Life & Style

Earlier this month, Chennai recorded its hottest March in 25 years. With another intense summer ahead in this coastal city, and humidity exacerbating the effects heart, there is a need for conversations on designing climate-responsive cooler homes and outdoor urban spaces of tree-lined parks, lakes and wetlands. Increasing green cover, implementing reflective roofing materials, adding vertical gardens and green walls, designing buildings with natural ventilation and creating wind corridors are some of the solutions at hand.

The interiors of a house at Kadiapatti in Pudukottai district.
| Photo Credit:
B. Velankanni Raj

At a recent workshop at Egmore Museum conducted by Roots Collaborative, and curated by artists collective Basement 21, about 30 participants from India, Canada, the U.K. and Malaysia took part. They explored the architecture of this campus on Pantheon Road, reliving its context from a hundred years ago. At the core of this investigation were questions on the potential of architecture to respond to new imaginations of Madras. The inherent possibilities of Tamil Nadu architecture to subdue the effects of a harsh hot-humid environment were explored as part of a much larger imagination of “reading a building”. Unlike European architecture that experiences cold weather, in India the crafting of porous screens, terraces, thick walls and cool interiors, design of facades with shadows and several other aspects have both a social and climatic relevance.

A heritage house in Karaikudi, Tamil Nadu.
| Photo Credit:
Getty Images/istock

Recreating such structures today may be a challenge due to the cost of materials and labour but we deciphered the elements of such buildings — Madras roofs, perforated screens (jalis), lime plaster, cool roofs and thick masonry walls — which have the inherent ability to subdue extreme heat, creating a cooler micro-climate. The intention was to craft spaces that are imaginative, while pragmatically responding to create a cool interiority.

Tree-lined streets and micro-climate

Avenue trees form a green canopy at Adyar, in Chennai.
| Photo Credit:
Akhila Easwaran

Environmental scientists and urbanists surmise that it is essential to revive the tradition of tree-lined streets of Adyar and T. Nagar. They created a cooler outdoor urban micro-climate and resulted in shaded pedestrian walkways. Until the advent of the industrial era, a century ago, Tamil Nadu’s towns continued to promote a climate-responsive architecture. Quintessential heritage dwellings in Kumbakonam and Karaikudi provide insights into how communities responded with innovative architectural designs. They encompassed ingenious passive design principles such as natural ventilation and shading devices. The colonial bungalows came with deep-shaded semi-open verandas and roofs of Mangalore tiles.

DakshinaChitra
| Photo Credit:
Special arrangement

Unfortunately, with the advent of concrete structures over the last three decades and the indiscriminate felling of trees to accommodate the rapid sprawl of the city, these principles are often overlooked. According to the State Planning Commission’s Heat Analysis report of 2024, “the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect intensifies warming trends, with cities like Chennai, Coimbatore, and Madurai experiencing average night-time land surface temperatures of approximately 26 degrees Celsius. In 2023, the State government signed an MoU with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to develop a comprehensive urban cooling programme. Scientific research indicates the complex causes of this heat retention: urban density, loss of vegetative cover, and thermal properties of building materials, among other factors, collectively contribute to a warmer urban microclimate.”

Today, nearly 74% of Tamil Nadu’s population is exposed to air temperature above 35 degrees Celsius. There is therefore an urgent need to build heat resilience. Citizen groups, architects and environmentalists are exploring new ways of design, that can ensure the indoor temperatures are reduced by at least 4 to 5 degrees, within the home, during intense summers. These range from shading elements such as overhangs, louvres, orienting buildings to create shade, to ensuring adequate spacing between buildings, promoting airflow. The revival of indigenous locally available materials like lime plasters, recycled materials, terracotta, and renewable energy complements the shift to sustainable practices.

Semmozhi Poonga is a botanical garden, which is home to over 500 species of plants and over 80 trees, in the heart of Chennai.
| Photo Credit:
S.R. Raghunathan

Hope in roof terraces

How can new housing townships incorporate these climatic principles to mitigate the impending summer heat? Through history, such challenges have often become a source of innovation, providing possibilities for re-imagining both design as well as technological solutions like cooling systems, new materials and construction practices and shading devices.

For instance, transforming neglected roof-terraces into community spaces with shaded cover and green landscapes can create new forms of social gathering while substantially mitigating heat.

Situated in the tropics, the region receives ubiquitous sunlight to generate solar energy as well. Scientists agree that cities cannot resort to air-conditioning as a panacea to urban heat. As per the International Energy Agency (IEA), refrigeration and air conditioning causes 10% of the global CO2 emissions. Only 9% of Indian households have air conditioning, but this demand is projected to increase 20-fold by 2050. Holistic solutions integrating passive measures alongside technological solutions are required to approach the notion of urban cooling.

Global research indicates that rising temperatures could erode economic growth in cities and peri-urban areas. As part of the State’s heat mitigation strategy, several cities of Tamil Nadu, including Chennai, are in the process of formulating their long-term Master Plans.

