What made 72-year-old Lata Satgopan so passionate about using puppetry in education? He strongly believes that this is a suitable technique for storytelling. And storytelling, in turn, is an effective tool of communication. “Puppets are an ideal educational tool for the 9-14 age group. Puppets are not just dolls or toys. They have life and can replace humans,” she explains.
“A storyteller has the option of using a simple story or combining it with a visual medium such as drama or puppets. In a simple story, the narrator must be very expressive with words and the children must understand what is being said. This understanding is facilitated by using puppets. In fact, I speak Puppets are used sparingly. The message should come through the puppet play, the action,” she explains.
Lata has been committed to creating innovative and socially relevant puppetry for the past 37 years, and has earned a reputation in India and abroad. She trains teachers in puppetry at training colleges as well as institutions such as Mount Carmel and Christ University in Bengaluru. Also, she conducts workshops for children and adults to share her passion for puppetry.
Lata’s thematic puppet shows, held both online and offline, embody the principles of ‘theatre in education’ combined with her practice of storytelling and script writing. She uses this to fuel her passion for revitalizing the art of storytelling through puppetry, and has received a state award as an innovative puppetry educator.
Behind the scenes
Lata recalls that her passion for drama and literature grew during her school days in Bengaluru. With the help of her teachers, she staged plays on subjects such as world culture, mime entire poems, and her school’s puppet theater. As an introverted child, he noted, he enjoyed being able to speak from behind a screen.
“There was an exciting period in school life when (English actor) Jennifer Kendall and her family came to our school to conduct a workshop. We were exposed to Shakespeare theater for three years. Since we were a small group, we got the best out of the interpersonal interaction,” says Lata.
After completing her BEd and MA in English, Lata became an English language teacher at the Women’s Peace League School, where she taught for 12 years. She used to be actively involved in school plays, which she enjoyed. Exposure to drama early in life changed his thought process. As a teacher, it makes him want to try new things.
‘How I Became a Puppet’
The turning point in his life and career came when he was asked to represent his school and the state of Karnataka in a 45-day puppet training program held in Shillong in 1986. The program was organized by NCERT (National Council of Educational Research and Training), New Delhi.
This was his first exposure to the outside world. About 100 teachers from different parts of the country participated and the theme was national integration, during which the participants learned patriotic songs.
“It was a fun experience. I was in touch with puppeteers from different fields and we would exchange our skills and training experiences. Famous puppeteers were our mentors.”
“After the program, I received a certificate saying I had been trained in ‘Educational Use of Puppets’. The participants had to go back and spread the message of integration in their states. Unbeknownst to me, I was selected as a resource person on puppetry in the education department,” says Lata. After that, she attended conferences and Presented papers for NCERT.
Tapping into your ‘inner child’
According to Lata, making puppets and participating in puppet shows improves children’s communication, interpersonal, literacy and motor skills. It is also therapeutic as it taps into the ‘inner child’, and fosters both creative and critical thinking skills.
“Being involved in puppetry leads to positive changes in behavior and also improves socialization,” asserts Lata.
As an educational tool, puppets make learning more interesting for children, and develop observation skills in children. “This media is powerful because of the visual, movement or action involved, and because it facilitates language development,” she explains.
Two incidents gave rise to puppetry in India. According to the National Education Policy 2020, which recommends experiential learning (learning by doing) for all age groups, the central government has developed a toy-based pedagogy to help school children in the age group of 3 to 18 years understand the basics. Develops science and math concepts, as well as sensory and motor skills. Along with blocks, puzzles, masks and sand art, schools should use puppets as a tool to teach children.
Another development that Lata says bodes well for the future of puppetry in India is the inclusion of the art in the bead curriculum over the past few years. “I was asked to address 100 students enrolled in the BEAD course on puppetry. We made puppets out of newspapers. Puppets can be used to teach English, math, science and social studies,” she says.
Twist endings, creativity unleashed
The topics of the puppet show are usually socially relevant such as personal hygiene, clean India, health issues, community life, national unity, children’s behavior during covid, career counseling and guidance, and environmental protection messages.
Lata also involves the children to write the script around this. She has prepared theme kits with puppets for topics like shapes, rainbow colors, food chain, clean India and national integration.
Sometimes Lata does programs based on books. She has created puppet shows based on ‘The Little Red Hen’, ‘Three Little Pigs’, ‘Birbal’s Khichadi’ and Christmas stories.
She tells an interesting incident. “We were staging the story of the lion and the rabbit and how the rabbit outsmarts the lion and runs away. In a traditional story, a lion falls into a well and dies. But, at the turn of the story, the children decide that they want to teach the lion a lesson but don’t want him to die. So, at their end, the lion came out of a feeling of remorse. Even Lata was not aware of this change!
‘joy and meaning’
Although there are many styles of puppetry, Lata specializes in ‘glove puppets’, where the relationship between puppeteer and puppeteer is close. While she is performing on puppetry, she also demonstrates how strings, spoons and leather puppets are used. Different styles of puppetry require different energy levels, she says.
“Puppets are usually made of paper, thermocol and cloth. I use handmade paper and as a result, the puppets have lasted for years despite being torn due to use by children,” says Lata.
He also likes to combine songs with storytelling, which makes his shows more interactive, as the audience can sing along. Each performance requires a maximum of three days of rehearsal. Sometimes, she carries a makeshift screen with her. In others, she improvises a set with tables and sheets. He should choose the right indoor space as the sounds will not carry over into the open space.
“In 1992, we had to give a presentation on space at Visvesvaraya Museum. I was wondering how to make a star or rocket fly. The museum team helped us prepare a slide show that ran parallel to the puppet show. This was an innovation that has helped me on many occasions. I used it when I helped a group of children do a puppet show at a community program on infectious diseases at St. John’s Medical College,” explains Lata.
Recorded voices are not used in puppetry, as live voices make the performance more engaging. But Lata performed recorded music in some performances instead of a live orchestra.
“Puppets bring joy and meaning to my life in many ways. I am sharing my passion with others. I am constantly innovating and becoming more creative. For example, I am now involved in using puppets to introduce different types of masks in India. My work involves a lot of research, Which I like. I also feel that I am contributing to the popularization of puppetry. Karnataka is famous for puppetry, but on the way, I encourage new puppeteers I do,” she says.
Edited by Divya Sethu; Photo Credit: Lata Satagopan