Documentation of Tiatr through Research Work

What is Documentation of Tiatr through Research Work?

Documentation of Tiatr through Research Work is a scheme of the Tiatr Academy of Goa (TAG), which functions under the Department of Art, Culture and Museums, Government of Goa. Its aim is to encourage research work in the field of tiatr and to make it practically possible for writers to take up research on the different aspects of tiatr, its song and its music.

Tiatr, Goa's Konkani musical theatre, has generated an enormous body of practice over more than a century; troupes, playwrights, singers, kantaram traditions, touring circuits, diaspora performances, and very little scholarship. The obstacle for a researcher has rarely been interest; it has been that no publisher will carry a specialist book on Konkani stage history. This scheme removes that obstacle by making the Academy the publisher.

What the scheme provides:

• The Academy publishes the research work in book form after thorough research on the subject.
• The publication may be in English or in Konkani (Roman script).
• The Academy prints a minimum of 500 copies of the book.
• 100 copies are given to the writer.
• The remaining copies are used by the Academy for its own purposes.
• The author or researcher is given a remuneration as fixed by TAG according to his or her experience for the research work undertaken.
• The approved manuscript is edited by a member of the Editorial Board, covering spelling and orthography.

The 100 free copies matter more than they might appear to. For an academic researcher they are the review copies, the conference copies and the library deposits that give a specialist book its readership.

Who is eligible for this scheme?

You can apply if:

• You are a researcher interested in writing a book on tiatr after doing thorough research on the subject.
• You can supply three typed copies of the manuscript for the Recommendation Board to consider.

Preference is given to any researcher who has already done research on any aspect of tiatr, its song and music. A first-time applicant with a completed manuscript is not excluded, but a track record in the field carries weight.

You cannot apply, or are not eligible, if:

• You have only a proposal and no manuscript. The scheme is built around a manuscript that is placed before a Recommendation Board, not around a research grant paid in advance of the work.
• Your subject lies outside tiatr, its song and music. Researchers working on other Goan cultural forms should look at the Directorate of Art and Culture's D. D. Kosambi Research Fellowship or its scheme of financial assistance to publishers for publishing books of Goan authors.
• You want the book published in a language or script other than English or Konkani in Roman script, which are the two options the scheme offers.
• You are unwilling to have the manuscript edited by the Academy's Editorial Board, which is a condition of publication.

What documents are required?

At the application stage:

After approval:

The PAN card requirement is a useful signal about how the scheme works: the remuneration is a real payment to the researcher, not a token, and the Academy processes it accordingly.

How to apply for Documentation of Tiatr through Research Work

1. Complete the research and prepare the manuscript on the chosen aspect of tiatr, its song or its music, in English or in Konkani in Roman script.
2. Take a printout of the prescribed application form from the Tiatr Academy of Goa.
3. Fill in all the mandatory fields; name of the applicant, complete address, contact number, email address, Aadhaar card number, Permanent Account Number, the name of the research, and the aspects of tiatr on which the research has been done.
4. Prepare three typed copies of the manuscript and attach self attested copies of the Aadhaar card and the PAN card.
5. Sign the application form and mention the date.
6. Submit the duly filled and signed application form with the documents and the three manuscript copies to the Tiatr Academy of Goa, AS-1 / AS-4, Block A, 2nd Floor, Campal Trade Centre, opposite Kala Academy, Campal, Panaji, Goa 403001, and keep a copy of the submission and any acknowledgement.

What happens after you apply

The scheme sets out a four-stage process after submission.

Step 1 — Recommendation Board review. The submitted manuscript is reviewed by a Recommendation Board consisting of two members appointed by TAG. The board members are paid a suitable honorarium as fixed by the Academy for the work undertaken. The manuscript is considered for publication only after getting approval from this Board.

Step 2 to Approval and soft copy submission. If the manuscript is approved, the author or researcher submits a soft copy on a Compact Disc, Digital Versatile Disc or pen drive to the Academy.

