‘Hope Is A Girl Selling Fruit’ is a series of succinct illustrations of the joy and hardships of a woman’s life. Amrita Das, the young artist behind the making of this book, has done a splendid job in depicting the tussle between a woman’s decisions in a patriarchal and her journey to freedom, through vibrant sketches and subtle messages.
Not to mention a disarmingly fresh perspective. The chaos of city life, the dilemmas during decision making and many other abstract concepts, although difficult, have been conveyed effectively and effortlessly too.
All in all, this book is a one of a kind amalgamation of symbolism, humour and, of course, art. Published by Tara Books, Das’ creation is a semi-autobiographical story of a young girl who leaves the comforts of her home in a tiny village to go to Chennai so that she can learn art. She has adapted the Mithila art form to create visually stunning metaphors for the patriarchal conventions that are entrenched in our society.
Right at the beginning of the book she depicts girlhood through the image of two girls gaily dancing around a tree, but she goes on to show that the rosy picture is far from reality. “I was responsible for a great deal when I was very small,” she writes, next to a drawing of a girl in a school uniform in a kitchen, standing on a stool in order to reach the stove on which she’s cooking a meal.
"I thought of my own childhood...and started to paint two girls under a tree. Here they are: they’re dancing, happy to be jumping on the leaves. Everything’s green, the leaves rustle pleasantly, the birds chirp. It’s an idyllic scene. But was my childhood really like that? Was this the truth?”
Even though the narrative has been set in the context of India, the underlying question of what it means to be a member of a marginalised section in a society that has been designed to crush any opportunity of self-actualisation, has been raised in the book.
She writes about two women she sees on a train journey to Chennai — one, a quiet woman that she assumes is a maid and the other, a fruit seller at the station. Das doesn’t look at the fruit-seller from the eyes of someone who is higher in the equation of power dynamics, and instead looks at her with awe for being independent. “I want to be brave, and different,” she writes at the end, having found her inspiration in this young girl and in doing so, provided so many other little girls in India their own inspiration through this stunning series of illustrations. Scroll on to view more images from ‘Hope Is A Girl Selling Fruit.’
“A child’s life is hard, especially if you’re cursed to be poor. It’s gone even before you start on it. … If you dream for a moment, you’re asked why you’re twiddling your thumbs.”
“… We’re all in this together, I remember thinking, lost, but not quite. We have to take what we have, go our own ways, and try to make the most of it. …”
This other girl was poor too, and her clothes were torn. She had lost a leg, but she managed to push her cart around confidently. … She’s her own creature, I thought, she’s walking around, she’s earning and supporting her family.”