Graphic artists from India and Switzerland exchange visual and text notes for a collaborative novel that wants to understand the psyche of cities
Graphic artists from India and Switzerland exchange visual and text notes for a collaborative novel that wants to understand the psyche of cities
A Stockli, for those whou00a0-- like this writeru00a0-- aren't residents of Switzerland, is an agricultural building. Apparently, the name derives from the German term for a construction made of stone. So, if we were editors of the graphic novel anthology When Kulbhushan met Stockli, one of the first things we'd do would be to introduce a bit of basic grammar to the proceedings. But, that's just us.u00a0
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From the Lost Ticket by Vishwajyoti Ghosh (right) the Yellow House by Orijit Sen (left) |
The current editor, someone called Anindya Roy, presumably landed the job because (a) he came up with the idea; (b) he was co-founder of Phantomville, a "graphic novel company". Both possibilities render him incapable for the task at hand, for a number of reasons. Firstly, we're told, "There was no brief given, except this: avoid the simple travelogue style where one takes a camel ride, has diarrhoea, then gets pick-pocketed... Instead, the authors were asked to look a layer deeper."
When asked to look a layer deeperu00a0-- whatever that meansu00a0-- writers and illustrators tend to stumble in the dark. Some work turns out to be competent, because some contributors are professionals. A lot of it, sadly, falls between the cracks.u00a0
Initiated and financed by the Swiss Arts Council, this book aims to "open the psychic core of cities in Switzerland and India", thereby constructing "a conversation channel between the two". What we end up with is a bunch of stories focusing either on cricket in Delhi, the dreaded Delhi belly, mehendi workers in Delhi, or references to Bollywood shoots on Swiss mountainsides.u00a0
There is a certain amount of good work; not enough to warrant the destruction of more trees (a reprint), but enough to sacrifice some shrubbery to. Swiss contributor Christophe Badoux (we aren't told who he is, so one assumes he was found sketching outside the airport at Delhi and asked to come on board) gives us an interesting opening story on, um, cricket and Delhi. Also interesting is Orijit Sen's stories set in a corner of Zurich. We aren't told who he is either.u00a0
The big failure, eventually, is this reduction of India to a few streets of our capital. The one fairly collaborative work, The Black Hole and Other News, comes via Samrat Choudhury, Esther Banz, Fahad Faizal and Sunaina Coelho. Using the epistolary format, the foursome exchange textual and visual notes.
Much of it may be lost in translationu00a0-- will Swiss readers understand the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena when we, in India, haven't?u00a0-- but the work is interesting. Also intriguing is the contribution by Vishwajyoti Ghosh. Titled The Lost Ticket, he uses everything from sepia-tinted photographs to newspaper ads for escort services to create something unique. In the process, he helps create a genuine process of exploration, and is possibly the only contributor to "look a layer deeper".u00a0
The aim of this collaboration, apparently, is to 'generate interest in the graphic novel form in artists and readers in both countries.' They'll just have to try harder.u00a0
How the book came aboutThis compilation is an outcome of a collaborative project among comic book artists and authors from India and Switzerland. Some of them visited India as part of the project, some had visited it in the past, some had never been here. There was a simple brief given to each: avoid writing a travelogue that could be out of any tourist's diaryu00a0-- got heatstroke, diarrhoea, got pickpocketed, etc. Instead the authors will asked to dig deeper. Some almost drowned, some loved the dirt, some loved tandoori chicken and some felt disturbed, while a few just just realised how good they are at bargaining!
When Kulbhushan met Stockli: A comics collaboration between India and Switzerland, HarperCollins India, 272 pages. Priced at Rs 699, it's available at leading bookstores
