I find myself in a desolate cave, my feet touching sand. As I take in the sunshine that pierces through a canopy above, I am caught off-guard by a writhing snake: Vasuki.
It invites me to follow. I do, only to find myself inside yet another cavern awash with a soft red glow, featuring Karnataka’s Togalu Gombeyaata puppets suspended mid-air. I touch them and the puppets come to life, as drum beats fill the air.
I am in the Library of Shadows, I am told. But physically, I am at Chennai’s Goethe-Institut library, sporting a VR headset. This is just one of the worlds that make up The Infinite Library, an installation currently travelling through Goethe-Institut libraries across the country, introducing readers to South Indian puppetry, Polynesian navigation and European medieval alchemy.
