Priya's Shakti

About the book

Priya's Shakti is India's first augmented reality comic book and was launched at Mumbai Comicon 2014 June 2015. The graphic novel or comic book tells the story of Priya, a villager from India who is gang raped by men in her village. When she recalls her ordeal to her family, they shun her saying she has brought shame on them. The village elders too blame her for "provoking" the men. Ashamed and scared Priya flees to the forest to end her life. But the Goddess Parvati, queen to the King of Gods Shiva, sees her plight and seeks to help her. She enters Priya's body and confronts the men who raped Priya. The men do not realize Parvati is inside Priya and try to rape her again. This angers the Goddess and she takes her true form. Meanwhile, Shiva is awakened from his slumber and sees how mortals (men) are treating his wife. Furious he curses all mankind to impotency! Chaos reigns. The story of Priya then takes a new turn. How Priya champions the cause of women's rights and transforms at least her own village - is the story of Priya's Shakti (Shakti=power)

Awards & Recognition

Since its publication, in a very short time the graphic novel has claimed global acclaim. The comic book has been bought or downloaded on the internet over 3,00,000 times and the app has become a rage across India. The book has also received several awards including ones from UN Women, which named it the 2014 Gender Equality Champion, the Ford Foundation and several other organizations. The books photographs and story is travelling the world through exhibitions at New York, Paris, London etc.

The graphic novel's physical copies are now being distributed to rural schools in India as a pilot project, to see if such books can create awareness among children and the youth, about the evil of rape so that men can be sensitized towards rapes and how rape victims are treated