The one thing 2020 has managed to do is bag a place in the Hall of Fame for being the ‘Worst Year Ever.’ If we could all jump on a time machine and skip the year ahead, we certainly would. We’ve seen it all from the COVID-19 pandemic to media witch hunts to the SC’s selective personal liberty to personal and collective losses to the shutting down of our favourite small local businesses.
2020 is a gift that just doesn’t stop giving. While 2020 was definitely cancelled, the only thought that kept everyone sane (whatever little was possible) was the fact that like all difficult things, this year would undoubtedly come to an end too.
As we sip on our wine and pin our hopes on 2021, here is a list of calendars and planners to get you planned, pumped and organised for the year to come.
Giggling Monkey ‘Just Incase 2021 Sucks’
24-year-old Mumbai-based artist Mehek Malhotra (popularly known on Instagram as Giggling Monkey and the founder of Giggling Monkey Studios) is here to forewarn us with her calendar ‘Just Incase 2021 Sucks’. Mehek’s vibrant feed has always been relatable and she has also previously collaborated with Google India for the 2020 calendar that read “High Five Is Better Than Wifi” (that was pre-COVID).
With her 2021 calendar, she reminds us to take our learnings from 2020 into the new year. 2020, despite everything, has taught us that no matter how bad the year, we’ve all got ourselves to fall back on and we can get by with a little help from our friends. So, while we hope that 2021 isn’t as bad as the year before, Mehek reassures us with her calendar that just in case all goes downhill, we can still keep going. “A calendar that will motivate you to just be yourself no matter what 2021 will look like,” she wrote on her Instagram post.
#HGLoves: The little suggestions like Don’t Janworry: Rewatch All Christmas Movies Again.
Happy Fluff Comics ‘2021 Is For Loving Yourself’
If Lizzo has taught us anything it is that we are own soulmates and we can always hold ourselves down. As a generation too, we have embraced self-love and collectively decided that there is no love greater than me, myself and I. 21-year-old Chennai based comic creator Akshara Ashok’s 2021 Calendar is also all about loving yourself.
Akshara’s comics revolve around the central character Fluffy who tries to navigate through life and well adulting in the most relatable way– confused, stumbling and trying to make sense of an abstract world. In her calendar too, Akshara ploys Fluffy to give us sweet affirmations like Feel Your Feelings and It’s Okay To Not Be Okay.
#HGLoves: Marked dates like Lazy Day and I Forgot Day among others, reminding us to just take a break.
Hooplaback Girl ‘A Year For Reading’
Bengaluru-based embroidery artist Anuradha Bhaumick captures her muses perfectly in her embroideries with vibrant colours. Her work mostly has a female reader in her personal space enjoying her reading with the backdrop of vibrant plants and decor. You can now enjoy her art in the digital form with her latest calendar for 2021 called ‘A Year For Reading’.
“Each page has a print of a different embroidery and some sweet anecdotes, accompanied with a peek into the secret reading lives of my muses,” revealed Anuradha in her Instagram post.
#HGLoves: That her female muses always seem to be enjoying their own company, at ease in the comfort of their own space.
Maanvi Kapur ‘Home Quarantine’
Quarantining at home was a handful for everyone. While the initial few days were spent indulging in hobbies, learning new recipes, trying a hand at making all kinds of breads, the boredom of it all did actually catch onto us. Commemorating this unique period of home quarantine with all its boredom, mundane, exciting and little things is artist Maanvi Kapur’s Home Quarantine series calendar.
Maanvi told Homegrown, “Plants are my best friends now and I am most at ease when I’m surrounded by them, sipping on my tea and staring into space (mostly my phone).”
#HGLoves: The vibrant colours and celebration of quarantine life.
Monki Business ‘Astrology Monki Planner’
The internet is a blessing on some days, especially when it allows us to blame the Mercury Retrograde for our lives not going according to plan. If there ever was a planner to indulge our astrology obsession it is artist Maitreyi Bhatia’s 2021 planner centred around the theme of Astrology.
The A4 size-Hardcover-Wiro Bound planner comes with twelve hand-drawn celestial portraits inspired by the star signs. It features an annual calendar for the long term planning, a monthly section to track important monthly events like birthdays, anniversaries as well as monthly pages to track retrograde dates and moon cycle. The planner also has daily plan pages to make small achievable goals, plan meals, monitor moods and track habits as well as our water intake (we all could do with a daily reminder to hydrate ourselves). It also has space to track expenses and make special notes for all the things we are grateful for in a day.
#HGLoves: That the planner has open dates that can be filled in by hand. Reminding us to take certain mental days off without the guilt.
RuandChai ‘Flight Of Imagination’
All of 2020 was spent thinking about the vacations we couldn’t take and the travel plans that didn’t see the light of the day. While every year, that Goa trip you want to take with your friends stands cancelled this year, we had the coronavirus to blame for it. Just in case, you still can’t stop thinking about a holiday, artist couple Rucha and Chaitanya’s 2021 Calendar takes you on a flight of imagination.
The art for the calendar features a small paper plane in the backdrop of various location. For February, hop onto your paper plane to fly with the pink migratory flamingos and in September travel to see the Northern Lights.
#HGLoves: The little adventure we can take from our homes.
The Nookseeker ‘Do For Joy’
25-year-old Indian writer based out of Bhutan Riya Roy’s ‘The Nook’ is a Sunday newsletter that is a space for everyone who loves poetry, art, music and basically everything good the internet can offer. Expanding this joy of discovering new things is her 2021 Calendar ‘Do For Joy’. Filled with delightful activities the calendar is an attempt to uncover the hidden artist in all of us. It is like having a friend who gives you the right recommendation to get you through the month.
“Every month has an affirmation, a set of delightivities to engage in and a bonus that takes you to corners that have brought me great pleasure and will treat you with the same tenderness,” Riya told her Instagram followers.
#HGLoves: The bonus recommendations we get every month like follow Chitthi Exchange to get a penpal and Read Elizabeth Gilbert’s Big Magic among others.
The Undiscovered ‘Bihar’
For photographer duo Ashish Kaushik and Rishi Raj, the idea for ‘The Undiscovered’ stemmed from their personal experiences of facing constant stereotyping for being from Bihar. As an attempt to understand their culture better, they decided to explore their city and heritage.
The calendar is an extension of this idea and the second edition by the duo who had previously collaborated on a calendar for 2020. Rishi tells us that the new calendar is even better than the last since they had more time to explore and find a lot of hidden gems in the city.
#HGLoves: That we get to uncover the hidden gems of Bihar and get an insight into Bihar’s history and cultural heritage.
If you liked this article, we suggest you read: