Ranjani Prasad - Puppetry in Delhi

INTERVIEWS

Anurupa Roy
Varun Narain
Dadi Pudumjee
Puran Bhatt
Ranjana Pandey
Shubha Saxena
Sampa Ghosh
IP Singh
Kailash Bhatt

Anurupa Roy

After the performance ‘About Ram’

Anurupa Roy: I think I was always fascinated by puppets. During my school days I had these classes in art and craft where they taught me to make puppets. I remember my parents had gifted me a monkey glove puppet and I drove the whole house mad for a long time playing with that. In college, as a part of the dramatics society, I was occasionally dabbling with puppets. Intact, for the national social service scheme in college I agreed to do a small puppet show for the kids of an NGO, along with a friend from school, Rahul Moga (a trustee of Katkatha Puppet Arts Trust). I didn't want any of my other friends from college to know about this, but eventually it turned out that nearly the whole college came to watch it and to my surprise they loved it. That I think was my first stint with stage puppetry. When I was graduating from college, and applying to other places, my principal Meenakshi Gopinath suggested I take up puppetry. That's the first time it struck me that if puppets was something I enjoyed doing the most, then why not study puppetry itself. I never realized till then that the answer was so simple, and it was a very liberating feeling to have finally acknowledged that this is what I wanted to do. That's when I started Katkatha, in 1997. I also worked under Ranjana (Pandey) for a while in 1999. I was pursuing puppetry that most mostly self-taught till then. Eventually in 2001 I went training to Sweden and Italy to understand professional puppet theatre. Katkatha has had many members come and go over the past 10 years, has some 12 performances in its repertory, and has performed at various occasions at various place India and abroad.

Q: HOW DIFFICULT IS IT TO MAKE A LIVING BY BEING A PUPPETEER ??

It's not impossible, I can tell you this much. I've been functioning as a puppeteer by profession with my group Katkatha for over 10 years. When I initially started off, after my training I had no place to start. Thankfully Ranjana (Pandey) agreed to let me train under her. After training with Dadi (Pudumjee) too for a while, I went on to start my own group. It was like a freelance job. You collaborate, work with established puppeteers, and perform at festivals and shows. We started going to schools and conducting workshops there. So, it was like first we create our own markets, and then we work in them ! It was enough to make a living. However, over the past few years the scope has increased. 11 years back, when Varun (Narain) and I held workshops with children, they were still unheard of, Now suddenly there's boom and so many places want to have puppetry workshops in the summer. There's also an expanded role of puppets now to promote social awareness, for art therapy, for teacher training, etc. - so there are more opportunities of work. Plus, there are plenty of places that give grants and scholarships project-wise.

Q: DO YOU HAVE TO FACE STEREOTYPES ATTACHED WITH PUPPETRY ??

Yes. First of all, most don’t seem to believe that there can be puppeteers by profession! The most common prejudice is that puppets are for children. A lot of shows that are made nowadays are for adult audiences and deal with subjects like gender, sexuality, HIV/AIDS, etc. The flipside of this is that, I think everyone tends to undermine the intelligence of children, even mediums like films. Maybe children find it easy to identify with puppets, but there's no need to show them only cartoons characters. There was a show 'About Ram' that I performed at Mumbai recently for an audience of children. There was constant talk of how the children wouldn't understand the show and a synopsis of it needs to be given first. We performed and the children received it so well.
Another thing that really irritates me, and even Dadi will tell you about this, is how India is attached with exotica. When we perform in Europe they want stories about magicians and snake charmers. There was this time when we were to do 'Almost Twelfth Night' (based on Shakespeare’s 12th night), and they were like, 'why are you doing Shakespeare?’ Also, Rajasthani katputhlis are taken like representatives of Indian puppetry, even in India. It’s sad to see such ignorance.

Q: WHAT IS THE STRENGTH THIS MEDIUM ??

Maybe I am a biased towards my own form but having been an actor myself I feel the other mediums like drama and cinema are extremely overpowering to the senses, it gives you too much information and feeds you too much. Puppetry leaves much to your imagination. There's a saying in Bengali, that implies that its like you almost poke your finger into my eye to show me something, and this is something I've felt whether its cinema or dance or theatre. Puppets are more covert and implied. They only suggest emotion. At no point are we fooling the audience saying, "Look, this puppet is alive!" The audience only imagines and visualizes what we suggest, and for this reason, the puppet shows are always very participatory because they demand audience interaction.
Having said the same, I also must mention that my exposure to theatre and acting during my years at Lady Shri Ram College in Delhi was also a great advantage as it helped me understand important aspects of theatre that I would have otherwise missed out on.

WHAT ARE THE BOUNDARIES OF PUPPETS ??

A puppet is understood as any inanimate form that simulates life. However, the boundaries of puppets are blurred. But Puppets, puppetry and puppet theatre are associated with 3 specific aspects: a Puppet, a Puppeteer and an audience receiving it. Its only when this circuit is complete that the performance can be called puppet theatre. So a child playing with her dolls may be manipulating and giving life form to an inanimate object, but its not puppetry. Other objects that fall into blurred categories of puppets are woodoo, scarecrows, effigies, etc A puppet has a definitive agency watching it and moving it with an objective/intention.

Q: IS THE FUTURE OF CONTEMPORARY PUPPETRY IN INDIA LOOKING GOOD ??

The country has woken up to puppetry in spurts, in Delhi especially. After Meherben (Meher Contractor), the next generation was of Dadi and Ranjana, after which there was almost a thirty years gap before Varun and I came, and we are technically their next generation. Hopefully the generation after ours won't have this much of a gap. There are already people like Manish Halder, Pawan Waghmare, Shameem, etc who are coming to the forefront. And not to sound immodest, but I think they have the advantage of having so many different puppeteers to train under. And the people in Delhi are doing such brilliantly diverse work. Dadi’s known for his larger than life visuals, Ranjana’s USP is her command on the audience, Varun designs his puppets fabulously, etc. There are also plenty of avenues for exposure. Ishara is doing great work with its annual Ishara puppetry festival. This, I think, will make a difference to puppetry in the years to come if carried on consistently. By bringing in some fantastic groups from the corners of the country and the world, the festival educates the audience with quality work. It sort of raises the bar for the rest of us.
It’s very important to invest in the generation that’s coming up to ensure that puppetry survives. Also, for my own times, I'd like to make sure that puppetry receives its due. Its heartening to know to see its scope grow. Recently, I was at IP College, DU holding a talk/workshop on puppets. I was glad to know that they took it a step further and incorporated puppet in their street play. I realized that there might be people who are genuinely interested in puppets, and they can be encouraged only by allowing them opportunities to be more closely associated with puppet shows and theatre.
The future looks bright, but no puppeteer today can survive long on their own. You're dead without collaborations, whether it’s with dancers, actors, anyone.

Q: AND THE TRADITIONAL FORMS ??

In puppetry, the classical and modern forms are the broadest genres one can identify. Comparing the two will be like comparing, say Warli folk paintings with modern art. Both their themes, techniques, evolution, etc is different. Similarly with puppetry. The biggest difference between contemporary and folk puppetry is that while folk and traditional styles hail from families which have been professional puppeteers since many generations. Their skill is taught to their next generation to keep the tradition alive. However, in contemporary forms of puppetry, the technique is acquired and their themes are varied and adapted contextually by each group.
A lot of the styles in contemporary puppetry in India are influenced by European styles or other puppet forms in Asian countries.

