The tireless `Jokhim Chacha (Uncle Risk) wanders from village to village in arid Rajasthan, stroking his trademark fur cap as he dispenses advice about the dangers of the Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). He is always assured of an enthusiastic audience, which flocks to enjoy his pithy witticisms.
Apart from doling out benevolent advice to his devoted fan following, Jokhim Chacha also acts as the logo of the Barefoot College, which provides services and training to people on issues like health, education and the provision of clean drinking water.
For Jokhim Chacha is a 50-centimetre puppet. Not your run-of-the-mill toy dangling on a thread, but a complicated contraption that requires two skilled people to operate it.
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Based on an elaborate weight balance system, the puppet is capable of blinking its eyes, rotating its eyeballs and twisting its neck, apart from other movements.
Jokhim Chacha is one of 60 puppets, used by a team of nine men, at the Social Work Research Centre (SWRC) in this tiny village of Ajmer district.
The SWRC was established in 1972 and currently runs the Barefoot College, among other activities. Its team allocates top priority to spreading awareness about the dreaded disease in the surrounding villages.
According to a report by the World Health Organisation (WHO), about 2,095 AIDS and HIV infection cases were reported in India till June 30, 1996. However, the report, titled `Dominant Communicable Diseases: South-East Asia Region revealed that the actual number of such cases in the country could be as high as 1.75 million.
We use our puppets to spread messages about AIDS awareness, other health issues, womens rights, education and labour problems, said Ram Niwas, the coordinator of SWRCs communications wing.
We have noticed this is a very powerful media to spread messages in villages, where there are usually no televisions or radios. People throng to puppet shows and so it becomes easy to couple a message with the show, he stated.
The shows are designed to spread messages which are relevant to the local conditions. For example, an AIDS awareness show could begin with the local health centre official discussing the issue with the village headman during a chance meeting, explained Ram Niwas.
We go to different villages, observe the life of the people and their problems and then present our show, which is centred around some of the problems the villagers face. Though the main message of our show is decided right at the beginning, all the accompanying dialogues and songs are impromptu, he said. The shows are also taken to local fairs in the villages and to schools, he added.
The centre also creates special puppets to put forward a particular idea. During (former Prime Minister) Narasimha Raos time, porridge that was supposedly dispatched by the Centre never reached the villages, so we made a special puppet of him with his trademark pout and used it to make people aware of this bungling, he explained.
Clothes for the puppets shirts and kurtas for the men and long colourful skirts with dupattas for the women are specially tailored here and accessories like jewellery are added on.
The centre also imparts training in making, dressing and operating puppets. The entire training takes one month.
Although most of our work is in Rajasthan, we also have people coming in from other states like Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Kerala for training, said Ram Niwas, adding that the centre had trained about 100 people in the past 10 years.