abOriginal Productions

Vikas is currently in a Ph.D program at the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB) in the Dept. of Religious Studies. His focus is on South Asian Religions and he is specializing on Hindu and Buddhist Tantric traditions. In addition, he continues to work on multimedia freelance projects for various clients as well as working on some of his own personal projects such as the documentary project he and his colleagues shot in India at the Maha Kumbh Mela.

Vikas's most recent employment is as an Adjunct professor at COTC/OSU Newark, Ohio where he taught both in the Behavioral Health Sciences Dept. (BHS) and Digital Media Department (DMD). For BHS he taught on and off-line courses in Sociology and Cultural Diversity. In the DMD he taught Graphic Design, Motion Graphics, and Digital Video.

Prior to this he received his Masters from Columbia University's South Asian Studies Program. His focus at Columbia was in Indian Religions and Anthropology and his final thesis was entitled "The Tantrika in Medieval Indian Court Literature". During his enrollment he also worked at the Natural History Museum in New YOrk City with Dr. Laurel Kendall, head of the Asian Department. His undergraduate education was at Hampshire College, located in Amherst MA, where he recieved his B.A. in both Anthropology and Multimedia Production. His undergrad dissertation was entitled "Kattarivu: Wisdom From the Forest," an Enhanced CD-ROM exploring and documenting the folk and tribal traditions of Kerala, located in South India. Along with two other students they conducted ethnogrpahic research and documentation through various medias, Vikas being in charge of video and audio production. He received a large grant from the Lemelson National Foundation to accomplish this, and his work was exhibited at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C. His anthropology background dealt largely in the cultures of India and Africa, and he has spent considerable time researching in India where his own cultural heritage and understanding of the language give him a unique perspective on the country and its culture.

In regards to multimedia production, Vikas technical skills began at Hampshire College, especially in Computer Science and Film/Video. He honed his skills at San Fransisco State University where he completed the Multimedia Production Certificate Program and the New School in New York City where he studied digital video editing. He is well versed in many areas of multimedia, including audio production, video production (shooting, editing, compression, streaming, animation, titling etc.), interactive DVD production, photography, and web/print design. He has worked with both larger corporate companies and smaller web design firms, and has also worked freelance on a number of multimedia projects (which can be found below).