Colouring for adults is an activity that has taken on a new meaning since the pandemic. It's a way to put connection over consumption, unplugging ourselves from all distractions and just losing ourselves in colours. For Rishita Aggarwal and Sakshi Ladha, colouring, well art in general, has been an obsession for a very long time and it's been two years since they started Obsessive Colouring Disorder (OCD), via which they are spreading the love. Most recently, they participated in Jxtapop at Jxtapose, Hyderabad, doing their thing once again. And though the second wave is sending us back into our burrows again, we still have their eponymous adult colouring book to keep us company!
Both are 23, met back in the day when they were students at St Francis College For Women and since then, they have been pretty clear that they want to start a community of colour lovers. In 2018, to find kindred spirits, they conducted three workshops like brush lettering and zentangling and, while they continued conducting many such workshops, they came out with their book in May 2019. "When it comes to workshops, we were into new forms of art and looked at art as an unwinding of sorts where you are present in the moment," says Sakshi. While Rishita tells us that they did not steer towards conducting online workshops during the pandemic, "because it kind of defeated the purpose," she says, their book became a good friend to many.
It is 2021 now and the duo is back to doing workshops as safely as they can. "We have had people come back to us to convey how colouring is now a part of their bedtime routine and helps them sleep better or it feels like it's a throwback to their childhood which comes with a tinge of nostalgia. Then there are those who opt to meditate via colouring — there are just so many benefits," says Sakshi while Rishita adds, "For those who were quarantined, this activity that they were re-introduced to at our workshops has been wonderful company." They are glad to be doing their part to remind people that this simple activity can bring upon a calm over all their overfed senses.
So, is another book in the works? Or another workshop around the corner? As with everything else, the path ahead is uncertain. But the duo, who are digital and content marketers professionally, intend to keep up their efforts in making the world a little more colourful.
For more on them check out instagram.com/obsessivecolouringdisorder
