The flawed beauty of bill-board style hand painted creations juxtaposed with bold typography makes ABC Desi a unique learning tool for children, says Mansi Bhansali
With a zeal to rejuvenate the forgotten local Indian craft and to make people aware of the unheard art of billboard painting, Priti Paul has launched her book, ABC Desi – an illustrated art book. And it was her children and the way they looked at the world, unbias and unadulterated that inspired her to work on the book.
One cannot disagree with the fact we are still shadowed by our colonial past since a lot was transformed under the British rule. Post Independence we have moved even further away from the real essence of our history which is still lacking in our educational system. It was to reprise the relevance of books in our history that Paul, a talented multi tasker, who is an entrepreneur, bookstore owner, writer, architect and designer took the initiative to revive the real essence of the Indian culture through her book ABC Desi. This is being done in collaboration with the French embassy.
ABC Desi is an unusual alphabet book. It is a revival of the almost lost Indian craft of billboard painting. Paul said, “When my children were trying to learn the English and the alphabets, it became apparent to me that the book which Indian children learnt alphabets from is the same as the one which I used 30 years ago. The alphabets use western imagery where they encompassed objects like strawberry in S or queen Victoria in Q. Since, the Make in India moment is a rage now, it is the perfect time to create the alphabets with Indian imagery with the help of characters, objects, Bollywood, icons or anything which revolves around India.”
The event witnessed a dance performance by classical dancer, Anita Ratnam followed by the unveiling of the book by Alexandre Ziegler, Ambassador of France to India.
Paul said that there were reasons to collaborate with the French for the project. “Firstly, they always appreciate artists. They honour and respect their own culture and artistic traditions along with encouraging the works of other countries. Secondly, the collaboration with French cultural institute is always a privilege. I’m proud to be partnering with them for more than 20 years. Thirdly, I was greatly influenced by the way French art books for children convey their story with the usage of various caricatures. I’ve used this while making the graphic layout of my book,” she says.
Emphasising on billboard painting, which were popuarised by circuses and theatres in the 70s and 80s making a comeback, she said, “When I had the idea, I realised that it was very important to complete it in an Indian way and billboard art is something we have grown up with, which carries the Indian ethos and forms a part of our popular culture.” Paul believes that the best people who would have rendered these pictures are definitely the Bollywood billboard artists. Also, because of the advancing technology and the digital media, these artists are struggling for work and their livelihood, which again inspired her to get them on board to paint the book.
It’s not just books but we have a huge folk tradition, tribal forms and languages which could be used to revive the culture. Along with the Government, private individuals and collective organisations need to work together. She said, “In a recent survey, it was revealed that around 100-200 languages are doing to die. Every individual has their own interests and should work in that respective direction to preserve it.”
Paul discussed some interesting anecdotes while making the book like the alphabet X is always associated with some strange words and it was difficult to put together and make sense in the Indian context while some were very easy like P for parrot or Q for rani like Jhansi Ki Rani.
The book is a rich source of cultural reference and inspiration. She said, “If you are confident of your culture, values and identity, which is one of the reason why this book is useful for the Indian children, every individual will be happy and content no matter where they are. It’s quintessential to know who you are.”
Paul, who is an owner of the Oxford bookstore, stated that the recent data has revealed that the e-books sales have decreased. She added, “My children learnt to read on an electronic reading program. But I’ve seen during a program where the students were much more comfortable in reading books rather than using an electronic device. If ABC Desi comes online then it would not be a straight download for the reader but will work in a different way like in an animated form.”
Hopefully, more people will come to the fore to make similar attempts.