Hailing from the Natt lineage, a traditional Rajasthani puppeteering community, Ramlal Bhatt’s skills at puppet making and puppeteering are masterful and inherent. Knowledge passed on to him hereditarily, his craft helped him break the shackles of caste that was once understood to have been created by that very craft. Stepping out of the restricted and oppressive social structure he was born into, fighting all odds, Ramlal slowly built a new life for himself as an artist.

With exposure to theatre and music, Ramlal soon became an innovator who mastered the skill of social commentary through puppets and has since travelled the world showcasing how art can become an effective tool of communication in social and political campaigns.

Till date, Ramlal has conducted over 2500 puppet and theatre shows across India and other countries, and trained hundreds of young people in the skills he believes are more than mere entertainment. His collaboration with prominent institutions such as the National School of Drama and his work for campaigns run by WWF, CAMPA, The Election Commission of India, etc, have all been greatly successful in creating deep socio-cultural impact.

Paras Banjara is a self-taught musician and cultural leader hailing from a Banjara (nomadic community) family. Music is inherent to the Banjaras. A follower of the Nirgun parampara, a form which celebrates the formless, Paras sings truth to power. He carries mystic poets like Kabir, Nanak and Bulleh Shah’s philosophies as he travels and works with indigenous, nomadic, semi-nomadic and denotified communities for their rights. Nirgun has the power to vocalise social issues in everyday life and empathize with all sections of the community whilst facilitating a space for critical thinking and rationalism.

Paras is an active long-time member of the Mazdoor Kisan Sakthi Sangathan (MKSS) and has played a key leadership role in the Right to information and Right to Work movements.

He is spearheading the nomadic rights movement in Rajasthan. He is currently undertaking research and study on the cultures of these communities, tracing their journeys across India as well as outside in parts of Europe and UK. He hopes to build collaborative productions and movements by and for nomadic people around the world.

​Shiv Nayal, is an artist-activist with over 30 years
experience in using public theatre for peoples’ rights movements. Hailing from Uttarakhand and currently based in Rajasthan, his journey as an activist began with SWRC, Tilonia. It is there that Shiv met and trained under one of India’s predominant playwrights and past Directors of the National School of Drama (NSD), Tripurari Sharma.

Shiv embraced the artform and understood how public theatre can be crucial in shaping narratives and discussing important social issues. It has been his primary tool for activism and advocacy ever since. Over the span of the last 3 decades, Shiv has conducted hundreds of workshops and plays about education, child rights, gender justice, de-addiction, rights and entitlements, etc.

Shiv is the founder director of Antakshari Foundation, an organization which facilitates the work of other smaller collectives in the cultural rights space.

Shiv is currently developing “Samgrshala”, a green campus in Ajmer, Rajasthan. It aims to function as a place that facilitates practice-based research and is growing into an experiential learning centre that will nurture cultural diversity and scientific temper in the communities that inhabit that area.