Siddhartha

Current address : Pipal Tree, Fireflies ashram, Dinnepalya, Kagalipura P.O., Bangalore-560062, Karnataka, India

Permanent address : 139/9 Domlur Layout, Bangalore - 560071

Email : sidd173@gmail.com

Date of birth : 17th March 1948

Languages spoken : English, French, Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada

Academic profile :

• B.A. (Bachelor of Arts) in English Literature, Madras University. 1969.

• BGL (Bachelor of General Law), Madras University 1974.

• M.A. Social Anthropology (Diplome de Ecole des Hautes Etudes), Paris 1980.

• DEA Social anthropology (Diplome des Etudes Approfondies) Paris 1982.

Theses submitted to Ecoles des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris :

• Study of the changes in inter-caste relations as a result of the impact of the international fishing industry in a Tamil village in South India 1980

• Study of the development of a Untouchable (Dalit) caste social movement in Maharashtra. 1982

Books published :

• Lettres du Ganges (in French), published by L’Aube, Paris, 2001.

• The Birdwoman, Dronequill publishers, Bangalore, 2002.

• Private but Public, The Third Sector in Latin America, By Rueben Ceasar Fernandes), Edited and Introduced by Siddhartha. Civicus and Network Cultures, 1994, Bangalore.

• Kabir is back, a comic book on inter-religious harmony, published by Pipal Tree, 2002.

• Singing in the Prison Shower, (Life in a Chilean Prison) edited and introduced by Siddhartha, Pipal Tree publications.

• Edited and introduced book on Religion and Social Liberation, published by Asian Cultural Forum for Development, Bangkok, 1994.

Teaching experience :

• Taught for eight years (1975-83) as a faculty member of INODEP-International (an international institute of Development education founded by Paulo Freire) Paris.

• Taught an Alternative Education course for five years (1976 to 1981) at the Development Studies Course, Kimmage Manor, Dublin.

• Taught courses on Development Education at the United Nations University, Tokyo in 2003 and 2004

• Taught Critical Education at the annual Development Training Course organized by the Institute for Cultural Research and Action, Bangalore, 1980 to 1985.

• Lectured at the five college seminar, “Betond Paulo Freire”, University of Massachussets, Northhampton, 1999.

• Lectured at Ramapo College, New Jersey on ‘Paulo Freire’s Method of Education’, 1999.

• Lectured at University of Valladolid, Spain, 2004.

• Lectured at Bangalore University, on Dalits and Alternative Paradigm of Development, Ambedkar Bhavan, 2001.

Key responsibilities :

• International coordinator of Inodep International, Paris, founded by the educationist Paulo Freire (1980-82).

• Asian Coordinator on Inodep International, Paris (1976-80).

• Founder board member and Asian Coordinator of South North Network Cultures and Development, Brussels (1982 to 2003).

• Founder board member of Asian Rainbow, Manila, concerned with Religions, Peace and Conflict Resolution.

• Founder of well known NGO’s in India like Institute for Cultural Research and Action (training for development) 1981 ; Foundational for Educational innovations in India (Fedina), which has over twenty field programmes in the villages of South India, 1982 ; and Pipal Tree, an organization that is concerned with culture, education, and civil society.

• Member of the international committee of World Social Forum, 2002.

• Organised the first international meeting of the World Social Forum in India (Bangalore) in 2002.

• Founder and Director of the international cultural research centre, Fireflies, located outside the Southern city of Bangalore. www.firefliesindia.org.in.

• Chairman of In-Dia Forum (India Dialogue Forum); a forum for networking for Dialogue in Action.