K Kesavasamy

K. Kesavasamy is a string puppeteer and the founder and director of Karai Raman Creations, a traditional and educational puppet theatre and research centre in Karaikal. He was named for the Padma Shri in 2021 in the field of art, from Puducherry ^[1].

Two thousand shows

Kesavasamy was born on 20 April 1943 ^[2]. In 40 years he has put on more than 2,000 string puppet shows ^[2]. They tell historical, epic and mythological stories, comic tales for children, and awareness messages on health, education and social issues, performed at health centres, schools and in villages ^[2]. He performs in Tamil, Malayalam, Hindi and English, and has toured Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Delhi, Chandigarh and the Andaman Islands ^[2].

His puppets, in bright costumes, are made to look lifelike, and he has developed new ways of making and working them ^[2].

Keeping the art alive

Few string puppeteers remain in the region, and Kesavasamy trains students free of charge in every part of the craft, from making puppets and costumes to working the strings, writing scripts, singing, playing music and delivering dialogue ^[2]. He has taught as a guru in the guru–shishya scheme of the South Zone Cultural Centre, Thanjavur, and led training programmes across Tamil Nadu ^[2]. During five years on the general council of the Sangeet Natak Akademi, he put forward ideas to support puppetry and struggling puppeteers ^[2].

He is also a social worker who set up a free home for the elderly ^[2].