In Season Fish has put collectively a marine-themed colouring ebook to be distributed to kids throughout Tamil Nadu’s coast
There was pleasure amidst kids of the seaside village of Alamparai, close to Puducherry. They lined up on the village sq. to obtain a treasured package deal: a colouring ebook and color pencils from a workforce from Chennai.
This was final weekend, when wildlife biologist Chaitanya Krishna and marine geographer Divya Karnad of In Season Fish, a sustainable seafood initiative, had visited the village. “They leafed by the ebook and have been curious,” recollects Chaitanya.
The colouring ebook, titled Artwork to Heal, was the results of a number of weeks of labor throughout lockdown. It has sketches by 39 artists — one from Australia and the remaining from throughout India — themed on the marine world. It options line drawings of marine life together with whales, sharks and turtles present in Indian coastal waters. With textual content in English and Tamil, the ebook has a enjoyable Spot The Fish train that asks kids to determine the species they color.
Chaitanya and workforce distributed the ebook and color pencils to round 70 kids within the village, and can proceed the train throughout fishing villages in Tamil Nadu and later, amongst kids dwelling inland too.
Chaitanya says, all of it started as In Season Fish’s “Covid reduction work”. “We distributed rice, dal, and oil to 1,000 fisherfolk households from Tiruvallur, Ennore, Cuddalore, Tuticorin, Nagapattinam, and Rameshwaram in April to assist complement their financial savings.” The pandemic was arduous on the fisherfolk since they may not head out to sea for a number of weeks. “This took care of their bodily well-being. However what about their psychological well-being?” asks Chaitanya.
And they also got here up with the thought of placing collectively a colouring ebook. “Kids missed their college atmosphere. We hoped the ebook would maintain them engaged in addition to maintain their reminiscence of the ocean and all its creatures alive,” explains Chaitanya. In April, the workforce put out a request on its social media deal with asking for artists to contribute and slowly, the ebook took form.
Madhuri Tarimane is among the many artists who contributed. “I’m from the coastal area myself,” says Madhuri, talking over cellphone from Bengaluru. “I spent my early childhood in Karwar, Karnataka.” Which is why when she got here throughout the chance, she didn’t let it go. “It additionally helped me cope throughout lockdown; I used to be pressured because of all of the uncertainty,” she says. Madhuri additionally teaches kids artwork and is aware of that it may be therapeutic. “Kids have a lot power in them and artwork is an effective strategy to channelise it,” she provides.
Chaitanya says that by Artwork To Heal, they plan to strike a rapport with folks within the varied fishing villages and begin a dialog about conserving marine species and ocean well being. The ebook, due to this fact, is just the start.
For particulars, write to chaitanya@inseasonfish.com
