New Delhi: Ten-year-old Safar thought Delhi was made of chocolate dreams. He saw photos of its glittering markets and imagined the stores will have toys stacked higher than trees in his Jharkhand village. So, he ran away and came to Delhi.But the city he met was harsh and unyielding. Trapped as a bonded labourer on a farm for three years, the sparkle faded quickly. Hungry, hopeless and seemingly lost after he managed to escape, a stranger’s simple question — “Do you want to study?” — changed his life.In a shelter he landed up in, Safar found books, safety and eventually his own voice as a storyteller. Later, when he went back to his house in Jharkhand, only to find it crumbling, he made a choice: he would return to Delhi, not as a lost boy, but as someone ready to shape his own destiny.Safar’s journey takes centre stage in ‘Am I Lost?’, a performance where strings, shadows and simple objects are skilfully animated to breathe life into his story. It is one of the many powerful narratives that will be brought to life at Ishara International Puppet Theatre Festival.Presented by Ishara Puppet Theatre Trust and Teamwork Arts, the festival runs from Feb 13 to 22 at India Habitat Centre, where every evening, unique stories will quite literally find their strings and step into the spotlight. Now in its 22nd year, the festival weaves a magical journey across cultures as it brings together master puppeteers from South Korea, Bhutan, Italy, Turkey, Albania and India.“Puppetry is one of the world’s oldest narrative and visual performing art forms. Its objective nature allows epics, folklore and social issues to be shared in a innocuous milieu,” says Dadi D Pudumjee, festival director and founder of the trust. “Nothing matches a good live performance, especially the magic and innocence of puppet theatre.”According to Pudumjee, Ishara’s popularity over the years, among children and adults has sparked new festivals nationwide, supported by regional groups, govts, and UNIMA India — part of the global puppetry network soon to mark its centenary in Prague. This year’s line-up in Delhi promises precisely that magic. From Korea, ‘Doong Doong Alert’ by Culture Art Bakery FFWANG reimagines the folklore monster Eoduksini through objects and shadow puppetry. In a non-verbal musical journey, young Jiho confronts strange floating beings, which are metaphors for anxiety, offering children an imaginative way to understand their emotions.Italy’s ‘Variations’ by Di Filippo Marionette introduces Proto, a marionette. The show blends string puppets, live songs and playful surprises. “It is an enormous pleasure to perform in India,” said the artistes, who fondly recall their first visit to the country in 2018. Audiences can even expect Proto to cheekily snap a photo of them mid-performance.From Albania comes ‘Albanian Wedding’ by Tirana Puppet Theatre. It’s a heart-stopping musical intertwining Red Riding Hood with the royal wedding of Princess Donika. Rich in traditional dances, vibrant costumes and a brave hero breaking a magical spell, it celebrates centuries of folklore.And from Delhi, Mohd Shameem’s ‘Am I Lost?’ uses puppets and object theatre in Hindi to narrate Safar’s deeply moving story of life.Across 10 vibrant Feb evenings, Ishara will transform the stage into a meeting ground of tradition and innovation, while sustaining the age-old magic of puppets who remind us that every story, like Safar’s, is worth telling.
