International Zine Month: Meet Mumbai's brightest zine makers

Siddhi SurteWorking on Gaysi Zine BazaarLast year 24yearold Siddhi Surte boarded a bus with a sketchbook Working with a solid marker through the JuhuPrabhadevi route Surte became consumed with creating detailed observations She then scanned compiled and edited the pages mdash filled with portraits capturing the essence of daily life And a zine titledMorning Routine was bornI felt a certain kinship towards the people I saw on the bus every day These are narratives you dont see in the mainstreamshe says while aptly describing a zines true purposeMad Sounds a zine by Siddhi SurteAs an artist Surte is often drawn to capturing the mundane or lifeless Her first zine Mad Sounds was more intimate depicting a difficult transition from a fairly independent life as a student in Santiniketan where she studied printmaking Currently working on the Gaysi Zine Bazaar as an editor Surte states that in isolation artists dont have a tendency to be active marketers But being a community helpsShe explains A common misconception is that you have to know how to draw to make a zine You can make it as long as you want to reach out to people and make them part of your storyFind her work siddhisurteon InstagramUrban sketches by Karan MhatreKaran MhatreWorking on Travel Zines Bali Melbourne and HampiIT is not often that you encounter a parttime artist who really loves his fulltime job Thats why when Karan Mhatre 29 says I really like my job it leaves you in a fix Juggling his professional career as a product manager and gig as an artist he is also a silent observer Last year he came to Bombay Undergrounds zine fest as just that only to be setting up his own stall this year and selling over 80 zinesCalling urban sketching his brand Mhatres works are deeply detailed The varying sizes of fine liners depict the citys architecture in an incredibly personal way Recalling the response he received at the exhibition he says Most people think that youre a great artist only if you sketch monuments But at the exhibition people were most excited when they saw sketches of buildings from their own neighbourhood in my zineThe impulse to make a zine contrary to popular belief need not be political or personal For me its about capturing reality mdash to say that this is my world and this is what I like about it he maintainsFind his work onesquarekaran on InstagramCat Cafe Studio AndheriThe Organ Series by Aekta KhubchandaniAekta KhubchandaniWorking on The Organ SeriesI see death as inspiration mdash as a spokenword poet and editor of a magazine that celebrates visual culture Aekta Khubchandani 24 makes quite the statement Currently working on some fiction she has been part of several poetry projects in addition to writing and illustrating for the webzine collective Warehouse Zine After doing research on organ donation she uncovered the trail of child abuse and prostitution behind itThis led Khubchandani to put out a Facebook post I wanted to understand how people feel about a single organ she explains After receiving the responses she illustrated them as part of The Organ Series on Instagram Contrary to other zinemakers she plans to release it online as a webzineThe biggest challenge as a zinemaker Khubchandani says is encouraging people to read Everyone wants to write but nobody wants to read A commercial publication does guarantee that to an extent which is why more people need to support zinemaking It may be selfexpression for the artist but it is therapy for the readerFind her work doodletard on InstagramFelix by Shivani ParasnisShivani ParasnisWorking on City zineThe 25yearold selftaught artist with a biotechnology degree has recently made her mark in the zine scene In Bombay Undergrounds zine fest this year Shivani Parasnis brought out two zines Felix and Falling in Love In memory of her cat of the same name Felix is a zine showing cat activity that unfolds into an A4 size poster full of black catsFalling in Love by Shivani ParasnisParasnis has a knack for delving into ambiguous terms mdash like love She explains I noticed that people only realise how bad a relationship is after it ends So it literally implies falling she says about her second workThe zine has a unique feel to it with flaps stuck onto every page She adds The words written over the flap are everything we say when we pretend to be ignoring a bad relationship It is only when you lift the flap you uncover what you really mean Find her work shivaniparasnis on InstagramBuilding the zine cultureBombay Underground started by Himanshu S and Aqui Thami founded the art collective in Mumbai They organised the first zine fest in the city in 2017 with the latest edition in early 2018Catch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates