ABSOLUTE JAFAR

ON PAGE 100 OF SARNATH BANERJEE'S BRILLIANT NEW graphic novel Absolute Jafar, there's a full-colour, full-page illustration that belongs in art galleries and museums.

- Aditya Mani Jha

The painting begins a chapter called 'Aman Ki Asha', referring to an erstwhile joint ad campaign for Indo-Pak peace, organised by two newspapers, one on either side of the border. Absolute Jafar depicts the whimsical trajectory and ultimate dissolution of an Indo-Pak marriage involving the book's narrator, Brighu, and Mahrukh. Jafar is their only son, a young boy who finds himself in the unenviable position of being both Indian and Pakistani. In the 'Aman Ki Asha' painting, Banerjee draws a large jacket with a zipper, only the 'teeth' of the zipper are actually human handslocked in a tight handshake at the top of the jacket and diverging gradually until the hands at the bottom are no longer touching each other. It's an elegant way to depict the passage of time, especially within the context of a slowly unravelling marriage.

"Writers and artists are timekeepers, in one way or another," says Banerjee. "When you're writing a book, you're also trying to recreate the zeitgeist. Comic books have a specific relationship with time that's distinct from the prose novel-for starters, drawing forces you to slow down."