‘A Full Circle is a quiet and affirming book that will soothe you when life seems too harsh’: Namrita Bachchan

What is your favourite memory from childhood? Think of a moment that fills your being with pure joy, and transports you to a time of innocence, of dreams, of infinite possibilities. Hold this in your heart like a tender flower as you leaf through artist Namrita Bachchan’s picture book A Full Circle. In these pages where image and verse flow into each other, you will meet her five-year-old daughter Noah, flying kites, playing with butterflies, gazing into the ocean, and immersed in the joys of reading. It has been published by Harper Design. This is a quiet and affirming book that will soothe you when life seems too harsh. Namrita speaks of it as “something meaningful” that she wanted to preserve for Noah, “something hymnal for her to carry through the course of her own life as a kind of heirloom.” In this interview, she speaks to us about the inspiration behind this wonderful book, her relationship with her daughter, her art practice, and her grandfather – the poet Harivansh Rai Bachchan. A Full Circle brings together different strands of your artistic practice – painting, poetry, and photography. Could you talk about how this creative process has been for you, at the visceral level, and in terms of putting together what would become a product in the marketplace? It would be great to know how you went about making choices related to material and medium, keeping in mind the economics of publishing. I trained formally as a painter, and printmaker, and also as a graphic designer, I have always written as a form of personal expression, and on and off over the years picked up a camera, spent time in a darkroom, and more recently my phone is primarily my photo gallery! It feels wonderful and natural to be working in the picture book area because it combines so many of the skills related to these disciplines. My photography feeds my image-making and the writing just kind of happens organically. That they find unity in the folio format makes sense as I am drawn to understated, esoteric, and intimate experiences. Picture-books themselves are as old as the hills and yet quizzically remain a space for originality and experimentation. There are just so many ways to combine imagery and language to tell stories. I always make creative choices instinctively, and my materials evolve with each project. Whatever practicalities were to be considered came afterwards in the editing part of the process so as not to stilt the flow. As far as A Full Circle was concerned - those particulars of product and marketplace were solely in the hands of my publishers – Harper Design. And I am glad to say they chose sensitively, and appropriately. To what extent does your training at the Rhode Island School of Design and Parsons School of Design still inform your art practice? Do you find yourself breaking rules, making new ones? I was incredibly fortunate to have had the education I did, my hope is to be fair to it by both questioning and honouring the vast number of things it taught me. This book grew out of your relationship with your daughter Noah. Would you mind sharing some of the entertaining, challenging, and poignant moments that you remember from this collaboration? What does she think of the way that she has been represented by you? She loves the book and very much considers it “ours” so much so that if I’m signing a copy for someone, she insists on signing it too. This is very sweet to me as it reflects her sense of ownership over this thing which represents her, and behind which she was the inspiration. I share my home studio with Noah. She has her area to play, work, and create, and I have mine. Though there were instances when she would hop onto my chair unannounced, and modify my artwork liberally as she thought fit! Needless to say, some of those vandalised illustrations didn’t make it into the final book because of this!

I am curious about the title of the book. How did the metaphor of coming full circle, and the circle as a geometric form, speak to the artist and mother in you? Well, the poem comes full circle, in that we repeat the line “the more I read the more I delight” to start and finish, so it’s fair to say the work named itself. I just found an unmistakeable resonance in it on many levels - emotionally, philosophically, instinctively, creatively, personally, and collectively – and knew it was right. I love the deep symbolism associated with the shape – both empty and full as a form, and as a line without beginning or end. To my mind, there is something simple, wise, and timeless about circles. There is a meditative and prayerful feel to the book, especially with the lines “the sweeter/ i breathe,/ the less/ i despair”, “the closer/ i Look,/ the further/ i see/” and “The less/ i compare,/ the sounder i sleep.” How would you describe the role that faith, philosophy, and a sense of the sacred, have played in your life?  Well, I consider myself to be a spiritual human being in that I have the deepest regard for the role of the spirit in our mysterious existence… and I am grateful if that sense of the sacred comes through implicitly in my work. I was particularly drawn to the line “the more I read, the more I delight” and the accompanying image of the little girl watching butterflies soar in the sky. What were some of your favourite books as a child? How different were they from the kind of children’s books that you are now encountering as an adult? It’s always difficult for me to think of specific books, now as much as then, because my daily life has always been accompanied by the act of reading… I’m basically always reading something. In terms of children’s literature, the common view and understanding of children themselves has grown considerably in these past decades since my own childhood so that children’s books have had to embrace a much wider scope. One cannot undermine the young mind the way one used to. And that’s just as it should be. How did you discover reading as a delightful activity in your childhood? What role did your grandfather, Harivansh Rai Bachchan, have to play in this? I’m not sure exactly when I discovered reading, but my mother would tell you I was a very articulate child – learning to speak, write, and read very early on. By the age of five or six, I was writing poems which she would spell-check. I still have a journal of them and they are oddly touching. We would also write weekly letters in Hindi to my grandparents, and my grandfather would record us reciting his poems when we’d visit. I remember that so clearly. A Full Circle reminds me of his beautiful poem “ek bachpan ka zamaana tha/ jis mein khushiyon ka khazana tha/ chaahat chaand ko paane ki thi/ par dil titli ka deewana tha.” Did it serve as an inspiration for you while working on the poetry and the images that went into your own book? This question made me smile. No, actually it didn’t, but I imagine I will always think of it when looking at A Full Circle henceforth. In the past, you have created and exhibited works of art responding to his famous book of verse Madhushala. How do you look back at it? Which are some of his other works that speak to you?  Illustrating Madhushala some years ago allowed me to connect with my grandfather on a profound creative level, and that was a great privilege. In terms of his work, for personal reasons, I am mostly drawn to his autobiographical writing because it sheds so much light on the past century, on our family history, on India, and on language, whilst retaining its intrinsic poetry. What are you currently working on? Another book, made up of word and image, light and dark, line and colour, thoughtfulness and play! Chintan Girish Modi is a freelance writer, journalist and book reviewer.