Open the door and here come the stories

The door to the wooden kaavad box would slide open – inside a treasure trove of paintings in bright primary colours telling the story of Ramayana, Mahabharata and family lore from the interiors of Rajasthan. The kaavadia would speak in the sing-song tone, keeping to an upbeat rhythm. The family and the rest of the village would surround the storyteller, mesmerised by the stories that would unfold. This storytelling tradition from the Northwest reaches of the state is now under threat of extinction. “Tellers are still alive but it’s not a frequently practiced ritual,” says Akhshay Gandhi artistic directory of Still Space Theatre, a Bengaluru-based theatre company. “Kaavads are like book keepers of their patrons’ families. They have pothis or record books that they maintain with regular surveys of the families. But a lot of people don’t know about it.” To rectify this situation, Gandhi decided to revive the storytelling form. 

However, the project met it’s first stumbling block with the kaavads’ hesitation to propagate their stories outside of the ritualistic setup. “So we learned the artform from them and the rules of telling stories in this way,” explains Gandhi. That’s how Maya, the first contemporary kaavad story was written with 12 short stories.

While retaining the basics of the kaavad box and the style of painting and storytelling, Gandhi has added his own touches. “We have a theatrical setup with 5x2 feet panels painted on both sides and balanced on rollers,” he elaborates. “There’s also a kaavad in small-box form for more intimate audiences.”

Gandhi’s associate in the project, Rohit Bhasi, who specialises in folk forms of painting has also drawn multiple inspirations for the kaavad artwork instead of just aping the traditional style. “It’s a mix between these mythical figures and  contemporary characterisation such as Amar Chitra Katha, comics, movies and South Indian temples,” he explains.

The stories themselves are original, taking only a few pointers from the kaavad style. “In kaavad, there are two gatekeepers. Originally, they are Jaya-Vijaya, who are the gatekeepers of Vishnu’s realm. However, the story of our gatekeepers is different,” says Gandhi, going on to tell the story of the two brothers that guard the kaavad.

Two brothers fell in love with the same woman, who happened to be the daughter of the god of Time and Vishnu’s honorary sister. The brothers saw her near a river and tried to capture her. But Time is omnipresent and he cursed the brothers who were then trapped in the kaa vad as its gatekeepers. Their memories and identities were erased. Their father, who was a devout of Vishnu appealed to him but he couldn’t undo Time’s spell. But the God tells the father that if the storyteller is able to navigate the kaavad and find the clues in that, they may regain their identities and be free.

As Gandhi tells the story over the phone, his Hindi takes on a rhythmic, sing-song cadence. “While I changed the language from Marwari to Hindi when writing the story, I retained the rhythm of speech,” he explains.

Besides, thorough research (the theatre artiste made an in-depth study of the thesis written by Nina Sabnani from IIT-Bombay, on the topic and worked closely with the kaavadiyas) creating the kaavads was also an exacting process. “I spoke to Akhshay and a director. We sat for each scene and drew up mock-ups, what the characters would look like,” lists Bhasi.

Gandhi has also been teaching the artform for the last year. “You have to remember two key elements: each panel has connect with the others in some way so you learn how to connect the stories; and you can tell whatever story you want,” smiles the thespian.