Black, White, Red And Grey

Appupen’s fourth graphic novel ‘The Snake and the Lotus’ set in the fictional world of Halahala, is a quiet reminder of a dark reality, one that is as scarily familiar as it is unfamiliar

- Poonam Ganglani

The first thing I notice about Appupen’s The Snake and the Lotus is that there are no page numbers in this graphic novel. This, to me, is threatening. It indicates a lack of order, a deliberate attempt to make me let go of usual structures and expectations, the absence of footholds in this universe I am about to explore. I sense that the moment I jump in, I will be sucked into a swirling vortex of lines and strokes, of ominous words and unsettling realities. I look back at the world behind me. Five…four…three… two…one. And then I jump.

Halahala is a dimension parallel to our own, occupying another place in the spectrum of space and time. In The Snake and the Lotus, Appupen’s fourth graphic novel set in this mythical universe, Halahala is a shrivelled version of the human race – one that is controlled by machines, feeds purely on lotus milk for sustenance, and knows neither physical pleasure nor emotional connection in its fullest sense. They occupy the White City and are segregated into roles and ranks: the Greyfolk look aspirationally to the White

Towers, the abode of the Godlings, who in turn, seek to please their Leaders in the White Temple. The higher their place in the White City, the more cut off they appear to be from their original nature. It is a delusional, dreary and dark existence that threatens to become the new order.