14 June,2017 09:43 AM IST | Mumbai | Joanna Lobo
A Mumbai-based artist's ongoing 100-day project on Instagram uses the funny five-line poem to highlight newsy and strange happenings
This royal breed of brahmachaaris he belted/ Several scoops of cherries which now melted/ So he cried himself a river/ The women went a quiver/ As in their bellies a new life they felt it.
Our national bird, the one that doesn't mate through sex but through copious tears, has become fodder for memes, jokes and now limericks. This limerick in particular is from Snigdha Rao's ongoing Instagram project, titled #100daysofstrangerthings. The series features sketches and illustrations, often gleaned from people and situations around her, and in this context, what's in the news.
"This is an entirely selfish project because I wanted to get back to drawing, and I enjoy writing poetry a lot. In between running a company and dealing with constant client feedback about my work, I missed sketching for myself," says the partner and director of Bombay Design House. Rao's project is part of #The100-DayProject started by a former tech-platform enabler-turned-artist, Elle Luna, that invited people to create art for 100 successive days and share it on Instagram.
The project demands each person come up with a unique hashtag for their work; Rao chose Stranger Things. "Most of the ideas for my sketches come from observing strangers or strange scenarios. Often, one leads me to the other," she says. "These are people I have observed in my surroundings. On days when it is hot and I've been lazy, I look up inspiration online and sketch from there."
Her illustrations feature a man passed out in a park, three men on a train in Kyoto, a woman carrying an altar on her head (in pic, right), and even a girl in the train wearing a breathing mask. Some are adaptations of vintage photos, while others are inspired by ideas from friends. The online inspiration often leads to her poking fun at current social and political news, such as the peacock limerick.
Snigdha Rao
The most difficult part, she says, is thinking up limericks. "It's why I haven't been able to post on successive days. I often have the sketch ready, but get stuck on the poem." Rao is currently on her 43rd post and is determined to finish 100, even if she is a few days off course.
Log on to: instagram.com/sniggerinc
