I had set two meetings with puppeteers. I would have taken a rickshaw, but Azam sahib rightly suggested that Zohaib sahib could take me on his motorcycle. Zohaib sahib picked me up in the morning and we were off to meet the first puppeteer.
We reached the dhaba (roadside hole in the wall restaurant) that Sadar (Khursheed Ali) had told me to call him from. I could not reach him on the phone, so we asked the dhaba folks about puppeteers and he pointed us down the road. After several more calls and asking around, we reached a spot in a back alley. Sadar sahib came and met us there. He generously bought Zohaib and a couple of sodas from the shop we were in front of. He shared the beauty and challenges of his art. He knows many of the puppeteer families in the area and having understood that I am trying to make a directory of them, was quite willing to share that information.
Like the other families of puppeteers scattered about the area, his family migrated from Rajasthan during the partition of India and creation of Pakistan. They had continued their art of puppetry, but the last 30 years in particular saw a serious decline due to television and a lack of support from the public and government.He showed me a script from the Health Department of the Pakistan government. It was a modified version of the script for his show which included a few lines of health awareness thrown into the mix. These artists then travelled to remote villages and performed. This brought the villagers out, providing entertainment and a bit of much needed education regarding health. What a fantastic idea! This project helped promote health awareness as well as supporting the puppetry artists. Certainly, this is something that can be continued.After several generations in the area, he was finally able to buy a small piece of land, but lacking further funds, he lives in a small makeshift hut on the land. The recent rains washed sewage into their lanes and home. They are suffering terribly, and not for a lack of skills or initiative. Just a bit of support and they can continue this art and benefit others.He told me about one elderly puppet maker who is currently in Karachi, working as a laborer to work off a debt. These are fantastic artists and performers, who yearn for audiences to share these traditions handed down by his account for a good 300 years. Their puppets are not mere dolls to be bought and sold, but honored performers, handed down generation to generation. He did not have puppets with him, but agreed to arrange a group for a performance. Now I just needed to arrange for a space, and I could hire the group for a show. I felt that this would be the best way to get a feel for their work.
After this, we head over to meet another puppeteer named Jameel, who had been referred to me by an NCA filmmaking student named Hamza (referred to me by Suffi sahib) who had hired him for a segment of his short film. Hamza had generously provided me with lots of helpful information regarding his experiences as well as Jameel’s number. We met at another dhaba near the main bus stop; Laria Adda.We sat and spoke for a while. I explained about the need for a directory of puppeteers to cut out greedy middle men who restrict access to these performers as well as funding. This way, people could contact them for work and hire them directly. We had spoken about this on the phone. He didn’t offer up any other contacts, but he brought a book with letters thanking him for performances at schools around the country and other venues where he had performed. This was quite a good resume, showing his past experiences. He had a book of photos as with information as well. He kindly brought a dancing puppet and gave me a little demonstration. I could clearly see his that he was skilled, and with more regular performances, he could shine again.Much of the conversation revolved around the very real issues being faced by these traditional puppeteers. He wondered why with all the arts organizations in Pakistan, that traditional puppetry had not figured into the equation regarding support and funding. I agreed with him. I did not ask a lot of questions. Much of it was just listening. At the end, I requested to take a few photos. I did not carry much money and had paid an advance for the puppet show to Sadar sahib, so I did not have money to give Jameel sahib. This is why I did not pull out my camera to record the performance he gave. I don’t think he would have stopped me from recording, but I feel like we have to understand and respect the situation these artists find themselves in. When we make recording, we should certainly pay something where possible and make a point that when we put that on facebook etc, that there should be contact information for the artists so that they can be hired and known. I plan to return for that. We had some tea. These puppeteers were very generous. They insisted on us having tea etc. James sahib even wanted to buy us dinner and entreated that we not shame him by not accepting.
It doesn’t take much to give another human being the respect that they are due. I hope that I can do that for these artists. Zohaib sahib and I could not stay for a meal, so we bid farewell and head back to the Multan Design College where I gave a short presentation on my animation work to the students who are busy with exams. The textile students were very appreciative. Besides my demo reel, I show students my short film “Gul” and show them footage of the Girnari Jogi Group who created the score for it. I try to instill in students a sense of using this cultural wealth in new ways to stand apart from the pack and while doing so, to make efforts to support and sustain the practitioners of it.
Afterwards, Azam sahib took me to a beautiful hilltop shrine in the old city. There is a really cool handicrafts shop, called the Multan Craft Council there where I got to meet several excellent artisans/artists. I got some ideas on how I could leverage and incorporate some of these works into “Risalo” as well. Azam sahib, his wife Zareen and little son Shahzain have really helped make this leg of the project a lot easier and more fun.
As if all of that was not enough to make for an amazing day, we visited the Multan Art Gallery afterwards and I got to meet Afzaal sahib, the owner of a gallery of beautiful art. He has started an art scene here and it is great.