Europe and India have had different cultural evolutions of puppetry. Europe has a history of the emergence of the conservative bloc in Christianity and the Dark Ages. This was the time they had a break in the culture. Their art had died, their culture was uprooted and their classical forms were lost. Again during the Renaissance, in an attempt to rebuild their society and cultural revivalism, they started looking towards the East which had thriving traditions. This was facilitated as colonialism came about, and Europe started establishing its colonies in Asia and Africa. So if you notice, the European shadow puppets are heavily inspired by the Asian shadow puppets like Chinese and Indonesian. The Russian Obratsov School of puppetry has nuances of Asian shadow puppetry. Rod puppets, that are common in Europe, are definitely not originally European.
In Europe their cultural forms were dying and thus, puppetry emerged to retell old folk stories and preserve their culture.
In India, the reverse of it happened. Culture was already intact. Instead of puppetry emerging for saving culture, it emerged as a subset of culture. And the traditional art formed are never devoid of a cultural context. Puppetry in India is our link with the past.

In Europe, the driving force was a search for an identity and this led to revival and looking for new things. So, while they searched the East for new things to rebuild their culture with, they alongside innovated modern forms of puppetry. That is the reason that modern puppetry in Europe is older. They also had tremendous respect for their new-found cultural identity. Indians never looked for anything new. They relied on the existing forms of puppetry, and witnessed a lop-sided development of culture. For example, Bharatnatyam, a south-Indian dance form evolved and fine tuned itself over the years. But the puppetry from the same regions of Andhra and Tamil Nadu remained in oblivion. In India, the only time we went into massive cultural revivalism was after independence when revivalists like Kamla Devi Chattopadhyaya and many others undertook intensive tasks of promoting these dying puppet forms from each state. Due to the lack of British patronage for Indian arts, the traditional forms were going into oblivion. It’s thanks to the efforts of cultural revivalists that most of these forms like Pava kathakali from Kerala, and Ravan chhaya from Orissa even exist till today.

Exposure can do wonders. Andhra has two forms of puppets: Koyya Bommalatta and Tolu bommalatta. While Tolu Bommalatta puppeteers from Anantpur were endorsed by SNA a few years back, they became popular in their town and went onto perform in at other places in India and the world. These puppeteer families increased in number in no time and the new found popularity of their art form encouraged others to pursue it as well. At the same time Koyya Bommalatta, which hasn't yet got the impetus that a dying art form requires to revive itself, has barely 2-3 families that still practice the art and is on the verge of extinction, despite hailing from a district that's not very far from Anantapur. Even the makers of the puppets are not there anymore, imagine the performers. This is one of the reasons why though Tamil Nadu shadow puppets and Andhra shadow puppets bear similarity, the latter is seen much more often. SNA gave them the much required economic and social impetus.
Take the community of Rajasthani katputhliwalas for instance. Their very life is nomadic. They are associated with street theatre and earn their livelihood by traveling and performing at different places. Besides, it was purely a medium of entertainment and they knew how to package and sell it well. This is one of the major reasons why their form became more popular and is still thriving, as compared to the forms from other states like Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. Another reason that can be cited for Rajasthani katputhlis being more famous than other traditional forms of India is that every form has a specific cultural context and historicity attached to it. For instance, the Pavakathakali and Tolpava Kuthu from Kerala are associated with the Bhadrakali festival that used to go on for days and were performed by the Pullavar community that was of high caste. In olden times, it was greatly respected and considered a sacred tradition. But with modernity, the tradition got lost somewhere. Now that form was so closely attached with the festival that it was difficult for those puppeteers to adapt it to other performances. Of course, now to earn their livelihood, they usually perform an abridged version of it. Ranjana is right when she says that the next 10-15 years will tell if these traditional art forms will survive. But the next 10-15 years will also tell how these forms will survive- whether they can adapt themselves to suit their urban audience, whether they get the required exposure, etc. SNA is doing some good work to promote and preserve puppetry as they call a group of traditional puppeteers every 2 months and hold frequent workshops with them.

Q: WHAT IS THE ROLE THAT UNIMA INDIA PLAYS ??

UNIMA India is the Indian chapter of Union Internationale de la Marionnette-an international union of puppeteers. Unima India was started under Meher Contractor in 1963, and I am presently the General Secretary. (Ranjana pandey- President; Varun Narain- Treasurer). It's a solo crusader trying to establish a network of all puppeteers in India. However, due to lack of funds, Unima India is not able to realize its objective. I think this is extremely important as there is no unity among the puppeteers community in India, and we're not able to benefit from our own vast and rich heritage. Though Unima India is an autonomous body, it’s affiliated to the international body to have access to the puppeteer community in the rest of the world. Unima India, should ideally provide a platform for exposure (especially for the traditional artists who don’t have enough opportunities to showcase their art form), to know about practices from the rest of the world and benefit from it and communicate with other puppeteers around the world. There are countries in this world which have greatly benefited from having a nationwide and worldwide network like Unima, and there are countries like Indonesia which have the largest percentage of puppeteers in this world but no Unima. Hopefully, with collective effort, Unima India will grow in a few years time.

- At Katkatha Studio on 20th May'08 and At her residence on 7th June'08

Varun Narain

Q: WHEN DID YOU BEING DOING PUPPETRY? WHAT KIND OF WORK HAVE YOU BEEN INVOLVED IN ??

Varun Narain: Ah, I have been doing puppetry since I was 7 years old! However, it is only after I graduated from the course in Jamia that I seriously thought of pursuing it as a career. It is there that I learnt about making different types of puppets, etc under Ranjana Pandey. Soon after, AG Kidwai asked me to design a programme in the curriculum of one of the papers in the mass communication course. I taught there for about 8 years.
Meanwhile, I was making puppet plays for the theatre. I pursued professional puppetry since 1992. I performed in a few places for a few festivals, but within 5 years I felt stuck and stifled. I had started my own group- Pi theatre, but managing that wasn’t working out too well either. I realized that I needed to break out of the theatre and move beyond just stage performances.

I started experimenting with my performances and working as a solo puppeteer - worked in Dilli Haat, worked amongst lawyers, with sex workers and even took my puppet performances to nightclubs. It is finally at nightclubs that I felt my puppets found a place. It was quite a challenge to keep the audience hooked to a puppet performance when they were in the mood to have fun. My themes, though, were more acceptable to the audience there. It was interesting to work with the music and no definitive stage. The puppets would tell a story and come up in different places and times in the venue. It’s a concept that’s done well abroad, and thankfully it clicked when I performed at Amsterdam first and in other places eventually.
After a while I worked with people in the fashion industry and that experience was wonderful. It was interesting to see how designers look at the body. Usually while making puppets, we use the human body as our blueprint. However, while working with design, this theory was entirely shattered. I started fooling around with proportions and created some fantastical puppets- women with large breasts and backsides, extremely narrow waists, long eyelashes, big lips, etc. These puppets even walked the ramp.
Alongside I conduct workshops. I’ve been writing a lot lately, mostly articles, and taking up editing; all of it regarding puppetry.

