Meet Our Wapuu(s) – Ammu And Appu!

We are happy to unveil the official mascot(s) for WordCamp Kochi – Ammu & Appuu! 

And yes, Ammu and Appu are a couple! We have a couple Wapuu as our mascot for WordCamp Kochi! How cool is that?

What is a Wapuu?

The Wapuu character was born as the official mascot of the Japan WordPress Community. Everyone loved the first iteration of the Wapuu, which caught on with the global WordPress community, and soon became a rage. Soon, other local WordPress communities followed-suit – and today, The Wapuu is as much a symbol of the global WordPress community, as the WordPress logo, perhaps! Wanna check out the story of how the Wapuu was born? Check out this post from the Wapuu fan club!

Appu And Ammu

The idea for a custom Wapuu for flagship event was thrown on the table for discussion, right during the early days of WordCamp Kochi, when all of us were planning the event. Our aim was to add a touch of Kerala, to our Wapuu – and we tried different iterations on our own, without much success.

One idea that struck all of us was the idea of a Couple Wapuu. We were inspired by the Wapsara – the first female Wapuu from India, and the mascot of WordCamp Pune. It was a commendable idea – a worthy shot at improving the diversity and inclusion within the WordPress community. We decided to take forward the baton from the good folks at Pune, by designing a couple Wapuu. And we were lucky enough to get help from none other than Ganesh Kerkar – the man behind Wapsara, and the co-organizer of WordCamp Pune! (Can’t thank you enough for all the help, Ganesh!)

We feel that the Wapuu should be a fun way to identify with the culture of the region. You can see that Ammu (the girl) has her hair tied in a bun, donning a mundu (dhothi), and adorned in bangles, an earring and a tiny nose-ring. Appu (the boy) is also wearing a mundu, along with a neriyathu (a cloth worn over one’s shoulder). Both of them are sipping away elaneer (coconut Juice) from the ‘WordPress coconut’!

Through Appu and Ammu, we invite people all across the world, irrespective of the divisions set by the society, to become a part of the WordPress community! Irrespective of where you are from, what your skin colour is, which gender you belong to, what you identify yourself to be (or any other form of division for that matter), you are welcome to sip the elaneer of the coconut called WordPress, like our Appu, and Ammu!

Come, attend WordCamp Kochi 2017 – and be a part of the WordPress community!

Special thanks to our organizers – Bigul Malayi, and Archana Mohan for their inputs on the Wapuu design. Can’t summarize in words our gratitude for the awesome Ganesh Kerkar for designing Appu and Ammu!

Author: Hari Shanker R

I am an Open Source Program Manager at Automattic. I work full-time on WordPress, and I am a Community Program Manager (formerly known as "Super Deputy") on the Make/WordPress Community Team. My current focus is on making the contributor experience for the WordPress open source software the best it can be. I'm currently leading the Contributor Working Group of WordPress where we are working on building contributor mentorship programs for WordPress! I also help manage, support, and run the Five for the Future program. WordPress is one of the biggest passions in my life, and I strongly believe that open source tech and the open web have the potential to make the world a better place. I have had a rather diverse career with significant experience in the domains of Retail Banking, Print & Web Journalism, Web Development, Entrepreneurship, Event Management, Professional Blogging, and Education. Outside of work, I enjoy writing (blogging) as a hobby, and I'm a compulsive bibliophile. I'm also a happily married pet parent to three cats. View all posts by Hari Shanker R