Raahgiri Day: Puppeteers put up a good show

August 4, 2014

TNN |

NEW DELHI: Raahgiri Day has also become a stage for people to show their talent. On Sunday, puppeteers from Kathputli Colony put up a show on road safety.

The audience was told a story of two school students, Sanjay and Anjali. Anjali ignored Sanjay when he told her not to listen to her iPod while crossing the road. “One day, while crossing the road, she met with an accident because she could not hear the bus honking,” the ‘sutradhar’ (narrator), a large puppet, explained. He went on to elaborate on traffic rules and the need to follow them.

Mihika Sharma, a second-year student of SRCC, said most of these puppeteers are giving up the art with a decreasing appeal for such shows.

“Some of them have taken up jobs as labourers or perform at marriage functions. Now, they earn good money by putting up shows on socially relevant issues,” she said.

Professor Abhay Kumar, the faculty advisor for this social initiative, said the idea is to rebuild sustainable business models for this age-old art.

“They will hold shows on dengue awareness from Monday at health camps organized by a private hospital,” he said.