The hall where Simran Wahan is conducting her Zentangle workshop is absolutely quiet. Heads are bent over sheets of paper; hands hard at work. At first glance, I wonder if the men (this is a men-only workshop) are colouring the outlines. Is that all Zentangle is?
But a closer look shows that something quite intense is going on. They are filling the white spaces within the outlines with an array of exquisite and complicated patterns.
But the word complicated gets Wahan’s goat. “There’s nothing complicated about it,” she sniffs. “If you can write your name, you can draw. Writing is all about curves and lines and so is drawing.” It relaxes the mind, she says, and goes on to add a list of benefits: helps lower blood pressure, fight addiction cravings, bust stress and a lot more.
Dr Sundar Ramanathan, a cardiologist by profession, is busy working on a motorbike but at this he lifts his head to say, “It lowers everything.” Everyone bursts out laughing but the distraction is only temporary. They’re soon back at work and Wahan is flitting around the room offering advice, suggestions and even admonishments.
Tarun Ramachandran, who runs a farm on the Mettupalayam Road, is a first-timer but finds this very relaxing. “Not that running a farm is very stressful,” he qualifies, “but one can get lost in this.” Dr Ramanathan agrees. It’s his second workshop and he likes the fact that it allows him to forget everything. “This requires a lot of focus and concentration.”
While traditional Zentangle is about making different patterns within a small space (ideally on 3x3 tiles), Wahan has introduced outlines. “I feel people are more comfortable when they see something familiar. So for these guys I have bikes, cars, dogs...” And a Rajinikanth face on the whiteboard for inspiration.
Once they get the hang of it with these outlines, most of them begin to work on their own. “If people see a pattern, they tend to want to finish it.” She uses animals, flowers, and faces for her other workshops, she says.
Jairam TG working on his second Zentangle drawing
Suddenly she snaps, “No, no. You can’t do that.” Her attention has been caught by hotelier Jairam TG who is trying to fill some space by colouring. “This is not a colouring class,” she says exasperatedly and goes over to see how he can redeem his work. “I should make you stand up on the bench,” she says eliciting guffaws from the other men.
Wahan shows me a couple of Zentangle drawings that she has done based on photographs. One is inspired by the photo of a green vine snake shot by a naturalist friend. In her black-and-white creation, the outline remains and the green is replaced with an array of patterns. It looks like something from a dystopian fantasy.
What about the material? Wahan uses regular A4 paper and pens with varying nib sizes. “And waterproof ink,” she stresses. An original Zentangle kit costs a lot of money. Each pen is around $2-3. Wahan starts everyone in her workshops off at the second level, she says. That means three pens with nibs beginning from .001mm and going up to a maximum of one millimetre. “It’s easier to go with regular pens available here.” While she offers colours too, “I am a fan of black and white,” she smiles. “It’s more intense.”
I watch Wahan illustrate a few ideas in the whiteboard, the focus with which the men work — not even taking time off for the coffee and cake being served — and wonder if Zentangle may be a very potent hook to go fishing with.
To know more about Simran Wahan’s workshops, visit www.facebook.com/amayastore or call 9894683225
