Adarsh Balak / आदर्श बालक
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About
Adarsh Balak, also known by its Hindi transcription आदर्श बालक, is the name of a series of artworks and comics made by India-based visual artist Priyesh Trivedi. The comics parody the artwork of moral educational posters popular in elementary schools in India. The phrase "Aadarsh Baalak" translates to "Ideal Boy" in Hindi. The artist began sharing his work in 2014 and grew popular in subsequent years. The artist is generally credited with popularising parodies of "Ideal Boy" posters.
Background
"Adarsh Baalak" is a reference to a common form of moral educational material in India. Posters depicting "adarsh" or "ideal" boys and their activities are used to instill habits understood to be morally correct, as well as to encourage reading and comprehension. One such poster from Indian Book Depot can be seen below.
On May 3rd, 2014, Adarsh Balak's official Facebook[1] page posted the first artwork in the series, gathering over 2,400 likes in over eight years. On May 13th, the page uploaded its first viral image,[2] gathering over 9,000 likes in eight years. The meme was also reposted to the subreddit /r/funny.[3]
Developments
Adarsh Balak's Facebook page crossed 65,000 followers in 6 months after its first post in May 2014.[4] As of December 2022, Adarsh Balak's Facebook page has gathered over 116,000 followers, and its Twitter page has gathered over 4,300 followers.[5]
On January 19th, 2019, Adarsh Balak's comics received renewed attention after British actor Stephen Fry shared an "ideal boy" poster he spotted in his doctor's office. Fry's tweet gathered over 4,900 likes in two years (seen below, left) and can be accessed via Internet Archive.[6] A close-up of the poster reveals details like "An ideal boy salutes his parents" and attempts to "brush up his teeth" (seen below, right).[7]
On January 7th, 2020, an Adarsh Balak panel was posted to /r/India,[8] gathering over 3,800 upvotes in two years (seen below).
Adarsh Balak is generally credited with popularising parodies of moral education posters.[9] Early artists to reference the art form include Meera Sethi (seen below, left).[7] Other artists to parody the form include Twitter page @adarshliberal, which has since been suspended (seen below, right).
Various Examples
Search Interest
External References
[1] Facebook – Adarsh Balak.
[2] Facebook – Adarsh Balak.
[4] India Times – Ideal Boy Posters
[5] Twitter – adarsh_balak
[6] Internet Archive – Twitter
[7] Makeshift Issue 3 – Meera Sethi
[9] Mumbai Mirror – how round are your rotis
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Top Comment
Jellopy
Dec 13, 2022 at 03:18PM EST in reply to