        

Q: WHY DIDN'T PI THEATRE WORK OUT ??

To begin with, barely any people are ready to get into puppetry full time. All group members were tied up with other priorities, and because of this, Pi-Theatre was missing out on travel opportunities and chances of performing at festivals outside Delhi. Also, I was getting hassled with fixing up timings with other members and ensuring that I coordinated a time when everyone was free to come and rehearse. I realized that instead of getting irked by such problems, I'd much rather work as a solo puppeteer. And it has been easier this way.

Q: WHAT WAS YOUR BEST PERFORMANCE TO DATE ??

I think my last performance would usually be my best performance for me. So, 'Dusk Bride Melodrama' was my last show, and it was really nice and meaty. we had a ballerina Rhea and it was based on that beautiful song by Mukesh I think, ''kahin dur jab din dhal jaye, saanjh ki dulhan..." It takes a slip from tradition, into the unknown and explores transformation of forms. This performance was also important to me, because for the first time I crossed the border between having an adult audience and appealing to children. The show had something for the children to imagine and visualize, and the adults had enough to understand.

1001 Indian Nights (I had seen a recording of this at SNA a few days prior to this meeting) was meant for a pub, so when it was performed on a proper stage with spotlights and stuff, along with a mixed audience consisting of even children (it was essentially meant for an adult audience; the play was about a kinnar/hijra falling in love with a sufi mystic) the effect wasn't the same as it was supposed to be. However, that show was a huge success outside India. We got Israeli composers to compose original music for it to give it a sort of western trance feel.
There was also ‘Liquid Rainbows’ that had puppets called Bandana, named after a friend, and Zam. It was about erotic art and pornography and was performed at Khajuraho for a seminar on sexuality. Through the conference these puppets would tell their story and at the end of it, an exhibition of Zam's works was put up. It was a very different sort of a performance and seemed to have worked well.

Masks being dried at Varun Narain’s studio-cum-residence

Q: WHAT KIND OF TRAINING HAVE YOU HAD AND WHAT HAVE BEEN YOUR STRONGEST INFLUENCES ??

Ranjana (Pandey) surely has been a major influence. It’s under her that I pursued my interest in puppetry and learnt other aspects of the art like making puppet bodies, manipulating them, etc. There's also Neville Tranter, a master puppeteer from Netherlands. He's so fabulous that when you see his shows, you feel the puppets have their own lives. Incidentally it's Anurupa (Roy) who first told me about him. I take him as my idol/mentor. He's done some great work- Schick Gruber (based on Hitler),Vampyr (about a father and a son), etc where his puppets are even moving their eyes while talking to the audience - and I got to see some of this when I had gone to Berne this time in 2007 for an Artist-in-Residence programme. It was wonderful because the whole time we were together and he even got to come and dissect and analyze my puppets from head to toe and gave me some amazing tips and suggestions. I also use my legs while manipulating my puppets and its he who explained to me why it would be very tiring to use all limbs while manipulating and its better than I concentrate on hand work. My puppets also have moving eyeballs and changing expressions sometimes (later he even showed me some of his puppets whose eyeballs could be moved with two fingers and how he figured out this way to make the puppets look more alive)
I've had no formal training, but for the love of this art form I kept pursuing it. The first training sort of an experience I had was at Jamia under Ranjana. But otherwise, I’ve learnt over the years by working with other puppeteers like Anurupa; imposing workshops (!) and observing a whole lot of traditional puppeteers and puppet forms around the world.

Q: You are a contemporary puppeteer. What do you think about the traditional forms of puppetry in India ??

Traditional forms of puppetry are more mechanical. Since they stick to patterns in culture and associate themselves with religion, rituals, body, etc, the puppet performances are created with certain boundaries in mind. For example, most of them tell tales from Mahabharata and Ramayana. Also, all the traditional forms of puppetry from different states of India are passed on hereditarily. What generally happens is that every generation which inherits the nuances of their form of puppetry, reproduce the puppets and puppet plays similarly. They tend to remain stuck in time and tradition, leaving little space for experimentation.
There was once a workshop organized by Sangeet Natak Akademi, which Dadi Pudumjee, Ranjana Pandey and I had conducted. We worked with a few traditional puppeteers and tried to move away from folk stories and concentrated on animal forms, etc. That seemed like an effective step towards encouraging more experimentation in traditional forms.
I can think of Puran Bhatt as an exception. He is one of the only traditional puppeteers who inherited as well as learnt the art and explored innovative ways to expand the scope of his traditional form of puppetry (Rajasthani katputhli)

Q: IS DELHI A LUCRATIVE PLACE TO PURSUE PUPPETRY PROFESSIONALLY, ESPECIALLY WITH REGARD TO THE AUDIENCE ??

Delhi always follows the herd. A few years back I would have to call up places to ask them if they can organize workshops in puppetry. Now, that there's a sudden upsurge of places that want to hold workshops. So I won't be surprised if the trend even fizzles out in a while. My idea is to get a proper system there, and not just follow random/arbit interest that people show to organize puppetry workshops. Most of the places that ask me to conduct these workshops don’t even have a proper workplace where paper Mache can dry. So, while its good that there's a lot of work here in Delhi, its going to be time before it gets better, systematic and organized.
Delhi gives me breathing space. It has many groups doing such different work that there's room for everyone. Yes, I have been accused of 'prostituting the art' but in India, Delhi's one place that allows creativity to thrive.
I don’t like the idea of having a target audience. I tend to get very bored with similar work, so with different sort of work my audience also rarely remains permanent. As of now, I’m loving being amongst children with my puppets. In the workshops I've been taking, the creative instincts of these children seem to be on a high. It was a real challenge for me to allow them to draw any character off their head and then helping them turn it into a puppet. Once you turn your character into a puppet, you tend to personalize it, it no longer remains abstract. That’s the beauty of puppets, and I think this is how one encourages and cultivates an interest in puppetry.
My idea of puppets is not just to have a doll that speaks. The puppets should have meaning; they should say something that turns the audience on their heads!

Q: PUPPETRY IN EDUCATION ??

Puppetry is not persistent in India, especially at a higher education level. I have been teaching puppetry at a few places here in India. One of my experiences was with Rai University where I headed the performance and creative drama program at their Institute of Film and Television. India has no place where one can learn professional puppetry. I was happy that Rai University was taking a step in this direction, but the university began to get extremely commercialized after a point of time and I had to leave. I don’t think the initiatives in teaching puppetry during teacher training by CCRT is very useful either. A 3-day workshop in using puppetry as teaching aids cant transform the methodology that has been followed since ages. There needs to be a change in the very system of education, or else in a country of variables like ours, the whole education sector will look like a circus! Ok, we still might be able to install modern techniques with better infrastructure on our higher education system without entirely changing the system, but the crisis with our education system is that it takes no effort to get modern and makes arbitrary changes.

-At his residence, 5th June'08

Dadi Pudumjee

Dadi Pudumjee: Ishara Puppet Theatre Trust started in 1986 and has since then been contributing to contemporary puppet theatre in India. Apart from our regular workshops and performances, we are currently working for a UNESCO EU project on HIV/AIDS and Substance Abuse with members of Salaam Balak Trust, Delhi, in a collaboration with Teamwork films. As a part of the project, which has been on for the past 3 years, we have catalyst performances of 15-20 minutes each for community awareness. Our most recent project is the making of a puppet animation film with the help of Digital Media Lab and IIT- Delhi.

