India's First Female Superhero Asks Children To Be Strong To Fight COVID-19

"Sometimes we have to be strong, so those who love us can also be strong," Priya tells little Meena in the book who misses her mother, a nurse providing care to COVID-19 patients.

Priya's Mask, the latest offering in the comic series by Ram Devineni, features Priya and her flying tiger Sahas fighting a new global crisis-COVID-19. The book is aimed at dispelling misinformation about the pandemic and stresses the need for people to come together and help each other during this time of need.

This is not the first battle that Priya, named a Gender Equality Champion by UN Women, has fought. The superhero character was created in response to the Nirbhaya gang rape of 2012 to bring attention to gender and sexual violence. A symbol of strength and a force for change for girls around the world, Priya has since then campaigned against gender violence, acid attacks and sex trafficking through a series of comic books.

Priya's Mask was released as an augmented reality comic book, accompanied by an animated short film featuring the voices of renowned personalities such as Rosanna Arquette, Vidya Balan, Mrunal Thakur and Sairah Kabir. The comic also sees Priya partnering with the Burka Avenger, a female superhero from Pakistan, stressing the need for nations to come together to fight the virus.

ParentCircle caught up with Ram Devineni, the creator of the Priya comic series. In an exclusive interview, Devineni talks about the inspiration behind Priya, the journey of the comic series and the role art can play in sensitizing children to social issues such as gender violence.

Here are edited excerpts from the interview ...

Priya is India's first female comic book hero. Tell us about her journey ...

The idea to create Priya's Shakti comic book series came after the horrible Delhi gang-rape in 2012. I was involved in the protests in Delhi and observed that gender-based violence was a cultural problem. After talking to survivors, I also realized that there was a lack of support in society for the survivors of such crimes. So, I created a female comic book character who could reach young audiences and address this issue. My goal was to change their perception about the role of women, and especially about survivors of gender-based violence, at an early age.

With Priya's Mask, we decided to speak to a broader audience as the COVID-19 pandemic was affecting everyone in different ways. There were few resources to help parents talk to their children about the virus, and I felt children's emotional state was not being focused upon.

What inspired you to create Priya's Mask?

The nucleus of the story came from my 3-year-old niece, who told her mother that she did not have anyone to talk to about her feelings. She said this during the height of the lockdown when everything was shut and she had stopped going to school. This was a motivating factor in creating the project.

In Priya's Mask, Priya returns, re-imagined as a teenager, but still fierce and strong. The new edition is for a younger audience and was aimed at dispelling misinformation about COVID-19. The pandemic has challenged everyone, and the level of fear and uncertainty among people is very high. Priya's message has always been about conquering one's fears in order to find strength. She shows us why it is important to work together to defeat the virus and to follow basic safety measures such as "wearing a mask for your safety and mine".

The book focuses on the emotions that children are going through during this turmoil. Meena, a character from the comic book, expresses her anxiety about the pandemic really well-she has no one to talk to and share her emotions. Priya tells her that she needs to be strong so that others can be strong. In these uncertain times, fear can overtake us, but we need stay strong to support our family and community.

This comic has Priya collaborating with Pakistan's female superhero, Burka Avenger. What brought about this collaboration and why is it significant?

Burka Avenger is Pakistan's female superhero, while Priya is from India. So, it was natural for both characters to partner in this comic book. The virus does not respect borders and is a global problem. It can only be defeated through cooperation and understanding between people and cultures. In the book, we emphasize the similarities between both characters and their unified battle to beat the virus.

What made you choose augmented reality (AR) while creating the comic?

Augmented reality is very popular now-much more than it was when we started in 2013. The images are markers, which are activated through the Artivive App. The image can be mounted on a wall, printed in a comic book, saved on your computer screen, or even become a large mural on the side of a building-and the AR will still work. The AR is really effective when you see it on a printed comic book or on street art, but it also can be viewed on the downloadable versions on your computer. The comic book is the perfect format for AR because the entire book is in images and they provide perfect markers to tell stories.

For Priya's Mask, we were challenged because we did not have physical books and everything was done online. So, we created several unique AR experiences that addressed the pandemic and the lockdown situation experienced all over the world. We created augmented reality masks that you can wear using Snapchat or Facebook Messenger and Instagram AR interfaces. The specially designed Priya AR Masks are a great way to share that you are wearing a mask on social media and they can also be fashionable. Just a reminder for kids: AR masks are only for social media and should not be a substitute for real masks.

The Priya series has addressed topics such as rape, acid attack and sex trafficking in the past. Can art become an important tool in educating children about pressing social issues?

The comic book series had played a role in shifting the focus to the survivors. Often, the discussions about gender-based violence tend to be centered around the perpetrators. There was no talk about rape and acid attack survivors and how society treated them. The shaming that the survivors have to go through is very painful. It takes an entire family and community to help survivors get through this ordeal, and eventually, heal physically and emotionally.

The impact of the comic book was very apparent with Priya's Mirror, which focuses on acid attacks. For that book, we worked closely with acid attack survivors to tell their stories. The survivors often complained that they wanted to come out to the public and tell their stories, but the media and general public did not want to hear them because of the brutal nature of the crime and the scars it leaves behind. The comic book galvanized people around the survivors and helped them get media attention.

The construct of a female superhero and the comic book format made the issues more accessible and started a larger debate on how to treat survivors and help them in their healing process.

When it comes to books, comics, art, etc, should children be exposed to a global perspective or more contextual, regional perspectives so that they can relate to it easily?

I think it's impossible to avoid it. Obviously, a child's life is surrounded by her family, friends and community. Who she see every day is most important, but global issues matter, too. How the stories are told and values are explained is critical.

Download the free PDF of Priya's Mask here.

Also read:

Benefits Of Comics For Kids

Dear Parent, What's Your Superhero Quotient?

About the author:

Written by Vani Venugopal on 16 December 2020.

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