Developing Roots to the Universe

For centuries, one of India’s oldest indigenous communities, the Gonds, had ruled an area that once stretched from Afghanistan in the north to Telangana in the south. Nestled deep in the heart of the Satpura Mountain Range in Central India is a series of hills, called Pachmarhi… which used to be the capital of the Raj Gonds of central india, and it was in Pachmarhi that I have my roots. Having grown up immersed in legends of the land, I have been fascinated by the deep relationship between the Gond community, their way of life, called Koitur, and the land which we inhabit, since it beautifully weaves themes of sustainability, harmony with nature and the unifying life force that binds all living things.. and I decided to make ‘Roots to the Universe’.

The story created itself by making me dream of bringing the tale of Bada Dev to life in an immersive space, and fuelled my curiosity to interpret a beautiful flat 2D art form with patterns, shapes and repetitions, filled with symbolism, and translate it into an immersive VR space keeping the ethos that makes it powerful and unique. I set out to find the people who could help me, and my wife Dhira, a practicing Artist, helped realise the language for the story. Satish, a filmmaker friend of mine, spent two months going from town to village, interviewing scholars, historians, religious practitioners and artists, so we learnt about the culture and practices with much more detail and accuracy, and Shivam, a musician, helped us bring the sonic language of the piece. 

At the heart of the process were Subhash and Durgabai Vyam, highly accoladed Pradhan Gond artists who traditionally narrate and tell the story. Hearing that I wanted to expand on the tale with a sociopolitical approach to reflect on the present condition of the Gondi people, they joined us in creating the art and shaping the story. The Aadivasi Seva mandal, an organisation working towards tribal welfare and preservation of heritage, aligned with our mission and the Tribal Museum of Bhopal let us document artwork created by Gond artists in their space, shared music they had recorded with Gondi musicians and connected us to artists who work with them.

Roots came together with a multifold process that looked at research around semiotics of primitivism, decolonisation, indigenous identity and Gondi culture and myths, and used these lenses to reflect on their contemporary challenges such as loss of land, forest, and identity. We hand painted the story (physically and digitally) and brought it to life as a 360 degree animation, using a mix of digital tools such as Procreate, Photoshop, Unity, After Effects, Reaper, Cubase, Pro Tools and Premiere. Roots is an experiment in immersive storytelling, bringing together urgent contemporary challenges with the beautiful art form of the Pradhan Gonds. We hope you enjoy it. Jai Seva!