The article throws light on how to effectively engage the rural community in the mainstream, the community who have seldom
or no access to the outer world and the technology like television, media etc. Sometimes , in an effort to work closely with them , we as development workers do not understand the community and do not deliver the things for which they are intended. Such approaches merely serves as event rather than community ownership. The approach should be community driven, community owned and community decided. The
article gives information about the alternative development apporach that has emerged and more popularly called as the
integrated popular theatre. The article focuses on a case study that demonstrates how development can be turned into a combined learning process between rural communities and outside experts Integrated popular theatre thus marks an innovative paradigm shift in which the grassroots and development experts become partners in development.