A desk calendar brings with it the charm of its own in this digital age. In city-based illustrator Shriya Murthy’s calendar, she brings alive landmarks and events intrinsic to Bengaluru. Whether it’s Plaza Theatre or the Kadlekai Parishe, there’s a whiff of nostalgia that the calendar brings with it.
For each month, Murthy has picked an iconic space. For example, she recreated the scene of a traffic jam near the KR Puram Bridge, where a person on a bus is speaking on the phone, telling the other person that he is “reaching in 5 minutes”. “It’s a common line in Bengaluru even though that five minutes is actually never five,” says Murthy, adding, “The city is known for the Kadlekai Parishe which is intrinsic to the city.”
Murthy, an IT analyst by day and doodler by night, started doing it professionally in 2019. There is also a story behind why she picked the theme, ‘Bangalore Nostalgia’, for 2022. “My uncle told me about how his friends and he used to bunk classes to watch movies at Plaza on MG Road,” says Murthy, adding that the scene around the theatre is also featured in the calendar. But if she has to pick her favourite, it has to be her take of the Varier bakery. “It’s for the month of January and I thought it’s a sweet way to start the year,” she says with a laugh.
Although most people are dependent on gadgets these days, Murthy believes it’s still fun to collect printed calendars at the beginning of the year. “I decided to make calendars in 2019 just as a hobby, but soon realised that there’s a huge demand for this. It’s the same case this year, I am going to be printing my third batch,’’ says the 28-year-old. Her calendar, which is priced at Rs 500, is more of a sentiment since it’s everything about Bengaluru. “My illustrations include Kannada and English which every Bengalurean can relate to,” she says.