Jatinder Verma MBE on: Pursuing a career in the arts
This episode features Jatinder Verma MBE, a British Indian theatre director and arts activist. In 1977, Jatinder founded Tara Arts, the first-ever Asian, Black and ethnically diverse Theatre Company in the UK. It provided and still provides a much-needed platform for performers, writers, directors, musicians, and choreographers. Since leaving Tara Arts, he set up and now runs JV productions with designer Claudia Mayer. Jatinder talks to us about his purposeful journey into the arts and shares what he’s learned. He speaks openly about his experiences as an immigrant in the UK, racism, and the importance of bringing different stories and cultures to the British stage.
Every fortnight on the GOOD on Purpose podcast, people who have made a conscious decision to lead a life with Purpose share their inspirations, motivations and life advice. Here, Jatinder Verma MBE, British-Indian theatre director and arts activist, shares his…
Immigration as a source of inspiration to do ‘good’
When we arrived in 1968, and I was 14, there was a sense of an obligation, a duty. You’ve travelled over oceans. ‘What for?’ becomes the question for all immigrants. And in a way, we each answer it in different senses. But underlying it all, there’s one common factor. It is that you want to do good. Whether that’s good personally, whether that’s good societally, it doesn’t matter… So I’d say that that has been the sort of driving force in my entry into the arts and my approach to the arts.
On being referred to as a ‘trailblazer’
I did not embark on the career [or] continue with this career with the sense of being a trailblazer. I was made aware of the consequences of my actions. And I was always conscious of it, in a sense. But I’m not trying to fly a flag. What [I’m] trying to do is say, “This is what I believe in”. At the same time, my senses are aware and say, as part of that belief, how do I carry that belief through?
Defining ‘cross-culturalism’
To give you one example, when we arrived here in February 1968, we spent about four months going from place to place looking for a room to let, and almost everywhere bar one place, we were told, “we don’t want the smell of curry”. 30/40 years later, curry is the national dish. Our stomach has been changed. Our tastes have been changed. For the [whole] country. And that’s how I see cross-culturalism. As a constant dialogue between here and there, wherever your ‘there’ happens to be.
Advice to anyone dreaming of pursuing a career in the arts
Have a sense of purpose. You don’t have to define it in exact terms… It’s not about becoming famous. You won’t be. Accept that there will be knocks but that’s like in every walk of life.
But it’s that purpose, you see. That’s the thing to really nourish because it will sustain you throughout the years… The first time I read [a new play], something sticks. And I hold on to that. I don’t write it down. It just is a feeling. It’s a kind of taste. It is that feeling that is giving me the ‘why’ I want to do this.
And that’s the biggest advice I could give. Have a sense of purpose for yourself and nourish that through all your activities. That is your only friend. Nothing else. You will encounter lots of great colleagues, great collaborators and so forth. But ultimately, it’s your sense of purpose, which will be your company.
Posted by Lucy Martin
