One night at our hotel, we were pleasantly surprised to see a puppet show was about to begin! It was twi-light time, and their colorful tent was set up on the lawn of the courtyard. The drummer started and a variety of traditional Rajhastani puppets danced into our hearts. Afterwards we chatted with the 2 performers and we planned a get together at their puppet colony for today, Sunday. What a time we had. Not at all what we were expecting. It was a slum- no other way to say it. And it was extremely distressing to see the squalor these lovely people are living in. We traversed narrow alleyways and up some steep stairs to the school- one small room with one shelf on the wall . It was music class time and the teacher was playing a harmonium and every body was happily joining in with the music- clapping and singing.
Eventually I donned my blue frog head and gloves and then Allynn did a few balloons. Then we went to a puppet storage room and bought 2 puppets. We were given a tour thru the alleyways as my heart was absolutely breaking. We saw a room full of wood chips and pieces of mango wood where 3 men were carving puppet heads. It was such an oppressive sight and I had a difficult time wrapping my brain around it. One mother, sitting in her little hovel, was sewing puppet pieces. And her half dressed baby was shocked and frightened when he saw me. I suppose he’d never seen a white person before! And I must have looked like a ghost to him. It was such a poignant moment and I think the photos I took will say more than I can put into words.