Integrating the initiatives to regenerate green spaces accessible to all communities, as well as lakes and water reservoirs, and conserving wetlands is imperative. Green open spaces within a walking distance from all homes, if rejuvenated, understanding its environmental science, can create cooler urban neighbourhoods. Climatically well-designed urban spaces, which constitute almost 30% of Chennai, could reinforce the resilience, to mitigate the adverse impacts of heat waves and climate change in the future.

Reviving lakes and urban parks

Tholkappiya ecological park, Chennai.
| Photo Credit:
Athullyea Padmanabhan

Appropriate urban design includes reviving natural lakes and conserving green spaces. A case in point is the revival of Adyar Poonga, Semmozhi Poonga and other green spaces, water reservoirs and parks in Chennai, that can be a panacea for summer heat.

Community participation and engagement in urban planning, neighbourhood governance, tree-planting efforts, cleaning drives of the coast and lakes substantially contribute to these efforts at all levels.

The writer is founder of Artes Roots Collaborative and is involved in the revival of urban greens and ecological precincts.

Much before the time of sleek, fancy lunch bags with zips and pouches, the trusty, sturdy koodais of varying sizes were the standard lunch companions. The woven wire bags, that somehow never wore out despite being stuffed with large snack and lunch boxes and water bottles, stood the test of time and for many, multiple years through school.

The humble koodai is now, however, having a moment. They are in vogue and jazzed up with flaps, pouches, buttons and shiny buckles. The colour combinations you once thought were tacky (think green and violet) are now considered cute, and kitschy. The koodai now comes in many sleek avatars — slings, clutches, and even mini handbags with trendy handles. We meet four designers from Tamil Nadu, who are giving this woven craft seeped in nostalgia a contemporary twist.  

Basq Artistry

Basq Artistry’s bags come in tans, deep browns and metallic shades
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

For Sneha Ganesh, the koodai has been everywhere since she was a child. “I remember seeing my grandmother weave baskets, and many years later, my-mother-in law doing the same. While a koodai catches your eye, it isn’t something that I would immediately pick up and walk out with,” she says. Sneha decided she wanted to make bags which could lend itself to any outfit or occasion — while retaining the traditional look and charm of the koodai, and soon founded her Coimbatore-based brand Basq Artistry.

“There are so many variations of woven baskets not just across the country, but even in Tamil Nadu. I went on a tour to delve a little deeper into this before I launched my brand. I was fascinated with the different methods and materials used. The basket weaving style in Chettinad for instance, is very different from how baskets are made in Pudukottai,” she recalls. 

From tan, to metallic silver, Basq Artistry’s woven bags scream contemporary. “I was very specific about the colours and wanted to replicate the solid colours that we get leather totes or bags in. I got these colours custom made for the brand, and then got bags woven,” she says. While their tan and brown tote baskets are roomy, and good for everyday use, smaller handbags and clutches with metallic buckles and straps are perfect for an evening out. “We also have backpacks for children, and roomy lunch bags with flaps on all sides. People really seem to prefer the koodais and other bags in our collection which come with a fabric lining and a pocket,” she says, of their product line. The ease that these koodai bags give, of simply dumping things inside and taking it anywhere is a major draw, she says. 

While they hope to bring out more iterations of woven laptop sleeves this year, Sneha says they are also working on crossbody travel and sling bags which will be launched soon. 

Basq Artistry is on Instagram at @basqartistry. Bags are priced ₹450 onwards 

Knots Bag

Thanusheeya VS at the Top Drawer trade show
| Photo Credit:
Dave George

“Koodais are a century-old art from Tamil Nadu and I wanted people to feel like they are carrying a piece of history.” The founder of Chennai-based Knots Bag, Thanusheeya VS, is quick to say this when asked about her brand, which was born after extensive research and experiments.

“A decade ago, I was in Hong Kong on a holiday and saw a specific brand of woven bags being much in demand. I was immediately struck by how we have our koodais back home, and our unique weaving techniques,” she says. While she remembers seeing the koodai primarily being used as a lunch bag, and considered ordinary, she wanted to change things up.

Bags with bamboo handles and metal buckles made by Knots Bag
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

 “When a bag can last a couple of decades and withstand any climatic condition, I felt strongly about bringing in some innovation and design to make it more appealing to our current design and fashion aesthetic,” she says. The design process was a long one, for over three years, and Thanusheeya worked with a product designer friend, Krishnaveni V from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad to develop prototypes. “Lightweight styles and ergonomic handles were our top focus. While I chip in with the design, the brand works with a group of around 10 women who weave the bags,” she says.

Made from LDPE(Low Density Polyethelyne) fibre and recycled non-biodegradable plastic, Knots Bag has lightweight sling bags in solid, bright colours, clutches which include a tartan clutch specially made for the Christmas season, mini handbags that come with metal buckles and bamboo handles, and large roomy totes. Their latest collection, has bright blue woven koodai totes with lemons on it, a bright yellow minion-themed bag and something for cat and panda lovers as well.

“While we have made woven bags with apple leather, we are now experimenting with leather made of coconut malai. Among our newer designs coming up is an iPad clutch which you can hold from the inside,” Thanusheeya says.

 Last year, Thanusheeya’s Knots Bag was selected by the University of Arts London’s Design Trade Show, Top Drawer, and they had the opportunity to put up a stall. “This was something that UK had never seen before and the visitors there were fascinated by the product range. It also made me very cognisant of the fact that here, we might probably have the last generation of artisans in this field,” she says. 

