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Cashing in on foreign visitors’ fascination for royalty and miniature paintings, Rajasthani artist Yug Prasad creates their portraits by giving them a royal look of maharajas or nawabs. He has also created a series of unique travel comic books in an attempt to satirise travel in India through the eyes of a foreigner, writes
Moushumi Sen
Bundi in Rajasthan is one of the few places in India, which can lay their claim to an authentic school of painting. Most of the famous tourist spots of Bundi, Garh Palace, Chitrashala, Badal Mahal, Phool Mahal, Chatra Mahal etc are adorned with miniature paintings. Interestingly, these paintings have again become a source of livelihood for the local budding painters now a days. In the recent times more than a dozen art galleries have been opened like Nahar ka Chauhta that have become a centre of attraction for many foreign visitors. Yug Prasad is one such artist with “creativity extraordinaire”. Prasad, who has done his masters in drawing and painting, started his career making cartoons for the local journals and newspapers. Struggling for better prospects, he later opened a small arts shop in Bundi. Cashing on foreign visitors’ fascination for royalty and miniature paintings, he started taking their pictures and created their portraits by giving the looks of maharajas, nawabs etc. His attempt became popular and he is in big demand among foreigners. Many tourists either post or e-mail their photos and get their portraits made. On the growing demand from foreign tourists, Prasad also recreates their experiences in the form of comics. Prasad has developed a series he describes as ‘travel’ comics. “I sensed that the tourists were unable to narrate their experiences verbally back in their respective countries. So, I offer them a chance to do so through my drawings and cartoons,” says Prasad. Local art critic Lalit Bhartiya says, “These comics are original, creative and innovative. Prasad has earned a name among foreigners. He has established a rapport with tourists, who come to him through the word of mouth. He also has a website.” Interestingly, many tourists have started taking lessons from him and have started attempting these strips themselves. Talking about how the idea of travel comics originated, the artist says he was struggling to make ends meet in 2010 when he met a French tourist, who recounted his scary experience at the Ajmer Fort in Jaipur. “He told me how he was bitten by monkeys due to which he ended up at a hospital and being administered five rabies’ injections,” says Prasad. This tourist hired him to create a series of cartoons about his experience, which he took back home. Prasad recounts another interesting incident about how a foreign couple queued up to buy train tickets but was jostled out by currency-waving locals. “Many locals pester foreigners, especially from lesser known countries, about their names and names of their country. I have sketched several funny strips about these,” says Prasad. “My travel comics are not meant at hurting the patriotic feels of Indians but certainly are a satire at the lifestyle here,” adds Prasad.
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