Sketching a fighter’s tale

Chennai: At 13, she lost both her hands in a bomb blast. But neither the trauma nor two years of missed school could prevent Malvika Iyer from appearing for her Class X board exams and also being the topper in Tamil Nadu. The same indomitable spirit helped her get a PhD and, more recently, the Nari Shakti Puraskar, the highest civilian honour for women, from the President. And it’s this honour which inspired Chennaiite Sriram Jagannathan to pen a graphic novel on Malvika. He hopes ‘Mai: A Graphic Novel’, which was recently launched, will inspire others.

"The novel will appeal to anyone interested in stories where people overcome setbacks and emerge triumphant," says Jagannathan, adding it will help people better understand the magnitude of Malvika’s achievements.

A graphic designer, animator and user experience designer in the field of e-learning, Jagannathan has always wanted to share stories that inspired him. Doing a graphic novel was the natural choice, as he feels it is the best way to express emotions.

So, a year ago, when he heard about Malvika, he looked her up online. Her talk at the UN was the first video he watched. "I found it impressive and inspiring. The next two days, I watched more videos of her talks and read a lot of articles," says Jagannathan, adding that her attitude was so strong and positive that he decided to do his first

book

on her. "I wanted to focus not on her recent achievements but the challenges she and her family faced," says Jagannathan, who has self-published it.

For Malvika, it offered an opportunity to share her inner journey. "For the last couple of years, I have shared many stories about how I survived the bomb blast and overcame my disability. I have talked about hope and optimism but I never really shared what I went through —the despair and hopelessness that engulfed me during the accident," says the 29-year-old, who shuttles between the US and India. "To tone down the despair, Jagannathan came with a series of illustrations narrating my childhood, the accident and my life before and after it."

The black and white drawings are powerful, building up the carefree life of the teenager before the accident, the pain and suffering during her months of hospitalisation and her rough road to recovery.

"We talked over Skype for about four weeks and I also met her mother who is in Chennai, and gathered her side of the story," says Jagannathan, who adds that though Malvika shared some important photos for reference, ‘Mai’ (Malvika’s nickname) is mostly based on what their conversations.

While Jagannathan hopes his book will appeal to teens, Malvika is continuing her work to spread positivity and hope. "I give motivational speeches, and am working on projects to promote a positive attitude towards differently-abled, accessible fashion and body positivity," she says.

‘Mai: A Graphic Novel’, published by Notion Press, is now available on e-commerce sites.


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