Step 3 to Editorial process. The approved manuscript is edited by a member of the Editorial Board, which includes checking for spelling and orthography. This matters particularly for Konkani in Roman script, where orthographic convention is not fully settled and consistency across a book is a real editorial task.

Step 4 to Publication and remuneration. On completion of the editorial process, the Academy prints a minimum of 500 copies of the book and pays the author or researcher the remuneration fixed according to experience.

How long does it take, and what should a researcher expect?

The scheme does not publish a service timeline. A realistic expectation is that the Recommendation Board stage governs everything else: until two appointed members have read and approved the manuscript, no soft copy is called for and no editing begins. A researcher should therefore submit a manuscript that is finished rather than provisional, since the Board is assessing a book and not a draft.

Because remuneration is fixed as per the researcher's experience, two authors submitting comparable manuscripts may be paid differently. An applicant with prior published work on tiatr should set that record out clearly in the application.

Common reasons an application does not progress

• No manuscript, only a research proposal or an outline.
• Fewer than three typed copies supplied, so the Recommendation Board cannot circulate it.
• PAN card not attached, which stalls the remuneration even if the manuscript is approved.
• Subject outside tiatr, its song and music.
• Manuscript in a language or script the scheme does not cover.
• Soft copy not submitted after approval, which stops the editorial stage from starting.

Related Tiatr Academy schemes

• Preservation of Tiatr Literature, which prints the scripts of tiatrs, khell tiatrs, khells and one-act plays and anthologies of kantaram, with category-wise honoraria for deceased or inactive artistes, active artistes and self-publishing artistes or publishers.
• Oral Documentation of History of Tiatr, which video-records the experiences of veteran artistes with at least 20 years on the Konkani stage.

A researcher writing about a veteran artiste may find it useful to suggest that artiste for oral documentation as well, since the two schemes together produce both the recorded testimony and the written scholarship.

Help and contact

• Tiatr Academy of Goa, AS-1 / AS-4, Block A, 2nd Floor, Campal Trade Centre, opposite Kala Academy, Campal, Panaji, Goa 403001
• Parent department: Department of Art, Culture and Museums, Government of Goa; Directorate of Art and Culture, 5th Floor, Shram Shakti Bhavan, Patto, Panaji; phone 0832-2404600; email dir-dac.goa@nic.in

No application fee is charged, and manuscripts are received only at the Academy's Campal office on the prescribed form.

How to check your application status

This scheme has no online tracking portal or application number system; the manuscript itself is the record, so status checking is manual and direct.

• Confirm receipt first. When you submit the application form, the three typed manuscript copies, and the identity documents at the Tiatr Academy of Goa's Campal office, ask for a dated acknowledgement or a receiving stamp on your copy of the covering letter. This is the only proof you have that the manuscript reached the Academy, since there is no receipt number generated by any system.
• Call or visit the Academy to ask where the manuscript stands. Because the process runs in four stages (Recommendation Board review, approval and soft copy submission, editorial work, then printing), the honest way to check status is to ask which of these four stages your manuscript is currently at. Keep the acknowledgement date on hand when you call, since the Academy will look up the file by your name and submission date rather than by any tracking ID.
• Use the Directorate of Art and Culture as a fallback contact. If the Tiatr Academy of Goa's own office does not respond, the parent department, the Directorate of Art and Culture at Shram Shakti Bhavan, Patto, Panaji (phone 0832-2404600, email dir-dac.goa@nic.in), can be asked to route the query to the Academy.
• Expect the update to come from the Board, not from you polling a system. Since a two-member Recommendation Board must actually read the manuscript before approval, there is no faster way to know status than asking the Academy whether the Board has completed its review. Following up roughly once a quarter, rather than repeatedly, is realistic given the manuscript is being read rather than processed through a queue.
• After approval, track the soft copy and editorial stage separately. Once the Recommendation Board approves the work, the status question shifts to whether you have submitted the CD, DVD, or pen drive copy, and then whether the Editorial Board has finished checking spelling and orthography. Asking the Academy which of these two post-approval steps is pending is more useful than asking generally whether the book is "done."