Beneath a florid sunset, by the swaying palms on the outskirts of Kanchipuram in northeast Tamil Nadu, an epic is slowly unfolding in raucous colour. A little boy turns into a romping tiger with a springy tail, stripes and whiskers. A young girl is transformed into a princess with a spiky crown, and two young boys become jesters with whitened faces. Three little demons take shape in flouncy silk skirts and towering crowns, brandishing cardboard swords. Tending to their requests to tuck in pleats, bejewelled pins, and flowers with a practised hand and an indulgent smile is the person they call ‘paty’ (grandma), Hanne de Bruin.