Photo-story on the making of Ravana

Evil isn’t born in a day. Evil also isn’t born in solitude. The evil that I am talking about is the maha-demon called Ravana. This maha-demon was the one that was killed by Lord Ram… but then that is a past story. That Ravana exists now as effigies that are prepared every year to be incinerated on Dushera. Dushera marks the day he was killed in battle by Ram and his monkey force. Tempted to quote from a poem by Devil Poet:

“The son of the soil Ravana is sitting on the dock
With monsters and convicts
Darling, with your intoxicating glance
You have devoured all
In a drunken state. 

Darling, Ram and you stay in Ayodh
Let Sita stay underground
Till the day of resurrection
Let Ravana’s name remain
In the book of monsters
Let him remain a devil forever.”

Let us begin our journey into the making of Ravana… the one that we see and burn every year and also the one that resides deep into our very being…

The Story. The pic-tale.

The foundation, the base, the start is never what you see in the end. A few stray temptations tied together slowly start taking a partial shape… this can happen anywhere, even in the midst of a busy day in a busy market, so to say. This can also happen in the strange solitude that descends when the rest of the world is busy, inattentive, and not there…

Ravana: the bare structure

You can barely make out what you are going to end up with when the temptations slowly inch towards you… evil has this facility to make you feel so safe and secure that you never realize where it is ultimately going to take you. Temptations also flock together… all of them in various stages of becoming more strong, more stable, more attractive…

Ravana: a few initial stages

A shape that slowly, very slowly but with immense confidence, rises to its full stature… and this doesn’t take an entire lifetime. Sometimes this happens faster than you can imagine. Other temptations are also shaping up… the army is getting ready to overwhelm you, so to say. Think about it.

Ravana: slowly getting its identity

Evil never ever rises on its own — this is one fact that history teaches us. Evil always seeks, enrols, and recruits the help of experts who step forward willingly to give it the shape that it wants. it also controls these experts to ensure that not one bit goes where it shouldn’t…

Ravana: seeks help from the experts

Evil, temptations, demons… all are weak and shaky in their formative period and , therefore, their protectors tie them up so that they don’t get dislodged. Even a small gust can take them away from their mooring and thus existence. Something that we all do when we are prey to temptations — we hold them near, nurse them, nurture them…

Ravana: needs vital support systems initially

Every part of this installation is vital. Even the crown. here we see crowns piled up one on top of each other waiting for their turn to be brought down, painted, papered, and fixed. temptations too, like this example have many parts and some make their entry late but are just as vital. Can we intervene at any point in time and prevent a temptation from reaching maturity?

Ravana: every part is vital

Well, it isn’t as if the road to evildom is easy and obstacle-free. Bruises, wounds, cuts, burns… it is the same as it would be for you and me. Even a mere effigy of Ravana needs to be nursed, taken care of, and protected!

Ravana: the need to be nursed

Big and small parts that will one day be enjoined to take the form of a terror still need to be stored somewhere until the right moment. Thus while nurturing some evil thought even we do not know how or when or in which way it would hop and join some other solitary and weak looking evil to become a massive terrorizing force.

Ravana: more parts means innovative warehousing

Smaller forms of the mighty Ravana isn’t something to laugh at… they serve the purpose of attracting customers or enquiries for the larger forms that can go up to 80 feet. These midget forms are generally completed in a single stretch… so is the case with the temptations of our inner self. There are midget forms that are seemingly harmless and sort of trial versions and are meant to hook us into the more terrible ones.

Ravana: midget forms are like advertisements

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Ravana: attractive even without eyes

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Ravana: sometimes even its skeletal form intimidates

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Ravana: all of them are different and yet have a similar purpose

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Evil comes in all hues but has a similar expression!

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A closer view of demonic tendencies does tell us how like any of us any evil always is…

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The birth of Ravana these days is sooooo messy!

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Yes, Titarpur is indeed worth a walk… and this is one evil that you can go up to fearlessly!

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There you… Specky is unafraid to even pat Ravana on his head!

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One of the stages where evil exists but is sightless!

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One of the Gods of Ravana’s effigies… does he know what he is creating?

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An artist’s dream… this part of Delhi during the Ravan-making time is exciting!

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One of the many teams of people working on each of these effigies…

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These people love all the attention they are getting by passers-by who stop to watch them create evil!

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‘What do effigies think, if they think at all?’ Any idea?

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Aha! The effigies are all coming to life now!

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Were the effigies the same ten years back? No… I think our imagination is improving now!

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Big and small… but they all give the same grin of arrogance!

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OMG! This one is clearly embarrassed with his past!

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…and this one knows he is making such a pathetic spectacle of himself!

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Queued up and nervous before their final encounter with the forces of Rama…

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Some of them prefer to lie down and look up as if begging for mercy!

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Is evil so evil because it doesn’t look the right way?

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What is this one doing in the thick of Titarpur traffic? Wanting a share from the traffic cop’s daily earnings?

Arvind Passey
Pictures clicked in Titarpur, New Delhi