‘Why is he hiding behind the curtain?’, a graphic novelette for children, takes readers into the world of Kerala’s performing arts

Why is he hiding behind the curtain, a graphic novelette for kids, goes into the world of Kerala’s performing arts

A colourful, rectangular piece of cloth held by two men is lowered slightly to reveal the mask-like face of the artiste on stage before it is pulled up again. The peekaboo game continues with tantalising glimpses of the actor while the percussion drums up excitement, building up anticipation for a Kathakali play about to be staged. 

Explaining this interesting prelude to a Kathakali play is a slim graphic novelette, Why is he hiding behind the curtain?, which takes readers above the age of eight into the colourful artistic heritage of Ottanthullal and Kathakali, traditional performing arts of Kerala. 

Written by Arun Narayan and illustrated by Sanusha US, the comic is a delightful introduction to the art forms, perhaps the first of its kind in Kerala, if not India.

Arun, convener of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), Palakkad chapter, says this kind of novelette has been on his mind since 2016. He happened to notice that the audience for traditional art forms mostly comprised senior citizens and there was a perceptible lack of youngsters who did not know and did not care to know about these art forms. 

Sanusha, an architect, explains that initially, the plan was to bring out a graphic novelette on the lives of local heroes, art forms, names of places and so on. The pandemic forced them to take a break. Last year, a jewellery chain approached a design house Sanusha is associated with, to design activity pages or books for children that would keep them engaged when the elders shopped. “Instead, we came up with this idea of a graphic novelette that would also have activity pages for children to play, to colour and so on, all based around the story in the book,” elaborates Arun.

The result is a 32-page book — with more than 300 panels — that takes readers behind the stage to show up close the origins, training, make-up and staging of Kathakali plays. And there are activity pages too, for colouring, puzzles and so on.

The reader travels with Appu and his elder sister Anu when their parents take them to Kerala Kalamandalam to meet the artists, gurus and students of Kathakali. It also has a short narrative of the Kathakali play Kalyanasougandhikam, an excerpt from the Mahabharatha, in which Bhima encounters his half-brother Hanuman while searching for a flower that Draupadi wanted.