Calendar for a cause
Chetna Keer Banerjee on the 2010 table calendar by People For Animals, which has paintings by leading artists

Copenhagen may or may not have been a ‘hopenhagen’ at the close of 2009, but at least 2010 will open, literally, on a green note that should leave the expanding breed of climate change activists smiling. For, green greetings for New Year are getting a further push with even designers taking the cause beyond couture craft to calendar art.

Designer Neeta Lulla, for instance, has done a green calendar with Neha Dhupia as the cover girl, all swathed in the lushness of leaves to embody things eco-friendly.

When green can colour the canvas of calendar art, can other causes be far behind. So, while the end of 2008 saw us writing about the Kingfisher calendar, the closing of 2009 finds us sharing notes on a calendar that has to do with beasts not beaches, with Pekingese, not bikinis.

The Kingfisher calendar makers may have taken their hunt for cover faces along the route of reality TV, but the calendar we’re talking of took its search for contents into India’s hallowed portal of painters. The People For Animals (PFA), Chandigarh chapter, has come out with a 2010 table calendar that carries imprints of the works of famous painters like Anjolie Ela Menon, Satish Gujral, Jatin Das and Gopi Gajwani.

Here’s a look into the making of this new kid on the calendar block (CRY and Unicef being among the forerunners of calendars for a cause).

The person behind the entire effort, PFA’s Payal Sodhi, spells out the idea and its shaping. "It was in November this year that we conceived this idea for a calendar to further generate funds. No doubt, it was rather late in the day, so we had to put it together rather hastily."

How did such eminent artists come into the picture? "The whole idea was to make it exclusive, hence we approached some noted painters. Since it was for a good cause, they obliged, free of cost, of course."

Designed by Delhi-based Gopika Chowfla and her team, it’s a colourful collage of animal life seen from the creative eye of the pashas of paint.

From crows to cattle to other creatures, birds and beasts populate this calendar. Anjolie Ela Menon’s ‘Crow’ (1984) shares space with Jatin Das’s ‘Animal Instinct’ (2005), Krishan Khanna’s ‘Exodus I’ and ‘Exodus II,’ Satish Gujral’s untitled man and crow image, among others.

What was the most challenging part of doing the calendar? Says Gopika, "We had to do it in nearly four days flat, that was the biggest challenge! Besides, since the artists had donated their works, the key factor was to keep it different as it was for a worthy cause. This we did by keeping it aesthetically pleasing and cheerful but also practical."

Any favourites among the paintings used? "Yes," says the designer, "All paintings were nice, but A. Ramachandran’s work was particularly vibrant, that’s why we started the calendar with it."

That’s the signature style, but how about the calendar’s own green quotient? "It has been made from recycled, chlorine-free paper, so it’s eco-friendly as well," informs Payal.

With other cause-driven calendars already being available, positioning itself in the market, especially with a tag of Rs 500, will be quite a challenge. But the PFA seems to have consciously decided on this pricing as it’s targeting a niche segment. "The CRY calendars and other such products available are priced much lower, around Rs 60-80, and retailed through outlets like Archies. But since we’re targeting a niche audience, we’ve consciously kept the price higher and plan to retail it only through bookstores," she adds.

"All the climate summits and big talk are not enough, unless at the end of the day, we switch off our geyser or take some small steps for a cause."

Well, that says it all for this desktop brush with beasts.