Strings Attached

It was not just a bunch of kids,who were entertained and educated. Even their parents were caught in the wizardry that was created by shadow puppetry. It was all about the story of Punnu,a special rat,who is born with seven tails. His school mates don’t want to play with him and that makes him sad. So Punnu decides to cut one of his seven tails. Since he is still being bullied,he goes on to cut another one,and another,till he is left with just two. “Yet,Punnu is not accepted and realises that he should be happy being the way he is and does not need to change for anyone,” said artist and puppeteer Subasis Neogi,as he and his team got in action for a shadow puppetry story performance at the Toy Library,Panchkula. Saat Poonch Wala Chooha is the latest production by Ethonova,a resource group that designs different learning experiences for children and has a basketful of activities including games,theatre and puppetry.

It was Saat Poonch Wala Chooha that got the newly formed group Johnians And Moms (JAM) get off to a creative start and unlock creative expressions of children. “We are a group of about 20 mothers,who decided to get together to help our children interact,play and learn together. Building relationships while doing something creative alongside is the idea of JAM. We hope to catch up over a bhangra,art,story-telling classes at least once a month,’’ says Amita Gandotra,one of the founding mothers. Neogi has added performance to story-telling,along with string and shadow puppetry. The idea is deep interaction,participation and sharing,with a variety of new stories constantly being developed for regular performances. Neogi has also included illustrations,masks,vocals,puppets and songs,making it all a single narrative,with animals as lead characters in most stories.

Saat poonch wala chooha,says team members Archana Magar,“is not only about counting or that Punnu is special. It is meant to be an aesthetic as well as a learning experience for children.” She adds that this is what engages the right and left brain and evokes a gamut of emotions like the joy of first day at school,or that of enjoying a ball game with a friend and the pain when you are rejected by friends,the struggle to accept yourself just the way you are

“Children,experience emotions like these all the time. They can learn about life if they are walked through these times by accepting and caring adults and helped to think and negotiate their way through the joys and sorrows,” says Harleen Kohli of the group.

While the puppet show,will be regularly performed at various venues,the Ethonova team is busy working on another story for a shadow puppetry performance,with Neogi working out a concept that is spontaneous. “The idea is to make children connect to the story inside-out,” he says.