Inktober 2018 - Bukka Bukka (the last bearer of knowledge)
This was my third year drawing for Inktober and since the last three years (including this one) the month of October has become possibly the most hectic month of the whole year for me. October is one of my favourite months since it is (sort of) the harbinger of winter in the northern hemisphere and my most sought after season all year long. You start feeling the chill at the early and late hours of the days and the strong sweet smell of the Saptaparni tree (Alstonia scholaris).
This year I thought I would try and do a small illustrated story about this girl called Bukka Bukka. In the near future, everything is online and paper is totally banned and existing articles of paper is confiscated by the government to recycle into making toilet paper and such stuff for the poor (since, of course, the rich only use toilet paper made of virgin pulp). The larger idea is to stop people from accessing information on their own terms and feed them the state propaganda through online resources which are by now completely sponsored and regulated by the ruling government. The government does not want people to stop/reduce procreating because it works for them to have hordes of impoverished people fighting against each other for space and resources.
Bukka Bukka is an underground book delivery person. People are secretly sharing old books amongst each other and people like Eve (Bukka Bukka) take up the dangerous job of delivering these capsules of knowledge from one to another. Some do it for the money and some do it for something more than that. Needless to say the authorities are cracking down on these people with a heavy hand.
My three year old niece loves books and when she was about a year old she would say ‘bukka bukka’ every time she wanted someone to read a book/books to her. I found this term really hilarious yet intriguing. Since then I always wanted to do something with the term and its association with books. I would be developing and drawing bits of the story everyday for the whole month of October.
Client Name
Personal project
Illustrated Short Story
Storyboarding