Dulari Devi didn’t know how to read the printed word, but she always had a rich visual lexicon built into her consciousness, a legacy that stemmed from being part of a rural community in Bihar that created stunning wall murals in the Mithila art style, also known as Madhubani painting.

Her story is one of discovery and empowerment. Hailing from a family of fisherfolk who also worked the fields, in Following My Paintbrush, Dulari’s day is described as a routine of sameness that pervaded her life, punctuated by days that were worse than better, when there wasn’t enough food at home for everyone. As she grew up, she worked alongside her mother, washing the dishes in people’s houses to earn the family a larger income.

In the book whose text is written by Gita Wolf based on Dulari Devi’s oral narrative, the latter recounts the moment when she saw the world as an artist would conceptualize it. While passing the village pond, “the scene turned into a picture in my mind. It came alive, bright and lively, telling stories. I was happy the whole day thinking of my picture.”

Captivatingly illustrated in the Madhubani tradition made up of intricate patterns and vibrant colours, this book invokes a sense of wonder in a reader, a fraction of which may be similar to what Dulari herself may have felt the first time she found herself creating art.

“I could think of nothing else. When I reached home, my hands were itching to make something beautiful too. But I had no paper or paints, so I looked around and found some mud near my hut. I took up a handful and began to knead it, smoothing and looking at it from all sides. And then, slowly, an idea formed in my mind, and I began to turn the mud into something else. It was a bird… I had made a bird!”

With the illustrations in the book set against a white background that contrast pleasantly with the fuchsia and yellow cover, this book reflects Dulari’s sparkling inner life, as evidenced by her portraits towards the end of the book: of scenes from her life in the village, portraits of goddesses that she holds dear, the inimitable ice-cream seller and his truck, before training the lens onto herself: gazing at the artist within.

“I am not just ‘a cleaner woman,’ I am an artist.

I have made a book.”

Following My Paint Brush
Dulari Devi, with text by Gita Wolf
Illustrated by Dulari Devi
ISBN: 9789383145171
Published by Tara Books

Buy a copy here or find it at a library near you.

Karthika Gopalakrishnan is the Head of Reading at Neev Academy, Bangalore, and the Director of the Neev Literature Festival. In the past, she has worked as a children’s book writer, editor, and content curator at Multistory Learning which ran a reading program for schools across south India. Prior to this, Karthika was a full-time print journalist with two national dailies. Her Twitter handle is g_karthika.