Conference Speakers

Since May 2018, Mr. Eric Falt has served as the Director and UNESCO Representative for the UNESCO New Delhi Office, which covers Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, the Maldives and Sri Lanka. Mr. Falt previously served as Assistant Director-General for External Relations and Public Information at the Paris Headquarters of UNESCO, with the rank of Assistant Secretary-General of the UN.

He oversaw the work of the organization in the political field and guided UNESCO’s communications and public information efforts. Prior to this, he served as Director of the Outreach Division at the United Nations Department of Public Information in New York, and as the Director of Communications for the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), at its headquarters in Nairobi. He is married and has five sons.

Mr Falt was also posted for the United Nations in Pakistan, Iraq, Haiti and Cambodia.

Guest Professor, Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar (Sep 2011 to May 2018) Member, Academic Council for History of Science & Technology, JNU Centre for HRM, from August 2019 Scholar-in-residence, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, for a lecture series on "Exploring Indian Civilization" (Aug to Nov 2014) Visiting faculty, Indian Institute of Management Ranchi (Jan 2012 – Aug 2013) Visiting faculty, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, for a lecture series on "Science and Technology in Early and Classical India" (Feb to Mar 2011) Guest lecturer on India's cultural history at Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham (Coimbatore campus, 2007–11) Member, Indian Council of Historical Research (2015–18) Member, Indian National Commission for History of Science, INSA (2018 to 2020)

An alumnus of the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi with PhD from the Australian National University, Canberra; currently Professor of Inclusive Cultural Leadership and Founding Director, International Centre for Inclusive Cultural Leadership, Anant National University, Ahmedabad, India; Founding Executive Director of the International Institute for the Inclusive Museum, Australia/India/USA; formerly full Professor of World Heritage and Sustainable Development at the University of Split located in the World Heritage City of Split; first full Professor of Museum Studies in Australia at the University of Queensland, Brisbane; and prior to that full Professor and Director of Sustainable Heritage Development Programs, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University, Canberra; extensive publication record includes the flagship project and publication, World Heritage: Benefits Beyond Borders, Cambridge University Press & UNESCO, for the 40th Anniversary of the 1972 UNESCO World Heritage Convention launched in Kyoto, Japan, 2012 (English, Korean & French).

A skilled field Archaeologist, YADUBIR SINGH RAWAT has been associated with excavations of many archaeological sites ranging from pre-historic to medieval periods, located in different regions of India.

He has expertise in Harappan and early historic Archaeology. Apart from Gujarat, he did archaeological fieldwork in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Ladakh, and Rajasthan. His excavation at Vadnagar in north Gujarat has brought to light an unbroken continuity of an urban settlement that was founded around the 5th/4th century BCE and continues till date at the same place. The unearthing of a Buddhist monastery at Vadnagar is one of his contributions of historic importance. He also brought to light a Buddhist establishment at Taranga, a site in the neighbourhoods of Vadnagar, and identified it as the ancient hill fort of Anarta. He has contributed several research papers in national and international journals.

YADUBIRSINGH RAWAT served as Director of Gujarat State Archaeology and Museum from 2001 to 2015 and also functioned as Competent Authority Gujarat under the National Monument Authority, Government of India. He also contributed to the preparation of the Dholavira Dossier for UNESCO. Dholavira as an expert. Dholavira has been listed as a World Heritage Site on 27th July 2021.

At present, contributing towards the Conservation of the City Heritage of Ahmedabad as one of the trustees of Ahmedabad World Heritage City Trust, he is.

Dr. .Arati Deshpande-Mukherjee is an Assistant Professor in Zooarchaeology and In charge of the Archaeozoology laboratory in Dept.of AIHC & Archaeology, Deccan College Post Graduate and Research Institute, Pune . Her teaching and research interests are Archaeozoology, Archaeomalacology, Environmental Archaeology, South Asian Protohistory, Harappan archaeology, Ethnoarchaeology and Coastal archaeology. Till date 4 PhDs, and 3 M.Phil. students have been mentored by her.

