Ranjani - Puppeteer in Delhi

Week 1 Report (14th May- 21June)

The first thing I did in the week was note down details given in the Delhi Puppeteers directory in the Anand Foundation website. I did plenty of internet research for the first few days, and utilized google to the fullest! I did find quite some background information on the art form itself as well as on the famous puppeteers in Delhi. However, I still had trouble figuring out where to start. I called up Anurupa Roy from Katkatha, a name I had come across one-two times previously. After troubling her with quite a few phone calls I finally managed to fix an appointment for the 20th of May. In the meanwhile, I paid a visit to the Sangeet Natak Akademi (SNA) library on Ferozshah Road. They had a section on puppetry, with some very interesting books. It’s supposed to be the largest collection in any Delhi library, even though the number of books is barely around 30. It was helpful as it familiarized me with the work done by some puppeteers and writers who were already on my contact list. It was also important to note that only select Indian publication houses publish most of these books on puppetry.

20th May was an eventful day. After a very insightful meeting with Mr Vikram Anand I visited KRITI Information Place in Alaknanda, hoping I’ll find information on organizations or social movements that use puppetry as a medium. The literature available with them wasn’t of much use, but Anchal Kapur of the KRITI team gave me some valuable contacts and inputs for this project. This was followed by a fabulous meeting with Anurupa Roy at her studio in Srinivas Puri. Her insight, inputs, information and leads are enough to last me through the whole project!

The best part about Puppeteers and puppetry is that it seemed like a close-knit community, especially in Delhi. So everybody knows what everybody’s doing! She was a reservoir of information on the puppetry scene in Delhi and said she’d help me out with resources and contact people. In return, I’d be helping her out with the database maintained by UNIMA India, an Indian chapter of the international union of puppeteers.
So far so good, next week I plan to do more channelised field work.