Sunday, September 29, 2019

'Aranyaka: Book of the Forest'

Happy to share this on the first day of Navratri. My new book is ready to go forth (in some days) and belong to people who are not me. 'Aranyaka: Book of the Forest', a graphic novel about three rishikas (female seekers), and the fear and hunger that underpins all human interactions. To pre-order at a discount on Amazon India, click here

Thursday, November 15, 2018

Still life with a beating heart #2

My graphic novel 'Aranyaka: Book of the Forest' grows. This is my studio space as of last week. Photo: Rohit Chawla

Saturday, March 17, 2018

April and April's Fool


Events in the USA.
Boston: 9th April. Talk about Rasa and the role of alert, intelligent beauty in bleak times. Tisch College, Tufts University. | Chicago: 12th April Talk about my past/present graphic novel projects at Seminary Co-op bookstore. 13th April in conversation with Professor Wendy Doniger about women in the Mahabharata and Forests of Learning. School of Divinity, University of Chicago. | Oswego: 16th and 17th April. Talk and session part of SUNY Oswego's Year of India celebrations. | New Haven: 25th April. Talk about women, forests and hunger in my forthcoming work. Sacred Heart University. 

Wednesday, November 01, 2017

(Until the next one is written) "I loved you most"

Difficult child 'Sauptik: Blood and Flowers' is now a one-year-old. I gave you my unbroken attention when I could've been outside playing. I gave you my best fertile years. I gaped into the void of crazy; came back quaking but did not fall in. I saw a wild, naked, bearded man when I looked at you; a face more fidel to my own than any other. (Kari does not come close) :)

I had hours of unparalleled painting bliss too. And learned that forecasts count for nothing when it comes to the fate of love projects. I'm capable of more sturdy, calmly sly things now. If this is a good state, it is also a non-reversible one: you can't be a guileless bumpkin twice in your life. I strove hard for beauty with you. It was the right thing to do. My eyes are different today, not just in a manner of speaking (vision is still 20/20): you were part of that. Until the next one is written, "I loved you most".

Monday, June 26, 2017

Wednesday, April 19, 2017

What comes next

Am working on a collaborative project with Devdutt Pattanaik. A graphic novel (hopefully ready by mid-2019), shift from both of our recognizable styles. May surprise the presumptuous! If a beautiful book of enduring worth emerges out of conversation, churning, laughter - it will be byproduct not goal. The most valuable thing I stand to learn/gain, lies in the Now. Here's to a lush work-journey ahead.

Tuesday, March 14, 2017

Friday, March 10, 2017

Nari Shakti Puraskar

Received a Nari Shakti award from the President of India on 8th March 2017 for "unusual work that breaks boundaries" in art/literature ;) Pleasant surprise, taken with a measure of salt!

Monday, February 06, 2017

Jaipur Literature Festival '17 | Blood & Flowers


My solo session at JLF 2017 on 19th January 2017. Slow start, but the passion does build :) I am practically quaking because of fast-vibrating cells by the time Q&A happens. May well be the only video documentation of my physical, talking person that counts. Dedicated to the memory of Kaushik Dasgupta (16th February 1979 - 17th January 2017).

Sunday, February 05, 2017

Monday, December 19, 2016

Souvenir from the 'Devis and Demons' session

Just received this montage of images from the Times Lit Fest (Mumbai) session with Devdutt Pattanaik and Arshia Sattar about 'Devis and Demons' in Indian epics. Cleverly structured by Devdutt P, the conversation wove in threads from the Ramayana and the Mahabharat about ambitious women, falling in love, alluring deer and overconfident hunters, impotent men, forest as a place to confront one's fears and hungers and transformation, and what it is that makes monsters out of ordinary beings. 

Monday, December 05, 2016

Monday, October 03, 2016

What Followed Was Mere Formality

Goddess Time Now / from 'Sauptik: Blood and Flowers' © Amruta Patil 2016. Pre-order the graphic novel HERE<<

Saturday, September 03, 2016

Saturday, July 30, 2016

Sauptik: Blood and Flowers

Cover of 'Sauptik: Blood and Flowers' (HarperCollins India) © Amruta Patil 2016
After 2012's 'Adi Parva: Churning of the Ocean', comes 'Sauptik: Blood and Flowers' - revisionist graphic retelling of stories from the Mahabharat, the Puraans, and the tradition of oral storytellers. River goddess Ganga, cool-headed sutradhaar of Adi Parva, hands over threads of the tale to the roiling, wounded Ashwatthama. In bookstores late-September 2016. Will share ordering info in some weeks.

Friday, June 24, 2016

Mount Meru of De-light

Faster, then faster, until they fused to a single point: Mount Meru of de-light!' From 'Sauptik : Blood and Flowers' (tbr Fall 2016, HarperCollins India) © Amruta Patil 2016

Tuesday, June 21, 2016

There is a deep rot in the wood now

There is a deep rot in the wood now. Maybe it is best the tree be consigned to flame. 'Sauptik : Blood and Flowers' (tbr Fall 2016, HarperCollins India) © Amruta Patil 2016