After a few hours of training and rehearsal, they donned white face, saris and kurtas over their shorts and T-shirts. What is out of sight and out of mind for most of us is the amazing performances mounted in the temporarily cleared spaces of communities to entertain while projecting responses to social issues.You may have seen white face pantomime actors in  Republic Day parades, Delhiites might even have seen them at the annual Trade Fair presenting skits on health and public safety, but the day in, day out performances of the Jagran Community Pantomime Theatre Company takes up hard core issues of sexual abuse, combating corruption, promoting literacy, health and more, to change hearts and minds.With Arijit at the microphone giving a running commentary as needed, a few skits are performed typically covering the trauma of spousal physical abuse, sexual abuse generally and the victimization of youth by drug use.

The regular performances around Jahangirpuri draw a crowd of men and women of Shower curtain Bar all ages with the dholki player’s percussion pulling in crowds as has been done in rural India over ages.The writer is a respected exponent of Odissi, Manipuri and Mayurbhanj and Seraikella Chau whose four-decade career in India was preceded by 17 years of modern dancend ballet in the US and an MA in dance from the University of  Michigan. The "doctor" aged 12, showed how the surgery works with a three foot eye on a panel, from which he removed a scarf covering the "iris".Success, happiness, recovered eyesight, the message that an operation costs only Rs 1,000 was a spectacular way for school children to perform community social service and relate to people outside their customary bubble zone.I can never forget one hilarious skit portraying a corrupt local shopkeeper hoarding rations from frustrated locals carrying empty plastic jugs yet always faced with the "out of stock" sign posted.An effective performance stimulates discussion afterwards amongst family and friends that plants the seeds of change.

When Aloka’s Parkinson’s advanced to the point where he could no longer manage Jagran, his son Arijit gave up his career in the United Kingdom to keep this importance pantomime dance-theatre work going. Thinking of the national Skills Development, initiated by Dilip Chenoy and expanded by the government across the country, Jagran and other such community street theatre companies in every state could offer a similarly viable livelihood program for performers while educating communities. With a focus on development communication, the actors themselves are recruited from slum clusters.We all know that societal changes can’t happen overnight but they always begin with consciousness raising.P, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana and Maharashtra have seen their work while Delhi is their base. The dholak drew a sizeable crowd to a nearby open space where they acted out the failure of an elderly woman to judge the winner of kite competition because of eye cataract. in Television and Video for Development from the University of Reading, United Kingdom, combined with growing up observing the challenges and successes of Jagran, enabled him to this work.Sutradhar Arijit interjects questions to the audience, especially children, to respond to the negative actions and what action to consider. In fact, the methodology and structure of Jagran’s performances has been developed over 50 years to create a communication without any language barrier.A. It is a model that can be replicated anywhere in India, and abroad.A few more hilarious examples of the difficulty of seeing got her children to take her for cataract surgery.A play about women’s safety at Maurya Enclave in Delhi.The visual impact of performing arts leaves a lasting impact that words alone cannot convey