Alarippu was registered under Societies Registration Act XXI of 1860 in 1983 to work for and with underpriviliged communities and groups with a view to furthering development as defined and desired by them. Alarippu is a Tamil word which means “blossoming “. The unique feature of Alarippu from the very begining is its belief in the power of popular theatre as a medium or vehicle of change. Alarippu does not believe in competition but believes that each individual possesses certain traits and talents, which can blossom if opportunity and atmosphere is made available. Driven by this deeply rooted belief, Alarippu aims at creating a non-threatening and congenial atmosphere through the means of creative communications like theatre, film, puppet show, exhibition, poster and paintings and tries to provide adequate and equitable space for all to grow. Alarippu is a national level non- profitable organization.
Alarippu began with theatre as its core intervention which expanded into training, education and community work over time. The first one -month long theatre workshop was held in 1984-85 at Mirzapur (U.P.) for participants from about 10 organisations which included SWRC Tilonia, Gram Vikas, Orissa, Action India , Delhi, Banwasi Seva Ashram U.P and others. This was followed by another similar workshop held in 1986-87 for women’s groups from Maharashtra, Delhi ,Gujarat, Karnatka and U.P. An initiative was undertaken from 1995-2000 for strengthening and promoting the talk theatre of Pandvani of M.P, various talk groups of A.P, Tamasha of Maharashtra and Khayal of Rajasthan.
Alarippu developed keen interest in education while working on a project aimed at “Enhancing Anganwadi Worker’s Resources” (1984-88). Local Stories, poems, games etc were collected and a series of workshops were held to train anganwadi workers in using this material with the children – through dramas, games,and other ‘active’ methods of learning. Alarippu promotes ‘creative education’ by fostering : (a) The teaching-learning environment (b) Methodology and methods; (c) Content. Currently, Alarippu is working on girls education and children’s education at various locations.
Alarippu started working on child rights issues since early years of the last decade. Among various communities, the Manual Scavenging Community (Valmiki) can be considered to be the marginalized among marginalized population in our society. The work is especially prevalent in old city areas and small towns. The urban slum areas of Sikar, Makrana, Laxmangarh and Kuchaman in Rajasthan are scuh places,among others, where these communities have migrated from rural areas. Educational initiative, advocacy for the community mainstreming are being undertaken specially for the women and the girls of the community.
There are many children in our society who have been deprived of their right to a caring family environment. These children live in a vulnerable condition and face violence, deprivation, exploitation and stigma. These children are living in the street, railway platforms and are involved in rag picking, cleaning the bogies of the trains, picking and selling the bottles, selling the paper shop, doing boot polish and begging. Protection from neglect, abuse and exploitation is a very crucial issue for such children. Program is being run to ensure that runaway, missing and street children are contacted, placed in safe place or custody, rehabilitated to their homes or institutions.