Childhood frames

What is it that makes childhood beautiful The simple experiences that seem everso routine in the moment but acquire a new meaning when they remain accessible only as memories A decade after he passed out of a missionary boarding school in Gumla Jharkhand Vikas Kumar Vidyarthi revisited his five years at the institution in a heartfelt letter he wrote to his artist cousin Raj Kumari and her husband screenplay writer Varun GroverA spread from the last chapter PicsRaj KumariThe episodes along with the people mentioned in the diarylike letter became the basis for the Hindi graphic novel Biksu as Vikas was lovingly called which took the couple two years to cowrite and illustrate and four years to get published The book was first made available at the World Book Fair in Delhi last month and can now be ordered onlineApart from chronicling a significant part of a childhood lived in a hostel the book brings together the couples diverse art practices While Grover laces the dialogues with endearing childlike spontaneity and humour Raj Kumari tells the story through handpainted Madhubani artwork a folk art style practised in Jharkhand and Bihar To add another layer of authenticity they chose to write in Chhota Nagpuriya the dialect Biksu grew up speakingRaj Kumari and Varun GroverBiksu began as a monthly series in 2012 in Chakmak a widely circulated childrens magazine in Central Schools and private schools in Madhya Pradesh Bihar Jharkhand Uttar Pradesh and Delhi It gradually started enjoying a huge fan base given the number of children who were writing in Thats when we thought it perhaps needs to be developed into a book shares GroverRaj Kumari who trained in product design at NIFT Hyderabad had begun learning Madhubani art six months before the series was conceptualised As the pages kept adding it became clear that there cannot be a better style to depict the simplicity and unhindered imagination of childhood than this she writes in a note in the book About rendering the folk art form to a graphic novel format that follows a fluid layout Raj Kumari says My being new to Madhubani perhaps helped me gloss over elements that a seasoned artist would find problematic But selfdoubt was a part of the process and validation came in the form of eminent artist Haku Shahs blurb for the book one that aims to blend the traditional with the modernA graphic novel written in a notso wellknown dialect of Hindi illustrated in Madhubani style what makes the book unique however is the odds stacked against it Biksu was completed four years ago but finding a publisher for it was an uphill task We almost gave up in 2016 recalls Grover A wellknown childrens publisher liked the story but told us they could go ahead with it only if we rewrote the novel in shuddh Hindi How can a dialect spoken by so many people be termed adulterated As in cinema even the publishing world prefers to do what has already been done he lamentsThats when Sushil Shukla and Shashi Sablok of Bhopalbased Ektara ndash Takshilas Centre for Childrens Literature amp Art stepped in and the novel saw the light of day under Jugnoo Prakashan It is priced at 525 which is nominal when compared to most graphic novels of similar templates But it may still make it unaffordable for some Grover says Thats why the aim is to make the book available in as many school libraries as possible Maybe when these kids grow up they can buy such books on their ownLOG ON TO ektaraindiainproductbiksuCatch 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