Stress Buster
Read the passage given below carefully.
1.The newest stress buster is paper Yoga. Adults are now changing over from their smartphones to colouring books to beat anxiety and relax. They spend hours hunched over the drawing of mandalas filling in their words into the circle, with colours. These adult colouring books are classified in the adult category and are becoming fast selling items as people reach out to them to relax their minds. And it is not just mandala drawings that are in vogue. Others settle for elaborate landscapes, cultural tableaux, brimming with images of dancers, singers and concerts. Involutes of various shapes also make up this list.
2. Just as the demand has kept growing, there are also authors who are much in demand for their relaxing creations. Leading in this field is Johanna Basford, who has sold 1.4 million copies of her books ‘Secret Garden’, ‘Enchanted Forest’ and ‘Lost Ocean’, in a matter of just two years. More bookstores have now started stacking such books as customers are asking for them. Publishers now contend that it is not just celebrity authors in this category but any book with the tag-line ‘de-stress’ has a readymade market for it.
3. Another reason for the success of these books is that they are multilingual in the way that they speak to adults of all age groups cultures and dispositions. Even nursery teachers are fast becoming customers of these books not because they are overworked but because of the fun that even five-year-olds are having with their own colouring books.
4. The new trend has been dubbed ‘Paper Yoga’. While the junior versions of these books hold simple generously proportioned patterns, that allow for a child’s broad strokes, the adult variants typically have tight kaleidoscopes that require a fine pen and a staunch eye. As they do not require special skills to execute, publishers are marketing it with the tag-line that their target customer is anyone who can draw satisfaction from something beautiful. The skills of drawing and colouring or conceptualization, essentials for the art of drawing, are not in this list of requirements. Thus the phobia of being an expert or amateur is not a deterrent.
5. So far, publishers have had to import their stock as there are not sufficient titles available. But illustrators are fast catching up with this trend and some have even ventured into self-publishing in this line. Others are innovating still more meaningful inputs into this work by asking customers to bring their own experiences to the book.
6. Individual stories of success are making an appearance too. Illustrator Indu Harikumar started her self-published colouring book, ‘Beauty Needs Space’, on social media. She priced a copy of 12 artworks at !1500 and sold 155 of the 200 she had printed. ‘People have written to say that they connected with the book as they worked on it.’
7. While adults are discovering their inner selves through this creative pursuit, art-based therapeutics warn against expecting too much from these books for saving lives or minds. At best, they calm the mind and are a temporary diversion, for the mind and cut off the noise of clamouring thoughts. These books they claim can offer therapeutic returns only when used in conjunction with a therapist’s counsel. As yet the entire process is undergoing a testing time but whatever little of it has emerged, is being hailed as a step in a positive direction.
(I) On the basis of your understanding of the passage answer the following questions with the help of the given options:
(a) Adults spend hours over their mandalas——————
(i) colouring them
(ii) filling in the words into them
(iii)filling in messages into them
(iv) writing their life history in them
(b)Joanna Basford calls her colouring books————————–
(i) Basford Gardens, Secret gardens
(ii) Paper Yoga, Beauty Needs Space
(ill) Enchanted Forest, Paper Boats
(iv) Secret Garden, Enchanted Forest, Lost Ocean
(c) Indu Harikumar started her colouring book
(i) on the social media
(ii) in public spaces
(iii) in school classrooms
(iv) in international meets
(d)Colouring books can serve best if combined with
(i)a temporary diversion of the mind
(ii) working on social media
(iii) a therapist’s counsel
(iv) without a therapist’s advice
(II) Answer the following questions briefly.
(a) What is the newest stress buster and what does it use?
(b) What topics distinguish adult colouring books?
(c) Why are the publishers forced to import stock?
(d) What is the latest trend in this line?
(e) Who is the leading author in this field?
(f) Trace the growth of an Indian author in this line.
(III) Find words from the passage which mean the same as:
(a) very complicated and detailed (para 1)
(b) speaking several different languages (para 3)
Ans. (I) (a) (ii) filling in the words into them
(b) (iv) Secret Garden, Enchanted Forest, Lost Ocean
(c) (i) on the social media
(d) (iii) a therapist’s counsel
(II) (a) The newest stress buster is paper yoga and makes use of colouring books for adults.
(b) Adult colouring books contain mandala drawings, elaborate landscapes, and cultural tableaux
(c) The publishers are forced to import stock because there are not enough titles available in India.
(d) The latest trend in this line is self-publishing by illustrators and the asking of customers to bring their own inputs into the book.
(e) The leading author in this field is Johanna Basford who has achieved success within a matter of two years.
(f) Indu Harikumar who self-published a set of 200 books comprising 12 artworks each, at 71500 and sold 155 of the 200 she printed and which people wrote back to say they connected with.
(III) (a) elaborate
(b) multilingual
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