We’re currently very happy with our repertory of performances, which includes Journeys, Images of Truth (based on Gandhi), Simple Dreams (about nature), Transpositions (based on the Vetal Panchvinasati story and Thomas Maan's transposed heads), etc. Ishara’s puppets were used for various TV programmes. They were first seen on television for ‘Choona Laga Ke’. ‘Funny Things’ was a political satire. There was ‘Eyewitness’, along with Karan Thapar. Our programme ‘Hun Haan’ that we did with ISRO and Kailash Pandya was for a television show for the SITE program in 1976. This was a one-of-its-kind production, which was used to communicate and educate people on the news around.

We also remain busy with our annual Ishara Puppet Festival. Since 2002, we have had 6 International festivals, and have called various groups from around the world. It’s usually held in Delhi but has even traveled to Chennai and Jaipur. The last one, in 2008, showcased and exhibited puppet forms from Spain.

Q: HOW DID YOU START PUPPETRY ??

I pursued puppetry as a hobby right through school and college and eventually it was formalized with my being part of the puppet section and Darpana Academy of Performing Arts at Ahmedabad, under Meher Contractor. I joined ISRO as a puppeteer in 1976 and made our programme ‘Hun Haan’, the first puppet serial of its kind for the SITE program. I then went to study at the Marionette Theatre Institute Stockholm under Michael Meschke, and workshops with the bunraku master from Japan Senouske Yoshida. Also was a puppetry and drama pedagogue at the Var Theatre Stockholm Sweden the Stockholm city children's and young peoples theatre and a guest director at Puppet Theatre Berlin GDR in Jan 1978 and directed and designed a shadow puppet play the ‘Double shadow’ for them. I was also the artistic director of Sutradhar Puppet Theatre- Shri Ram Center for Art and Culture in New Delhi for a while. Ishara Puppet Theatre Trust was then started, only in 1986.

Q: WHAT MAKES PUPPETRY A POWERFUL MEDIUM ??

To me, puppets are a means, and not an end in themselves. The power of puppets lies in their objectivity. It’s difficult to use people when you’re performing about sensitive issues. But puppets can be used to convey the same message with more impact, without anyone being responsible for hurting their sentiments. They are objective and people find it easier to identify with them. It’s like seeing yourself in the mirror, square as it is! Also the message that puppets usually convey is amplified and many a time, overpowering. I think this is the case especially with Ishara’s performances. We use a lot of music and images, and there’s usually barely any text.

(Some of the senior members of Salaam Balak Trust -Pawan Waghmare, Md Shameem, Vivek Kumar, Anil Kumar, Kumari, Abhishek Kumar- were present in the studio at this time, to practice for one of their shows on drug abuse in their UNESCO project. They pitch in with their points) Yes, for instance, when we are talking about measures to prevent HIV/AIDS, we have to talk about a taboo topic like safe sex. Instead we just make a huge condom and show it on stage. It is important to spread awareness, and this is the best way to.

     
Members of Salaam Balak Trust rehearsing for a show for their UNESCO project on HIV/Substance Abuse

Q: ISHARA'S STYLE IS VERY DISTINCT ??

Yes, I play a lot with scale. Right from puppets just one foot tall to life sized puppets and humungous masks; Ishara incorporates puppets of all proportions. And hopefully, it has an impact on the audience. I also do a lot of object theatre. There was one play we did entirely with shoes; they were the characters. Even for Simple Dreams for used umbrellas and sticks. I think the use of actors is the major influence that my European training has had on my work. So Ishara’s shows are very theatrical, with puppets, masks, actors, music, dance, etc.
Infact, a very interesting collaboration we did, somewhere around 1989 was ‘Friends and Thanatomorphia’ where puppet and dance pieces were choreographed by modern Dancer Astad Deboo. It was an entirely non-verbal show.

Q: WHAT ROLE DOES UNIMA HAVE TO PLAY ??

Union Internationale de la Marionnette, being the oldest registered puppet body in the world (almost 80 years old) is to function like a network of puppeteers, inclusive of volunteer details, educational programmes, research project and other collaborations. Infact you’re talking to the new UNIMA President 2008 (this happened just 3 weeks back). It tries to work and collaborate with the puppet community world over. Like, UNIMA was trying to arrange something in therapy work in China after the recent earthquake. It’s also working on a World Encyclopedia of Puppetry that should be done by around March 2009. Its Indian chapter, Unima India was started in 1980s, which is currently presided by Ranjana Pandey.

- At his studio, 3rd June’ 2008

Puran Bhatt

    
Puran Bhatt with his puppet

(The interview was taken in hindi. This is the translation of our conversation)

Puran Bhatt: Do you know what a katputhli means ??
Ranjani: A doll, which can be manipulated by a human.
No. The word katputhli comes from ‘kat’ and ‘puthli’. Kat means wood, the material that puppets are usually made for; and puthli means the eyeball. If you notice, the eyeball can never ever stay still. It always moves as long as it’s alive. Puthli signifies life. So, katputhli is a wooden object, call it a doll or a puppet, which moves and appears alive.

I learnt puppetry from my father and my uncle Mohan Lal Bhatt when I was a child. However, I left puppets for a long time in between and pursued other interests like acting, theatre, dancing, and even carving. Then in 1982, I worked with the Shri Ram Centre along with Dadi (Pudumjee) and dabbled with contemporary puppets for some time. In 1990s I did puppets for a show on DD called ‘Ji Sahab’

The form of puppetry that I have inherited from my previous generation was traditional. But observing other forms of puppetry, not only in India but even in other countries broadened my vision. My exposure to contemporary puppetry gave me a larger perspective on puppet theatre and I realized that it’s not just restricted to performing behind a screen created by two mats (charpai). And so, I think my biggest influence has been contemporary puppetry.
For the first time, during the Sangeet Natak Akademi puppet festival Putulyatra 2003, we used an open stage for our play ‘Dhola Maru’. For the first time in traditional Rajasthani theatre, we used actors and allowed the puppeteers to be visible. Usually, the movements of the katputhlis are slow, but here, we made them very fast with dances, etc. Ordinarily, rajasthani puppets would tell a story without visuals as such. But Dhola Maru’s script was made very strong and visuals & text were shown together. This was one of my earliest attempts at expanding the scope of katputhlis and mixing it with elements of contemporary styles.
It’s only when for the first time we brought the puppeteer on to the stage, that we realized the relation between the puppet and puppeteer. We noticed that some of the expressions/emotions that needed to be shown on the puppets were felt by and even visible on the puppeteers face while he was manipulating them. Once the puppeteers started to be seen on screen, the link between the puppet’s character and the puppeteer’s character became apparent. The puppets seemed to be defined by who the puppeteer was. Its like the scope and world of the puppet was exactly as much as the scope and world of the puppeteer’s; and vice-versa. Since then, I’ve stuck to this style, and it has been one of the most important influences on my work.

