DILEMMA DISSOLVED?

The brief for the research, required to illustrate hindi nursery

rhymes for a rhymes book to be sold in the NRI market.

This project required an initial research of the NRI kids’ scenario

and parenting on one side and on the other side market research as to

what all is being done for the same cause and what are current trends

in children’s book illustrations. To begin with, the assignment

clearly showed two compartments to be worked on, eventually followed

by a research document and design developments.

Methodology

I started by asking mental questions about the need in the two said

compartments.

- Parenting?

- Why do parents want their kids to know hindi?

- Upbringing priorities?

- How to connect with the kids?

- How will they relate to the poems?

- Need for illustrating?

- Styles being already used by illustrators?

- What would be apt for this kind of target group?

- Character/personality of the rhymes?

PRODUCT-

Illustrated hindi

TARGET GROUP- NRI

- History/origin of the rhymes?

To find answers to these questions, the next move is to do secondary

research.

After researching and documenting comes the design development stage.

For this purpose at first a single rhyme was taken as a sample and

ideation was done. Since every rhyme was different and had different

origin story the process became very detailed.

Research outcomes

NRI Parenting

Parenting dilemma- They have settled abroad but want their kids

to have Indian upbringing. Sometimes the kids grow up to have an

identity crisis because they know nothing about their native

place and also do not belong to the place they are staying at.

This is the reason that the young NRI parents now follow/practice

“Indian-ness” more than the Indians in India.

But how to do that? There are books and literature available for

kids but most of it is mythological. Main problem that is faced

is the tendency to ask questions like “why” “how” “what” “where”.

Books, journals,

articles on NRI kids

parenting and their History, Case study on some

publication doing similar

work for kids, documenting

illustration styles, origin

The parents want their kids to know about Indian but starting

with basics like food, clothing, habits, how Indian cities look

like, what stands for what, hindi language, basic history etc.

Trends in representation style of books for NRI kids

When illustrating for Indian kids born and brought up abroad, it is

always a case of dilemma. Parents want their kids to know their

origin, ironically where they have never been before but to make them

relate to the book/narrative the visuals should be appropriate. What

is appropriate?

Trying to find answer to this question following 3 trends came to

notice-

1. The first kind is a more of “native” style. It is an illustration

style that is basic to its roots. It incorporates a tradition

visual style telling a tale. Usually this style is very rich in

forms and results in a very wondrous experience for the kids. One

such internationally best selling Indian publishing house is Tara

Books. They see books as objects of thrill and pleasure and

believe in providing experience through paper, print and colour.

They combine Indian and Non-Indian elements and twists on

traditional modern dichotomy. Each result is distinctive, always

with an Indian flavor. Their books are a big hit internationally

because- They are age-defying and even adults enjoy it- They have

modern themes told in traditional way- The books are tactile and

rich in imagination.

2. The second working style is finding a boundary between Indian and

western. It means taking an Indian visual and putting it in a

contemporary context, to which kids are familiar. It sort of

brings out the original state of affairs “like the character in

the illustration; the NRI is an Indian put in contemporary/non-

native context”. This also works well because children easily

associate with things they see around daily. So for them a

sunrise is not what is drawn between two conical mountains from

which a river is coming down, but probably an orange ball

partially seen from between the skyscrapers. It is like putting

an Indian warli elephant amongst other English animals in a New

York zoo. Working on the same lines is the name 3 Curious

Monkeys. This a brand started by two Indian mothers who found it

tough to convey Indianess to their kids. They have inspiration

from “Gandhiji ke teen Bandar” and created similar characters

with the respective characters of “bura mat dekho…bura mat suno

and bura mat bolo”. These characters are put in present scenario

stories for kids who in turn impart information about India.

3. The last one is showing reality of India. It can also be called

as present India. This kind of work deals with telling the

picture as it is, no nativity of traditional motives or fancy

contemporary landscape. It has more to deal with how India looks

in real at present. How the city of Mumbai looks like? Where is

the coast? Where is the desert? If a kid needs to be told what a

river is, it will definitely have a “ghaat” on its bank and if a

fish needs to be introduced to a kid in this style the fish might

as well be from Marine drive or Bandstand beach. One of the

latest works in the similar style especially for NRI kids is done

by FunOK Please publishers. They have released a series of books

with titles like “366 words in Mumbai” “366 words in Kolkata”

etc.

Basically, works in all sorts of styles are available but the above

three are the current trend setters. Educating NRI kids about India is

very important and crucial for the parents but tricky at the same

time. When it comes to hindi nursery rhymes, we need to understand

their motive in the first place. A hindi rhyme was not always a part

of our curriculum but were either a part of an activity or passed on

orally. Its motive is to enhance pronunciation and reciting skills in

a kid. Since a rhyme is catchy, easy to remember and sounds

convincing; most of our hindi rhymes have subjects from Indian

household so that basic information, manners or morals can be easily

inculcated. It does not deal with formal information about India as

such but creeps into small intricacies of our lives like playing games

in the gali or maa preparing a certain sweet in the kitchen. So it

sort of justifies the presence of an Indian character in the

narrative. Taking example of a hindi rhyme “chanda mama dur ke”-

everyone of us has read and adored this rhyme. But if someone not

familiar with this reads it the first question will be why “moon” is

our maternal uncle? Such kind of Indian-ness is difficult to explain

in a foreign context. We are brought up with a certain set of beliefs

and expressions which are exclusive to us. These set of beliefs and

expressions are what NRI parents hope to inculcate in their kids too.

Case Study

Tara Books- One of the best-selling Indian publications abroad.

Seeing books as objects of pleasure and thrill.

Combine Indian and non-Indian elements and twists on traditional

modern dichotomy. Each result is distinctive and challenging

always with an Indian flavor that promotes Indian culture while

contemporizing and challenging stereotypes.

They use a single traditional art form with a novel twist.

Philosophy is “to genuinely change the perspective from which

stories are told.”

How a book works?- it is the final voice in the dialogue between

text image and production.

Reframing- looking at truth narratives and relating them to power

structures, replacing old stories with new ones. Thereby exposing

underlying faulty assumptions and broadening the frame of

reference.

They books are age-defying and provide scope for questioning the

existing.

Design development for the product

Machali jal ki rani hai

After a lot of brainstorming, the concept we arrived upon was to show

the central character as Indian in an un-Indian or foreign setting.

The requirement of the client was that the rhymes are Indian but the

treatment should be international.

The above is the concept sketch for the rhyme and then it was finally

rendered to create 2-3 looks for the client to choose.

This one is rendered in pastel crayons and water based coloured ink.

This one is rendered in just water based ink and felt tip pen.

Final look