Knots Bag is on Instagram at @KnotsBag. Bags are priced ₹500 onwards.  

Koodai Kadaii

Koodaii Kadai’s baskets have large hearts…quite literally. The brand’s signature roomy koodai totes come in a range of solid colours, with a large heart motif woven on them. “These come in different sizes and with handles of varied design. We were the first to do these heart koodais and the bags still remain very eye-catching,” says Laya Krishnaraj, founder of this Chennai-based brand.

Koodai Kadaii’s signature heart totes
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

Laya chanced upon koodais in bright colours at the souvenir shop in the Tamil Nadu Police Museum Chennai at Egmore, and decided to place an order for brightly-coloured bags to be woven as return gifts for her birthday, in 2022. “I currently work with around 35 women from multiple institutes for destitute women, who are trained in weaving baskets and bags. While many of them used to do this as a part of their therapy work, they did not have an outlet or regular orders. After I began Koodaii Kadai, orders have been steady,” she says. 

An interior designer by profession, Laya credits the rainbow collection she got made for her birthday as having kicked off her Koodai Kadaii venture, which she says has gone from being a hobby to an important part of her life. “The USP here is empowering women. It has been heartening to see them feeling empowered by the orders they get,” she says. 

Cat baskets made by Koodai Kadaii
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

From children ordering koodais to take to school to people buying koodais for their mothers and grandmothers, Koodai Kadaii’s customers span different age groups. Apart from their heart koodai totes, Koodai Kadaii is working on collaborations with artists from across the world. “We want artists to add their own touch to the koodais we make. While we are also sampling clutches, iPad and laptop sleeves, I am really excited for the pet beds we are working on,” Laya adds. 

Koodai Kadaii is on instagram at @koodaikadaii. Bags are priced ₹400 onwards. 

Wire Kadai

Having displayed her koodais at several small fairs and large exhibitions across Chennai since she started her brand last year, Mirnalini V from Chennai says she is truly seeing how versatile and loved koodais are. 

Bags being handwoven for Wire Kadai
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

“At Tiruvanmiyur, a group of women have been making koodais for years now. While they work on everything from laundry baskets to cat baskets for a vet clinic in the city, I decided to work with them to make a range of woven baskets, bags, and slings,” says Mirnalini. 

Running Wire Kadai, she says, has opened her eyes to how many women are waiting for opportunities to showcase their skills. As an empowerment initiative, Mirnalini stresses on fair wages for the koodai collective of artisans she works with. “After I began posting about the koodais we were making, on Instagram, several artisans from across the State reached out and asked if they could weave bags for us as well. I work with them on the designs, and we exchange notes, YouTube videos and even references from Pinterest,” she explains. 

The brand has experimented with fabric and chain straps, and wooden handles
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

In a short span of time, Wire Kadai has diversified and come up with a range of designs. From the colourful, roomy koodais and woven totes she started off with, Mirnalini has now experimented with sling bags that come with fabric straps or chain handles, sleek handbags with round wooden handles, compact lunch koodais that come with flaps and can be closed, or have wooden handles, and smaller iterations of koodais with chic handles that make for great return gifts or wedding favours. The nostalgia is not just restricted to bags; Mirnalini has also made woven chairs that are in demand — similar to the round, comfortable chairs we sat on as children.

“Woven bags are sturdy, easily washable and most importantly unique. For us, it has also been lovely to hear people recounting their memories of going to school with a koodai — these bags have truly made a comeback now,” she adds. 

Wire Kadai is on Instagram at @Wirekadai. Bags are priced ₹400 onwards.

When Sanid Asif Ali was invited to a library in Kochi a few years ago to give a talk on comics, he was introduced as an artist who would take the audience into a ‘world of laughter’. Ali gets it. “One of the first comics that most people in Kerala enjoyed is the classic Boban & Molly by the artist Toms, which is filled with humour and satire,” says the comics creator, who co-founded Studio Niyet, an independent comics publishing house in the city, with his wife. “So, people have this association between comics and comedy.”

Last December, when he and Tony Davis, one of the organisers of Indie Comix Fest, went on a radio show to promote the event in Kochi, the radio jockey was fascinated that her guests were not stand-up comics. “This is the first time I’m listening to two people talking very seriously about comics,” the RJ told them. “We then talked about books like Maus: A Survivor’s Tale [about author Art Spiegelman’s father Vladek, a Jewish survivor of Hitler’s Europe] and Persepolis [Marjane Satrapi’s graphic memoir of growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution] that deal with serious themes,” he says.

(L-R) Sanid Asif Ali, Tony Davis and Unkoolie

This realisation that comics are not for laughs, but deal with strong, sometimes heavy, themes such as sociopolitical satire, feminism, queer identity, sexual abuse, biography and more, is slowly percolating. And that comics can go beyond just superheroes, especially those from the Marvel and DC multiverse. Independent comic book festivals are playing a large part in this.

