In Pictures: With puppets and perseverance, Delhi’s artist colony endures

The puppeteers from Rajasthan set up their tents on an unused piece of land in India’s capital in the 1970s, an area that became known as the Kathputli Colony – kathputli means “puppet” in Hindi. Over time, the makeshift settlement became a hotbed of artists, including not only puppeteers but also musicians, singers, dancers, acrobats, jugglers, percussionists, sculptors, painters, magicians, and snake charmers. More than 4,000 families from all over India lived there. 

The conditions were far from ideal, but for decades this settlement was home and its residents more than endured. They brought it to life with creativity and art. That spirit of joy and perseverance continues to carry them through the hardships and uncertainty of government-forced relocation.

Fifteen years ago, the Delhi Development Authority decided that the Kathputli Colony would be the first area to be redeveloped under what it called an “in situ rehabilitation” plan. This meant temporarily relocating the inhabitants, who were told they would eventually return to their neighborhood to live in new, high-rise housing.

The developer’s plan included construction of the tallest building in the city, with luxury apartments and a heliport on the roof, plus a shopping mall. Today, the area is considered one of the most central and well-connected areas of the Indian capital, and the artists are facing increasing gentrification of their neighborhood. 

All has not gone according to plan. Only 2,800 families were eligible for housing under the rehabilitation program. Five hundred families moved directly into new apartments, while the rest were shifted to a transitional camp, and eight years later they are still awaiting new homes. Many have lost hope of returning to the colony and are forced to live in 40-by-40-foot prefabricated houses, with no kitchen or bathroom, which were designed to be occupied for only two years. They face deteriorating conditions and sanitation problems.

Hundreds of stories of perseverance make up this amalgam of artists, who are still struggling to return to their neighborhood. Recently, 1,200 families were dropped from the housing eligibility list because of a change in policy. They are preparing a new appeal in the courts. The artists hope their unique contributions to Indian culture will at last be recognized.