Shobha Deepak Singh

• Name — Shobha Deepak Singh • Born — 21 October 1943 • Birthplace — New Delhi, India • Occupation — Cultural impresario Photographer Writer • Years Active — 1963–Present • Known for — Shriram Bharatiya Kala Kendra • Spouse — Deepak Singh • Children — One daughter • Parents — Lala Charat Ram Sumitra Charat Ram • Awards — Padma Shri

• Illustration — Shriram Bharatiya Kala Kendra. Shobha was born to Lala Charat Ram of DCM and Sumitra Charat Ram, the renowned art doyenne and Padma Shri winner, on 21 October 1943, in the Indian capital of New Delhi. After completing her schooling at Modern School, New Delhi, she graduated in Economics with honours from Delhi University in 1963, to start her career as a management trainee at her father's company, Delhi Cloth & General Mills, in 1964. Four years later, subsequent to her marriage to Deepak Singh in 1967, she left DCM and joined Shriram Bharatiya Kala Kendra (SBKK), a cultural organization founded by her mother in 1952. While managing the Kamini Auditorium of the Kendra, she pursued her studies to secure the degree of Bachelor of Performing Arts and studied dance under Shambhu Maharaj and Birju Maharaj and Music under Biswajit Roy Chowdhury and Amjad Ali Khan. In 1992, she joined Living Theatre of Ebrahim Alkazi, former director of the National School of Drama and one of the most influential figures of modern Indian theatre, and studied theatre direction, securing a diploma in 1996. She continued her association with Alkazi and worked as his assistant in four of Alkazi's productions namely, Three Sisters, Three Greek Tragedies, A Streetcar Named Desire, and Death of a Salesman. After the death of Sumitra Charat Ram in 2011, she took over the management of SBKK as its director and runs the activities of the Kendra, aided by her husband. Singh, a recipient of the 1999 Padma Shri honours, lives in New Delhi with her husband, Deepak Singh, and the couple has a daughter.