A set of Vikram Vetaal comics created by 20-year-olds from across India that releases next week takes us down the memory lane of fantastical stories that shaped our childhood
An illustration from the comic shows Vikram carrying Vetaal to the site where rishi Kshantishila was performing the rites. Pics Courtesy/Vrindkavi
Most of this writer’s early memories till the age of eight exist as tiny fragments, assembled and reassembled over time. It makes us wonder if those memories exist in their truest forms. Or whether they have morphed into different tales, of which the core remains the same but the details have undergone changes over time. It’s when we revisit the timeless question: what is truth?
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A panel featuring Vetaal’s corpse
And so, when we stumble upon a group of young people called VrindKavi, reintroducing the Vikram Vetaal series in comic books, we are tempted to give our earliest memories of watching the series Vikram Betal (2004) on Cartoon Network with our siblings a relook. We got an exclusive dekko of the e-version; the first thing that stands out is the cover of the first chapter that features a buff Vikramaditya carrying the scrawny, dull grey-skinned Vetaal on his shoulders against the backdrop of a moonlit forest featuring a giant, ghastly tree. The characters and the detailing are meticulously illustrated keeping in mind young adult readers, we think.
Breezy read
The first four titles made for easy reading. They retain the original storyline of the celebrated king Vikramaditya wanting to pay back rishi Kshantishila, who kept giving him bilva (fruit) filled with rare gems every day for 12 years. Kshantishila calls upon the king to help him perform rites on the banks of the Godavari for the good fortune of the kingdom. With it begin Vikram’s endless attempts at bringing a stubborn ghoul who hangs on a tree back to the rishi as an essential part of the rites.
A moment from one of the upcoming chapters in the comic
Each of these attempts make a book, where the ghost Vetaal narrates a twisted story to Vikram, and threatens to crush his head if the king gives an incorrect answer to the question that Vetaal asks him towards the end of the story. Despite giving the correct replies each time, Vetaal flies back to the tree he was brought from because the king breaks the unsaid code of not speaking — making it an endless loop of mischief and questions that test Vikram’s position as a king, using morally moving stories.
The page that we kept returning to was the spine-chilling introduction of Vetaal, hanging from a tree, his dishevelled grey hair covering his drooping head, and the sequence that follows where Vikram strikes some eye-catching, almost manga-like moves with his sword to get the ghost to go with him. Of the four chapters that we read, our favourite was the first one for its inviting illustrations, and the third one, for a tale of a love triangle, and Vikram’s fitting response to Vetaal’s question towards the end.
Year in the making
Arnav Anand, founder and CEO of VrindKavi is a 23-year-old who informs us that titles were the outcome of a year-round effort put in by a team of six anime and comic book enthusiasts that he assembled after putting out a call on social media. “My mother would read Vikram Vetaal stories to me as a child at bedtime. It helped to shape my behaviour and acted as a gateway to more Indian stories, folklore, and mythology,” he shares, adding that he felt a dearth of these morality-shaping Indian stories while growing up in a world full of Japanese manga and Western comics fans.
Arnav Anand
“Indian stories are just as good, if not better, and deserve better representation.” It’s why he set out to rediscover the lost tales with people as young as 18-years-old. “Graphic novels are on the rise among this age group, especially in India. Who better than them to represent our target audience [18 to 30-year-olds] and to take our idea forward?”
They successfully hit the nail on its head with its robust, witty social media presence that possibly reached their target audience. No wonder they were invited to anime fests across the country even before the books were available to the common public. “We wanted to run our Instagram such that people would imagine that Vetaal was helming it,” he explained over a call from Delhi. With a completely different avatar, Vikram and Vetaal are a delight for followers, with their playful banter and question-play.
“There are many versions of Vikram and Vetaal. For our version, we made sure we remain true to the original plot by referring to Vetalapancavimsati by Sivadasan, another version Jambhaladatta, and Kathasaritsagara by Somadeva. The latter is a collection of stories, of which the Vikram Vetaal stories are a part. Starting from November 4, we will release one chapter every alternate Saturday,” Anand reveals. Their social media will ensure readers in touch with the characters outside of the original narrative, and while they wait for the next one to release. The marketing by this youth-led team wins extra brownie points.
Log on to: @vrindkavi (to pre order the first chapter)
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