As one of the few practicing Indian archaeozoologist engaged in studying animal remains from Protohistoric and Historic sites periods, her research is focused on studying dynamics of past human animal interactions during the quaternary and use of faunal remains as paleoenvironmental proxies. She has been collaborating with ASI, state departments of Archaeology, University of Calcutta, MS.Univeristy Vadodara, HNBG. Garhwal, RTM. Nagpur, etc.. on important sites like Bhirrana, JuniKuran, Hathab, Tarkanewala Dera, Dholavira, Vadnagar, Kuntasi, Mahurjhari, Dihar, Khirsara,Kotada Bhadli, etc. Currently she is working on the shell working aspects of two sites Dholavira and Vadnagar.

She has directed her own excavations at Somnath in Gujarat and in South Andaman and has been principle investigator in 2 major projects of the UGC and ICHR. Her research publications comprise national (60), international (15) and 1 edited monograph. In connection . with her research she has participated in Conferences/seminars National: (40), ; International (18), and visited countries like UK, France, Denmark, Netherlands, Spain, Argentina, Venezuela, Israel, Srilanka and China.

Dr. Deshpande-Mukherjee has been a recipient of ICHR junior fellowship, In 1999 she was awarded NTCVA & Charles Walace UK visiting fellowship to Cambridge and in 2017 INSA visiting scientist fellowship to IIT Kharagpur. She is a Life member (treasurer 2002-2010) of ISPQS (Indian Society for Prehistoric and Quaternary studies), Society for South Asian Archaeology (SOSA) and Executive member of Society for Marine Archaeology. She is also member of the ICAZ International Council for Archaeozoology and is twice elected as its IC international committee member (2014-2022). In 2017 she was nominated as member of the Shanghai Archaeology Forum (SAF). Currently she is principle investigator in SERB-DST project entitled Human response to climate change during the Indus Valley civilisation . : An integrated Archaeomalacological and stable isotopes study from select Harappan sites in India. In collaboration with IIT Kharagpur

Pankaj Goyal did his post-graduation in Zoology from Kumaun University, Nainital and obtained Post-Graduate Diploma in Archaeology from Deccan College, Post Graduate and Research Institute, Pune. He has worked on the faunal remains from the Harappan site of Kanmer for his doctoral degree and has studied material from several other sites in Gujarat, Odisha, West Bengal, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh. He completed his Ph.D. research under Professor P.P. Joglekar in 2011. His interests are various aspects of human-animal interactions in the past, spread of animals and their cultural affinities, and history of science and technology. He has made contributions to the fields of Archaeozoology, Human-Animal relationships, Himalayan Medicinal System, Hydraulic Structures of Uttarakhand and Traditional Knowledge Systems. He has also contributed a number of articles related to History of Indian Science and Technology for the website www.indianscience.org. He has published 40 research papers so far. Additionally, he has published two books entitled Animal-based Subsistence of the Harappan Culture of Gujarat with Special Reference to Kanmer and Animal Husbandry and Allied Technologies in Ancient India. The second book has been written jointly with Prof. P.P. Joglekar. He is Assistant Editor of Man and Environment, an International Journal. At present, he is working at the Deccan College, Post Graduate and Research Institute, Pune.