Indie Comix Fest (ICF), an annual creator-run festival of self-published comics begun by a small group of enthusiasts from Mumbai in 2017, has now grown into a nationwide phenomenon — with editions in Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kochi, Kozhikode and Ahmedabad. “Unlike Comic Con, which is a buyer and merchandise-oriented event, ICF is for creators. The Kochi edition began in 2018, and last year we had over 36 creators participate,” says Davis, adding that Bengaluru and Mumbai attract the most number of artists — with numbers going above 100.

Indie Comix Fest Kochi

Indie Comix Fest Kozhikode

The cognoscenti and the curious drop by in equal measure, and each is distinct. For instance, Kochi attracts a lot of young IT professionals and people from film and advertising; Delhi has more students walking in, and a younger set with a budget in mind. “Bengaluru has some good creators now like Sumit Kumar of Bakarmax and Rachita Taneja of Sanitary Panels, so it gives the city some heft,” says Bengaluru-based graphic novelist George Mathen, better known by his pen name Appupen. “But Kerala is suddenly picking up. For instance, a community called Indy Comics Commune has meet-ups, 24-hour marathons, and comic farms [two-day events where artists get together to create a 12-page comic]. I hear ICF is also expanding to Thiruvananthapuram. I am expecting some nice things from Kerala.”

Appupen
| Photo Credit:
Sudhakara Jain

Indie Comix Fest Delhi

Buzzing creator scene

When I arrive in Kochi a little before Christmas of 2024, the Party Congress has just concluded, and there are red sashes everywhere, tied to posts and around the trunks of coconut trees. Stars of both denominations — Communist and Christian — light up the evening sky. They seem to break up the city into a series of precise compositions, a sequence of panels, defined by gutter spaces and boundaries, like a page in a comic.

As a creator, I am drawn as much by curiosity to see how the market has evolved as the desire to present my own work. As I look at the teeming crowds at the venue, Ali tells me that there has been a drop in numbers since the 2023 edition (which had over 46 creators participating). One possible reason: the rule that no merchandise can be sold. “We began the fest to promote comics, and we didn’t want that objective to be diluted,” shares Davis, explaining that creators hand out free merchandise with the comics.

Comics at ICF Kochi

I think about my own childhood: Amar Chitra Katha, Commando, Tintin, and of course, Indrajal. The idea that we could make comics ourselves was remote, though there were examples such as Tinkle and Bahadur. Then came the wave of Indian graphic novels, the modern canon of Sarnath Bannerjee, Appupen, and Amruta Patil. But now there is this subterranean current fuelled by exchanges between the online and offline world. Ali, for instance, started off by putting up comic strips on Instagram. When Davis invited him to participate in Kochi’s first ICF, he suggested that Ali could print and compile the strips. “I said no, I will bring out a 20-page comic,” Ali shares.

Visitors at ICF Delhi

At the fest, I set up my stock with friend and fellow artist Kishore Mohan, with whom I’m collaborating on a graphic novel. We keep a folder of our work-in-progress open on the table, discreetly gauging people’s reactions as they leaf through them. For a writer/artist, this kind of real-time feedback is invaluable. At the next table is artist Roshan Kurichiyanil, an animation director and Kerala state award winning children’s book artist, who has worked with clients across the world. Soon parents with kids in tow are snapping up his Taara of the Stars, a series featuring children embarking on fantastical adventures. My other neighbour is selling a graphic novel written by stand-up comedian Varun Grover called Karejwa; I take advantage of our proximity to read it — a rollicking ride about black holes and gulab jamuns converging in Varanasi.

Karejwa

Varun Grover

The artists at the fest are of every stripe: veterans with a slightly jaded air, first-timers showing their work with a mix of pride and shyness. At one table, two teenagers are racking up brisk sales with their hand-drawn, stapled ‘minis’ — ‘remakes’ of OTT shows like The Penguin or video games such as the Mafia, into which one of the artists has drawn himself as a character.

A comic remake of The Penguin

At another table, visual designer Aparna Thankaraj shows MissAndroid, with its iridescently coloured pages, set in “a world where all the women are robots”. Mohith O., an architect, shows his accordion-like construction; the two sides have the same story but with differing POVs. The highly idiosyncratic nature of the fest means that non-standard formats are the norm.

Mohith O.’s accordion-style comic 

Aparna Thankaraj’s MissAndroid

Platforms for all ages

Creators agree that a sequential art renaissance is happening across the country. “It’s a compound effect,” feels Tina Thomas, who co-founded Studio Kokaachi, a visual storytelling studio in Kochi, with her husband Pratheek Thomas. “When I was growing up, engineering and medicine were the only preferred choices. Now, education is diversifying and design is a big thing. Students graduating from the many design schools in India are finding lucrative career opportunities [in corporates, animation studios and the like].”

Tina and Pratheek Thomas

Movies, film festivals, and art biennales are also adding to the conversation, and changing mindsets. “The Kochi-Muziris Biennale, for one, has changed the way people perceive art and artists in the city. While earlier, they thought an artist had no future, now parents are recognising talent in their children and encouraging them to nurture it.”

