India, May 3 -- We pretend to worship culture, while ruthlessly bulldozing the very artists who keep it breathing, says Sakshi Priya

How will a society preserve its rich culture if it abandons the exact artists keeping it alive? We need to preserve our culture. We need to preserve the artist. We need to present raw talent to a world starving for real magic. Yet, we watch the lost artist wander a city with zero stage left to stand on.

I know fear. I know what it means to sit in deep pain, wanting to speak out, while the soul violently refuses to let a single word escape. Looking at the displaced masters of Kathputli Colony today, I see that exact same suffocating silence hanging over them. Society loves to talk about saving our heritage,...