People nowadays don’t have time. They live a fast life. Media has penetrated so deeply into our lives that you can get all the news and entertainment from around the world just sitting at home with the press of a button. Even though most people in our country are familiar with rajasthani katputhlis, who will come and watch a puppet play? And more so about traditional folk stories? When I started experimenting with my style and was blending it with elements of contemporary puppetry, certain newness was added to the medium, and it was received well by the audience too. I think, today, my art sells more because I have combined the best practices of contemporary puppetry with traditional rajasthani katputhlis.

Puran Bhatt’s metal mermaid puppet, made out of day-to-day items like nuts, bolts, body of a lantern, etc

Q: BUT DID YOU EVER FEEL LIKE YOU DILUTED YOUR CULTURAL PRACTICE OF RAJASTHANI KATPUTHLI KHEL BY MIXING IT WITH WESTERN-INFLUENCED CONTEMPORARY STYLE OF PUPPETRY ??

No. I will never let go of my cultural context, even if I adopt and embrace what is good about other cultures. As for my creativity, the medium that I’m working with i.e. katputhlis and what I’m trying to tell my audience is most important.
I’m a very culturally rooted person. Our whole community moved here in Delhi many years back. I’ve been living in the same slum for the past 50-55 years, with the same lifestyle, despite having achieved a lot of success and fame. My ways are different from today’s fast paced lifestyles. I believe in enjoying everything that I earn instead of saving it for a later day. Delhi government tells us sometimes that they want to build multi-storied apartments for us and demolish the slum. My fear is that the whole community lifestyle that everyone here leads will be disrupted and our culture will somewhat be lost. I find it very frustrating to know that today’s generation knows nothing about our culture and tradition. It is, to an extent, parents’ mistake that they don’t tell their children about it. Your education is westernized; if they don’t tell you, who will? For instance, you girls didn’t even know what a katputhli means. Even if they talk about cultural practices, the north Indian ones don’t include traditions and practices of the south and vice versa. When you live closer to nature and people, you observe around you and learn from them. And it is important that you don’t absorb yourself completely into material things. Infact this is also why most of the puppeteers are in this field for a while and then leave it in search of better jobs that pay more money. Money becomes more supreme than the creative satisfaction one gets out of a profession.

Q: SNEHA RAVI IYER*: HAVE YOU USED YOUR PUPPETS TO COMMUNICATE SUCH IDEAS ABOUT CULTURE AND PRESERVATION OF CULTURE ??

Puppets are a medium where anything can be communicated. I haven’t ever categorically performed anything on how materialism is overtaking the world. When the acts go on, puppetry is appreciated and everything else is forgotten. But I believe and will ensure in my own ways that traditions, values and cultural heritages are never to be forgotten.

I conduct a lot of workshops, especially through SNA, to encourage people to learn traditional arts of puppetry. My idea of a workshop is not just that you learn for a week and are left to pursue it like a hobby. If I work with 15 kids, I want to help them make 1 production each at least. This is so that by the end of it, they’re at least in a position to perform their puppet production at other places and be independent puppeteers. I’m very thankful to SNA for helping me with this.

Another way to encourage puppet arts is that there should be a section for puppetry in every school and college. If other forms like dance, music, etc can have departments in every school, why not puppetry. The students should have more exposure to it.

Q: SNEHA: BUT IF PUPPETRY IS TAUGHT UNDER A SEPARATE SECTION IN SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES, THEN EVERY OTHER ART FORM WILL START ASKING FOR THEIR OWN SECTION. THERE'LL BE NO LIMIT TO THAT ??

I believe puppetry is an art form much superior to others. It mixes all kinds of art forms- dance, drama, music, etc. A puppeteer is an all rounder. Most puppeteers you see in katputhli colony also are multi-talented; they can sing, dance, carve puppets, play the dholak, etc Recently, one girl who trained under me at a workshop got into National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad; and she was thanking me because it was due to her experience in puppetry that she cleared her interview. One understands so many aspects of design by doing puppetry. To me, puppetry is even linked with God. You must’ve often heard of the philosophy that all mortals are puppets in the hand of god and it is god who controls the whole world. As a puppeteer you feel the same way.

Puppets are extremely powerful. I can even abuse you through puppets and not be responsible for it. It has the strength to even change the course of power in society. Sometimes we ourselves don’t realize its power. And as a puppeteer, since I hold this power, the amount of respect and adulation I’ve got is tremendous- not just in India, but world over. I remember one time when I was invited to a dance programme in America where I was sitting with the likes of choreographer Saroj Khan, etc I was to perform a puppet show for a break in the dance performances. It was so well received and was allowed to go on for longer time than stipulated; the audience seemed to have forgotten that they had come for a dance programme. Such audience reaction makes me feel so wonderful and proud, and gives me more energy every time.
Recently I was watching one of these reality shows on singing, and they had classified genres into Sufi, folk and bollywood. I found that really funny. Bollywood music is alive thanks to folk and Sufi music. Folk forms of any art form are the roots. Everything else is born from there.

- At his residence in Katputhli colony, 16th June’08

(*Sneha Ravi Iyer is friend of mine, studying Political Science at Lady Shri Ram College. She accompanied me to katputhli colony the same day).

Ranjana Pandey

Ranjana Pandey with her students

Q: HOW HAVE YOU AND JAN MADHYAM BEEN ASSOCIATED ??

Ranjana Pandey: I’ve worked with Jan Madhyam for about 20 years, i.e., between 1982 and 1995. Jan Madhyam is basically an NGO that uses various media for community awareness. Where I was concerned, we were using puppets as tools and our performances aimed at spreading specific messages. Jan Madhyam worked keeping 2 broad areas in mind - the community, where we tried spreading awareness regarding women’s issues like domestic violence, health and sanitation, etc & children, both abled and disabled. Jan Madhyam trains a group of puppeteers who perform for some of the shows organized. Back in 1980s, when puppetry in India was rarely accepted without raised eyebrows, we were just 3 women puppeteers in Jan Madhyam. Slowly, more people joined in. Nowadays Jan Madhyam focuses its energies on making children perform and taking up their concerns. There’s also teacher training, therapy work for mentally challenged, etc that is happening.

The fact is that when you are working with NGOs, it is very difficult to separate your work from the organisation’s work and focus. Moreover, Jan Madhyam is not a stand alone group. Often, the shows and programmes are organized by another group, Jan Madhyam only performs for them. Amidst all this, it becomes difficult to keep your work and your identity separate and distinct from the organisation’s agenda. It’s good to be associated with art and therapy and healing, but after a point of time, I was weary of spreading myself thin and at most times limiting myself. This is one of the reasons why I went into teaching at the Mass Communication Research Centre at the Jamia University, New Delhi.

The common perception regarding puppets has been that they are frivolous. They’re often considered synonymous to masks, cartoons, etc. I’d like to believe that during the 1980s Jan Madhyam was the pioneer in creating space for puppets. It was for the first time that contemporary puppets were being used to talk about some serious issues. The shows were well received everywhere and it was heartening to see the audience open up to the medium of contemporary puppetry. For instance, there was this one performance we did in the late 80s in which a beautiful actress falls in love with a puppet. Considering it was an entirely new concept to have puppeteers and actors seen on stage with the puppets, the feedback was surprisingly good.

