YKB 2009: What Lies Beneath

Yoni Ki Baat's 4th annual show is almost here!
Join the 2009 cast, core & crew for an evening of multicultural monologues

Friday, April 17th, 2009
7:00pm in the Mendelssohn Theater.

Tickets are $5 pre-sale and $8 at the door. 100% of proceeds are donated to Sakhi, a South Asian women's domestic abuse resource center. See you there!

YKB 2008 is coming on April 11!

Yoni Ki Baat
...a journey unraveled....

Friday, April 11
Mendelssohn Theatre
doors open at 6:15pm, show begins at 7pm
tickets $5 in advance, $7 at the door
~ all proceeds to benefit survivors of domestic violence ~

fun...fearless...phenomenal
...end the silence surrounding violence against women...

Tickets On Sale Now!

Purchase your tickets NOW from any cast/core member or:

Monday 4/7, Tuesday 4/8: Michigan Union Tap Room 5:30-7:30pm
Thursday 4/10: Angell Hall Posting Wall 5:30-6:30pm

Tickets are $5 in advance and $7 at the door!

Winter 2008 Activity

Our Events This Semester
-- y(k)b has been active all around campus this year!

• January 9-- Screening of The Namesake with SAAN and IASA
• February 20 - Open Mic Night / Poetry Slam
  
• March 26 -- YKB Pre-Show
• We had an amazing event at Couzens with CAMEO...we enjoyed fine food and had a rousing discussion of two pieces and YKB's mission!
  

* previous shows *

above: final scene of YKB 2007
below: opening scene of YKB 2006
oh, the power of the yoni!

THANK YOU for your support!

YKB would like to thank you for your support at our 2nd annual show on April 13, 2007! We raised $1800 for Apna Ghar (a domestic violence shelter in Chicago) while providing an evening of entertainment and education for our audience. Together with the proceeds from the 2006 show, we have contributed over $3000 for the Economic Self-Empowerment program at Apna Ghar.

YKB History

As Vandana Makker, one of the South Asian Sisters, described in SAMAR magazine....

The yoni (Sanskrit word for "vagina") has long been held sacred in Hindu mythology, but...has rarely been allowed to speak its mind. In 2003, South Asian Sisters, a collective of progressive desi women, decided that the yoni needed a chance to get on stage and tell its side of the story. Thus, "Yoni ki Baat" was born.

"Yoni ki Baat," which translates loosely as "Talks about the Vagina," was inspired by Eve Ensler's renowned show "The Vagina Monologues." .... We needed to create a space in which South Asian women could express their own views on sexuality and their bodies - topics which are traditionally kept "hush-hush" in desi culture. As with "The Vagina Monologues," "Yoni ki Baat" also aims to end the silencing so common around violence against women, especially in South Asian culture.

YKB has since had multiple shows in California and is spreading across the country! It was brought to Michigan in fall 2005 by the South Asian Progressive Alliance, which produced our first show in February 2006 . In 2007, Yoni Ki Baat became a registered U-M organization, and YKB now produces a variety of women's, South Asian, and women's awareness events in the months leading up to the annual YKB production.

Events So Far...

YKB made a presence on campus during its first months of existence in 2007!

We had a booth at GenAPA (March 11), providing attendees with cookies and about our show & organization.

On March 15, the Necto Nightclub generously donated a portion of cover sales to us, and TAAL took over the dancefloor with a phenomenal performance early in the evening!

The YKB Pre-Show was on April 5, featuring an original YKB piece by Nidhi Chaudhary and an exciting conversation on South Asian women. The event was sponsored by Multi-Ethnic Student Affairs as a Women of Color Week event.

Finally, we held a Gender/Inequality Forum in collaboration with IASA and DTPsi on April 10, to foster dialogue on gender & equality at school and in the workplace.