The fascinating world of Indian puppets…. By Mrs. Shomita Nair (Grade 2 Teacher)

The fascinating world of Indian puppets…. By Mrs. Shomita Nair

“हम सब रंगमंच की कटपुतलिया है जिनकी डोर उपरवाले की उँगलियों से बंधी हुई है”. Most of us who remember the movie Anand will remember this dialogue by superstar Rajesh Khanna where he talks about us humans as puppets who are controlled by the divine creator. That is on a philosophical note but the role of puppetry in Waldorf education is just as profound.

Story telling through puppets in the Waldorf curriculum

Puppetry or a puppet play exudes simplicity and calmness in the way a story is narrated and built upon. When a child watches a puppet show, it stimulates their fantasy, strengthens their life forces and as it unfolds step-by-step it evokes their imagination and they move forward with the story. It is more relevant in today’s fast-paced world because when the stories are acted out in front of children it also has a calming effect on them.

It is said that when Rudolf Steiner was asked how to do puppet plays, he insisted that the marionettes must hang on threads tied directly to the fingers (not a cross bar), directed from above. He had clear views on how the story must be read, style and colour of the costume fabric and stage lighting and scenery. Puppetry is an integral part of the Waldorf curriculum as the sole purpose of puppet plays is, according to Steiner, to help the children to develop fantasy.

India: the birth place of puppetry

The world of puppets is a very colorful world just like the colouful milieu of the Indian subcontinent. So it is hardly surprising that this form of art originated here. Early references of puppetry in India can be found in the Tamil classic ‘Silappadikaaram’ written around 1st or 2nd century BC. The content of the puppet shows in the Waldorf curriculum is similar to that of traditional puppet theatre in India which is mainly stories of the legends, puranic stories and local myths.

There are 4 major different types of puppets used in India. Glove Puppets, Rod Puppets, Shadow Puppets and String Puppets.

Glove Puppets

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Glove Puppetry is popular in many parts of India. It’s sheer pleasure to see this art form unfold in the hands of a master puppeteer. In Glove Puppetry, the heads and arms of the puppets are controlled by the fingers of the puppeteer and it can produce a wide range of movements.

Found in Orissa, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, and West Bengal, the themes and the delivery of the story varies from place to place. In Uttar Pradesh, stories are often based on social themes while in Odisha the stories narrate the tales of Radha and Krishna. Pavakoothu, a glove puppetry form from Kerala, draws inspiration from Kathakali depicts the fables of Ramayana and Mahabharata.

Rod Puppets

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It is an extension of glove puppetry but on a much larger scale. Mostly found in West Bengal and Odisha, the puppets in this form are manipulated using rods.

It is believed that the Rods Puppets have better control compared to other forms. The Putul Nautch from the Nadia district of West Bengal are about 3-4 feet in height. One gets a highly theatrical experience while watching this form of puppetry. During the show, a group of musicians play the music and the main dialogue and songs are delivered by the puppeteer.

Shadow Puppets

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Shadow puppets are flat and operated against a white clothed screen. It is highly technical in nature and it is all about judging the perfect balance between the light and the screen. The correct manipulation of both will result in a project of a gorgeous silhouette and colorful shadows. In India, this form is very popular and has varied styles depending on the geographical location.

The Shadow Puppet shows begin at night and continue till dawn. Puppet sizes reflect the social status of the character that they play. Larger puppets are for royal and religious members while smaller puppets depict the common people and servants. Known as Tongalu Gombeyaata, the puppets are mostly colored in red, blue, black or green. While conventionally the form was used to portray stories of the Ramayana and Mahabharata.

String Puppets

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It is one of the most popular forms of puppetry in India. The Kathputli that is referred to in the aforementioned movie dialogue falls in this category. Also, these puppets are the ones recommended by Steiner for storytelling in the Waldorf curriculum. String puppets have jointed limbs, controlled by strings that allow flexibility. This makes them the most articulate of all the puppets and also the most challenging. It takes years of practice to control these puppets. It is mostly popular in in Rajasthan, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu.

Kathputli- Rajasthan’s form of string puppetry involves large colorful dolls that are vibrantly dressed. Puppeteers speak in shrill voices produced when spoken through a bamboo reed. The subjects presented are mostly social problems like dowry, women’s empowerment, illiteracy, and poverty.

An art form that has stood the test of time

As an art form that has lived and evolved centuries, puppetry is enriching not just for the children but also for the puppeteers. Just like the children who watch it with awe every time and exercise their faculties of imagination, the performers too get in touch with their own sense of creativity with each performance and evolve along the way.

A Dream to Fly…. By Ms. Mariyam Bootwala

As a child all my summer vacations were spent at my Grandparent’s house. It was in a small village located around 10kms away from Lonavala. The house was at the base of a hill. A major part of my day was spent on top of this hill. This hill was my home and my friend. My favorite past time was to lie down and watch the clouds floating by. An occasional sighting of an Airplane would make me and my cousins’ wave vigorously, hoping that the pilot would notice us.

One fine day when I was just lying there imagining that the clouds were shaped in forms of different animals today, I happened to see an oddly shaped bird at a distance. Or was it? It flew for some time near the distant mountain and then it went down and disappeared. I was curious but as a 10yr old I didn’t really know how to find out what it was (we didn’t have Google or a Computer). A few days later I saw many such things flying around that mountain. They weren’t birds, I was sure. My cousin and I decided to investigate. After spending hours in questioning our uncles and older cousins we found out that those were gliders and it was a sport called Paragliding.

The thought of Flying off the mountain and seeing the world like how a bird sees it made me feel excited. After that I would spend hours watching these colourful gliders fly. I had made up my mind to fly in one of those as soon as I could.

It took me twenty years to finally fulfill my dream. The day I was going to fly made me feel like my 10 years old self. I left Mumbai early in the morning. The entire car ride was spent in anticipation and I reached the base camp well before time. They say that if you want something, you need to earn it. Well, that’s true in this case — before you can launch from the mountain top, you need to climb up the mountain first… and FAST, because you need to catch the wind conditions while it’s favourable for flying!

Mid-way through the trek, I was already huffing and panting. “It’s going to be worth it” I told myself. While trekking, I could see paragliders launching off from the mountain top. That really got me excited (and nervous at the same time), as it hit me that I was going to be flying in a few minutes!!!

After reaching the top I had to wait for a few hours. The winds were strong and I was underweight!! It was annoying to wait (I had waited for 20 years already), but it was for my own safety. Finally, a kind tandem pilot took pity and was ready to risk flying with me. I was told that if after take-off the pilot feels its risky to keep flying, he will make an emergency landing. I was ready to take that chance!!

In the next few minutes, I was up in the air. Throughout the flight, I was feeling pure joy and ecstasy. It was incredible looking down from my seat, seeing myself float above Earth(with the pilot behind me), suspended by nothing but a canopy and a harness.

At the same time everyone below was going about their own routine, without a care in the world, without even knowing that I was up there flying and having the time of my life.

Being up in the air, flying in the glider, made me feel tiny. It made the world feel tiny, given that everything (and everyone) was just beneath my feet. The Hill where I saw this dream was also just a speck. It also made my problems, concerns, and thoughts seem tiny. Up there in the sky, nothing matters. All you experience is purity and serenity.

By way of my paragliding flight, I got to tick off an item off my bucket list, which is “to fly” 😀 (and I don’t mean flying by plane).