Talking Art at Eureka

On a chilly Sunday morning I headed over to Eureka book-store in Delhi’s Alaknanda colony. Much to my delight (and their mothers' I’m sure) the quaint little shop quickly filled up with excited ten-year-olds.

Sipping a cup of hot lemon chai and yummy jam tart biscuits that Swati offered, I wondered if they’d enjoy what I’d planned. I thought I’d do a visual introduction to the works of the artists and then tie in the books.

Setting my trepidations aside, I started off with showing the young audience a print of a work done by Husain of Mother Theresa. This work, I told them, was clearly inspired by Michelangelo’s Pieta. I was delighted when some of them connected it with their visits to museums abroad. We talked around Husain’s style and we compared it to another painting he’d done a few decades ago, the children were amazed to see the difference in style. For my part, I was thrilled they had picked up the nuances. Then we flipped through Barefoot Husain and I talked about a few incidents from Husain’s life.

Similarly I touched on each artist by talking around their paintings and then the books. The youngsters were quick to grasp the complexities and full of questions. They wanted to know how many paintings each artist made? Did Ravi Varma have to sell his printing press and die a pauper? How did Amrita die so young? Most of them had read Amar Chitra Kathas and were surprised that the visuals were inspired by Ravi Varma’s paintings.

They also shared some of their experiences with art. In fact one of the children’s grandfather owned a Husain and a Jamini Roy. Another had spent an afternoon copying Jamini Roy’s work. Some of them were interested in becoming painters or animators.
Then, Anunya Mittal, a child from the audience, and I read a part of The Veena Player where she played Valsa’s part beautifully. We made sure we didn’t blow the suspense in the book.

We went on to play a couple of games like word search and word scramble based around the ‘Looking at Art’ books. The bright bunch that they were, they cracked them all. We finally ended with matching different paintings to the artist who’d drawn them.
The delightful Sunday morning came to an end with the signing of books.

— Anjali Raghbeer, Author

Artful storytelling

The Looking at Art series happened quite by chance (as most good things in life do). Thanks to Tulika it came into being, otherwise the books would’ve probably just remained ideas. I’d sent a novel that I’d written to Tulika when they wrote back saying that they were focusing more on picture books. That’s when I sent them a draft of Barefoot Husain. They got back instantly. It fit perfectly into a series that they had already launched with a book by Paritosh Sen. It was a perfect match! What’s more, they wanted books on other famous artists as well. 
 At first, I thought it would be challenging to come up with four different story lines that evoked the spirit of each artist. But gradually, as I researched every artist, their distinctive styles and their personalities, themes began to emerge. And soon, I found that the entire picture had fallen into place. 
I was soon going to discover that writing the text and actually executing it in print are two different ends of the spectrum. While Tulika seemed to be making headway in finding the paintings that were associated with the text, acquiring the rights to print them was quite another story. It took over two years. There were hiccups, roadblocks and refusals, but I’m soon learning that this is all part of the process. And today, finally, when I stand with a copy of the four books, the buzz of excitement in my head is unshakable.
Event: 'Meet the Author' session, Vasant Valley School, New Delhi
Armed with that heady feeling, I walked into Vasant Valley School in New Delhi for a ‘Meet the Author’ session. I’d already sent them reading copies in advance. I entered to find an eager set of Class 3s, curious and full of questions and expectations. They were convinced that I was going to demystify the world of writing for them. 

I went through a quick introduction of each artist and a famous work done by them. We then went on to read, The Veena Player, the book on Ravi Verma. At the end of it, to my delight, they were full of questions and astute observations- ‘Is the Veena player the most famous painting of Ravi Verma?’, ‘ Where is the story set? Where is Valsa from’, ‘How many days do you take to write a story?’, ‘Who is the main character of your book?', 'Is it Valsa or Aunty Prima or the Veena player?’.... 

I then went onto speak about some basics about writing. I was pleasantly taken aback that a cross section of seven and eight year olds were so aware of beginnings-middles-ends, character, setting and one of them even asked me about pacing in a story! My only real contribution to their already clever writing skills was that they must plan their story in advance. Finally, Madhvi, their teacher, led them out, albeit unwillingly.
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed doing this series on Husain, Jamini Roy, Ravi Verma and Amrita Sher-Gil. India has much to offer in terms of great leaders, artists, musicians, culture and history. While it’s important to know the Van Goghs and the Da Vincis, it’s equally  important to learn about Husain. The way forward is to bring our heritage to young readers in a way they can relate with it. Let’s be creative. Not pedantic.  And that way the coming generation will be asking for more.
-Anjali Raghbeer, Author