Puppeteers On A String

A film festival is a routine event these days _ but heard of a puppetry festival? Next week, at the India International Centre in Delhi a host of puppet makers will demonstrate how they can pull on some strings so effectively. Among those showing their special art will be the well known Dadi Pudumjee and Ranjana Pandey but there are others on the threshhold of fame.

Puppet maker Varun Narain is a relatively new entrant to this field, with just five years of experience in this age-old craft. Yet he has recently been wowing theatre- goers in the Capital with his puppets in the rollicking play, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare.

 

However, city based theatre- goers are not the usual audience for this self-taught puppeteer. Instead, Narain tours around the country with his puppets trying to catch the attention of school children and teenagers.

For the past one year, Narain has been working with adolescents on closed door subjects like child sexual abuse and growing up pangs. Working in tandem with an NGO called IFSHA (Interventions for Support, Healing and Awareness), Narain through his puppets deals with subjects that are the concern of most children.

Very often, he ends up raking issues that schools are scared to touch. As he points out, "It is a non-threatening way of conveying a message. Both parents and children get attracted to the medium." For all that, he laments that "schools are not very keen to let us in directly." So far they have gone about talking to kids, through direct performances at public places like Dilli Haat. Often parents, who are interested bystanders at the street shows, end up convincing the schools about the need for directly tackling taboo subjects such as sex.

Narain and his group also look at current issues. For instance, their latest play Mila and the Clock, talks about a young girl's quest for her own space and interest. "The most important issue today is about personality, feeling good about oneself and knowing what's wrong. With so many beauty queens, kids today have started feeling increasingly conscious about their flaws."

According to Narain, puppetry is an interactive medium and often adolescents relate so well to to the puppets that they start conversing with them.

Given that Narain has worked with so many school children he has many pertinent observations to make. For instance, he points how the curiousity and knowledge level of public school students are well developed. On the other hand, the government school student has to be informed about right choices and behaviour. Since IFSHA works with teenagers at all levels, including those at runaway homes and on the streets, various patterns emerge.

Although everyone watches their show, from panchayat women, commercial sex workers to executives, the greatest response is from children. Occasionally those who are keen on puppet-making stay on to learn the art. But the ultimate goal is to train student groups and move on to other schools.

In fact, Narain and his group have just come back from Pakistan after training an NGO on using puppets as an effective method of communication. They left behind two of their most popular characters, Coco and Yumyum.

When he is not travelling, Narain teaches the studentsof mass communication at Jamia Millia how to use this medium as an effective tool for communication. Fittingly then, he will share the podium with the likes of Dadi Pudumjee at the IIC, discussing the very subject.

For those interested in puppetry, the group is organising a summer camp at Pangot, 15 kms from Nainital, from June 19 to 26. Anyone between 13 and 15 can take part, paying a fee of Rs 4,500. For further information call 6253289/98. Besides theatre and puppetry workshops, the camp features exciting treks.