I should have seen it coming. Seven years ago, at a party, a friend rediscovered the art of colouring. The discovery was facilitated by a little girl who had tagged along with her parents because there was no one at home to mind her. To keep her busy, they’d brought along some toys, crayons and a bunch of colouring books. The child played with the toys a bit, coloured a few pages and then, bored, went off to watch the adults get drunk and make asses of themselves.
That’s when my friend spied the colouring books. Before you could say Faber-Castell, she had whipped out the wax crayons from the child’s backpack and begun colouring between the lines. She did a page, then two. As her skills—and confidence—grew, she began colouring faster and faster, hunting for more complex patterns to fill in. Two friends came to tease but stayed back to join in her mission. They made quite a picture, these sexy 40-something women in low-cut dresses and towering heels, sitting on the couch, colouring away, brows furrowed in concentration.
The rest of us laughed at their absorption, and cracked jokes about late-bloomers. Now, it turns out the ladies were much ahead of their time, in looking for relief from being a grown-up.
Because colouring is the new meditation, with a global army of practitioners. Around the world, adults—looking to de-stress—are reaching for colour pencils and crayons. Psychologists say the repetitive stroke-making focuses the mind, reduces negative thoughts and creates a state of calm, much like the chanting of a mantra. And people, cutting across age, gender and geography, can’t get enough of it.
Amazon topper The Secret Garden: An Inky Treasure Hunt and Coloring Book, has sold nearly six million copies—almost four million in the past five months alone. Other top sellers? The Mindfulness Colouring Book: Anti-stress Art Therapy for Busy People, Colour Yourself Calm, Mandala Magic and Zen Doodling. The craze hasn’t peaked in India yet, but we have representation in Indian Summer: A Jewelled Journey Through Indian Pattern.
While they may induce a childlike raptness in their users, these books are nothing like the simple ones of our childhood. These are intricately designed productions with gorgeous patterns that challenge the user’s imagination. Splendid Cities, for instance, has floating kingdoms in the sky and takes you from the top of the Eiffel Tower to the domes of Moscow. There’s also the occasional “naughty” colouring book, like Slinky Tart, targeted at “adults, and men” which might send the Zen state of mind supposedly sought by colourists for a toss. Come October, Game of Thrones fans will be filling in the hues in 45 exclusive illustrations in George RR Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire.
But naturally, in this can’t-disconnect universe, there are also colouring apps for adults. These might defeat the purpose of the digital detox promised by the simple act of colouring on paper, but it means you can get some colouring done even when your kids don’t want to share their crayons with you. Just remember not to cross the line(s).
shampa@newindianexpress.com