source http://www.hindu.com/fr/2009/03/13/stories/2009031351270400.htm
Stories through shadows
SUGANTHY KRISHNAMACHARY
| Leather gets a magicl touch at the hands of Seethalakshmi. |
Leather Tales: S. Seethalakshmi and her puppets.
“What a wonderful dancer she is!” one can’t help exclaiming. A twist, a leap, a neat landing, an arai mandi — you name it, and she does it all. Except, of course, she is not a dancer. She’s only a puppet!
This was the dancing puppet in the shadow puppetry show organised by Indian Council for Cultural Relations and Sri Ariyakkudi Music Foundation under the monthly ‘Horizon’ programme, and staged on February 28, at R.K. Swamy Auditorium, Sivaswamy Kalalaya Senior Secondary School. The artist was Seethalakshmi Srinivasan.
Seethalakshmi began to learn Thalu Bommalaattam, as it is called in Andhra Pradesh, at the age of three, from her maternal uncle M.V. Ramanamurthy, who founded a school of puppetry, in Kakinada.
In 1954, when she was nine, she did a show along with him, at the Island Grounds exhibition in Chennai. Mrs. YGP and Sanskrit scholar Dr.V. Raghavan, who were in the audience that day, were so impressed, that they suggested that she stay back in Chennai.
Since her uncle Ramanamurthy had already moved to Chennai, Seethalakshmi’s parents left her with him. “Mrs. YGP arranged many shows for us in schools in the city,” she recalls.
A real boost to her career came when she performed at the Museum Theatre, Egmore, for, in the audience that day, was Dr. Nayudamma, the leather technologist. He offered Seethalakshmi and Ramanamurthy jobs at CLRI. He wanted to show people the cultural aspect of leather. “Being in a Central Government institution conferred on us a prestige that most folk artistes usually don’t enjoy. And with that came many invitations to perform abroad,” says Seethalakshmi.
She’s done shows in Spain, Germany, Italy, Malaysia, Singapore, Denmark, the U.S. and many other countries.
“Once my uncle, my sister and I went to Austria. Puppeteers from different countries were there. They were amazed that just the three of us could do a show that would have taken at least 30 of them to do.”
Epic themes
Seethalakshmi’s themes are from the Mahabharata and Ramayana. Ayyappa and the Panchatantra were later additions. She’s also done programmes on adult education and family planning. “I was surprised to find puppeteers in Russia and Spain doing Ramayana stories,” she says.
Seethalakshmi has done a show that combines puppetry and Bharatanatyam. “This was based on the Telugu work, ‘Molla Ramayanamu.’ Dr. Sindhoori, Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi dancer, who runs a dance school in the U.S., assumed the role of Sita, and all other Ramayana characters were puppets,” says Seethalakshmi.
“The show was inaugurated at Rabindra Bharati, Hyderabad. Film actor Nageswara Rao and playback singer P. Susheela marvelled at the novelty of the concept.”
Seethalakshmi’s puppets are made of parchment leather. Goat’s skin is boiled, and the hair is scraped off.
The leather is then stretched and pinned to a board, and allowed to dry for two days. The required figures are drawn on to the leather and cut out. The puppets are coloured on both sides, and designs are punched on them. When light is projected through these holes, it seems as if the puppets are dressed in gold studded clothes!
The puppets are manipulated using three sticks. Except for the dancing puppets, which require two puppeteers for manipulation, they are manipulated by just one person. In the case of the Vali-Sugriva fight, one puppeteer manipulates both puppets.
A black bordered, white cotton cloth is rigged up on the stage. “In villages in Andhra, a dhoti would serve as the screen, and the shadows were projected on to the screen using oil lamps. These days we use fluorescent lamps,” explains Seethalakshmi.
New technique
While at CLRI, Seethalakshmi, together with researchers T.P. Sastry, C. Rose and S. Ramakrishnan, developed a process, by which parchment leather could be made from chrome shavings, a by-product of tanning.
“The researchers found a way to remove the chromium content from the shavings, which are then used to make puppets, lampshades and wall hangings,” says Srinivasu, Seethalakshmi’s son, who is also a puppeteer. The research served two purposes. It helped solve the problem of disposal of the leather waste, and also provided cheap parchment leather. Daughter-in-law Dharini, daughter Malathi, who is a software engineer, and granddaughters Priyanka and Madhumita, are all involved in puppetry.
The show that Sunday was based on the Kamba Ramayanam. The highlight was Anjaneya shrinking in size. The huge Anjaneya puppet was replaced by successively smaller ones, until a tiny puppet, about the size of one’s palm, entered the demon’s cavernous mouth. The puppets were replaced so quickly, that the effect of a shrinking figure was sustained throughout, and the audience applauded heartily. Seethalakshmi can be contacted at 98400 74589.
Audience response
Seventy- three year old V.G. Dharmalingam said, “Look at the goose bumps on my arms. I’ve never seen such a wonderful puppet show.”
Johanna Sudyka from Poland, a student of the Madras University, and her friend Liliya Petkova, whose father is a puppeteer in Bulgaria, found the show fascinating, and went up to the artistes to congratulate them at the end of the show.
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