Stories In A Box

It is almost lunchtime. Kojaram and I are hungry. “What do we do about food?” I ask Kojaram. “Don’t worry. Our patron will feed us,” Kojaram says, smiling.

- Nina Sabnani

Kojaram is a traditional storyteller from Rajasthan. He tells stories using wooden boxes called kaavad.

The word kaavad comes from the word kivad, meaning door; the wooden box has several panels that open up like many doors, just like you would see in a folding book. The kaavad has images from the Indian epics and other stories painted in the Mewari folk style. This style of art is easily identifiable by the bright colours and the dramatic features of the figures like long noses, oval faces, and large, fish-like eyes.

Kojaram leads me to the house of one of his patrons. A patron is a person who gives money or other gifts as payment for a cause or activity; in this case for the stories narrated by Kojaram and artists like him. Each kaavad storyteller has multiple patrons. In the same way Kojaram inherited the profession from his father, the patron inherits his storytellers.

The patron welcomes us and spreads a blanket for us to sit on. Kojaram opens the kaavad and begins his performance.