Q: AND HOW DID PUPPETRY HAPPEN TO YOU ??

I started puppetry long back in 1979 (Oh I feel like a dinosaur when I say this!) while I got trained in Europe (Belgium, etc). I worked with television for a while, but television in itself wasn’t very exciting to me as it doesn’t give you the pulse of the audience. I was working in and doing puppetry for Jan Madhyam. This was the time I tried to combine the best practices of interactive media like puppets with television. We did a puppetry show for television, which included muppets, called ‘Khullam Khulla’. There were about 18 episodes of this that ran through 1989, 1990, 1991. The good thing about Khullam Khulla was that it wasn’t one medium eating into another. The strength of the television show was its puppets and that was very clearly evident. It is very important that the strength of every medium be realized and retained, instead of deciding which is better. Even today, while my students at MCRC in Jamia come prepared to work with or face the camera, the point of having a paper on puppetry is questioned. The point is that there was a time before mass media came into being, and it is very important to have a link between the past and the present to stay in touch with traditions while you embrace modernity.

Q: WHAT, THEN, IS THE STRENGTH OF HIS MEDIUM ACCORDING TO YOU ??

A puppet show is multi-sensory. A good show is what appeals to all your senses. It’s also got this emotional appeal, maybe because it is so interactive and therein lays the power of the medium. The impact that puppets can have is therapeutic. In one of our workshops, we used to bring a little puppet family into the classroom and let the kids interact with them for a while. The puppets, called Choco and Pili became their friends instantly and the kids would talk and play with them. This interaction and emotional connect with these puppets would help us address their concerns.

Q: WHAT HAVE BEEN THE MOST DEFINING INFLUENCES THAT YOUR TRAINING IN EUROPE HAS HAD ON YOUR STYLE OF PUPPETRY ??

I think a healthy respect for the audience is an important lesson I learnt, thanks to training in Europe. I got to know of interesting materials and techniques, with which puppets could be made. I learnt of other important aspects of puppet theatre, like the difference that lights and setting could make to your puppets. I understood the importance of Research & Development. When therapy work for children using puppets was to be started, large scale research was undertaken regarding it, with help of an NGO called Samadhan. With all the therapy work and teacher training that puppets are widely being used for nowadays, it’s extremely important that R&D find a significant place in their agenda.

CCRT has been doing good work with all the research regarding using puppets in teacher training, etc. Thanks to the workshops conducted by CCRT for teachers, some of the teachers have gone on to become amateur puppeteers. But this can yield best results only when there are follow-ups to these workshops with the same set of teachers, in order to make sure that the teacher doesn’t use the puppets merely as a prop in the classroom.

Q: AT WHAT POINT IN YOUR CAREER HAVE YOU FELT MOST CREATIVELY SATISFIED? AND OVER THE YEARS, HOW HAS YOUR AUDIENCE BEEN ??

I have always appreciated the interactive nature of the medium and to me, creative satisfaction is the maximum when it is with a small group and one can go deep into the subject with plenty of interaction and qualitative learning. That is a reason why I enjoy teaching puppetry at a classroom level and that’s why I went back to teaching at Jamia a few years back (I was a part of the core faculty when MCRC in Jamia was started but had taken a break from it for a few years in the middle) While performing at shows, the audience is sometimes so large that the show becomes more of a spectacle, and the interactive ability of puppets is lost to an extent.

A live audience always makes a huge difference to the performers, and it always helps to understand what your audience needs. There was this one workshop we did with adolescents between 12-16 years and I think that was the most difficult age group to work with. We were trying to break stereotypes, prejudices and demystifying a few hazy concepts that children have at that stage of life and used Bunraku style puppets (Japanese rod puppets). The children received it all very well, and the success of it was a boost to us. There is one area where our programme didn’t really work out and that is awareness on family planning. I think it wasn’t the right time and the audience wasn’t ready to accept talking about such a sensitive and personal issue at a community level. It’s difficult to challenge one’s attitudes, beliefs and morality while claiming to communicate on higher moral ground. By performing these puppet plays on stories regarding the importance of family planning measures we were taking a judgmental stand and I realized that I did not want to compromise the position of the puppet and puppeteer by doing so.

Q: WHAT IS YOUR TAKE ON THE GENERATION OF PUPPETEERS THAT EMERGED AFTER YOU ? HOW DO WE PRESERVE THE TRADITIONAL ARTS ??

It’s wonderful that so many new puppeteers from this generation are emerging and popularizing contemporary puppetry in India, and giving it the acceptance that was long overdue. For example, during the time I had started, the struggle was not only to find opportunities to work, but also that you had to first face the prejudices and stereotypes associated with puppets being only for children. Today if an Anurupa Roy goes and says she wants to do a show on HIV/AIDS, they won’t bat an eyelid. However, my concern is that the quality of work may suffer.

Traditions are like water tight compartments; they can’t borrow from each other or influence one another, unlike contemporary puppets. In contemporary genre of puppets, for instance, Suresh Datta's school has been influenced by Indonesian rod puppets. However, there is a tremendous amount of cross flow in cultures and traditions. With globalization, it's very hard to prevent such a cross flow. Some of the debates regarding this issue, ongoing amongst intellectuals from this is field, is whether introducing ourselves to newer forms of puppetry from world over will affect the orient forms in India and push them into the background. I believe such a cross flow is good and needs to be acknowledged, as it will ensure that only the best in the field will do well. And in any case, the next 10-15 years will tell whether these traditional forms of puppetry from various corners of India will survive. How long they sustain themselves depends on the kind of exposure they get and their willingness to reinvent themselves. For instance, someone like Puran Bhatt, who has mastered his art, has preserved the original identity of his katputhlis and made space for experimentation. Sangeet Natak Akademi is doing their bit to preserve and promote these traditional arts, by giving work to the traditional artists and having workshops with the next generation of artists.

-At her residence, 6th June'08

Shubha Saxena

Q: SINCE WHEN HAVE BEEN ASSOCIATED WITH PUPPETRY ??

Shubha Saxena: After my college, I joined Shri Ram centre as a puppet script writer. That is where I came across Sampa Ghosh and Ranjana Pandey. Soon after, I worked with Ranjana and her group in Jan Madhyam, and Dadi Pudumjee as a part of Ishara Puppet Theatre. Eventually I went on to form my own theatre group called Rangpeeth Puppet Theatre. So for over the past 20 years most of my plays and productions are under this banner.

Q: WHAT KIND OF WORK WITH PUPPETS HAVE YOU BEEN INVOLVED WITH ??

I have scripted, directed and performed in a large number of plays for NGOs around the country. For example, puppets play on AIDS for NGO ‘Disha’, a puppets production on Disaster Management on tsunami, etc.
Other performances include a variety of work - on environment for the United Nations; on e-governance for Ministry of Information and Technology, Jharkhand; science awareness for public; trafficking of children; etc.
To encourage children to associate themselves with puppetry I conduct workshops with several public schools. I even started a puppetry section in the National Bal Bhawan in Delhi.
Delhi has a few organizations that encourage puppetry. I have been associated with a few of them, like IGNCA for whom I directed a play on Gandhi, and Sangeet Natak Akademi where I’m presently working as Consultant, Puppetry.