A sense of democracy is one of the foundations of indie festivals. For instance, last year saw a trio of Class V students exhibiting their comic alongside a 62-year-old creator at ICF Kochi, while their youngest has been a nine-year-old. “Such spaces are much-needed,” says Tina. She recalls when her husband Pratheek had taken Hush, a comic about child sexual abuse, to the first edition of Comic Con in New Delhi in 2011. It had sold out. “We had such high hopes [for the festival], but then it evolved into something else. Comic Con isn’t really helping comic creators, but promoting merchandise and the like.”

Studio Kokaachi’s Matchbox Comix

Stall costs are high, with premium places in the front going for ₹70,000. “The small stalls at the back are what Indian comic companies can afford. By the time people reach there, they would have already spent all their money on merch, with nothing left for comics.” While Comic Con does offer free stalls, it is only for those who can participate in all five cities. A publisher can afford the deal, but not an indie creator — with flight tickets and accommodation adding to the budget. “At ICF, you can choose the city you want to show at, and at ₹750 for a stall, it’s affordable. The only criteria is that you have a comic, even if it is just four pages,” she says.

Bengaluru Comic Con 2025

Mainstream vs. indie

Today, comics open plenty of doors. “I write for films now, and my first screenplay was announced a year ago. It’s all because of our comics. In fact, [director] Mani Ratnam got in touch with us to do the animation for OK Kanmani because one of our Matchbox Comix creators recommended our work,” Tina says.

But the door remains closed when it comes to mainstream publishers. “Most don’t want to invest in graphic novels because they believe it is a niche medium, and will not attract too many readers. The cost of production is high [since it is in colour and needs special attention because of its panels and placement], and books will be priced higher because they have to factor in the cost of drawing,” she says.

Studio Kokaachi’s Mixtape comics

Small zines aren’t picked either because these would get lost in big stores such as Crossword. For an artist to create a book of 150 pages, they have to put in a minimum of two years. And there is no guarantee that at the end of it, they will be picked up! “Working with mainstream publishers on a graphic novel, your advance will be abysmal. They won’t do any marketing for you,” adds Delhi-based writer-illustrator Anupam Arunachalam. “They are not used to editing comics, so you won’t get much editorial help too.”

‘Self publish or perish’

American comic book creator Becky Cloonan has the quote printed on the back cover of her books. And many creators in India agree with it. It’s not only production costs, but also plotlines that can keep publishers away. “You don’t get to see a lot of personal stories in mainstream comics. Or [if they make it], they are tangential or entangled with some big historical event, like Maus or The Arab of the Future,” says Arunachalam. “But at the comic fest, you get small, personal stories — not only autobiographical, but also unusual.”

Of course, there are exceptions. Joshy Benedict, an animator and comic book creator from Kozhikode — whose film A Coconut Tree won the National Award for Best Animated Short Film last year — got a book deal with Harper Collins after he participated in ICF. He wrote and hand-illustrated The Pig Flip in 2013, but once done no publisher wanted it. “In 2018, ICF asked me to bring the book to the festival. When I told them I didn’t have a physical copy, they asked me to bring two digital prints. So many people showed interest that I had to get their addresses, print more copies, and send it to them,” he says with a laugh. As interest picked up, someone suggested he get the book translated into English and approach publishers again. This time, HarperCollins picked it up.

The Pig Flip

“Things are changing today, but it is slow,” says Benedict, who has another graphic novel out in Malalyalam called Koprachevu. “People have to see comics and graphic novels like they would regular novels. In Japan, everybody reads manga; that should happen here too. And more festivals like ICF will help in that.”

Joshy Benedict

“[In Kerala] people rush to places where literature is being discussed. We love art, we read a lot. However, comics were not considered a literary medium because no one attempted to tell a serious story through it. But recently, [with exposure] people are exploring it as one. The medium now has to be pushed more, has to be experimented on more.”Roshan KurichiyaniArtist and children’s book creator

Roshan Kurichiyani (left) and fellow comic artist Mohith O. at ICF Kochi

Back in Kochi

In the week before ICF, the handful of good printers in the city are flooded with work. “All the creators are there; it almost becomes like a meeting place,” says Tina. She talks about artists gathering around offset printers, swapping stories, and staying all night to get their books ready. And at the festival, where books are priced between ₹100 and ₹600 (a rare few go up to ₹1,500), they sell quickly, artists’ e-pay apps beeping with notifications.

As the fest winds down, with empty tables denoting sold-out artists, I wonder if the saturation of digital media today has led to a kind of backlash — a need for the physicality of things. “Absolutely,” says Ali. “People came to my stall and just smelled the book for a minute. They just crave that, the look and feel of a book.”

Jaideep Unudurti is a writer and graphic novelist.

It’s still dark at 4.20 a.m. and the crowds are slowly building. The atmosphere is akin to a carnival, underpinned by stalls selling plastic toys and hard-boiled eggs. Friends are greeting each other; one of our set is busy trying to buy a baby’s friendship with biscuits, but Biscuit Baby firmly keeps her distance. The regulation quota Kerala has of grey-heads is on full display here. As the chenda beats start to gather steam, the air slowly turns electric.

