A box of stories

It isnrsquot often that a patron does not fly into a rage when he is shown his caricature on a scooter upturned comically with a face of a donkey Or when he is told that his ancestors have been caricatured similarlyAuthor Nina SabnaniBut then anything is possible in the land of the Kaavad A virtual pilgrimage Kaavad is a wooded box and at first glance looks like a highly symmetrical object with multiple panels opening this way and that painted with Hindu deities Some panels curiously have figures travelling in cars jeeps and planes But in reality a Kaavad is a portable pilgrimageKaavadiya Bhat Narsinh with patrons his in Balao RajasthanSince 400 years Kaavadiya Bhats storytellers from the Marwar district in Rajasthan carry the Kaavad to their patronsrsquo homes to recite stories from mythology and those of their ancestors Thus Kaavad allows patrons to undertake a lsquovirtual pilgimagersquo Patrons who would like to be painted alongside gods in a vehicle of their choice can commission the job to the storyteller for a fee As for the upturned patron images with donkeys for faces mdash they illustrate those who fail to pay the promised fee to the storytellerA Kaavad is made of sheesham wood and at first glance looks like a highly symmetrical object with multiple panel openings It took filmmaker and animator Nina Sabnani who teaches animation at IIT Bombay five years before she could understand Kaavadrsquos many secrets Her narratives of the storytellers Kaavad suthars and patrons now come to life in the book Kaavad Tradition of Rajasthan A Portable Pilgrimage published by Niyogi Books which will be released on September 10 Secrets of the KaavadThe book is an engaging read and tells the layperson all about a charming art of oral storytelling mdash the Kaavadrsquos origins the history of the Kaavadiya Bhats the anatomy of the shrine its patrons and the Kaavadrsquos repertoire Sabnani says that she wrote the book because there was no literature on the tradition ldquoIt is anthropological but very accessible I did my PhD on the same subject but as we all know theses are passed on from scholar to scholar never leaving academiardquo What makes the book sure to be an enduring account of this rich folk tradition is Sabnanirsquos effort to reveal the finer details of the tradition For instance she explains how the Kaavad reveals much about Rajasthanrsquos social orders and community bonding The Kaavad the book explains came into existence because it was difficult to build temples in Rajasthanrsquos hilly terrain More so it was a way to include communities excluded by strong hierarchical and feudal systems of the time No wonder the Kaavadrsquos patrons even today commission images of themselves mdash it is their way of entering spaces they were hitherto denied access Each storyteller has 100300 patrons whom he visits once in twothree years ldquoThe most enduring message of the Kaavad is that the story is eternal only the way you tell it changes with time For instance when I heard Khojaram an older Kaavadiya Bhat reciting stories I thought his storytelling was evocative and more nuanced However a younger storyteller who has travelled across cities and has seen the current telecasts of the epics on TV had a more affected stylerdquo says Sabnani Improvising storiesThe Kaavad tradition lives on because the Kaavadiya Bhats are very adaptable to changes in society and their patrons They remember their patronsrsquo genealogies up to eight generations so it takes them little effort to improvise on the spot ldquoWhen a Kaavadiya Bhat was performing in the city I noticed he would say things such as ldquohellip phir unhonhe bhagwan ko jaldi se mobile lagayahelliprdquo which isnrsquot something he does in the villages These days recitations are shorter and they focus on genealogiesrdquo she saysKaavadiya Bhats have alternate sources of income through farming and as labourers So the next time you pass by a Rajasthani labourer toiling away at a construction site you have passed a storyteller by