Across the road from the Rajasthan Vidhan Sabha in Jaipur, lies Kathputli Nagar — a slum cluster in the middle of the city housing, almost entirely, puppeteers.
And amid all the grimness of narrow and filth-strewn lanes, a puppeteer gives free music lessons to children of the slum. He has been doing so for the last decade and half.
Prakash Bhatt is a globetrotting artiste who invests his “foreign earnings” inmusical instruments to teach the children of Kathputli Nagar.
“I was born into a family of puppeteers. But it’s a dying art. So I teach whatever music I know to these children so they can at least earn a decent living performing in orchestras and at parties,” he says.
On the roof of Prakash's house, children sing and play Shakira's Waka Waka on a harmonium and give a perfect rendition of Give me some sunshine from ‘Three Idiots’.
Everyday, children from the slum visit Prakash to learn music. While he teaches about 80 – 90 children, only about 20 – 25 can fit into the cramped space on his roof at a time.
“These children are born into misfortune. The local government school here wouldn’t admit them because they are from the lower caste, like me. Whatever education they receive, is from a help centre run by Christian missionaries,” Prakash said. “I teach them English lyrics...and they're quick to learn. It is important to know some English songs...you never know what demands people could make at parties.”
At present, Prakash’s ‘music school’ has a limited inventory of instruments. There is a dholak, a set of tablas, a chang, khartals (all traditional instruments), two harmoniums, couple of harmonicas, a guitar and a ukulele. “I don’t charge anything... they (the children and their parents) couldn’t pay anyway. But doing this requires money and there isn’t any in puppetry,” says Prakash.
He says the police don’t allow puppet shows on the streets and footpaths anymore. “Earlier, puppets were widely used during election campaigns...and for awareness campaigns for polio etc run by the government. But now there’s TV for everything.” But while puppetry is dying a slow death in India, international audiences are still fascinated by it.
“Abroad, people love puppetry...it is so heartening to get genuine appreciation,” says Prakash, as he shows his passport with immigration stamps from the USA, Russia, Columbia, Switzerland, The Netherlands, France, Belgium, Portugal, Spain, Mexico, South Korea and Italy.
“If only we could manage a bigger room… the last two days it rained so classes could not be held. We even have space but no money to build a room there,” he says, pointing to a small empty plot near his house.