We are at the Thee (fire) Chamundi or Ottakolam theyyam, and the meleri (sacred pyre) is slowly being prepped to become a mass of glowing embers into which the koladhari (practitioner) will repeatedly fling himself. As with all theyyams, this too has a back-story, of Agni the fire god aggressively challenging all the gods. Vishnu takes up the challenge, throws himself into the fire 108 times and of course, emerges unscathed each time, thoroughly extinguishing Agni’s boastful pride.

The meleri stoked to smouldering embers
| Photo Credit:
Sheila Kumar

Our ‘storyteller’, the splendid performing artist Sangeeth Bhaskar, has managed to steer us to a vantage point. But here’s the thing: wherever we stand, people shuffle along to give us a better view, sometimes giving up their own spots quite happily. We meet with this Malabar brand of graciousness all through the trip, and realise that old cliché is actually true: the north Keralite is really the nicest in all of the tiny strip that makes up God’s Own Country.

Raktha Chamundi theyyam
| Photo Credit:
Sheila Kumar

2,000-year-old ritual

We are on a ‘Theyyam Lite’ trip, trying to take in as many performances as we can in a packed schedule in Kasaragod, in northernmost Kerala. The north is the birthplace of the ritualistic art form that typically runs from the tenth day of the Malayalam month of Thulam (in mid-October) till the middle of Edavam (in late May/early June). The ceremony — where the performers represent deities, local heroes and ancestral spirits through elaborate costumes, make-up, and dance — takes place in temples and sacred groves.

Puliyoor Kali theyyam
| Photo Credit:
Sheila Kumar

We have been hearing reports of huge crowds (more enthusiasts than devotees) massing at theyyams in the Kannur area, mobile cameras out, loud chatter filling the air. Suma, the owner of the Ayurvedic spa next to our resort, congratulates me on having come to Kasargode to watch it. The divinity attached to the ritual diminishes as one goes south, she informs me sagely.

The 2,000-year-old ritual of theyyam has its roots firmly planted in religion. The moment the intricate and fascinating face-writing of the koladhari is finished and the mudi (headgear) is put on, the transformation is complete; it is the deity — Shiva, mother goddess Chamundi, Bhadrakali, Gulikan (a fierce form of Shiva), forest deity, tiger, monkey, snake — who is now controlling the theyyam.

The face-writing process
| Photo Credit:
Sangeeth Bhaskar

There is complete faith evident in the locals, but they carry it lightly, watching the ritual with characteristic impassivity, chatting, casually going up to get blessings from the koladhari afterwards. I watch slack-jawed as quite a few women make a monetary offering to the koladhari, then have his assistant give them change for the large notes they proffer!

The thee theyyam is hard to watch. The koladhari has a protective skirt of ola (palm fronds) around him, but I notice the edges of the skirt are glowing, tiny embers sticking to them. His two assistants, who have mastered the angle at which they must enable him to fall on the fire mound, are glowing with the sweat of their efforts.

Sangeeth tells us of an even more dramatic theyyam, that of Kandanar Kelan, a legendary warrior who survived a forest fire with help from the divine, where the koladhari enters a roaring fire and at times, stands in the middle of it, too. We decide we do not have the stomach for that; as it is, I am gasping every time this koladhari flings himself on the live coals. And he does it 14 times.

Kandanar Kelan
| Photo Credit:
Thulasi Kakkat

Koladhari standing in the roaring fire
| Photo Credit:
Thulasi Kakkat

Muthappan and a pug

At the famous Parassini Madappura Sree Muthappan Temple, which is 20 km from Kannur town, we watch the Muthappan (a personification of Vishnu and Shiva) koladhari interact with devotees. Since he is a canine-friendly deity whose familiar is a dog, he blesses a pug too, incongruously dressed in a crimson skirt and blouse.

Poomaruthan theyyam
| Photo Credit:
Sheila Kumar

The casual almost festive air is in direct counterpoint to the intensity of the theyyams being performed. At the Adot Moothedath Kuthire Pazhayasthanam Sree Padarkulangara Bhagavathi Devasthanam in Kanhangad — just 12 km from the medieval Bekal Fort, the largest fort in the state — we are given ringside seats by Raghavan, a temple committee member, and repeatedly urged to eat the food prepared at the temple. It’s a community effort, with everyone pitching in to produce a wholesome sadya, topped by a simply divine paruppu payasam. We are seated on a separate platform, heaped plates of food are brought to us by a genial Raju, and we are introduced to a whole host of local dignitaries on their way into the pandal for lunch.

A quiet moment with the koladhari
| Photo Credit:
Sheila Kumar

For me, the best moment of all comes when a young Muslim man in a skull cap comes up to the Poomaruthan theyyam for advice, a beatific smile on his face. Truly, theyyam is for all. And all avail of it, too.

The writer is a Bengaluru-based author, journalist and manuscript editor.

The Little Big Festival is coming to town. The two-day event, packed with fun, adventure, art, craft, games and learning, is a space where children can explore their interests and enjoy their time outdoors. The festival offers an opportunity for parents and children to look beyond the mall and the screen for entertainment and learning.

“The idea came from creating something for children that would feel like childhood itself,” says Sanaa Abdussamad, curator of the event and an advertising professional, who has been working with children for over a decade. “Children find unstructured activities exciting. While the festival has workshops, it also offers space for messy and unpredictable projects,” says Sanaa.

