A REAL LIFE STORY ABOUT A WHIMSICAL (MEAT LOVING) COW
Written by Mahaswetadevi | Published by Tulika Books 2015
The book was about Nyadosh a cow that was adopted by Mahasweta Devi's family from rural Bengal. Given the Bengalis’ reputation as cultured, well-informed, liberal minded people, Nyadosh was expected to be a docile, domestic creature. But she was far from all that - she broke the rules, bent beliefs, questioned things and took particular satisfaction in trying different cuisines including meat, seafood and all items blue.
This was a starting point for me - I began to question as to what really qualifies as a medium to illustrate? Inspired by the assemblages of Arcimboldo and the philosophy that ‘we are what we eat’, I decided to illustrate Nyadosh with everything she ate in the story. I adopted a different technique for each page owing to the changing materials - fabric was folded, onions were cut, banana leaves were arranged and books were balanced to achieve the correct anatomy and perspective of Nyadosh.
This was an 8 year long project that started in 2007. Right from identifying the story, contacting the original publishers, meeting & interviewing the author in Calcutta, exploring & choosing illustration styles, procuring found materials & objects, shooting the images, composing the book, making prototypes, and finally getting the book published in 2015.