Ten years ago, playwright and theatre actor Deshik Vansadia — then in his early 20s — chanced upon a book by renowned American acting coach Stella Adler, titled, The Art of Acting. “When I read Adler’s book, I knew this was exactly what I wanted to do,” he recalls. But, having been raised in a traditional Gujarati household in the small town of Navsari, he was aware that his plans wouldn’t quite take flight. “Unless I ran away from home,” he says, as he holds back that sheepish grin. “And I kind of did that...”

Pic/Pradeep Dhivar