“Hi, I’m a parrot and have many good things about me,” squawks a voice behind an animated parrot, which came to life in the hands of R. Bhanumathi of Pavai Centre for Puppetry, Chennai. With a doctorate in puppetry from Gandhigram Rural University, she has travelled far and wide carrying forward the message of environment conservation. She also conducts puppetry-training programmes for primary school teachers. She tells Karthik Madhavan that puppetry is the best medium to convey messages.
“When a message is conveyed through puppetry, the audience is interested, resulting in their retaining the message for long. It is also innovative, interesting and entertaining.” For the children, Bhanumathi mostly employs hand glove puppets, which are easy and simple to use.“Story-telling with a good script is what is important,” says the puppeteer. Besides conducting shows, she also teaches puppet making. Her puppetry and puppet-making has not stopped with students alone. “I’ve also done corporate workshops, where puppetry helps in team-building and stress busting among others.” She has to her credit HR presentations through puppetry as well. There are a couple of other reasons for taking up puppetry, says Bhanumathi. “The first is that waste can be recycled in making puppets, and the second is that it has a therapeutic effect on mentally-challenged children.” She has also conducted puppet-making workshops for mothers and children. “It helps them bond better,” is her reasoning. She can be contacted at 044-24350937 or 94444 86497.
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