I mostly use puppets like an educational tool. A lot of the work that I have done is teaching mentally and physically challenged children through puppetry. Also, puppetry can have a wonderful, therapeutic effect on these children. It is for such areas that I like using puppetry the most.

Q: WHAT FASCINATES YOU ABOUT THIS ART FORM ??

I think puppetry is a very effective medium, especially when the audience is children. Children identify more with this art form. When we started the puppetry section in Bal Bhawan and started taking workshops, we used large puppets and we used to run with it, hide with it and allow the children to play with it. The children would enjoy doing this and treat it like one amongst them. Puppets are an inanimate form where only the audience can imagine a life in it- thus giving it a personal connect. There were occasions when in workshops with mentally challenged children, these children would hug the puppet and tell them all their secrets. They would cry and talk to them, saying “mere papa mujhe pagal kehte hain, kya main pagal hoon?”
It is this that is most fascinating and wonderful about puppets that it clicks with children and acts like an exclusive friend to them, as easily as sometimes even human can’t.

Q: DO YOU SEE A FUTURE FOR THIS FIELD, ESPECIALLY IN INDIA ??

The reason why puppetry is still not got its due in India is because, like most other art forms, there’s no money when you take it up professionally. Most people, who become puppeteers, do so as a hobby and then move on life in pursuit of more lucrative work that fetches more money. It may be a constant in their lives, but it rarely is a priority. Even for my Rangpeeth puppet theatre, there is no permanent member list. People have joined me for shows and left and very few have stayed for long enough. I, in my capacity, will try to promote puppetry, for instance, I have taught my son how to manipulate.

Q: HAVE YOU FORMALLY LEARNT PUPPETRY ANYWHERE? WHAT DO YOU SUGGEST FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE INTERESTED IN LEARNING PUPPETRY ??

I identify myself as a contemporary puppeteer and prefer doing hand, glove and rod puppets. I think hand puppets, especially, are very expressive. I haven’t learnt puppetry from anywhere, most of it is from what I have observed. My style is influenced by people I have worked under or the shows that I have seen. So I’d like to believe that I’m a self-taught puppeteer.

For anyone who wants to learn puppetry, it is just best to train under some of the well-established puppeteers. Puran Bhatt, for instance, being extremely talented with magic in his hands, has a huge number of people he has trained. Dadi Pudumjee and his troupe can give wonderful exposure to various aspects of contemporary puppetry to any amateur who wants to learn. Besides, Sangeet Natak Akademi also has frequent performances and workshops to promote puppetry.

Puppetry in fact is a very simple and interesting art to learn, even on your own. Professionally people use latex to make puppets, but try using your craft skills and make puppets at home and play around with them. The easiest way to make a puppet is to take an inflated balloon, just the size you want your puppet’s head to be. Wrap it with a thick coat of paper mache. When it dries prick the balloon with a needle. Paint the face on it. You can make the body and limbs with paper mache or stuffed cloth. There you have it.

(She showed me one of the first puppets she made, back in 1989, which she still keeps with her in her office. She said if I just hold the puppet and get a feel of it, I’ll fall in love with this art. I think I already have!

- At her office, Sangeet Natak Akademi, 27th May, 2008

Sampa Ghosh

Q: WHAT WORK DOES CCRT DO WITH PUPPETRY ??

Under the teacher training programme for all government school teachers, Centre for Cultural Resources and Training (CCRT) undertakes 10/12 day workshops with teachers to make them understand the role of puppetry in education. Mostly primary school teachers are called and taught to make low cost puppets (rod, hand, finger, and glove) and 2 years hence, same teachers are called for a refresher course and are then taught string puppets. These workshops are conducted all over the country and seek to promote the use of puppetry as an educational aid.

Q: WHEN AND HOW DID YOU START PUPPETRY ??

I was inclined towards arts and especially craft. After my B.Ed exam, one of my mothers’ friends who was a mime artist suggested that I work for a while under Suresh Datta in his group Calcutta Puppet Theatre. There I learnt puppetry, and started reading a lot about puppetry. In the 1980s I even got Ministry of Culture’s Young Scholarship. I went along with Suresh Datta for his research about puppet forms in north east India for his fellowship. That was quite an experience for me. I came to Delhi and joined Shri Ram Centre puppet repertory for 2 years after Dadi Pudumjee left, and in 1989 I joined CCRT and have been here since then. For a short while in between I had started Delhi Puppets Theatre, but closed that down soon.
Usually contemporary puppeteers use all styles of puppetry, but I mainly do glove and rod puppetry. I’ve been inspired majorly by my guru Suresh Datta and his style of rod puppets.
Recently I sought to writing about puppetry. I even maintain a website that contains a lot of information. I received a senior scholarship in 2001 for creating and maintaining this website. I believe that there needs to be documentation about groups and their work, traditional forms, etc. It’s not only advantageous to the puppeteers themselves but even to the researchers, students, scholars, etc. My first book was in 2005 for beginners, called ‘Make your own Puppet’. Then ‘Indian Puppets’ was written in 2006 and ‘Puppet Stories’ was written in 2007.

Q: WHY DO YOU THINK PUPPETRY IS STILL ONE OF THE LESSER KNOWN AND ACCEPTED ARTS ??

In India, though the standards of contemporary puppetry are good, only traditional puppetry sells abroad. And the traditional artists in India are fading into oblivion, save the occasional impetus given to a few forms by the SNA.
This medium is extremely powerful for children. They enjoy the creative aspect of puppetry, including making the puppet. But there are no regular puppetry shows for children. Children are an audience that will readily accept and happily enjoy puppet shows, but there are hardly any puppet shows, out of that rarely are shows made just for children. Shri Ram centre in my time used to do some work in this regard, but once that closed down there was a lull for a long time. Calcutta as compared to Delhi, is more vibrant as it has almost 10/12 puppet theatres and lots of shows every year. Every office there has a recreation group, where puppet groups used to often perform.
The standards of even the children’s workshops are bad. Some of them just take a handkerchief with a ball on a stick and wave it in the name of puppetry!
Even regular puppet shows for a general audience is very little. It sponsors are more than the people offering shows. And just very few out of the existing ones do quality work Its very important to know the grammar of puppetry. Then again, unless we watch puppet shows, how will we know the difference in quality?

DOES THE FUTURE OF PUPPETRY LOOK BRIGHT ??

There definitely is increased awareness about puppets, and people are ready to accept it as an art form in itself. Thanks to two really famous TV shows, people are familiar with puppets too. The workshops undertaken by CCRT are also having a multiplying affect as 30 odd districts have puppetry trained teachers now. The only thing that is very essential now is a proper centre that teaches puppetry, has a museum, undertakes training, etc, on the lines of the centre at Sri Lanka and Pakistan

IP Singh

(IP Singh has been the associate producer for the shows on NDTV that use puppets; like Gustakhi Maaf, The Great Indian Tamasha, Double take, etc. He’s also a part of the band Menwhopause)

Q: FOR HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN INTO PUPPETRY ??

