Kathputli's Abode

Amidst the big buildings, near the numerous educational institutes, sawai Maan Singh Stadium, the Vidhan Sabha of Jaipur, around the Amroodo ka bagh there is a small slum known as Kathputli Nagar. It just goes by the name, from among the 70-120 families living here are indulged in this heritage art of making kathputlis, doing the shows and selling them.

I visited the slum to shoot a documentary on Kathputli and Kathputli Nagar. What distressed me was the condition of the slum, hardly 5% of the families have their own toilets, others go out in the open, including the girls. They told us girls get up at around 4 a.m so that they can be away from the pestering eyes of men. No sanitation, no proper education.

Living in one room sets, the congested lanes from where no more than 2 can walk together, the open water lines in the lanes, the broken pipe lines in almost every house the people of kathputli colony seemed much away from the reality. All of them had smiles on their faces when we visited them, they were living their life despite of so many problems with cooperation and happiness. It was like a big family. Everyone was friends with everyone.

Every family welcomed us with a big heart, there were some who were frustrated with such visitors but even then they tried not to show any sign of distress. They were making food on the Chula, the old Indian way of cooking. It was afternoon, everyone was busy with their work, there were people cutting wood, painting the putlis, stitching their clothes, doing other work like taking out the wasted wood, even kids were busy doing their work like going and selling of the plastic containers.

What touched me was their warm nature, specially the children while we were on our tour of their home place, they were following us, telling us about each other, asking us to click their photographs. When I asked them what they wanted to do in life, some just didn’t answer, some tried to make up convincing answers and some genuinely had some big dreams like becoming a doctor and giving the service for free. They had such purity in their activities, little kids had little babies in their hands, so that their mother could work.

We can’t even think our lives without internet, most of them didn’t even know about that. We have big concerns, which camera we’ll use, what’s going on viral, who is winning Oscars, which new place are we going to. But there are people who only care about how are they going to have the day’s food, how are they going to feed their children, how are they going to buy clothes for them, how will they send them to the schools.

While I was feeling ashamed of just going there, taking their time and doing nothing for them I felt lucky to meet the ngo working for the education of the children of this colony. The helping hands society has a school running in bhakrota for these children.

I was constantly looking for a way any one could help them, suddenly I met a man who was a BJP MLA and who was assigned for the welfare of the slums in Jaipur. We tried to ask them what’s the issue, he told us there is court’s stay and nothing can be done till that is released.

Residents know that but still they have accepted their life as it is and they live it happily, they do have hope, they feel someday they’ll be living a life distanced from these struggles.

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