Ms. Naina Kapur is a lawyer and human rights activist with a specific interest in violence against women in India. She is Director of the SAKSHI Centre, which has evolved as an intervenor on violence against women issues through the development of lateral linkages with the health, legal, educational, NGO and governmental sectors.
She has also recently authored a paper and a training module on sexual harassment in India. Kapur also co-chairs the Asia-Pacific Advisory Forum on Judicial Education on Equality Issues, which has a mandate to achieve gender equality education for judges and others in the region with a focus on violence against women.