New York’s Joyce Theater Auditorium Named After Tino and Rajika Puri
Rajika and late husband Tino Puri donate $15 million to fund Joyce Theater Foundation’s dance performances
November 10, 2025
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Last month, the Joyce Theater Foundation in New York City named its auditorium after Tino and Rajika Puri. This was to honor a $15 million donation to the foundation by Rajika (Pin) and her late husband Anupam (Tino) Puri.
The theater brings “the finest dance from around the world to New York audiences,” Rajika Puri said in a statement. “Tino and I shared countless evenings of inspiration (there)…Our gift is meant to ensure that The Joyce—and all it represents—will continue to thrive for generations to come.” The Puris decided to donate to the Joyce Theater before Tino passed away in July.
The 472-seat theater, which opened in 1982 in the Chelsea area of New York, has hosted more than 400 American and international companies. It offers an annual 45 to 48-week season which, each year, attracts an audience of more than 150,000.
Rajika Puri is an exponent of two forms of Indian classical dance. Trained since childhood, her Bharata Natyam guru was Sikkil Guru Ramaswamy Pillai, while her Odissi guru was Deba Prasad Das. Rajika has also studied western music, the voice and piano, American Modern Dance, at the Graham & Cunningham studios in New York, and Flamenco.
In 1983, Rajika received an MA in The Anthropology of Human Movement from New York University, specializing in how meaning is made through movements such as the hand gesture (hasta mudra) system of classical Indian theatre. She grew up in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and was educated in India and the United Kingdom. She married Tino Puri in 1968. He passed away in July at age 79.
In 1970, Tino was one of the earliest Indian hires at McKinsey & Company, where he stayed for thirty years. He served on the board of the consulting firm as well as on the boards of other companies, including ICICI Bank and Tech Mahindra in India.
In the early 1990s, Tino set up McKinsey’s practice in India. During the 1990s, he worked closely with Reliance Industries, $125 billion revenues, “offering insights, global perspective, and wisdom,” said Mukesh Ambani, Chairman of Reliance, after Tino’s passing, according to CNBCTV18. Ambani has a net worth of $109 billion according to Forbes. “I will always remember Tino for his kindness, generosity of spirit.” He leaves “behind a legacy of decency and dignity.”
Tino Puri earned an M.Phil. in Economics from Nuffield College, Oxford; an M.A. in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from Balliol College, Oxford; and a B.A. in Economics from Delhi University.
Tino and Rajika Puri’s donation to the Joyce Theater is a rare act of philanthropy by a wealthy Indian in the US - or even in India. Indians have the highest education and earn the most among the ethnic groups in the US, according to the Pew Research Center. Given their wealth, key roles as business founders, chief executives, engineers, doctors, and scientists, and roughly five million population, Indians should have a major voice in American policy, especially on those which impacts Indians.
However, wealthy Indians in the US - also in India and elsewhere - believe their financial success is due to their talent and hard work and so they owe little to society. Unlike Americans, Indians give very little back to the community which provided them with a superior education and major career and business opportunities. In fact, since first arriving in the US in the late 1960s, Indians have donated a total of less than $1 billion to philanthropies in the US, according to an estimate by this publication. Such giving is tiny considering there are dozens of Indian billionaires and hundreds of centi-millionaires in the US.
Given their lack of philanthropy and contributions to community and lobbying groups, it is not surprising that Indians have little influence over American policy and elected officials. This is currently evident from their being unable to dilute provisions of the new $100,000 US H-1B work visa fees, which restricts entry of skilled professionals from India.
Speaking about Tino and Rajika Puri’s donation, Charles Adelman, chair of the Joyce Theater Foundation’s Board of Trustees said in a statement, their “vision and commitment set an inspiring example for all of us who believe in the power of performance to unite and uplift.”
(Photo: Rajika Puri, right, with Aruna Sairam, performing in 2000. Courtesy RajikaPuri.com)
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