The colours of protest

A page from Heart of Light. Pic/Orijit Sen

It's said that if you truly want something, the universe conspires for you to achieve it. That's sort of what happened with illustrator Orijit Sen, who is fascinated with Hamzanama, a book that details the daring exploits of Amir Hamza, one of Prophet Muhammad's uncles. Sen had always wanted to write and draw his own version based on the epic title. But other projects kept eating up his time and this dream had to be shelved indefinitely, until someone told him about the Hamzanama Comic Contest last August. It's a competition where applicants are asked to create an original piece of work that has elements of Hamzanama in it, and Sen tells us that he jumped into it because it was the perfect opportunity to bring his long-standing desire to fruition.

Orijit Sen

The result is Heart of Light, a graphic story that Sen worked on with help from his 26-year-old daughter, Pakhi. The plot of the winning entry follows the fight for justice that the people of a village called Maqam Alnehr wage against their tyrannical rulers. Amir Hamza joins them on their protest march one day, since he happened to be passing by. These villagers are a cross between animals and humans, since some have horns and one has a tiger's face. But Sen tells us that the imagery and names often reflect real-world subjects - Yahoo, the title of the unjust government, is an abbreviation of Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu's last name, for example, while army leader Colonel Manning is a hat-tip to Chelsea Manning since the colonel didn't let his conscience be dented by his position.

Pakhi Sen

The curious part, though, is that Sen completed this novel before the farmers' protest had broken out and began to hog the headlines. Yet, he admits that the plot can now refer to this resistance as well. Sen says, "Pakhi and I discussed this. There were protests coming up everywhere. We had the anti-CAA movement of course, but it's also a strong reality in many other parts of the world. And basing the story on protests gives it a strong connection and meaning in today's world. It makes us realise that this is an important subject in storytelling. Protests are no longer just a part of the news cycle. It's a theme that we also need to address through art."

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