Today at the IDC IITB Golden Jubilee celebrations. My graphic story "Research Ramblings" was a part of the display and a copy is now available at the IDC library as well. So happy and proud that independent storytelling still counts.
Special thanks to my ex-employee and Verite editor Bharath Murthy whose vision made this anthology possible.
Vérité Magazine of Graphic Anthology gets another stellar international review with a special mention to my story "Research Ramblings".
Thanks to the crazy editor Bharath Murthy who keeps his best to promote alternative in Indian comics.
I have always had a fascination with toys and the way a child will use them to do storytelling and keep himself entertained. I am a product of the same.
Somewhere in 2009 I saw Dadi Pudumjee perform at NCPA and BOOM!! went my mind. I wanted to study it, but since I was busy with animation this dream kind of got left out. When I went into academics I nurtured my dream back to life (I was the Head of the Department at Symbiosis Institute of Design, Pune). But then how to go about it?? I contacted renowned puppeteer and theater personality Meena Naik to come take a workshop at the institute where I taught and learnt a bit of the process of putting together a puppet play.
The next year I floated an elective on Puppetry and here are some of the results.
This a prayer to Lord Ganesha that we choreographed with the help of our theatre teacher Aditi, it is a complex 3 person operated puppet. It was a great joy to see my effort come to life.
We also created some short skits.
Finally I was able to turn the short skits into two good student projects.
Now that I am back in the industry I did put a pitch together to make the project into commercially sustainable production which retains the culture. Hope it goes into production soon.
When Bharath Murthy told me he was reviving Comix India and wanted contributors for the first issue of VÉRITÉ I jumped at the opportunity and come up with a story which was in spirit of the TRUTH it sought. I was looking at the ugly side of academics in those days and made the story "Research Ramblings" which was then published in the inaugural issue. The story of a professor caught in the web of greedy management, crazy policies and love for art stuck several raw emotions with academicians who are caught in the same trap.
For more details please visit Comix India website.
The roughs in development, as I script a visual narrative