Divided broadly into art, movement, literature and free play, the festival includes something for every child. In movement, they can try obstacle courses, skating, skimboarding, and various sporting activities, while in art, they get a first hand experience of theatre, songwriting and dance to mention a few. From jewellery making to stop motion, the basics of body positivity, printmaking and understanding periods for pre-teens, the event packs in a bit of learning too. These have been classified into age-appropriate workshops.

Sanaa is collaborating with Bhavya Mathew of On Flea.k, for organising the event.

Neytt, a luxury home furnishings brand, will host a session on rug designing.

At the Little Big Entrepreneurship segment, children would be able to sell products made by them. Chore Olympics gives them a chance to do household chores in a ‘gamified’ way and win a ‘certificate of allowance.’

The event would also have performances including puppetry and clowning, too.

Children inclined to reading and writing can write stories at the venue, and a selected few would be published. For the ones who like to tinker with stuff, they can take an entire scooter apart! Tech wise, they would get introduced to 3D modelling and AI tools.

“While the children would have fun trying out different things under one roof, they would also pick up certain life skills from here. And get a chance to make friends and have shared experiences — a great way to make memories,” says Sanaa.

The Little Big Festival will be held on April 5 and 6 at Sacred Heart College Ground, Thevara. Entry fee is ₹399. Workshops would require separate registration. For information, call 6238552942.

Cyrus Broacha
| Photo Credit: Satheesh Vellinezhi

On March 21, it’s Parsi New Year. Let me begin by wishing all the readers a Happy Parsi New Year. Immediately, the questions are starting. Why are you wishing us? We are not Parsis? Well, let me answer that.

In India, it is customary to wish everybody for everything, and to do so is not cultural appropriation. For example, it is considered polite and good manners to wish each other Happy Chocolate Day on Chocolate Day. This is irrespective of the fact that neither the wisher nor the one being wished is a chocolate.

Now, let’s take the next query: Why is Parsi New Year celebrated three months after the New Year? Let me explain this as well. Parsi New Year is not three months behind. It is actually three months ahead. Your conventional year ends on December 31. Parsi New Year is way ahead of you, and ends on March 20, thereby leaving your year far behind, dear.

Another question has popped up: What do you do on Parsi New Year? The answer is not what you imagined it to be. It’s not such a complexed question. On Parsi New Year, you are expected to behave like a human being. Now, does this mean on other days you get to behave less than a human being? Well, controversially this is left to individual interpretation of both, Parsis and non-Parsis.

Okay, let’s move on to another query: How do I make my Parsi friend happy on Parsi New Year? Great question. If you want to show your appreciation on the occasion of Parsi New Year, gift your Parsi friend a white envelope with one-thousand-and-one rupees in it. Of course you may send more, but remember, most importantly, to write Happy Parsi New Year’, on it.

Okay, please note, the repeated use of words Happy Parsi New Year, has caused this writer chronic fatigue. So, henceforth, we’ll have to enter a weight-loss programme and use the acronym HPNY.

Now, let’s get back to pertinent questions from enthusiastic readers on HPNY — Is alcohol permitted on the occasion of HPNY? The answer, dear reader, will shock you to the core; so much so that you may need a drink. Contrary to modern convention in India, HPNY is an occasion where not only is alcohol permitted, it is requested and encouraged. Yes, this goes against the modern Indian ethos of barring alcohol on important celebrations. Please bear in mind, in the mother country, Iran, Navroz is celebrated without alcohol.

Please remember where you are, when you celebrate HPNY. If you forget doing so, it could lead to unpleasant consequences, like remaining thirsty. I hope this little column has given readers a thorough and critical examination of the vibrancy, relevance and prominence of HPNY. Now please enjoy HPNY, ASAP. TYVM. (Navroz Mubarak).

The writer has dedicated his life to communism. Though only on weekends.

“Nilaya Anthology is our version of the NCPA or NMACC,” explains Pavitra Rajaram, design director of Asian Paints, referencing Mumbai’s two major cultural institutions as a point of comparison to the company’s newly opened luxury design mecca in the heart of the city. It is being called the most ambitious interior design showroom in the country, and is spread across 100,000 sq.ft., functioning as a cavernous one-stop shop for décor.

Its scale alone, bang in the city centre, in a metropolis starved for space, is awe-inspiring. Currently home to 92 makers from India and around the world, it has celebrated Indian brands such as Vikram Goyal Studio, Jaipur Rugs and Kashmir Loom alongside reputed international ones from Europe, Asia and Africa.

House of Curiosity
| Photo Credit:
Hashim Badani

Also debuting in India is pioneering design curator Nina Yasher, who heads Milan’s storied Nilufar gallery, with a mix of vintage and contemporary furniture pieces. Visitors are already flocking to this address in Mumbai’s mill district, for everything from kitchen and bath inspiration to art, lighting, carpets, furniture and plants.

Pavitra Rajaram
| Photo Credit:
Courtesy of Nilaya Anthology

“This is a first for India,” says designer Goyal, who has successfully updated Indian brass and metalwork heritage for contemporary living. “It is an incredible opportunity to present the evolving narrative of Indian craftsmanship on home ground since we aim to highlight how centuries-old techniques can hold their place in modern spaces while continuing to innovate.”

