© 2022 renuforumforthearts.org

Team

Anita Kulkarni
Anita Kulkarni
Founder/President/Artistic Director
With a Bachelor’s and Master’s in Architecture (Univ. of Mumbai, Univ. of Massachusetts), long career in the field, and a twodecade training in Indian Classical music, Anita Kulkarni is a rare blend of skills in Fine and Performing arts. Anita’s faith ‘Art is a connection with the divine’ inspires her prolific work at Renu where the exquisite Indian arts are interpreted and fine artistic elements from World traditions are synthesized to build a new sense for contemporary global audiences. Anita’s creative concepts, admired for their emotional appeal and aesthetic value, express beautifully as an amalgam of poetry, music, dance, painting and multimedia. Anita is based in New Jersey, and splits her time between India and the U.S.A.
Prabhat Jain
Prabhat Jain
Director
A B. Tech. (IIT, Chennai, India), Master’s in Material Science (Villanova Univ, VA) and an M.B.A. (Lynchburg Univ., VA, Prabhat Jain is the Founder-Owner of the 36-year-old 2nd largest power transformer manufacturing company in North America with 1400 associates in four manufacturing plants world over. VTC being a major exporter, he was appointed by the US Secretary of Commerce on the Virginia District Export Council in 1992 where he still serves. As a music lover and art-architecture connoisseur he served on many boards, and supports STEM – the education initiative for inner school students in Roanoke, VA. He is based in Greater Washington D. C.
Dan Mayur
Director
A B. Tech. (IIT, Mumbai, India) and a Ph. D. (Chemical Engineering, Rice Univ., Houston TX) Dan Mayur worked in Energy sector in senior capacities, managing projects in Mexico, Thailand, India, Saudi Arabia, UK and the USA. Active on the speaker circuit, he published numerous papers in international conferences. His interests include World travel, writing on people, places and politics with emphasis on history and socio-economic issues. An author of four books, his writing is known to present a forceful and candid expose and socio-political analysis. Dan is an award-wining rose cultivator and art-enthusiast, and resides in Sugar Land, TX.
Jaya Aysola
Director
An M. D. (Univ. of Pittsburgh), DTMH (London School of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene), M. P. H. (Harvard School of Public Health), Assistant Prof of Medicine and Pediatrics, First Assistant Dean of Inclusion and Diversity and Exec. Dir. Penn Medicine Center for Health Equity Advancement, Jaya worked in Asia developing-implementing special care delivery models, and in New Orleans LA during the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. She grew up in Michigan as a 2nd Gen Indian immigrant surrounded by music, witnessing the inextricable relationships between Indian culture and music. Jaya is trained in Carnatic and Hindustani styles of Indian music, and is based in Philadelphia, PA.
Mukund Karwe
Director
A B. Tech. (IIT, Mumbai, India) and Ph. D. (Mechanical – Aerospace Engineering, Rutgers Univ. NJ), Prof. of Food Engineering and Dean of International Programs, School of Env. and Biological Sci. Rutgers Univ. Mukund Karwe has over 120 articles and book chapters to his credit. With research supported by the U. S. Dept. of Agriculture and the U. S. Army, he gave keynote addresses and research seminars World over. With prestigious fellowships and highest Teaching Excellence awards including the 2019 Lifetime Award, he is a serious Indian Classical music enthusiast. He is based in New Jersey.
Madhukar Prasad
Director
Following a 40-Year Engineering career in Shell Oil Company’s upstream (B. Mech Eng., BIT, India, MSIA, Union Univ. New York, Leadership Development Program, M.I.T., Boston) Madhukar Prasad shifted focus to being a Learning/Transformation Consultant at Shell’s Learning Center co-developing and delivering learning experiences for leaders and mentoring-coaching young professionals and project teams. Post retirement, as his way of Giving Back he has served on various nonprofit boards, now engaging in numerous volunteer activities. He is based in New Jersey
Mukund Karwe
Director
A B. Tech. (IIT, Mumbai, India) and Ph. D. (Mechanical – Aerospace Engineering, Rutgers Univ. NJ), Prof. of Food Engineering and Dean of International Programs, School of Env. and Biological Sci. Rutgers Univ. Mukund Karwe has over 120 articles and book chapters to his credit. With research supported by the U. S. Dept. of Agriculture and the U. S. Army, he gave keynote addresses and research seminars World over. With prestigious fellowships and highest Teaching Excellence awards including the 2019 Lifetime Award, he is a serious Indian Classical music enthusiast. He is based in New Jersey.
Madhukar Prasad
Director
Following a 40-Year Engineering career in Shell Oil Company’s upstream (B. Mech Eng., BIT, India, MSIA, Union Univ. New York, Leadership Development Program, M.I.T., Boston) Madhukar Prasad shifted focus to being a Learning/Transformation Consultant at Shell’s Learning Center co-developing and delivering learning experiences for leaders and mentoring-coaching young professionals and project teams. Post retirement, as his way of Giving Back he has served on various nonprofit boards, now engaging in numerous volunteer activities. He is based in New Jersey
