When it comes to comparisons with illustrators from around the world, Vandana Bist who has a degree in Fine Arts from the Delhi College of Art and has specialised in illustration, isn’t too happy with the way illustrators are treated in India. “We are not paid regularly and don’t even get royalty, illustrators are not given their due in this country.” Her first book is A Ticket to Home and Other Stories, a collection for children (HarperCollins, 1994). Vandana has illustrated Surangini by Partap Sharma and The Princess with the Longest Hair by Komilla Raote, for Katha.

In 1988, she was awarded the encouragement prize in the Children’s Picture Book Competition organised by the Noma Concours Foundation, Japan. Her works have been exhibited in Japan and Bratislava. “We are only handed the manuscripts and rarely get to meet the authors unlike in the West where illustrators are treated with respect. And small publications don’t even mention your names,” says Bist. Aren’t there instances when the manuscript turns out to utterly boring? “Of course, that’s where we come in handy. It’s left to us to charm the children into picking up the book. And children wouldn’t take a second look if the paperbacks don’t appeal to them,” argues Bist.

But the most important part of all for illustrators after all is the money, Vikram Nayak, a young illustrator who has been working for the last 10 years, says, “I remember meeting one of the well-known illustrators for children’s books and he told me, ‘Why are you wasting your time here?’ What he was pointing to is the lack of understanding of publishing houses towards illustrators. Publishing houses sometimes harass the illustrators. People who have been in the business for over 20 –30 years will get paid only Rs 50 per illustration by small publishing houses. It is a shame!”

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