Rajesh Agnihotri, Scientist F from BSIP Lucknow is an active and well known geo-environmental researcher about two decades. He earned his Ph.D. degree from Physical Research Laboratory Ahmadabad in 2002, where he gained expertise elemental and isotope geochemistry and radiocarbon dating of marine sediments. Dr. Agnihotri is one of the rare geoscientists of India who has worked across the full spectrum earth system sciences from land, atmosphere and oceanic realms. From all land-ocean-atmosphere repositories, he has demonstrated to use isotopic and geochemical tracers to garner insights into intricate manifestations climate change. Since 2015, he has been working at Birbal Sahni institute where he initiated sample preparations for radiocarbon dating by Accelerator Mass spectrometry for investigating past human activities (their agriculture, pastoralism, metal crafting technologies etc.). He has been working closely with several units of Archaeological Survey of India to conduct high-end scientific research on excavated archaeological materials of both botanical (charred agricultural grains, pot soils, organic residues etc.) and zoological (fossil bones and teeth from human/animal remains) in nature. He is pursuing these efforts to provide valuable contributions in shaping up wealthy legacy of pre-historic India. He has setup a combo of instruments in his lab at BSIP where he can prepare graphite targets used as cathode for AMS 14C dating along with complete stable Carbon, Nitrogen, Sulfur and Oxygen isotopic fingerprinting biogenic material. His research has been published in more than 60 journals of international scientific repute. His significant contributions to Indian stable and radioisotope research has been recognized by several agencies as he is recipient of Prestigious National Geosciences’ award (2013), given by Ministry of Mines, Government of India.

M.S. Krishnan Gold Medal (2012) by Indian Geophysical Union, Hyderabad, India for outstanding contributions made in the Earth and Environmental sciences.

His latest research is focused on garnering newer insights from Indian archaeological excavations to understand better (i) veracity of human culture on Indian sub-continent and (ii) traditional Indian scientific knowledge buried for thousands of years.

Dr. S. P. Prizomwala is Scientist-D at Institute of Seismological Research and has been working in active tectonics of Gujarat since last 12 years. He did his PhD at the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda and since then has been working in tsunami and earthquake research of Gujarat. He has published more than 40 national and international papers in peer reviewed journals.

Susan Verma Mishra has completed her Ph.D in Ancient Indian History from JNU, New Delhi with specialization in the early medieval religious landscape of Gujarat. She was awarded Senior Fellowship, Dr Devangana Desai Endowment Scholarship Mumbai- 2018-2019, and has worked as Research Associate for Project Sailing to Suvarnabhumi, and Mausam.

She has also co-authored books The Archaeology of Sacred Spaces- The Temple in Western India, 2nd century BCE to 8th century CE, Routledge 2017 and Sailing to Suvarnabhumi – Cultural Routes and Maritime Landscapes, RIS-AIC, 2019 (available on line) and published articles in edited volumes

Krishan Pal Singh Deora is an Assistant Professor-cum-Museum Curator in the Department of Archaeology, Sahitya Sansthan at JRN Rajasthan Vidyapeeth, Udaipur. He has been in this profession for the last fifteen years. He has done masters in AIHC and Archaeology from Deccan College, Pune in 2005 and awarded Ph.D. in 2014 on titled Water Management of Rajasthan from 10th to 18th century CE from MLS Udaipur University, Rajasthan.

K.P. Singh Deora belongs to a village near Mt. Abu, Rajasthan. He did his primary education from the village itself and later on Defence School, Ajmer, Rajasthan. He was national player in Football and Silver medalist in National Integration Rifle shoot in 2005.

He has joined excavation at Kanmer- Harappan site in Kachchha, Gujarat and Chandrawati near Mt. Abu, Rajasthan. He has published 30 national and international articles or research paper in various journals and popular magazines of Rajasthan.

Sara Ahmed joined IISER Pune in October 2020. She has a PhD in Environmental Sociology from the University of Cambridge (1991) and was a faculty at the Institute of Rural Management, Anand (IRMA) from 1992-2002 and a Senior Program Specialist with Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC) from 2009-2015. In 2017, Sara launched the Living Waters Museum, a virtual repository on water heritage. She has been an Adjunct Professor at Ahmedabad University and currently serves on the board of WaterAid India, Wetlands International South Asia and the Global Network of Water Museums.

Dr Shrikant Ganvir is Assistant Professor in the Department of AIHC and Archaeology,Deccan College Post-Graduate and Research Institute, (Deemed to be University), Pune. He was a co-director of the Excavations at Nagardhan (2015-18) and Phanigiri (2018-19).