Mukund Karwe
Director
A B. Tech. (IIT, Mumbai, India) and Ph. D. (Mechanical – Aerospace Engineering, Rutgers Univ. NJ), Prof. of Food Engineering and Dean of International Programs, School of Env. and Biological Sci. Rutgers Univ. Mukund Karwe has over 120 articles and book chapters to his credit. With research supported by the U. S. Dept. of Agriculture and the U. S. Army, he gave keynote addresses and research seminars World over. With prestigious fellowships and highest Teaching Excellence awards including the 2019 Lifetime Award, he is a serious Indian Classical music enthusiast. He is based in New Jersey.
Madhukar Prasad
Director
Following a 40-Year Engineering career in Shell Oil Company’s upstream (B. Mech Eng., BIT, India, MSIA, Union Univ. New York, Leadership Development Program, M.I.T., Boston) Madhukar Prasad shifted focus to being a Learning/Transformation Consultant at Shell’s Learning Center co-developing and delivering learning experiences for leaders and mentoring-coaching young professionals and project teams. Post retirement, as his way of Giving Back he has served on various nonprofit boards, now engaging in numerous volunteer activities. He is based in New Jersey
Rajita Kulkarni-Bagga
Director
Banker-turned-Educator, Transformational Leadership Coach and author Rajita Kulkarni-Bagga is President-World Forum for Ethics in Business, President-Sri Sri University, Trustee-Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Vidya Mandir Trust-India, and Hon. Prof. John Von Neumann Univ. Hungary. Recognized among the top 100 Inspirational Women of India (National Bar Association/India) and Global Women’s Economic Forum, she advocates the message of Excellence, Ethics and Human Values on World fora. With articles and interviews on The World Bank Group website and United Nations TV read by millions, Rajita participated on over 5000 international conferences, clocking over 1 M man-hours in training over 100000 participants. A certified teacher of the Art of Living who loves to read, write, sing, meditate and treasure simple joys of life, Rajita is based in Mumbai, India.
Arvind Patel
Director
Director of Pediatrics at Louisiana State Univ., Associate Professor of Pediatrics/Family Medicine at Louisiana State University Medical School (Shreveport, LA) Dr. Arvind Patel studied Medicine in Ahmedabad, India prior to migrating to the USA 40 years ago, later augmenting his higher-level training as a Pediatrician in the USA. With a long and enriching medical career in India and America, memberships on various professional boards, and a good social angle to his living, Arvind is based in New Jersey, making an invaluable contribution to the Renu think tank.
Om lala
Director
With an M. B. A. and M. D. From Harvard and M. Phil. From Cambridge Univ., Dr. Om Lala is Chief Science Officer at Blossom, a venture-backed tech company providing professional development coaching to organizations. He served as Director, the Institute of Coaching at Harvard Medical School and was on the faculty of the Harvard Extension School. As an executive coach, startup founder, researcher, healthcare leader helping people increase their psychological well-being, Om Lala is passionate about the interplay between creativity and science and believes that art can be a profound vehicle for healing, growth, and expression of deep psychological insight.
  • Theresa Snyder Grant Writer
  • Karen Kern Grant Consultant
  • Image Online Web Developer
  • Sudhir Kulkarni Volunteer
  • Saroj Patel Volunteer
  • Sarita Yeola Volunteer
  • Sharvari Jamenis
  • Nakul Ghanekar
  • Mayur Vaidya
  • Dr. Parimal Phadke
  • Sheetal Kolwalkar
  • Akhila Rao
  • Sunaina Rao
  • Amod Kulkarni
  • Satyajit Kelkar
  • Daksha Mashruwala
  • Shantha Ratii

Like other ancient civilizations, the Indian traditional art has existed for centuries if not millennia, touching all aspects of human life. Broadly categorized under Visual and Performing art, the Indian traditional art further separates itself out in genres and types on the timeline in its evolution, the whole ethos enriching the Indian cultural heritage. Dance for example, considered one of the foremost Indian traditional arts, originated in folklife and temples, later passing from the hands of scholars to attain its present-day Classical status and form. Music was an Indian traditional art and an expression of spirituality and devotion. Folk (Visual) arts like Madhubani and Pattachitra too were expressions of service and surrender to the superpower, and they appear like odes drawn in two dimensions with lines.

We at Renu are committed to build a new awareness for this well-endowed Indian cultural heritage and believe in taking this tremendous gift to people’s doorstep. We design our work for taking the beauty and meditation innate to Indian traditional arts to wider global audiences in a style that is friendly, inviting and affable as we want to draw them in the space for an immersive, compelling experience. Many of our productions leave the audience with a lasting, liberating message that is inherent in the spirit of Indian traditional art, and that is our humble payback to the unmatched cultural heritage we were born with.

Subscribe
for our Newsletters & Announcements