Ranjani - Puppeteer in Delhi

Week 4 Report (4th June to 11th June)

This week, I first met Varun Narain, another well known name in the modern puppeteers’ circle, at his home-cum-studio in Chhatarpur on 5th June. He came across as quite a non-conformist who chose some rather bold and unique themes for his performances. Meeting Varun sir was fun, and he was encouragingly candid throughout the interview. Plus, hearing of some of his experiments with puppetry was very interesting.

This was immediately followed by a meeting with Ranjana Pandey on 6th June at Chirag Enclave. Ranjana ma’am, who’s been working with puppets for over 30 years now, gave some brilliant insight into the debates and perspective on issues existing regarding puppetry today. For example; use of puppets in teacher training, preservation of traditional forms of puppetry, etc. Having been associated with modern puppetry from a time when it was still not widely known or accepted, and having had the kind of experiences that she did, her opinions and inputs will add value to my project.

On 7th was a super-long meeting with Anurupa Roy again. She has been extreeemely nice, helpful and patient with me throughout these 4 weeks, for I’ve been constantly going back to her with doubts and questions. This meeting was much needed as it helped me fill up a lot of gaps and loopholes in my information so far.

That’s it for this week, as the rest of the time I have been busy with a few relatives who are home this week. In the next two weeks I have some major areas to cover- Shadipur Depot; Sampa Ghosh ( +CCRT); and lots of phone calls! I want to spend the last week just compiling all my information, for which I’ll need help from the office and Anju ma’am.