new delhi at least one group of puppeteers from kathputli colony is telling new storieson bullying and girls safety and sometimes their own a storyline on opendefecation struck a chord now we have toilet complexes but not too long ago we didnt have any says vinay bhaat 19 and one of the 14 puppeteers students of shri ram college of commerce have been nudging towards bigger platforms and new audiences with the support of the srcc chapter of international organization enactus they have started performing in other states and have recorded a fiveminute performance as part of the swachh bharat abhiyaan for doordarshan they had also helped raise voters awareness before the delhi elections three years ago bhaat was eking a precarious living wed get one show in threefour months and four artistes would together earn rs1000 from it he recalls the rest of his income was from playing the dhol at weddings now the fee for one show can go as high as rs 15000 mihika sharma who heads enactussrcc says the going rate is rs 3000 for 10 minutes of puppetry then from july 2013 to may 2014 they made rs 75000 from merchandize alone from june 2014 till now theyve made a lakh their dolls and hangings sell at fairs and they get bulk orders for weddings explains pooja aggarwal in charge of finance earlier the puppeteers faced dry periods from march to september but now corporations pick up that slack each of them was making about rs 2500 in a month now putting all their sources of income together they make rs 12000 says sharanya sahai project director for the programmekayakalp the newfound solvency and contact with regular college students has allowed vinay to be a regular teen he carries a smartphone uses a laptop buys the clothes and shoes he likes and uses like indiscriminately he and three othersall in their mid20s now and all different bhaatswere inducted into kayakalp in february 2012 workshops with the likes of dadi pudumjee and anurupa roy and national school of drama along with training in theatre and storytelling helped them move beyond the rajarani shows diversify their portfolio and handle contemporary issues they can operate different types of puppets and muppets collaborate with the students to create storylines choreograph and direct conduct simple workshops almost independently and interact with those hiring them theyve got themselves business cards and are increasingly selfreliant many of the corporations are approaching us after spotting us on social media says abhay kumar facultyadvisor to enactussrcc they feature in csr campaigns on roadsafety handwashing opendefecation girls safety the puppeteers performed for a bank in mumbai which was their first tour outside delhi