Saturday 27 August 2011

Remembering Delhi

Some highlights from Delhi....

the food - amazing streetfood,

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and highlife food,









crowded autorickshaws,IMG_0376










& bumpy cycle rickshaws,

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the scene outside our hotel,

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stunning views of the Jama Masjid from our hotel IMG_0583


Jama Masjid Gate no. 1, that's us!,IMG_0598










the joys of monsoon rain (let’s not talk about the perils Smile)

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Anna Hazare street protests, Cambridge Rickshaw Project Delhi 119


majestic national monuments, IMG_0522












very precarious-looking overhanging electrical cables... IMG_0612












Delhi was such a city of contrasts… so utterly unforgettable!

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Ummeed–week 2

Come performance week at Ummeed... dedication levels grew, the younger kids peeled away, and the older kids hung around... but an ultimatum, they would do the performance, they said - but it would have to be 'good enough' - no half-measures. CRP Delhi 2011 504Woah - a tall order indeed... no wonder Theo and Suchitra look grave.... how do we pull this off in 4 days?!





Note the bare blackboard... pressure! Cambridge Rickshaw Project Delhi 044


We would never have managed if it wasn't for the energy, dedication, creativity, and sheer talent of the Ummeed kids - I was left amazed. Those kids were better than almost any I've seen - they scripted most of the storyline themselves, danced up a storm, and most inspiringly - beamed delightedly through all the frustrating hours of trying to make this nebulous creation into some semblance of performance - we could never have made it work if they had been any less amazing, I am seriously in awe.

The Ummeed kids present 'An Amazing Love Story!' - a shameless Bollywood ripoff, just a little tongue-in-cheek :)


Fayaz - our pint-sized kickboxing heroine: carries off the bright pink skirt amazingly well :) CRP Delhi 2011 433









Romance in the air - Raju and Fayaz meet over the washing line

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Bazaar-wallas - patient Rohit and Raja307256_255273751160583_188461577841801_871028_1640278_n







Our villanous villains... Yogesh and Suraj play the part to perfection... one wouldn't want to bump into them in a dark alley!296867_255274051160553_188461577841801_871032_5607000_nCRP Delhi 2011 459


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The showdown between our hero and the villanous villains








Fahim - our debonair policeman... even brandishing his lathi, he manages to make it look cool :)CRP Delhi 2011 (2) 099








The final dance-off - a breakdancing pink-skirted heroine, CRP Delhi 2011 485






the villain takes the floor!CRP Delhi 2011 488









Yaay - we did it! Our kids totally rocked - I'm not sure when I've been more proud - Woo Hoo!

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Our last time with the cast from Ummeed - for a while at least… time went by far too quickly… those kids moved our world.

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Ummeed–week 1

At Ummeed the dynamic trio of Nkoko, Suchitra and Theo were in charge.Cambridge Rickshaw Project Delhi 115

We began with physical theatre games, the entire gamut of age groups participated - making a machine game, Cambridge Rickshaw Project Delhi 086






water-freeze-ice tag game,284356_248799258474699_188461577841801_847104_7270773_n







emotion game,Cambridge Rickshaw Project Delhi 057






when is a prop not a prop game, CRP Delhi 2011 388







many many many calls to 'gola banao!' - 'make a circle!'.... IMG_0359everything always went smoother once we had 'gola banao'ed :) 282405_248797345141557_188461577841801_847094_6877135_n











Although 'smooth' is maybe not quite accurate... there was more mayhem and chaos, wild animal noises and mad running around, peeling kids off hanging tree branches and attempts to curb feral instincts than I have ever seen compressed into one tiny space :) IMG_0344





And some little kids were their own performance-troupe of one!




Such is every-day life at Ummeed Smile

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Friday 26 August 2011

Introducing the Rickshaw cast

For those who don't know all of us... IMG_0453

Photographs courtesy our dashing (and longsuffering) photographer Mamsi!


Cambridge Rickshaw Project Delhi 006One of our tour managers; India will remember him for the Sho-Sho-Lo-Za refrain, here in his role of food connoisseur - Nkoko!






Our other tour manager; also creator of the giant bird body CRP Delhi 6 Aug - 14 Aug 605- Catherine (T)





CRP Delhi 6 Aug - 14 Aug 590The other Catherine (H), draped in what was to later become our Octopus!








When was that moment of serenity again - is this CRP Delhi 6 Aug - 14 Aug 351Delhi? Captured there looking serene is Jessie





Juliet - enjoying the somewhat strange yet thoroughly appreciated ambience of Moti Mahal
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Miriam - more often than not behind the lens, but here she is – newspaper bunraku puppet making CRP Delhi 6 Aug - 14 Aug 476


CRP Delhi 6 Aug - 14 Aug 367_cropRobin - child protagonist of the Rickshaw performance - playing with a Katkatha puppet






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Suchitra - proudly displaying the completed giant bird head... she seems especially proud of the eyelashes :)




Theo - roll camera - perfect!

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Will - what's that you say then Mr. water drop?

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Ladies and gentlemen, the cast of the Cambridge Rickshaw Theatre Project 2011!

Saturday 20 August 2011

KATKATHA

Today's the big day - a performance from all three groups; Jan Madhyam, Kutumb and Ummeed; at the R. S. Junior School in Khan Market - so not much time, but here are a few photos from last weekend, when we were lucky enough to be given a workshop from puppetry professionals Katkatha (www.katkatha.org) at their treehouse studio in South Delhi.


We learnt to build and manipulate Bunryaku-style 3-person puppets out of newspaper, and then created 2 giant puppets for today's show, from a mixture of baskets, umbrellas and washing machine tubing.

Asha, Anurupa and Anand show us their full-size Bunryaku puppet.







Our mini newspaper puppets looked more like this, but still managed to be creepily life-like sometimes!










Shopping for fabric for our giant puppets with Anurupa:



The giant bird takes shape:









The Jan Madhyam kids try out the octopus:














And finally, there's always time for a group photo: