With the enforcement of the Right to Education (RTE) law, there has been a lot of emphasis on including all students in the mainstream education system. This push towards inclusive education, however, is seldom accompanied by teaching the academic community about what inclusion means and how it can be practised. Since educators must truly question the way we approach teaching, we have decided to use the playful yet powerful medium of Puppetry to reach out to the academic community urging them to question their policies on Inclusive Education and inculcate a deeper understanding and Respect for Diversity. The Learning Factory: our Musical Puppet Play on Diversity and Inclusion is based on George Reavis fable The Animal School wherein the animals make common rules for all and later realize that a school with the same rules for all students is dysfunctional since every student has different strengths and they cannot be forced into fixed categories. Puppets have always been used to educate and encourage positive change along with entertaining the crowd. Besides, the imagination of today’s generation which is becoming redundant due to the abundance of technology will also be rekindled.

As a travelling puppet theatre we have performed at the Prince of Wales Museum, Kala Ghoda Festival in 2016, the Godrej Dance Theatre NCPA, the Bandra Auditorium, Praygna Bodhini School, and Beacon High School, where people with and without disabilities attended the show.