He also participated in the Rajagala Archaeological Research Project, Sri Lanka in 2018. His publications include ‘A Preliminary Report of the Excavations at Nagardhan -2015-16 (co- edited, ISPQS and Govt. of Maharashtra, 2020), ‘Cultural Heritage of South Asia and Beyond: Recent Perspective’ (co-edited, Research India Press and SOSAA, 2020) and ‘Telangana through the Ages: Perspectives from Early and Medieval Period’ (co-edited, Dept of Heritage Telangana, Govt. of Telangana, 2019). He worked as an academic consultant to the Buddhavanam Project, Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Government of Telangana during 2018-21. Presently, he is working as a Principal Investigator of the joint project titled ‘Junnar: Archaeological Research and Tourism Development Project’, funded by RUSA, Maharashtrain collaboration with PAH Solapur University.

He has published 32 research papers in both national as well as international journals. His research areas include Archaeology of Buddhism, Rock-cut Architecture, Buddhist Art and Iconography and Religious Paradigms of the Deccan

Ken Ishikawa is currently working on doctoral thesis on Buddhist rock-cut caves in Gujarat at the Institute of Archaeology, University of Oxford. Previously, he did his undergraduate at SOAS in art/archaeology and South Asian Studies (including Sanskrit and Prakrit) followed by masters in archaeology at Cambridge University. In his first year at SOAS, he volunteered for the documentation and conservation of the Solanki fortification at Zinzuwada as well as of Buddhist remains in Gujarat. Recently, he has published paper on Devnimori titled: More Gandhāra than Mathurā: substantial and persistent Gandhāran influences provincialized in the Buddhist material culture of Gujarat and beyond, c. AD 400-550

Dr. V. H. Sonawane, retired Professor / Director of Field Archaeology (M. S. University of Baroda) is a well known Indian archaeologist of National and International repute. During his dedicated academic service of 50 years, he has extensively worked on various aspects of Prehistoric, Protohistoric and Historic Archaeology besides that of Rock Art. He has been associated with various important premier academic governance bodies of the country, such as General Secretary of the Society of South Asian Archaeology (SOSAA), Member of Standing Committee by virtue of Central Advisory Board of Archaeology (CABA) of Archaeological Survey of India, Member of World Heritage committee constituted by the Archaeological Survey of India, Member of Advisory Committee, appointed by Central Government to monitor the ongoing excavations at Vadanagar, Member of Advisory committee for Adi Drishya Department of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), New Delhi and Vice- Chairman of Indian Archaeological Society (IAS) to name few.

Professor Sonawane has conducted excavations at Champaner,Tarsang,Vagad, Nageshwar, Nagwada, Ratanpura, Moti Pipli, Datrana, Santhali and Bagasra and Participated and made presentations at more than 110 National and International Seminars and published more than 100 research articles in National and International journals. Travelled widely for academic purpose include countries like Australia, France, Italy, Malaysia, Iran, Singapore, Thailand, Sri Lanka, China and Hungari.

Apart from his active involvement in achieving the World Heritage status for Pavagadh-Champaner, and the discovery of intact Zinc furnaces at Zawar in Rajasthan, because of him Gujarat obtained its place in the map of Rock Art of India. Identification of regional indigenous Chalcolithic cultures and the role of rural settlements in the development of Harappan urban settlements in Gujarat is considered as his major research contribution to Indian archaeology.

Prof. Sonawane was honored with Hari Ohm Ashram Award, Dr. V. S. Wakankar Award instituted by the Indian Archaeological Society for the best Field Archaeologist for the year 2010, Dr. Vishnu Wakankar National Award by the Baba Saheb Apte Smark Samity, Delhi in 2011 and R. C. Parikh Gold Medal for Lifetime Achievement by the Gujarat Itihas Parishad in 2013. Recently the Government of Madhya Pradesh bestowed on him Dr. Vishnu Shridhar Wakankar National Award for his contribution in Indian Archaeology and Rock Art Studies.

