Of the grants awarded to me, the one that most deeply affected me , was the NTICVA Visiting Fellowship which I was awarded soon after completing my PhD when I was looking for a new area of study and had become interested in the field of new new museology. This deconstructive approach applies insights of the new anthropology to the field of museology, examining the ways in which museums have become influential institutions in the modern world, as custodians and interpreters of the artefacts of the past.

These funds were very useful as seed money for ethnographic study in the Tamil region. As a result, Tamil University has extended its helping hand to widen the survey for the Palk Bay region also. INSA, New Delhi, also provided some contingency grants to improve the study of traditional pearl and chank fishing. Since the Trust has encouraged such a small study, I feel more confident in pursuing further ethnographic study uncovered by the scholars.

The grant helped me to understand the ethnic culture of the Kodavas (Kodagu, Karnataka)  and largely exposed me to the rural environment, paving the way to the use of natural materials, pigments, cloth for my growing practive of installation and site-specific work. I was awarded the Commonwealth Arts and Crafts Award and was artist-in residence at the University of Newcastle in 1997-8.