COMMUNICATION THROUGH PUPPETS
by Anand Dwivedi

The world is obviously in a mess, plagued with many problems. The more solutions are worked out the more the problems multiply. For the last 50 years, many organisations have been involved in the task of solving the problems of the world. Sanchar Puppet Unit (SPU) strongly feels that materialistic approach behind the development is wrong. Materialistic approach detects the physical/material symptoms and tries to remove these symptoms with material means. It is like administering heavy sedatives to kill the symptoms of stress.

A through study of the success stories of development reveals the fact that it is the heart approach that really works rather than the rational-materialistic approach currently popular. Heart approached can also be called ‘mind approach’ provided that the word ‘mind’ is meant to include the heart as well. The ‘mind approach’ does not see the world as a material construct: rather it sees the world as consciousness, as energy, as mind, as prana, with the tangible part of it as an expression of the intangible. Similarly, the ‘mind approach’ sees a person not just a physical body-plus physical brain but also rather an expression of, and a doorway into, the cosmic consciousness.

Development begins with the developer rather than with community. The developer has to thaw/actualize/touch his or her own ocean of love first – however remotely – before approaching a community or taking a development initiative. To the SPU development is “an evolving mind help

Mind approach begins with a thorough research into the life and mind of a community. Hidden motives behind people’s behaviour are analysed; their deep insecurities/fears are examined; and the obstacles on their path to boundless energy are identified. Based on this research, messages are formed. Then the messages are given a strong, local appearance by reshaping them with local culture and environment. And finally, the messages are presented to the community in a powerful manner. The traditional mode of drama, including street play or environmental theatre, tends to become ‘one way’ communication, leaving the audience little or no space to participate actively. Ram Lal, head of SPU says, “We were looking for a much more flexible, much more spontaneous form of drama, with a huge range of actors ready to perform instantly, in any situation, requiring almost no preparation. And we discovered that: such form of drama could be created through an imaginative use of puppets.” 

Puppets can transform any real life situation into a drama. They can hold meetings, conduct workshops, make critical observation, ask strait, blunt questions, as well as stage plays. A puppet can ask questions which nobody else would dare to ask without inviting violent opposition. Ram Lal, a master puppeteer, dramatist, actor and musician says, “When a person interacts with people, it is the person that reaches the people before the message does; so the message has a huge possibility of getting distorted/misunderstood. On the other hand, when a puppet gives the same message, it reaches people undistorted”. 

Unlike live actors, puppets have no private lives to interfere with their role; in fact, puppets have no life except in the hands of the puppeteer. A puppet is immune to people’s reactions; it wears the same expression always. No actor can ever do this. Puppets encourage people, subliminally, to shed their biases/hidden motives, and become dramatic characters. As soon as people are able to do so, their energy levels go up and with this newfound energy, they are able to analyse a given situation and find solutions to problems.

Once we rise above our petty concerns and biases, above selfish motives and greed, we gain sufficient courage to see the roots of our problems and channel our energies towards the good of al. Only mind approach can help us transcend our narrow selfish boundaries to embrace the life of an entire community.

Four-way Communication

Television and radio provides one-way communication; it throws ready-made messages at us without bothering whether or not you receive the message. You cannot talk to the TV and radio; you are only a passive recipient. An honest discussion is an example of two-way communication.

Puppets provide a rare kind of communication, which can be called four-way communication. Puppets and people interact with each other. Now, the puppets can be humans, recognizable characters belonging to a particular time and place; they can also be non-human entities, like tree, cloud, river, lion and so on. When people are challenged to interact with these non-human characters, a third dimension opens up. The fourth dimension, which SPU feels is the most important one, is the plane of immense energy within ourselves. Psychologically speaking, when our unconscious resources become available to our conscious mind, communication gains a fourth dimension.

Ram Lal feels that no communication can be really effective unless it is four-way. And almost all of the problems of the world are essentially problems of miscommunication. If people could communicate with their own higher energies as well as with others-humans as well as non-humans-effectively and effortlessly, the problems of humanity would disappear quickly.

Communication in Development

Effective communication can dramatically cut down the cost of development. If the government and voluntary organisations learnt to use communication in developmental work, they could easily save up to 98% of their budgets.

