I took part in a Chhau performance in Class six, and the memories of the vibrant costumes and uplifting beats of the dhols are hazy but intriguing. What I had performed was the Mayurbhanj Chhau, enacted sans masks. It is the Purulia Chhau that depends heavily on masks. The above information was my only understanding of the subject as I walked into Observer Research Foundation’s (ORF) Mumbai office at Nariman Point last Tuesday to interview Shubha Srinivasan — the author of Masked Identities: Safeguarding India’s Intangible Cultural Heritage.

A Chhau dancer