Friday 4 September 2020

Kaleidoscope of Cheer and Hope-Manjulika Pramod

Book: Kaleidoscope of Cheer and Hope
Author: Manjulika Pramod
Publisher: Srijan Digital Collections

What are your feelings towards the lockdowns that were imposed due to the Pandemic?

Kaleidoscope of Cheer & Hope by Manjulika Pramod is an interesting book that compiles 50 sketches that the author made, with reference to multiple events in the lockdown from a period of 16th March 2020 to 19th June 2020 as she puts her thoughts that led to the sketches. A set of musings, it has authentic illustrations which help in visual meditation.


The book has some amazing illustrations that highlight the various facets of the national lockdown that was imposed in the country. The author has taken up some key moments of the period and created a visual tool to emphasize and bring home some very poignant points related to the lockdown, personal hygiene, physical distancing and the general feeling of someone stranded away from home in this crisis. Accompanying each sketch is a musing that tells is the idea that went behind the art, along with the style of artwork used in the sketches. I loved each of the instances that the author has taken up to put her point forward, and in very little words, she manages to convey her message to the reader. The language is fairly simple yet effective in terms of the purpose. I liked the manner in which each style of drawing also has a story and how she relates the sketches to the location or the theme of that particular musing. The only thing I believe could have been improved is the size of the sketches. Being an book that tells its story visually, the sketches should have been larger so as to properly appreciate the craft.

Overall, it was a good read that scores a 3.88/5 for me.

Grab a copy of the book here.

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