Colouring books for adults are a growing urban trend. Merging Persian, Central Asian and indigenous Indian styles, some bring Mughal miniatures alive, while some others retell the most dramatic moments of the Hindu epics
Recent studies in the fields of neuroscience, psychology as well as design have established that doodling can help people comprehend new concepts, retain them in the memory and sustain their concentration. Through sketches, painting, doodling, colouring etc, people not only channelise their creative energies but also paint their thoughts and innermost sentiments with contentment.
While children, to generalise, find colours to be spontaneous, happy marks that can animate and highlight images of objects, landscapes or people, colouring books are soon emerging as a popular trend among adults as well. Penguin Books India recently brought out three such colouring books for adults that not only educate people about Indian history but also allow them to reimagine them in the readers’ own style.
Bagh-e-Bahar merges the enthralling Persian style with Central Asian and Indian styles to evoke an idyllic, classic portrait of a garden blooming with flowers. It brings the romance of Mughal miniatures alive. It also contains moving quotes from the mystical and ever fascinating Sufi poet, Rumi.
With the extravagance in its retreat of silence, this colouring book can transcend someone to the long lost rustic charm of the old world. Several illustrations in this book are from the designs that Good Earth offers to customers through its merchandise.
On the other hand, bestselling author Devdutt Pattanaik’s The Jaya Colouring Book (Rs399) is based on his own book, Jaya. like Pattanaik’s popular, bestselling version of the epic, this colouring adventure is also something that can be happily indulged with.
From the beginning of theMahabharata till its spectacular end (when Yudhisthira is horrified to discover the Pandavas and Draupadi innaraka), the epic in this colouring book unfurls through Pattanaik’s delightful illustrations.
The birth of the Kauravas and Pandavas, Draupadi’s swayamvara, game of dice, the years in exile, Krishna narrating the Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna, the great war of Kurukshetra, Bhima’s slaying of Dushasana and Duryodhana, and the deaths of Karna, Drona and Bhishma, can all be reimagined and relived through this book.
The Sita Colouring Book (Rs399), also based on Pattanaik’s retelling of the Ramayana, which was a bestseller too, is another mesmerising colouring journey. The birth of Dasharatha’s four sons, the exile of Ram, lakshman and Sita, the battle with Ravana’s lanka, the trio’s return to Ayodhya, to the passing of lakshman and Ram at the end, the profound and multifarious story of theRamayana is brought back to the fore.
As Indians rediscover some of the most dramatic moments of the great Indian epic, they are familiarised with the deeper nuances of what formed the basis of Hindu mythology and symbology — Ram’s breaking of the great bow, the abduction of Sita, the ransacking of lanka, the building of the bridge across the sea, the slaying of Ravana, and Sita’s trial by fire.
It’s not only the poignant and significant moments of the epic, but one can also envision and colour the way the landscapes they have grown up reading about, such as the Dandaka forest, Kishkindha, how lanka and Ayodhya might have looked, along with portraits of unforgettable personages like Hanuman, Jambavan, Jatayu, Surpanakha, Kumbhakarna and Ravana.