‘India lacks comic book culture’

When was the last time that you bought your children a comic book on Indian fables? Or are you yet to come across such books? According to faculty members of the National Institute of Design (NID) and other professionals, India is running short of illustrated children’s books based on Indian tales and fables, with original illustrations that portray the characteristics typical to our country.

In an effort to fill this gap and raise awareness about his issue, the animation and graphics departments of NID are holding a two-day workshop, which began on Friday, in collaboration with the German Book in Delhi.

“A culture of creating illustrated books for children is missing in India. Children do not get the opportunity to read urban narratives and folktales of our country in an interesting manner as would be presented in comic books,” said Sekhar Mukherjee, a faculty member of the animation department of NID. “Whatever we had in the recent past we are losing in the process of westernisation, homogeneity and so on.”

Mukherjee said that it is important to have illustrated books on indigenous stories to keep alive the traditions and culture our country for the coming generations. “This will place the classics in a new bottle and explore new possibilities,” he said.

“Increasing awareness at various levels, through workshops and similar events, is a means to solve the problem,” Mukherjee said.

Ajanta Guhathakurta, senior design manager at the Penguin Group, India, and one of the mentors at the workshop, said that there is no lack of talent in India. “However, the process of bringing out a book is dominated by the publishers, and their inclination is towards profitable business. To avoid any risk, they prefer to imitate foreign illustrations such as those of Disney and so on, which are already popular. This leaves no room for originality,” she said.

Around 50 students of the animation and graphics departments participated in the workshop on Friday. The mentors at the event included Iben Sandemose, a Norwegian artist and master of imagery; Pierre Thomé, head of the illustration department at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Switzerland; Jonathan Tooru Shiguehara Yamakami, a graphic designer from Brazil; and faculty members of NID, including Trundeep Girdhar, Imannuel Suresh and Ajay Tiwari.