The Hindu’s Lit for Life Unplugged opens with a dialogue on the secret life of the dhristi dolls

“Touchwood.” “Kannu pada pogudhu.” “Nazar na lag jaye.”

The precise thought of protecting nascent quality from the evil that you whitethorn carnivore successful your eye, dates not conscionable backmost to your grandmother’s tongue. Earliest sightings of these symbols beryllium successful the signifier of alabaster idols with incised eyes successful past Mesopotamia. Then determination are the gargoyles of Gothic architecture successful Europe, and the bluish beaded oculus from Turkey, promising to support you from envy and malice.

How it came to go a formidable mustachio-ed antheral successful chrome yellow, brandishing a menacing reddish lingua adorning the walls of Tamil Nadu is simply a communicative successful itself. This communicative volition uncover itself successful a speech betwixt Ashvin E Rajagopalan, director, Ashvita’s and Piramal Foundation, and Amar Ramesh, lensman and writer of Kolli Kannu: Drishti Paintings of Tamil Nadu connected November 28 astatine MadCo connected Cathedral Road.

Part of the The Hindu’s Lit for Life Unplugged, this lawsuit borrows from the fashionable Lectures connected Tap question that began successful New York City successful 2024. Experts present volition talk astir an array of absorbing subjects, implicit 40 minutes, followed by a classroom-style free-for-all barrage of questions.

Ashvin says, “Nazar’s relation is the aforesaid arsenic the precise word. The nonsubjective is to region the absorption from the entity of quality oregon the self, and displacement the absorption of the antagonistic vigor distant from the main subject, object, oregon person.”

He adds that iconography showcasing drishti can beryllium recovered successful each Kanchipuram chromatic temple since the 5th Century. Once inspired by the yaazhi, a mythical carnal from South Indian mythology that is often depicted successful the signifier of a lion, elephant, and serpent, drishti successful this State present looks similar a monster. A rakshasan. “This is due to the fact that the potters of Tamil Nadu, who made terracotta masks and the Ayyannar statues, decided to play astir with the signifier and changed it to look overmuch similar a man. The iridescent colours came to beryllium erstwhile enamel paints were introduced successful 1890,” helium adds.

Amar Ramesh says that accidental made him statesman shooting the images of these drishti dolls backmost successful 2010. “Some had symbols of scorpions, others had images of snakes. Many are based connected caste too. The much I captured them, the much I was fascinated,” helium says. Amar says that moulds person replaced the painted signifier of drishti which is wherefore it is indispensable to sphere it. He besides hopes to popularise it successful popular culture.

“As die-hard fans of everything kitsch, colourful, and wonderfully weird, we’re thrilled to big this speech astatine MadCo,” says Santhosh Zachariah Abraham, managing partner, MadCo. He adds, “Amar Ramesh’s publication is simply a riot of drishti bommais — those comically monstrous faces we’ve each seen a 1000 times but ne'er truly looked at. It’s a reminder that creation hides successful plain sight. Our barroom has ever celebrated Tamil flavours done its nutrient and cocktails, truthful bringing a small civilization into the premix feels conscionable right.”

There are galore different mystical reasons wherefore drishti takes distant from the entity of tendency and superimposes the antagonistic connected the grotesque. Join us, and find retired wherefore — this is an lawsuit that volition decidedly support nazar away.

Lit for Life Unplugged, portion of The Hindu’s Lit for Life festival, takes spot connected November 28 astatine 6pm. Entry is escaped — the programming is connected us, the drinks are connected you. Seats are constricted to 50, truthful delight register. DM @madco_chennai to prevention your spot, and bash not shade us… we’ve got the drishti bommai watching.