Shabd Manch - A Festival of Letters - Puppeteer Shobhit Tandon
An enthralling puppet show was put on by Shobhit Tandon, a theatre artist and puppeteer, with his troupe for children of Class I. The story he chose was ‘The Blue Umbrella’ by Ruskin Bond and from the very start, children were absorbed in the tale being spun.
The puppeteers swept the children right along by engaging them with the story, whether it was an impromptu quiz in Laal Chhoo Kaka (Ram Bharosa in the original text) asking them what ingredients to put in his chai or an internal monologue in Chanda (Binya in the original text) asking whether it would have been a better choice to give the umbrella away. The story highlighted its principal themes of bitter envy and forgiveness without losing any flair. The children were very sensitive to the plight of Laal Chhoo Kaka as his shop fell into disrepair and cheered as he mended fences with Chanda.
After the performance, the puppeteers introduced themselves and Shobhit Tandon told the children about the different types of puppets involved in his act - shadow puppets, mask puppets and wooden puppets. In turn, the children shared that they had also made their own puppets as a part of their classroom experiences.
It was a refreshing and enjoyable experience that invigorated the children’s love for the art of storytelling through puppetry.