Whoa!

What is this place?

Where are we?

It's a neighborhood in Delhi where all kinds of artists and performers live.

A couple friends of mine live here, I want you to meet them.

Here we are!

Hello, is anyone home?

Namaste!

Luna!

So good to see you!

Come in, come in!

What brings you here today?

Sunil and Anita, this is my good friend, Leo.

He's feeling a bit down, I was wondering if you could show him your Kathputli puppets?

Hm, that is indeed a very sad-looking boy.

Very well, then.

My wife and I run a Kathputli theater.

I am the puppeteer, I make puppets move around and look alive.

While I play the music for the shows.

We work together to create great Kathputli performances!

Um, what's a Kathputli?

Kathputli, dear boy, is the most popular form of Indian puppetry!

It is an old tradition where we tell folktales and stories with stringed puppets.

Wow!

These puppets are beautiful!

(chuckling) Very much so!

And we make them all here in the workshop.

Each puppet is made by hand with wood and fabric and controlled with a set of strings.

Kathputli puppets usually don't have legs so the beautiful gowns can twirl when they dance.