Person Behind Kreeda
Vinita Sidhartha – A Profile
Vinita Sidhartha was raised in a traditional family and the interaction with her grandparents, uncles and aunts left a deep impact on her and an understanding for Indian cultural traditions.
She has a degree in Journalism and Communication from the University of Texas at Austin, USA. On her return to India, she set up Masterpage – a communications consultancy in Content Development where she had leading clients from the Corporate and Media sectors. A mother of two children, she turned to her grandmother for babysitting support when the children were growing up. Her grandmother in turn spent hours with the children teaching them a number of traditional Indian games. These helped to pass the time and bridged an 80-year gap. The children enjoyed these times immensely.
Watching her children play traditional games, Vinita got greatly fascinated by the subject. The personal and the professional merged with Vinita finding a deep interest in researching traditional games, not only to teach her children but also to revive them. Thus, was born Kreeda in 2002, meaning play in Sanskrit – an organisation that works to research, retail and revive traditional games and the spirit in which they were played.
Vinita also uses her communication skills for development and change and has served with leading international NGOs such as the Heroes Project (Richard Gere Foundation), Save the Children, Population Services International and Care India. She also consults with a number of other grass root NGOs working on subjects such as women’s empowerment, child labour, Child Trafficking, education, special children, craft preservation and environment.
In this capacity she developed, masterminds, and leads the Petralthan Pillaiya Trust with the support of Hello FM a leading radio station in Tamil Nadu and Kamal Haasan the leading actor to support children with HIV.
Vinita is also a Director in Power Centre Private Limited, a Microsoft Partner and an IT solutions company, where she handles the Marketing and HR functions.