‘Maya’ – Bloomsbury Theatre, London – 5 July 2003

We are a group of professionals with a London-based cultural organisation called Rabisikha, which primarily teaches and promotes Indian music and dance in the UK through regular classes and concerts. We run a 5-year diploma course on Tagore music and dance. Although our students are mainly second-generation Asians, we concentrate on the promotion and dissemination of the knowledge, philosophy and beauty of Indian music and dance to mainstream audiences, across all cultures.

Our next venture is the production of a musical called ‘Maya’, which will be launched at the Bloomsbury Theatre (UCL) in London on 5 July 2003. The musical incorporates multiple dimensions of pure drama, dance, Eastern and Western classical music and Tagore songs. The story essentially challenges the negative effects of stigma associated with mental health and supports the philosophy of reducing stigma, discrimination and social exclusion by changing attitudes and behaviour. We share the special responsibility to recognise and respect the uniqueness of an individual over and above a diagnostic ‘label’. We are also aware of the inaccurate representations of mental illness in the media and elsewhere based on stigmatising attitudes and stereotypes, myths and misunderstandings. Through ‘Maya’, we wish to deliver a clear message against prejudice and discrimination and support the Royal College of Psychiatrists' Antistigma campaign (Changing Minds).

For further information about Rabisikha's work and ‘Maya’ please contact: Dr Amit Biswas, Specialist Registrar in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, St George's Hospital, London. Tel: 0208 725 1068. Fax: 0208 725 0305.