Author and Historian Himanshu Prabha Ray is affiliated to the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies, Oxford. After receiving MPhil (Archaeology) from the University of Cambridge, she completed her PhD at the Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi and subsequently taught at Jawaharlal Nehru University.

In 2012, she was appointed the first Chairperson of the newly established National Monuments Authority, Ministry of Culture, Government of India. From 2014 to 2019 she was awarded the prestigious five-year Anneliese Maier fellowship of Humboldt Foundation, Germany and held an Honorary Professorship at the Distant Worlds Graduate School of the Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich.

Dr. Alok Kumar Kanungo, faculty at IIT Gandhinagar and adjunct faculty at Flinders University, was born in Odisha and grew up in close contact with many indigenous communities of eastern and north-eastern India.

For the past two and half decades, Dr. Kanungo has conducted research on the archaeological and contemporary practice of Indian glass-making-working in general and of beads in particular, resulting in 14 books and 75 research articles and book chapters. He has been a Fulbright, Humboldt, British Academy, Rehkow, ICG, Homi Bhabha, SPARC, ICHR, and Bead Society fellow, and collaborated on an NSF-funded project on Sourcing of Raw Materials for Ancient Indian Glass. Dr. Kanungo has travelled and documented the rich heritage of the Nagas of Northeast India, and the Bondo’s and Juangs of Odisha, both in the field and in museums across Europe and the United Kingdom. Placing the Intellectual rights of indigenous people and/or crafts makers at the forefront of his research, he has worked in many domains of repatriation, traditional technologies, and the overlapping spheres where anthropology, history, and archaeology overlap. He has lectured in many universities and research institutes in Taiwan, England, USA, New Zealand, Bangladesh, Italy, France, Turkey, Malaysia, Germany, and Thailand, besides India.

Nick Merriman is the director of the Horniman Museum and Gardens in south London. Previously he was the director of the Manchester Museum in Manchester, England.

Prior to that, Merriman worked at the Museum of London and University College, London. In April 2017 he was made honorary professor of museum studies in the University of Manchester.

He is known for his contributions to the development of public archaeology and museum studies, and for influencing the heritage sector around issues of cultural diversity, sustainability and the future of collections.

Arun Menon (b. 1977), Associate Professor of Structural Engineering at IIT Madras, holds a first degree in architecture, masters degrees in civil engineering and earthquake engineering, and PhD in earthquake engineering from University of Pavia, Italy. His research interests are in structural aspects of historical structures, structural conservation, seismic assessment and strengthening of historical masonry, and earthquake-resistant design of modern masonry buildings. He has more than 15 years of experience in the field of seismic engineering and historical monuments, and has authored over 65 technical articles. He currently coordinates the activities of National Centre for Safety of Heritage Structures (NCSHS), an MHRD-supported research centre at IIT Madras.

Arun Menon is member of International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS – India), Expert Member of International Scientific Committee on the Analysis and Restoration of Structures of Architectural Heritage (ISCARSAH), member of Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) Panel for Masonry, CED 46:P7, and Technical Activities Committee (TAC) Member, International Union of Laboratories and Experts in Construction Materials, Systems and Structures (RILEM), Paris, France. Arun Menon has been a consultant to UNESCO in Cebu and Bohol in The Philippines (2014) and Bagan, Myanmar (2016-18) for post-earthquake assessment and stabilisation of historical monuments. He has been involved in conservation projects in India, Bhutan and Myanmar.

Mr. Ratish Nanda, Conservation Architect, is India CEO for the Aga Khan Trust for Culture.

He studied architecture at the TVB School of Habitat Studies, Delhi where he graduated with the Gold Medal. Ratish then did a master’s programme in Conservation Studies focussed on the built heritage at the Institute of Advanced Architectural Studies, University of York, England.