The mistake that most development agencies make is this: they think that money, skill and appropriate technology can solve the problems of people. What they do not take into account is people themselves, their culture and beliefs, their hearts and minds, and their energy levels. Communication begins with people themselves: it touches their hearts and expands their minds. As a result, their energy levels go up and they suddenly discover that they can solve their problems with little or no outside help. Ram Lal has dozens of success stories to his credit.

Teachers can transform the lives of children as well as the future of mankind if they have access to the skills and modes of effective communication. A few decades ago, when there was no cinema and no television, the student had no one to compare the teacher with. Today, subliminally, the student compares the teacher’s performance with that of the film star and the television. Obviously, the teacher’s performance is bound to be poorer, unless teacher has access to an extremely effective mode of communication.

Unfortunately, even a brilliant teacher soon gets frustrated faced wit the problems of an average Indian school – the packed classroom with 40 or more children, the pressure of syllabus-time-parents-management, lack of effective teaching material, and lack of time for researching effective ways of getting the message across. These and many more problems make teaching learning extremely stressful. As a result, the classroom generates negative emotions of fear, boredom, failure, pain and sadness. The teacher and the children feel pushed into an unpleasant situation. Education becomes synonymous with bondage.

Teachers (and parents) need a great deal of support today. During the last 100 years, a great deal of research has been done in Education. Gandhi, Sri Aurobindo, Tagore, Steiner, Tolstoy, Neill, J. Krishnamurty and a few other educationists have demonstrated excellent ways of imparting education. These experiments need to be synthesised and adapted to suit the requirements of our own time. What we need is not just relevant ideas but also the right methods of communicating them; given a sensitive teacher and a well-formed message, puppets can be extremely helpful for communicating the message. An imaginative teacher can use the puppets in a variety of ways, teaching the children a number of skills. 

Of course the impact of puppets depends on the puppeteer. Manipulating puppets requires adequate skills of drama. You need to be a good actor in order to make your puppets act effectively. Most teachers therefore need to learn the skills of drama and puppetry before they begin to use puppets in the classroom.

Puppets and the Television

The overall development of children can be hampered by several factors: malnutrition, pollution, bad schooling, lack of play space, lack of love and so on; however, the biggest of all such factors is probably the television. It is not just eyes and rest of the body that receive the ill effects of the TV; what is much more alarming is its devastating impact on the brain. The TV gives the children a distorted world made up of just two sense-impressions: sound and sight. Cut off from the real world, a TV addict carries in his brain a model of the world, which is non-participatory, mock serious and mechanical.

Children like the TV especially the cartoon films, because they love fantasy. If they had access to something else which could adequately meet their need to fantasize, they would not care so much for the TV. Puppets are so popular with children because through them children can play out their fantasies in a participatory way. Unlike the TV, which provides passive entertainment, a puppet play has to be created: thus puppets encourage children to be creative and participative.

When children meet the puppets, their enchantment can easily be seen in their eyes. For one to four years’ olds, a puppet may serve as a doll, but older children see them as real characters belonging to a fantasy world. There are animals in human clothes and human hands; there is river wit human face; there are tree, cloud and Sun each with hands and expressive eyes; and there are humans belonging to different cultures and different historical periods. The range of games, stories children can create with these puppets is literally infinite.

Of course, puppets cannot replace the TV totally; and occasionally there may be some good things that the TV may have to offer children. However, once children have fallen in love with puppets, they will only watch the TV when it has something really fascinating to offer. A lot depends on the parents. If the parents are TV-addicts themselves, they may not have the energy or time to care whether their child grows up to become a creative individual or a robot. However, if the parents are creative, if their minds are alert/receptive/ exploring, they will definitely find ways of protecting their child from unhealthy addictions – the TV, drugs, computer games, and so on.

One Humanity

All humans are interconnected, woven into one another through the organic-inorganic body of the mother Earth, one with the heartbeat of the cosmos. Therefore, all those who are working for a healthier world, can only work meaningfully if they work together. No institution, no voluntary organisation can afford to worry about its name and fame: it is time that we discard all petty, selfish, egotistic motives and open our hearts to welcome one another.

Sanchar Puppet Unit is always ready to help – and accept the help of – any genuinely selfless individual/organisation. Let us not stay behind barred doors shrouded in our selfish worries and dishonest pleasures. Let us step out of our petty hovels to discover that we belong to infinite space. The sky looks gloomy and menacing but the Sun smiles in serene brilliance behind the dark clouds.