Silken Passage by Vikram Goyal Studio at Nilaya Anthology
| Photo Credit:
Courtesy of Nilaya Anthology

Museum of design

Architect Rooshad Shroff, who created the vast space, juxtaposing large open areas with smaller rooms spread across two floors, tied together with a sweeping ramp and replete with a conservatory, says he was keen on not creating a mall experience. “I was keen to push the idea of a museum where you go from one room to the other and yet there is a linkage to allow individual brands to represent themselves within the space,” he says.

Orangery at Nilaya Anthology
| Photo Credit:
Hashim Badani

As one wanders through the space, rooms filled with tableware to objects to carpets to candles to textiles unveil themselves. “It’s like you’re transported into a dramatic Grand Bazaar-like space in Istanbul and Mumbai’s answer to the legendary luxury home furnishings store ABC Carpet and Home in New York City,” observes Gaurav Bhatia, luxury specialist and founder of Art-chives India. Where else will one find pieces by Hida Sangyo, a century-old Japanese wood furniture maker, or art from Sabyasachi Art Foundation, which is debuting at Nilaya and will be permanently ensconced here. At the launch, works by artist-in-residence Atish Mukherjee — priced from ₹13.5 lakh to ₹52 lakh – were showcased and all the paintings sold out in a day.

From Sabyasachi Art Foundation
| Photo Credit:
Prachi Damle

Rooshad Shroff
| Photo Credit:
Neville Sukhia

Hub for architects

“It’s not just a retail space, it is a cultural catalyst and a storytelling experience,” explains Amit Syngle, MD and CEO of Asian Paints. He has been expanding the brand’s footprint to include design and cultural experiments. Meanwhile, Rajaram describes Nilaya (meaning dwelling in Sanskrit) Anthology as “a destination for design” and hopes it will become a space for the community to experience art, design and culture. Plans include a co-working space for architects and interior designers to meet clients, a material library containing over 100 materials curated by Rajaram and her team, including Tanish Malji and Maithili Goradia, and a café and a restaurant run by Indian Accent. Cultural events including music, dance and theatre will be hosted throughout the year.

Nilaya Anthology
| Photo Credit:
Hashim Badani

Construction surge

As Indian cities experience a building boom — Mumbai alone saw 154 new skyscrapers over 40 floors built between 2019 and 2023, which is expected to rise by 34% over the next five years — the interior design trade is set to explode. Research by IMARC estimates that the interiors market size will grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 8.5%, to reach US $71 billion by 2033. And while a recent report by U.S. venture capital firm Blume Venture stated that a billion Indians have no discretionary spending power, 140 million Indians are consuming, and within that group, the wealthy are getting wealthier. Just look at the Indian art auction market, for example, which has doubled in the past five years. Asian Paints hopes to tap into that segment, as it transforms increasingly into a luxury design company, supporting, among other things, consumer design shows across the country.

Inside Nilaya Anthology
| Photo Credit:
Hashim Badani

Under one expansive roof

Post the pandemic, the company recognised a gap in the super premium home design space. “It was so fragmented, you had to go somewhere to get a beautiful light, and somewhere for a chair, or a carpet elsewhere,” she explains. Rajaram has been curating and commissioning pieces for Nilaya since the project’s inception two years ago, but in her head she’s been doing it all her life.

Previously lead designer at luxury retail brand Good Earth, her mind is a veritable filing cabinet for notable crafts and product makers from around the world. Of the many items she loves are the ceramics from Cristabel Mcgreevy, whose works she first saw in London, and the upcycled Shalini quilts made from leftover silk yarns in Maheshwar, a place she first visited 25 years ago with Sally Holkar of Rehwa and Women’s Weave collective.

Glassware from Zafferano and Polspotten
| Photo Credit:
Rema Chaudhary

Why not fully Indian?

Notably, in the era of digital shopping and growing AI-enabled technology, Nilaya is betting that such a large physical space offers a unique value proposition. But couldn’t Nilaya have been a completely Indian brand destination? Bengaluru-based interior decorator Vinita Chaitanya observes that while the concept of a design destination is much-needed, it could easily have been full of Indian design and craft alone. “When one goes to European fairs like Salone del Mobile, it is a platform for European brands,” she says, and continues, “Why could this have not been a platform and a completely Indian design destination because we have incredible craftsmanship and product designers and so much to choose from?”

Cassina at Nilaya Anthology
| Photo Credit:
Hashim Badani

Rajaram says Nilaya consciously wanted to offer an equal platform to show international and Indian designers working side by side to foster a language of design transcending geographic division. “I wanted to bring people together who are grouped by philosophy rather than where they come from, to showcase global craft at the very highest level of quality and of experience. Everything is small batch and artisanal. We have ceramic artists from the U.K., basket weavers from Ghana, works from Indonesia to within India, from Nagaland and Manipur. It’s the coming together of ideas,” she adds.

Her advice to shoppers is to slow down, not just come in and transact. “Luxury is about the ability to pause and experience, and what is more luxurious than entering through a beautiful garden in the middle of this busy metropolis?”

The writer is a Mumbai-based journalist and author.