New Delhi [India], September 2: A donkey that lives a human life. Human life is represented by an animal. This is the whole idea behind the character Maniyan.
Maniyan is a character who is a piece of my heart. He was an idea that had been in my mind for the longest time. So, when I started putting that into words, the flow was beautiful. Being an animal and being the hero of a human story make Maniyan a unique character. With the backbone of such a beautiful blended representation, I could bring to life a lot of creativity.
There are three books in the series of Maniyan: The Short Vacation of a Donkey, Metamorphosis of Maniyan, Maniyan’s Bakery and the Magic Muffins. It was important for me to build the character of Maniyan into a defined image on a strong foundation, as I had envisioned. This character can travel through time and age groups. That’s the potential which is built and established in the first book. The ‘short vacation’, is where Maniyan gets introduced into the human world, he meets his master Shreeju, he learns about the nuances of society, he fell in love, met the challenges of life and decided to embrace it. By the end of the book, Maniyan becomes someone who is relatable to animals, kids and adults.
“Metamorphosis” dives deeper into the character of Maniyan. His thought process, his insecurities, his strengths and weaknesses, and all that he is as a person are being brought into the light. This book reflects the journey of someone who got punched down by reality and became the one who finds a way to thrive in it. It reflects the human survival capabilities of confronting the fear and walking through it and beyond it. There is nothing in this world which can be achieved by running away. Maniyan, as a character, takes the courage to be portrayed at his weakest to emerge as the strongest. There is so much relativity in the story arc and the character depth that you fall in love with the transformation journey of Maniyan.
The third book further gets into the elevation of Maniyan’s life. He has lived enough life, spending time in the world, and he comes back with a rich experience of life. Here we see a mature and intelligent version of the same naïve Maniyan who started out as an innocent pushover. This gives the kick of success, as it feels personal. Maniyan’s victory as a successful businessman feels like a collective goal for the reader. Almost reaping the benefits of what he had gone through in the first 2 episodes, here Maniyan enjoys life, and a magical twist comes his way. Life moved from rags to riches to the metaphysical. The interesting entry of an alien and the storyline, which invokes curiosity, greatly gives an immersive experience for the reader, while still grounded in the roots of reality. Still grounded in the everyday challenges of a married man and a responsible businessman. The third book definitely ends with a lot of possibilities for Maniyan’s future as a character.
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Siddharth Mehta
