Cardamom is a mysterious lady full of stories from festivals and rituals, pepper is a little boy who was playing on a seashore in South India when he spotted a ship and sailed away, star anise is an oriental beauty with a dusky bronze complexion and a hidden past — step into the alternate world of puppeteer Varun Narain (in the picture) and everyday spices come alive as exotic individuals with fascinating histories. The 30-something Delhi puppeteer has designed 100 masks using spices from the Indian kitchen.

Narain, whose mother Priti Narain has written the Essential Delhi Cookbook, says the kitchen has been his playground ever since he could remember. “Battles have been lost and won over spices and histories rewritten. In Germany people could be beheaded for stealing saffron and don’t forget why the colonisers were so fascinated by India,” says Narain.

Around March, he started experimenting with the Rajasthani technique of pounding paper and fenugreek seeds to create the perfect pulp for his masks. He combined this with a Venetian technique to make thin masks that were durable and “would endure for a lifetime”. Next, he decided to humanise spices, and selected those he mostly used while cooking — cardamom, clove, cumin, red chilli, turmeric, garlic, pepper, cinnamon, saffron and star anise.

Garlic was among the first to take shape in his deft fingers. The collection has two garlic masks, both showing a whitish face with a serrated forehead and puckered lips. The pale complexion alludes not only to the colour of the spice, but also to the secret rituals practised across the world to ward off evil spirits. “Historically, garlic has a paranormal association with vampires and ghosts. Hence, I’ve always perceived it as a deathly figure,” explains Narain.

In contrast, Cool Cardamom has a funky green face, wears kitschy sunglasses and has colourful paisley patterns around the eyes, as if it is off to a masquerade ball. Narain laughs as he holds up the mask to the sun and says, “She is the original spice girl.” The other mask, called Cross-Dressing Cardamom, has a woman’s face topped with a moustache and a trim beard. The clove, on the other hand, has a sad story. Narain says, “She was the first spice to be traded, so she always had a price on her head.” Hence, each clove face is split into two — one side is of a sensuous Venetian beauty, the other is a disfigured heroine with either a crack or a nose missing.

While saffron is a bride decked in gold, the cinnamon masks resemble the surface of a chocolate cookie and are either bald or wear British hats. Though the masks are good enough to eat, Narain says they are ideal as home decor or as a fashion accessory.