Origami Artiste on a song, in a peace of paper

CHENNAI: It was a dark, winter night and there was no power in his Chennai house. Five-year-old Shivaram Ananthanarayanan grabbed a piece of paper, deftly turned it into a bird, much to the delight of his grandfather, KSS Mani, the legendary Tamil sports commentator. In the intervening 29 years, Shivaram has gone on to become a cult figure in origami. He was all of nine years when he held his first show at the Children’s Museum, Egmore, Chennai. By the time he was 18, he had won a number of annual Origami USA competitions, in the junior category.

“When I see a square piece of paper, I already know what kind of shape I am going to form, it unfolds instantaneously, “ says the 34-year old. I push aside his origami paper squares and hand him a copy of DT Next. He quickly folds it into a cap that I can wear on the golf course. “I could fold complicated models, with 300 to 400 folds, by the time I was a teen, thanks to my grandfather who gifted me a book. I could follow instructions just looking at the images, even when I was too young to read,” adds the home-schooled Shivaram who is one of the few in India who have attained the level of being able to create Origami models from scratch. “I guess I was born with the gift of spatial skills,” adds the home-schooled Shivaram, who has made Goa his home, but travels across the country conducting origami workshops and holding exhibitions.

“Origami is an art form that is all about geometry and also a lot pf physics,” he explains. “There is origami in aeronautics; in space engineering, in satellite launches—have you not marvelled at how it collapses in the rocket, but post launch it opens? The fundamentals of origami are incorporated there,” he points out.

Shivaram Ananthanarayanan

Although most origamists follow ancient patterns, it is being adapted across fields now. Origami in the field of health sciences is another step forward. Origami is being recommended in cognitive therapy, those in post-operative stage. It is being applied in the field of nano bots as well, says Sivaram. Be it science, engineering or simple inner peace, a piece of paper is all one needs, says the artiste who is also a trained Carnatic musician, who discussed music with none other than the late President APJ Abdul Kalam. Shivaram recalls the interaction with delight. “ I published a book Origami Original: Fold in, Fold out, and sent it to the President, but there was no acknowledgment. A year or so later, the President visited Goa and I was invited to meet him. He spent fifty minutes discussing origami with me. I made a parrot on the spot and made it sit on his finger. He was delighted and then talk moved to music. He told me his favourite song was Entharo Mahanubhavulu,” says Shivaram who is also involved in documentary and film making. “Everything is as seamless as you want it to be, in life. All you need is focus,” says the Goa resident.

There are three types of paper art, he tells us. Origami (no cutting), Origami architecture (cutting and folding) and Kirigami, which is only cutting, and he is an expert in all three. His Origami architecture pop up album is highly commended, and Shivram says all credit goes to the Goan architect Dean D’Cruz. “ I learnt a lot from him,” he adds. Broadly, there are three types, the one who can make basic folds (0 to 25), the intermediate (40 plus) and the complex, who can make upto 400 folds. There are a few super complex types—they can fold to infinity.

Did you know that artistes like him –it is estimated that there are less than 1,000 Origami artistes in the country—can make a dragon with hundreds of folds? His 21 ft x 9 ft tall mural for a pan- Asian restaurant in Goa is a matter of pride for him. “I create every day, my work is very therapeutic and I make a living out of it. What more does one need in life?”