When women take to stage jitter-free

It seems to be a novel attempt at inspiring discourses among women on topics that matter, sans inhibitions. Red Bindu Project has come up with its latest edition of the popular ‘open mic for women’. 

After two successful editions, the organisers have decided to host the third edition on March 10 at the Backyard. “We have a lot of talented women from various fields in Chennai, but most of them are quite scared to showcase their talent in public. So, we decided to provide a small, intimate space for them. This is a platform for seasoned and budding talents,” says Deepthi Vinod Tanikella, co-founder of Red Bindu Project. 

Founded by Deepthi Vinod Tanikella and Anuradha Subramanian, Red Bindu Project is a community of like-minded people who strive to go beyond the usual and explore spaces that allow them to think, learn, understand and act. 

“We aim to curate events that celebrate diversity beyond identities and bring people together. We want to involve people in creating a better society, by means of art and talk,” explains Deepti. 

“The open mic will be a blend of poetry, comedy, music, drama, dance, storytelling, art installations or other modes of expression. We give each participant a specific time and they can perform any art forms. Ours is an unbiased, uncurated interaction and this helps to bridge the gap between the performer and the audience. This is a space for women to talk freely without any inhibitions, nobody is going to judge you here,” she says. 

Deepthi shares an interesting episode from open mic’s second edition, “We had a 70-year-old paati coming over. She was sitting silently sitting and enjoying the performances. By the end of the show, she came to me and said, ‘This is exactly what women need today — a platform to appreciate other women and let themselves be appreciated.’ Also, we had a lady who is taking care of her disabled granddaughter, that too all alone. She didn’t have anyone to talk to and we asked her to speak up. You won’t believe, she talked to the audience for hours — stories about her life, how precious her granddaughter is and what happiness means to her.”