Darpana Academy of Performing Arts

Darpana’s puppeteers started working with the central ministry of rural development in teaching village women the use of smokeless stove.

The theatre department then run by Kailash Pandya created a play called Ma to rally people to the war effort.

Mrinalini Sarabhai, in a radical departure from the spiritual core of the classical Bharat Natyam used the style to talk of the horror of dowry violence.

They have been able to effectively talk about a range of sensitive issues from women and violence, to religious intolerance, the environment, human rights, corruption and justice.

[12][13][14] The academy was also listed by UNESCO an institution active in the "Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage", and thereby invited to attend the subsequent Intergovernmental Committee meetings.