He heads the multi-disciplinary AKTC teams presently undertaking the two major urban conservation projects in India: the Nizamuddin Urban Renewal Initiative, Delhi and the Qutb Shahi Heritage Park Conservation in Hyderabad. For AKTC, he was earlier responsible for the Baghe Babur restoration (2002-2006), in Kabul, Afghanistan and the garden restoration of Humayun’s Tomb (1999-2003).

Ratish has served as an ICOMOS expert to missions in Iran, Turkey and Nepal and lectured in over 20 countries including at ICCROM, Rome. He has authored over 50 articles and his major publications include, ‘Delhi, the Built Heritage: A listing’- released by the Prime Minister of India; Delhi: Red Fort to Raisina; Conservation of Historic Graveyards (Scotland) and Rethinking Conservation: Humayun’s Tomb.

Awards received by him include the Chishti India Harmony Award (2014), the Eisenhower Fellowship (2007), the Sanskriti Award for Social and Cultural Achievement (2004), the ‘Urban Hero’ title by Prince Claus Fund, Aga Khan Foundation International Scholarship and the Charles Wallace Conservation Fellowship (1997), among others.

Having been working in the Archaeological Survey of India for long 37 years (1982 – 2019), worked for conservation and maintenance of archaeological monuments and sites across the country including the World Heritage Monuments “Tajmahal” and “Sun Temple, Konark”. Also visited monuments in neighboring countries viz Indonesia, Myanmar and Vietnam as a member of expert advisory team deputed by the Government of India under Cultural Exchange Programme for assessing damages and drawing conservation proposals for their World Heritage properties. Starting career in the ASI with Civil Engineering background, studied one term of the M A in Conservation studies in the University of York in U K under Charles Wallace India Trust Fellowship programme. Also studied and undergone training on Building Lime Technology, specifically on preparation and use of Lime Mortar in conservation of historic buildings with the “Scottish Lime Centre Trust” in FIFE, Scotland in U K being a part of their research life under Commonwealth fellowship programme. Regularly teaching on the different technical aspects of structural conservation of monuments and sites in the Institute of Archaeology, New Delhi and imparting hands-on training on conservation, particularly on preparation and use of Lime mortar in conservation repairs to old historic buildings to the in-service Conservation professionals of ASI as well as PGDA students of the Institute of Archaeology in its annual Conservation Training camp for last twenty years. Special interest moves around the “Causes and remedies of Dampness in Old Buildings” which is the most common conservation problem noticed in almost all historic old building structures worldwide.

Ioannis Poulios is an Associate Professor at the Centre for Heritage Management, Ahmedabad University, focusing on living heritage, tourism and business. Ioannis conducted PhD research in living heritage, tourism and sustainable development at University College London, and attended MBA electives in business strategy and management at London Business School.

His teaching, research and consulting activity concerns the following areas: (i) innovative community-centred approaches towards heritage management and sustainable development; (ii) business strategies for heritage and tourism organizations; and (iii) development/energy plants in reconciliation with archaeological sites and local communities.

Ioannis has taught at the Ionian University in Greece, at the Hellenic Open University and at the UNESCO (Venice Office) School on ‘Sustainable Energy Governance in World Heritage Sites’, and has provided consultancy services to international organization ICCROM, national and local organizations and private companies. His paper ‘Discussing Strategy in Heritage Conservation: a Living Heritage Approach as an Example of Strategic Innovation’ was selected as the Outstanding Paper in the 2015 Emerald Literati Network Awards for Excellence.

Anusha Kasthuri Arachchilage has been working in archaeological materials conservation since 1993 as a conservator at the Central Cultural Fund and subsequently Archaeological Research Officer and conservator since 2005 in the Sri Lankan Government Department of Archaeology. She has been worked on several international projects, including the Sri Lanka- UNESCO Abhayagiriya Project, Sri Lanka-Netherlands-Australia ‘Avondster’ Shipwreck Project, joint German – Sri Lankan excavation and conservation project in the royal ‘Citadel of Anuradhapura’, one of Sri Lanka's outstanding World Heritage Sites.

