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Magazine
CULTURE
Reinventing the Ramayana
RANJINI RAO
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U.S.-based Kridana’s new line of epic heroes as action figures a la G.I. Joe has stirred curiosity.
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Kridana basically aims at bringing the incredible power of play to help young minds imbibe the essence of the epics.
Power of play: Mahendar with the Hanuman figure.
With holiday shoppers swarming ToysRUs stores through the U.S. to find the perfect toys for their little ones to play with, both in terms of safety and appropriateness, it is rare to find a shelf full of Barbies or Princesses for cute little girls, and GI Joes or Transformers for tough little boys. And for some desi children, it may not be long before a dapper, monkey-faced demigod, standing in a GI Joe-esque pose, and his bow-and-arrow master are readily available alongside these American superheroes and heroines.
Curiosity factor
This is courtesy of Kridana, a Pennsylvania-based start-up, which has triggered more than curiosity and charm with its new line of epic comics and action figures. Kridana is all set to move on from the humble Hanuman and Rama, to the evil, 10-faced Ravana next year. While it may seem a little unconventional to imagine these little tykes acting out pretend-battles with an angry-faced Hanuman and a bow-and-arrow Rama (at least until Ravana makes his smashing entry) under the big tree during Christmas, it may not be half as unusual to start celebrating some of the Indian festivals in the U.S., like Dasara, with these action figures adorning the displays.
Mahender Swami Nathan is the brain behind Kridana, (which, in Sanskrit, means plaything). As a child growing up both in the U.S. and India, his grandmother’s stories made him wonder if he could replace his GI Joes with figurines of Hanuman who, in his eyes, was no less than a superhero. He held on to that glimmer of an idea for years. Earlier this year, at a party, he met a friend from the toy industry who agreed to help him realise his dream.
Kridana currently sells its wares online and is talking to retailers about a business alliance. Mahender says that, even though he initially planned on focusing on a strictly NRI target base (U.S. and Canada), he was pleasantly surprised to note that some Anglo-Americans, and people from Australia, the U.K., Malaysia, and even India, have been fascinated by Kridana’s range of products, which currently includes Hanuman and Rama with their own mini-comic books that tell particular vignettes from the Ramayana, and a colourful Ramayana poster that’s perfect for a child’s bedroom wall.
When asked if he has any plans to introduce new products, Mahender says emphatically, “We intend to introduce new products. We believe that kids can learn through play in many ways. In particular, based on feedback from customers, we plan to introduce soft toys of some key Ramayana characters for the littlest ones.”
Snags on the way
While that sounds fine, one wonders if Kridana had to face any snags, given the Indian sentimentality over the epics and their stature. Mahender avers that Kridana basically aims at bringing the incredible power of play to help young minds imbibe the essence of the epics. “Every now and then,” he says, “we get feedback from customers who question what we’re doing. In fact, a recent comment was ‘How can you make toys of Indian Gods? Are you insane?’ But what this commentator doesn’t realise is that we’re following in the footsteps of centuries of Indian cultural artistic tradition. There’s a rich and long tradition of the Ramayana being represented in Indian decorative arts and toys from 14th century Satriya dance masks in Assam to 16th century decorative bronze sculptures of Hanuman and Rama in Maharashtra and Karnataka. Kridana is no different. From conception to completion, making Hanuman and Rama come to life has involved hundreds of hours of work from 10 artists including illustrators, colourists, sculptors and painters, not to mention the hand-painting work done on each figure at our factory.”
But does all this, and the exciting new projects that are presently being kept under wraps, conform with amenable safety standards in the U.S., especially in light of the recent toy recalls? According to Mahender, Kridana has gone out of its way to ensure product safety, by using non-phthalate plastics (the safest type of plastic around); testing the toys with an outside, Swiss-based laboratory to be doubly sure that they were not only lead-free, but also mechanically safe (and also would exceed the toy industry’s own ‘gold standard’ known as FSTM 963); and even putting up the testing results on its website.
When prompted if he had any message for NRI children in the U.S., Mahender simply said, “Growing up desi outside of India can be hard because most people don’t understand your culture, but you should always feel confident taking pride in our heritage.”
While that is rather commendable, it remains to be seen if Hanuman’s gada would be thought of in the same vein as GI Joe’s “9mm with drop down holsters”. Then again, GI Joe’s “Mountain Scout” is bound to turn unimpressive when Kridana’s suave and sassy Hanuman lifts him high up in the air, along with his big old mountain.
To check out this audacious, adorable demigod in his new-age form and gear, and Kridana’s other chic offerings, visit www.kridana.com.
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