Mr. Prasanna Ramaswamy, Dr. Mangai and Ms. Bhagirathi Narayanan - all very well known theatre personalities have been associated for a long time now with various groups of theatre in Chennai such as Koothu-p-pattarai, Mouna Kural and Madras Players. They come together now under a new banner Paatini, the name symbolising "Free Bardic Woman Singer" and intend to make women-centred productions.

Paatini's first venture Meendum... Meendum... - Again and Again was prompted by Kargil war. The production explores the horrors of war hidden behind statistics and death tolls - the tragedy of women and children. Ms. Prasanna Ramaswamy, director of this anti-war play says: "Again and Again can even be called Thirumba-t-Thirumba, but I chose to call it Meendum... Meendum because Meendum also means to recover. So on one level the title means again and again, on another it means to recover and recommit.

The Hindu considered Meendum... Meendum... as a powerful play of indictment of wars. It questioned the glorification of war by the media, by all of us.

Meendum... Meendum... is directed by a woman (Prasanna), main roles have been performed by women (Bagyam, Mangai, Usha, Pritam, etc.) who have been associated with theatre, especially theatre which addresses gender politics, for a long time, looks at war from woman's perspective and shows how again and again - be it Kurukshetra, Vietnam War or Kargil - women suffer a universal sufferance where Time and place have no bounds.

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