The bright colours of Indian comic book Priya's Shakti may point towards Pop Art, yet the main aim of the story is not just capturing the attention of the readers in a visually striking way, but inspire and prompt them to fight against gender-based sexual violence and rape.
The story, illustrated by Dan Goldman and co-written with Vikas Menon was launched last week at the Mumbai Comic-Con, and was inspired to film-maker Ram Devineni while travelling in India two years ago after the gang rape by six men of a 23-year-old Delhi medical student who later died from her injuries.
During his trip Devineni, the founder of the publisher and film production company Rattapallax, realised the core of the problem isn't just legal, but mainly cultural with rape survivors living with the blame and shame and in fear of the men who violated them who, most of the times, just walk away.
The story revolves around Priya a young girl who would like to become a teacher, but is ordered by her father to stop going to school and take care of the house. A group of men rapes her and she becomes an outcast, rejected by her family. Horrified at the behaviour of human beings, Lord Shiva unleashes his rage on earth while Goddess Parvati intervenes giving Priya the chance to restore peace and bring a new order on earth. Priya therefore turns from rejected rape survivor into a modern heroine, capable of spreading a message of respect, equality and education (the Shakti is "the female principle of divine energy").
Rattapallax joined forces on this project with Apne Aap Women Worldwide, an NGO which supports at-risk girls and women in India and the US, printing 6,000 copies in Hindi and English of the comic that can otherwise be downloaded from free at this link.
The comic book, with its drawings and illustrations mixed with real photographs, is mainly aimed at teenagers and, while the characters should have been explored more deeply on a psychological level, the idea of combining Hindu mythology, equality, rights and a call to fight against prejudices and misogyny, may prove rather successful. But there's something else that may push teenagers to read the comic and spread the message linked to it - its link with augmented reality and modern technology.
Scenes taken from the comic were indeed recreated as murals around Mumbai and, by scanning the works with a mobile phone, people can unlock animations and films, while an augmented reality version of the story can also be accessed via the Blippar app revealing documentaries about the stories of real-life Indian women who have survived sexual assaults. Besides, the creators of Priya's Shakti are also asking readers to turn the story into a proper anti-rape platform and fight sexual violence by taking a photograph with the character and sharing it on social media, tagging it #standwithpriya.
Priya's Shakti may not be the first comic book with a social intent, but it may become the first one conceived as a multimedia project hoping to become a proper tool to fight against global gender-based violence, since assaults against women occur everyday all over the world.
If Priya could stir the debate about these issues and inspire young people to find positive heroines with no super human powers but with strong ideas and messages who are not afraid to speak up (something hard to find in a world in which doing something as innocent as watching a music video or an advert has turned into being subjected to seeing women being constantly objectified...) that could be already considered as one small yet important victory.
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