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Fascinating folds
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No glue and no scissors. Young origami expert Shivaram Narayanan can create marvels by simply folding paper
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Photo: Bhagya Prakash K.
HOLD THAT FOLD Shivaram Narayanan: `Children from slums seem to have a natural flair for this art. They pick it up very easily'
"Happy folding" is his constant wish-line, and Shivaram Narayanan is just that — very happy folding.
I'm talking origami, folks. Of course we've all made our paper aeroplanes and boats in days gone by. Even a clever crane or two. But we're not talking of conventional talent. This is one 16-year-old that can turn a square sheet of paper into anything — Ganesha, parrot, butterfly, duck, toothbrush, potato wafers ...
Like some people who just can't stop twiddling their thumbs, or rapping it on tables, Shivaram just can't stop folding.
The 12th grade student is not bogged down by the rigours of formal schooling. He really enjoys life, music, and of course origami in Goa, doing one exam a year through the National Institute of Open Schooling.
Sigh! Which kid wouldn't want such a life?
Like most origamists, he's self-taught in this art, which is a Japanese tradition. You don't need any scissors or glue; no cutting and sticking, just good ol' folding. And what's more, he's now even published a book of his own Fold In Fold Out — Origami Originals that features not only six traditional origami designs but also over 18 of his own original ones. He was in Bangalore to formally release the book.
Shivaram started folding away when he was five. "My parents often bought me craft books that featured origami. I would look at them and learn. My mother spotted my folding talent and fed me with more books," grins the bespectacled whiz kid. He went to school till his Seventh Grade, sheepishly adding there weren't too many pages left in his school notebooks. He would just tear away at them and keep folding in class. Upset teachers would melt the moment he would present them his creations.
At nine, he had held his first exhibition where he displayed 300 models, and hasn't stopped since. He always carries some paper with him. He's held a rapt audience to attention in trains, where fidgety kids get something to do and learn through their journey.
The most complicated design he's attempted till now is a lobster that involved over 200 complicated folds. Unit origami uses many pieces which are individually fashioned and then interlocked again with folds only. Another challenge was making a scorpion. "I usually keep doodling around with paper and when it begins to look like something, I continue in that direction," says Shivaram, making it sound all too easy.
At the International Origami Conventions he's attended, Shivaram was exposed to a whole new world of origami. He saw designs where one artist held something like a paper ball in his hand, but when it opened it would have an intricate six-foot design made within, or it would reveal a hat within. The current trend abroad, he says, is to use credit cards to create origami figures. Starched cloth, copper wire mesh are other popular materials being experimented with in origami. On his part, he's tried it on aluminium and silver foil. An origami design of a macaw that Shivaram did won him an award from the organisation Origami U.S.A.
He's quite willing to share what he's learnt and has held workshops for spastic children in Chennai and Mumbai, for children living in slums, cancer patients, senior citizens and prostitutes rescued from brothels in Mumbai. "Children from slums seem to have a natural flair for this art. They pick it up very easily," he says. Very often, origami is considered therapeutic, and therefore applied in geriatrics. He's also held a workshop for NIFT students where at the end of the session they applied origami to designer wear and created a wedding gown and a bikini out of paper.
Shivaram smiles as he recalls how his creations were really "real". At an exhibition in the Lalit Kala Akademi in Delhi, he had displayed a bowl filled with origami chips. "A man who strolled in to see the exhibition thought they were real and put one into his mouth!"
His creativity extends to other fields too. He is learning to play the ghatam as a disciple of the maestro Vikku Vinayakaram. He's also learning to play the flute and is a self-taught guitarist. "I play the guitar most instinctively," he says. Next month, he's jamming with young musicians for the I Have a Dream show on the beaches of Goa, open to young musical talents.
When he's not folding paper, Shivaram spends a lot of time on his computer, working on graphics, designing (he's done all the illustrations for his book on his system) and even composes music on it. The family, by choice, doesn't own a TV. He's still undecided on what he'll do after he completes 12th Standard. "I haven't decided whether I want to learn music formally or just experiment on my own," he says, very seriously. Or he may just make a career of origami that finds applications in the advertising, architecture and packaging and fashion industries.
His book, in handmade paper, is available at Landmark, priced at Rs. 225. Shivram can be reached at origamishiv@gmail.com. Those interested in the art can look up www.origami-usa.org/ or www.britishorigami.org.uk.
BHUMIKA K.
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