There is something suspicious about the foreign objects that these animals have been eating in their forest. Their stomachs ache, and they investigate the cause of food poisoning. This leads them to a world where human beings freely use the same objects. They seek answers from their friends in the city, and learn that the culprit is plastic, which dons on the identity of an asura (demon) in the show, Plastikasura.
This story has travelled far and wide through its 22 puppetry shows, and owes its beginnings to Siddappa Virabhadrappa Biradar, 39, a science teacher in the Government High School, Chibbalageri, in Haliyal town in Uttara Kannada district. What started as a module in a training programme at the Centre for Cultural Resources and Training in Hyderabad in 2006 has turned into the well-travelled ‘Hongirana Puppetry Team.’
When Mr. Biradar began to use puppetry in his classes, he saw a marked improvement in his students’ exam scores. Realising that it was a powerful medium to communicate concepts, he decided to use it as a weapon against environmental villains. Imaginative stories featuring Plastikasura and carbon dioxide as villains were adapted into puppetry shows. The latter is themed on global warming and has been performed 60 times. It shows the lotus and the sun as lovers, with CO2 entering as the villain, following industrialisation.
Among the first to feel the pangs of global warming are two friends, cloud and wind, who tire easily while playing and decide to leave. Their decision impacts another set of friends, frog and butterfly, who cannot live without water and the breeze.
They teach humans to make little changes in their lifestyle to allow for the peaceful co-existence of nature and human beings.
Team of 25
Armed with about 350 dolls — string, rod and glove puppets — Mr. Biradar and his team of 25, which includes present and former students, have performed for all kinds of audiences, from a scientists’ meet in Himachal Pradesh to the Dandakaranya Park in Dandeli.
“Our team includes 12 hobby puppeteers and my students,” Mr. Biradar said. One reason their ‘eco-conscious’ shows are popular is that they don’t preach the unachievable.
“The characters do not say ban plastic, for example. They teach people about the ill-effects of indiscriminate usage and irresponsible disposal. In the context of global warming, the animals make people take an oath about the little measures they can take, such as walking short distances instead of using vehicles,” he said.
