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.
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