An elective saw us collaborate with masters from two narrative traditions, traditional Rajasthani puppeteers, Shri Chauthmal Ji and Shri Rajesh Ji and musicians from Alwar, Rajasthan, led by Shri Jumma Khan Mewati, looking for a common story to tell. Discovering lovable folk narrations, their adaptation with and to current scenarios and contexts was a beautiful, enriching experience. For the first few days, we learnt what goes into composing a song, making a puppet, making a puppet move to the song, the stories that get told, and the culture that gets passed on.
We then looked for a story that we could narrate together. We chose to tell the story of the Gujari Bazaar, a 600 year old people's market in the city of Ahmedabad that faced the threat of being uprooted, location, seven thousand livelihoods, families, a culture , an economy, everything in the name of development. This story,we told through the eyes of Romeo and Juliet, the newly married puppet couple who look orward to setting up a home with the bazaar's help, but are haunted by its disappearance.
We wrote the script and composed special songs in the traditional ballad style of Alwar, to be able to bring out the elements of the story.
Our new story needed a new set. We chose to take the cloth based puppet show sets that are traditionally used, and develop that to the present scenario. Ahmedabad's ellisbridge, along which the market is located, becomes the frame, with silhouettes of old and new ahmedabad as the backdrop . The blue ripples hiding the platorm became the Sabarmati River, and the chatais became the sandy river banks on which the market is located.
The entire set was suspended in place with just a system of ropes.
The perormance was well recieved, and helped not only sensitise the audience to the story of the Gujari Bazaar, but also changed their perceptions regarding traditional and folk narrative systems, as classic and beloved means of getting one's stories across.
