We all feel those blues on Monday. Then there are days when we just don't want to get up and about. All we need is someone to motivate us to get a move on. But when there's a lack of some physical motivation, one can always look to social media. And where should you look? Why, look at Bhavya Doshi's cute and uplifting page on Instagram called The Doodle Desk. If the name doesn't have you guessing already, it is a page dedicated to the cutest of illustrations that you'll ever come across. But it is much beyond the illustrations. Bhavya adds a short inspirational or motivational quote to every illustration she does. So there are words like "Be enough for yourself first" and "Face everything and rise" all over the page. And that is what makes The Doodle Desk special!
Bhavya's decision to start the Instagram page stems from a profound personal loss. "When I lost my parents, I didn't know how to cope. I needed some motivation. Doodling has always been something that I'd do as a kid. After working in the corporate sector for over five years, I realised that it was my happy place," says Bhavya. She began doodling again and began the process of coping with her loss. "While I was doing so, I realised that there must be so many others who could be going through something similar. They might need some positive thoughts and some inspiration to move ahead in their lives. That's when I decided to combine the two - doodling and motivational quotes - and The Doodle Desk was born in 2018," she adds.
One unique feature about the illustrations on The Doodle Desk is that it is minimal. You'll only find the image of one character and then a message displayed over it. Speaking about how she develops characters and goes about each illustration, Bhavya says, "I usually create characters based on things I see around me. I tend to keep it minimal because the message has to reach across." So you'll find animals and insects like honeybees, dogs, grasshoppers, pandas and tigers all over her page. There are also images of people engaged in some activity. "I am a self-taught artist. Initially, I'd draw all these by hand and then slowly I began learning about the software. It was a long process and involved a lot of hard work," says Bhavya.
Over time, Bhavya has amassed a legion of followers who await their morning motivation every day. Bhavya, who posts between 8 and 9 am, says she receives several messages if she ever misses the deadline. Such is her impact that people tell her about their personal issues on Instagram DMs. "I received a message from a boy who had lost his elder brother. He was devastated and told me how the messages on my page helped him. While I'm not qualified to give professional help, I was able to help him somehow. Similarly, a girl had also messaged me saying how she couldn't crack an interview she was preparing for. She was almost giving up but I spoke to her and I think I helped her out a bit. Months later, she messaged me again saying that I was among the first people she's telling that she landed her dream job," narrates Bhavya.
Bhavya, who now has a small team with her, is in the process of launching a YouTube channel for The Doodle Desk, where she plans to teach doodling and making a vision board. "There have been loads of requests from the followers," she says. Bhavya says that constant posting - she posts every single day - has made her page what it is today. The Doodle Desk has over 2 lakh followers and counting.
Edex and The New Indian Express have been curating the 40 Under Forty list since 2017. We featured collections of impactful grassroots teachers in 2017, innovative start-ups in 2018 and environmental impact-makers in 2019. All the people selected have been chosen after a careful process of editorial selection and nomination. Reach out to us at edexlive@gmail.com