Close to 11 years now. I started off when, as a part of the NGO Pravah, I was in Tilonia with a communication resource team and working basically on health and education issues. I was making music for them, alongside making and manipulating puppets. After that, I joined Katkatha, but initially I was only giving music. I went on to train under and work with Anurupa (Roy) in her shows and with Dadi Pudumjee and his group Ishara. I worked for the first time with puppets in television with Ranjana Pandey for Khullam Khulla. Meanwhile I got plenty of opportunities to travel abroad for the shows (went to Pakistan with Katkatha, etc); got to learn about different types of puppetry (learnt Indonesian shadow puppetry Wayang Kulit though a person in the embassy); worked with Puran Bhatt, Varun Narain, Karen Smith from Australia, etc and did some really cool things with puppetry.

Q: WHAT ABOUT PUPPETRY INTERESTS YOU ??

Puppets are the heights of imagination, and for the amount of creativity involved, puppets fascinate me. I love the idea of being invisible and yet being the storyteller. Also, when you see other puppetry forms, you tend to get all the more interested in it. I really like Indonesian shadow puppets and Bunraku style of puppetry. I have my own style of cutting shadow puppets, partly inspired by Indonesian puppets. However, more than stage puppetry performances, it is the television that interests me. I love making puppets for television and experimenting with lights and sets and other technical aspects while manipulating. Puppetry on television is more refined because people watch it so closely, and for that reason, the puppetry to be flawless.

Q: WHAT DO YOU DO AT NDTV

I’m the associate producer for all shows that use puppets, both on the Hindi and English channel. I also overlook sets and light design, etc I also manipulate and have trained close to 12 puppeteers who work with us on the show now. We use such different and unique puppets and themes that I don’t think any channel now is doing any work that’s closely related to our work. Though political satire is not a new concept, our style and theme is unique. Each show has a sound script, is practiced often and has a systematic organizational structure to it. That’s the reason its quality work.

Q: SINCE YOU ARE ASSOCIATED WITH SOME CAUSES AND ARE A PART OF A BAND ALONG WITH BEING A PUPPETEER, HAVE YOU DONE A LOT OF INTERESTING COLLABORATIONS ??

Some of my collaborations have been very interesting. Once our band Men who pause had done a concept based concert for which we had shadow puppets as visuals in the background. There has been different work, like I used puppets for wildlife videos we made for ‘Earth Matters’, and collaborated with a friend for ‘Pink Bloom’. In fact , once for a protest on Bhopal gas tragedy I even went to the extent of making a huge Advani puppet!

Kailash Bhatt

Kailash Bhatt and his father at Katputhli Colony in Shadipur

Kailash Bhatt: I work with Slums Actions in Delhi (SAID) which is basically an initiative by a French person called Linda Bouifrou. We focus on various slums in Delhi (like the one at Okhla, Ashok Vihar, etc) and try to spread consciousness/ awareness on HIV/AIDS, etc. through puppets and theatre. Though we barely have any financial support, we have established a small network of people who’ve moved beyond just Delhi, and are settled in different slums in different cities (like Dharavi in Bombay, etc), to carry out activities on behalf of SAID.
I understand the problems associated with being from a slum, and even the stereotypes attached to it. They find it hard to believe that a person like me, who’s a school dropout and yet speaks French and English, is from a slum. Yes I am from a slum, and I’m proud of it. I’m proud of my community. My biggest concern today is that we need a proper place to live in and I want to improve the conditions in my slum. The problems that we face are many. Right from the fact there are tourists, researchers; etc who come and take advantage of our slum to the fact that lack of education here has made some of our boys irresponsible and even indecent.
I have been making small attempts at tackling some of these problems. To begin with, I started the Junior Club here, which consists of around 50 boys from the colony. Most of the boys here have only studied till 6th or 7th class and dropped out of school after that. They get carried away because of their joblessness and often indulge in immoral practices. The numbers of cases of rape that are reported within the colony itself are so many, that it’s appalling. Most of these boys even get married early and have kids by my age! (Kailash is 20 years) In our club, we often talk about all this, and try to associate ourselves with some productive useful work I now believe that we all must collectively do something for the benefit of our community. We can’t afford to enjoy life as it comes. It’s important to make sure that the children of the colony get educated, basic sanitation be followed (most houses still don’t even have a bathroom!) and invest our earnings and learning. Like there’s even a saying, ‘roz pani peene ke liye roz kuan khodte ho, ek din kuan hi na raha toh paani kahan se piyoge?’ ( If one digs a well everyday to drink water, then what will they do if the well ceases to exist one day?)
Most of these boys also work with what I have started and called House of Puppets. Puran Bhatt is an extremely talented and renowned folk artist but most of what he does is to encourage the next younger generation of puppeteers. His workshops are mostly aimed at giving these new puppeteers a source of livelihood. My objective is to bring out the older generation of folk artists, capitalize on their experience and give them work and a means to livelihood. The young boys can still go fend for themselves. But what about the older artists, who have just been exploited since the time Katputhli colony was created? My father will tell you the history of this place later. But come to think about it, there must be over 1300 families here, and hundreds of folk artists. Not all of them could become a Puran Bhatt. What will they do? Moreover, every year, we have so many scholars/researchers/tourists/journalists, etc who come and take photographs of our colony, speak to the artists here and then go use it to their own benefit. In the bargain we got nothing. Foreigners come here often. One of them stayed for months, understood the community in great detail, went back to their country, wrote a book and made a lot of money. While people use us to become rich, we have remained down below and backward all this while because we allowed them to take advantage of us. I do not want anyone to take advantage of our slum, and want to use our own resources for our own benefit. That’s the reason house of Puppets conducts shows every Tuesday and Saturday and charges people who come and watch it. The senior artists of the villages perform here and have workshops with the younger people who’re interested. The House of Puppets, rightly has a tagline – Apne haath, Apni kala ka ghar. (Our hands, our house of art)

    
‘Welcome to House of Puppets’             Frescos made on the wall at HoP

I use puppets as a medium, because I have inherited the art from my previous generation, and also because it’s our traditional art form. It wasn’t meant to be medium to encourage business. It was meant to convey a message from one person to another, from one village to another, from one community to another. The word ‘katputhli’, slightly different from what Puran Bhatt said, is interpreted as a wooden

    
Making puppets and manipulating them at Kailash’s workplace

object (kat) which is given life when our eyes (puthli) imagine it as a life form. But nowadays puppetry is not just enough to make an artist able. And this is a lesson we have learnt from what our parents had to go through. It involves a lot of other things like knowledge of how to produce shows, way of communicating and speaking to agents, image building, training, confidence, etc. Through House of Puppets, I want other upcoming artists to learn that as well.

Kailash’s father: The history of Katputhli colony dates back to the time when Rajiv Sethi, a businessman, got us to Delhi and settled us on this land. Since then, to today, we have only been given promises that the land will be on our name soon. It still hasn’t happened and we still live on unauthorized land. Kalakar Trust, which was set at the same time to overlook our welfare, has had innumerable differences with the community. Many initiatives were initially taken – NGO Saarthi and Prayas, even Bhule Bisre, etc. None of it did much to improve our lot’s condition. The Government of Delhi too hasn’t given our art and artists its due respect. But hopefully the next generation will learn from our mistakes and contribute to our upliftment.

(Kailash later shows us around the whole colony. He leaves us with a quotable quote)
Kuch log khandani bevkoof paida hote hain aur kuch log khandani kalakar, hum shayad doosre type ke hain!

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