Feb. 13: Puppetry, an art form that is dying a slow death in Assam, can provide many employment opportunities for the educated youths of the city, besides entertaining and educating the masses.

With this in mind, master puppeteer Chabin Rajkhowa is conducting a special puppetry training-cum-workshop at Shilpgram Complex, Panjabari, to train unemployed youths with a penchant for the art. Altogether 20 youths are taking part in the 15-day workshop, which is being organised under the aegis of North East Zone Cultural Centre, Dimapur. The workshop began yesterday.

“Assam’s legacy of puppetry dates back to 1885, but because of neglect it has become a vanishing art form today. So the aim of the workshop is preservation, propagation and development of the traditional art besides providing an employment opportunity to the educated youths,” said Rajkhowa, who is also the special officer (puppetry) at the state directorate of cultural affairs.

“Simultaneously, we are also training the participants on contemporary puppetry and use of the latest and modern technologies to polish the art form,” he said.

At the end of the workshop, the trainees will stage a puppet show depicting the present socio-political conditions of the state. “We are yet to finalise the script of the play. I will only act as a guide. The participants will shoulder the entire responsibility of the play,” said Rajkhowa, the pioneer of modern puppetry in Assam.

“Through this workshop, we want to train youths for conducting puppet shows on various issues. Puppetry as an art form holds immense scope as it can educate people on various causes and issues through entertainment. We want the talented youths of the state to tap the opportunity in the field of puppetry,” he added.

Rajkhowa has received training in the art form from prestigious institutes like the Centre for Cultural Resources and Training, New Delhi, Bharatiya Lok Kala Mandal, Udaipur, Obratsav Puppet Theatre, Moscow, Shri Ganesh Gabayata Mandali, Karnataka, and Calcutta Puppet Theatre and represents the art of puppetry of Assam on the world stage.

His month-long performance in the US in 1995 is still considered as a landmark event in puppetry by the connoisseurs.

Akon Deka, one of the participants at the workshop, wants to take up puppetry as a career.

“I am a graduate. But the job market has no space for people like us. Since I have a great liking for the art form and have ideas to contribute in puppetry, I have decided to make it my career,” he said.

The participants at the workshop are learning all four forms of puppetry — glove, rod, string and shadow.

String puppetry is the traditional form of puppetry practised in Assam since 1885.

“Workshops like this one will give a boost to the art form and make people aware of the importance of puppetry, which is both entertaining, educating and highly creative,” said Rajkhowa, who has also done a special research work titled Water Puppetry of Vietnam Originated in Assam.