Express News Service

February 22 2006

This article shares information about a national puppetry festival, being organised by the Central Sangeet Natak Akademi in co-ordination with the Uttar Pradesh Sangeet Natak Akademi in India and explains how puppet shows are helping to pass along messages of family planning. Puppetry can be both entertaining, and educational, an approach known as entertainment-education.

'Banjarbali bachcha band' by Deepa Puppet Institute in Lucknow uses a humourous story to convey a strong social message of curbing population explosion. In the story, Banjar Bali’s family is very poor, yet they have a lot of children as they strongly believe that children are the gifts of God. Bali neither brings up his children well nor does he educate them. Bali's wife Ramakli eventually leaves him. On day a madari calls out to everyone to join him in a play. Nanku, Bali’s son joins him in the play but the madari, saying that he is illiterate, gives him the role of a beggar. This annoys Bali who tries to hit his son, but is stopped by his wife Ramkali. Ramkali tells him that he should realise the importance of bringing up the children well and educating him. The play ends with Bali finally asking the audience to vouch that they will have lesser number of children.