About the Author

Author: Nathan Kumar Scott

Born and raised in India of American parents, Nathan Kumar Scott has been bridging cultures all of his life. He earned his B.A. from Oberlin College (majoring in “Symbol Systems and Culture Change”), and his M.A. from the Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington in South Asian performing arts. (He wrote his Masters’ thesis on Ritual Clowns in South Indian puppetry and theatre traditions).

In 1990, Nathan was awarded a Watson Fellowship to study puppetry and storytelling from master artists in South and Southeast Asia. It was during this year that he was introduced to the Indonesian trickster character “Kanchil.” Several years later, he returned to India and Indonesia on a UNESCO “Artists Across Frontiers” Fellowship to continue his cross-cultural storytelling and performance art. His interest in tricksters and clowns culminated in a Fulbright Fellowship to India in 1995, studying the clown characters of Indian performing arts.

Nathan now lives in Fort Collins, Colorado, USA, where he has been a theater director, designer, playwright, puppeteer and storyteller. He has studied and traveled throughout South and Southeast Asia and his work has been performed across the United States as well as in Ecuador, Mexico, India, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Nathan currently is the director Studies Abroad for Global Education (SAGE), an educational foundation which sends high school students to India to become global citizens.

Mangoes & Bananas is Nathan's first children's book.  His second book, The Sacred Banana Leaf, published by Tara Publishing will be released in March, 2008.

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please write to the author at:

Illustrator: Theertham Balaji

Read T. Balaji’s bio and see more of his art work at:
http://www.craftrevival.org/AHTML/AR-Kalamkari.htm