Dr Alka Pande is an art historian who taught Art History at Panjab University for two decades. She has also taught Art and Aesthetics at the Delhi College of Art, NID and the DJ Academy of Design, Coimbatore. Her major fields of interest are gender identity and sexuality, and traditional arts. Dr Pande, under the aegis of the Charles Wallace India Trust, has received several awards including the Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French government, Australian-India Council Special Award, L’Oreal Paris Femina Women for Design and Arts, Amrita Sher-Gil Samman, Culture Champion and Women of the Year by She Inspires Awards and Lifetime Achievement Award by CIMA Art Gallery.