As an official of the Department of Archaeology, she oversaw several of the most important projects under the US Ambassador's Fund Cultural Preservation (AFCP) grants; mainly instrumental as the project officer in a collaboration conservation training project of the Department of Archaeology Sri Lanka with the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York(AFCP 2012), and the Anuradhapura Archaeological Museum’s display project (AFCP 2015).

She was the Second Leon Levy Visiting Fellow in Archaeological Material Conservation at the Conservation Center of the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, the USA, in 2010-2011. In addition, as the Annette de la Renta Conservation Research Fellow(2012-2013), she studied Sri Lankan origin bronzes at the Sherman Fairchild Centre for Object Conservation, Metropolitan Museum of Art. Currently, she is Elsa-Neumann Scholar and Ph.D. in Archaeology candidate at the Freie University Berlin, Germany.

Dr Margi Hathi, an associate professor in English at M P Arts and M H Commerce College for Women, Ahmedabad is considered to be a known orator and anchor with an original and extempore expression of her own. She speaks Gujarati, Hindi and English with an exquisite ease. Her love for Sanskrit and Kachchhi makes her expressions dynamic and distinguishing.

Music, art, language, literature and culture are in her veins as she inherits it from her parents Tarla and Kirtikumar Hathi. Being born in a Nagar family of Bhuj, she is blessed with a natural as well as insightful expression that enriches the intellect and touches heart.

She has pursued Indian Classical Music and also recorded a number of plays for All India Radio as an approved drama artist.

She is privileged to get an opportunity to visit a number of renowned universities, colleges, companies and organisations as a vocational and cultural ambassador of India in the USA. As a compere, she got many opportunities to spread the fragrance of our music and culture across the USA.

Her role as a compere in the musical serial Bhane Narsaiyo, her speech on Narsinh Mehta in the Manas Nagar Ramakatha by Morari Bapu and her Navratri speeches released from the media platforms of the Ex. Hon. CM Shri Vijay Rupani received great appreciation and acclaim.

On various occasions, her oratory was full heartedly admired by Hon. PM, Hon. Vice President, Hon. Chief Justice of India and many other distinguished dignitaries from various fields.

She loves nature,loves to travel and loves to explore the unexplored.

Currently Professor Emeritus in Archaeology at the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda and Guest Professor in Archaeology, Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar Formerly Dean, Faculty of Arts; i/c Principal, Baroda Sanskrit Mahavidyalaya; Vice Dean, Faculty of Arts; Head of the Department of Archaeology and Ancient History at the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda. Has served the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda for 32 years.

Primary research is in the field of artefact analyses, particularly of South Asian Ceramics. Besides, worked towards appreciating and reconstructing palaeo-climate in central and western India, reconstructing ancient technology, origin and development of Urbanism in South Asia and Intangible heritage. Has coordinated nineteen national and international research projects, a documentation project of NMMA, ASI, Government of India and also a Government of Gujarat project to establish a museum at Siddhpur, a centre of pilgrimage in north Gujarat for the Department of Tourism. Has done extensive field work in different parts of India, Sri Lanka and Nepal.

Was the Vice President, International Association of Asian Heritage for three years (till 2015) Member of the Editorial Board of five journals La Trobe Asia Visiting Fellow at the Department of Archaeology, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia (2019), Visiting Fellow at the Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA (2018), Ford Foundation Visiting Fellow at Bradford University in 1995, Ford Foundation Visiting Scientist at the British Museum in 1995, Ford Foundation Visiting Fellow, Cambridge University in 1995, Ancient India Iran Trust/ Charles Wallace India Trust Visiting Fellow, Department of Archaeology, Cambridge University (1991 to 1992).

Has published three books and more than sixty research articles. Has supervised Twenty-one doctoral candidates to successful awards.