Puppetry as medium for development and education

- December 09, 2017

Puppetry as an ancient mode of mass communication holds immense potential even in this high tech era. The age-old folk art puppetry is the synthesis of various arts: sculpture, design, music, mime, dance and theatre, and the puppet itself. It is the crystallization of the imagination and magic of the puppeteer. Puppetry is one of most lively and successful folk theatrical forms in India. It is the most sophisticated enactments with boundless possibilities for revolution and creation.

using puppets for educational purposes

According to a scholar puppeteer Meher Rustom Contractor, “puppets have a subtle impact on simple audience which no human can achieve”. She has used puppets for over fifteen years to teach children physiology , hygiene ,civic ,history , geography and poetry, the subject s are conveyed to the children more vividly and are remembered more easily through the use of puppets than through conventional means . Glove puppets have become to be increasingly used in the field of communication and development in recent years. To encourage scientific methods of farming, to promote the use of fertilizers, and to deal with a host of social problem from dowry to child delinquency. The song and drama division(established in 1954) makes wide use of puppets in its campaign to promote various government projects . Several other organization , government , semi-government and private , have also used puppets in support of individual schemes. Puppetry can used to educate impoverished urban and rural people about controversial social issues such as AIDS, family planning, and women’s rights.

Some of the infamous enactment of puppets shows in India had taken plave by the endeavor of the different state government in India ; Tum bina jivan kanha (dealing with the importance of trees), Kahi aapko hojae toa (dealing with AIDS), Bigyan vani (dealing with safe drinking water), Anader ki hartal (dealing with the understanding of the human body), etc. The puppet shows were interesting and exciting. As they progressed, they explored the science and technological issues with messages mixed with a right blend of action and music.

👉Doordharshan has been producing short educational film in Gayan Dharshan shows which is puppet based stories for children and adults from their centres for educational television.

👉Sanjit ghosh produced a successful puppet-serial on “ Buddha Baba Ki Pontli”, adapting Arabian Nights stories of the Hindi language.

👉The contemporary puppeteer Dadi Padumji produce “Chuna Laga ke” serial ,bantering social situation on ZeeTV.

puppet shows for community development

In 2002, the Union Bank of India employed puppets troupes to tour selected villages of Uttar Pradesh, with a play designed to educate the villagers about the value of small savings and the concept of interest earning. The Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) of India still using puppets to educate rural masses about life insurance .Puppet show is a powerful source of science communication and important messages can be conveyed to the target group in any language through the medium of puppets.