Jivya’s Talking Hands: How Jivya Soma Mashe Found His Voice Through Art by Mamta Nainy (Author) and Sanika Deshpande (Illustrator)
My take on the book:
Jivya’s world revolved around his parents, especially his Aai(mother), and his life moved to the rhythm of his Aai’s voice; when she suddenly passed away, Jivya’s world went silent, literally, as Jivya stopped talking. He would only watch ants as he followed them everywhere, across different landscapes, as they moved in varied patterns and with a defined purpose.
One day the ants led him to a mud wall adorned with circles, triangles and lines. He had passed such walls before without a glance but this time, something in them spoke. Jivya thought he could tell his story too, through these simple paintings, just by picking a stick and tracing similar patterns in the mud. Jivya brought to life the world he saw around him, the villagers engaged in daily activities.
Slowly these paintings helped reduce the burden of sorrow and guided him towards light. How Jivya’s Warli Art brought national recognition, awards including the Padma Shri from the Government of India forms the rest of the story.
This is story of Jivya Soma Mashe and when I picked up the book, I expected a biography of a celebrated artist, a chronicle of awards, recognition, and artistic evolution. What I did not expect was to be drawn so quietly into the inner world of a grieving child who found his voice not in words but in mud and stick and pattern.
The ants are perhaps the most unexpected and enduring presence in the narrative. Jivya does not choose them, they choose him. In following their purposeful, patterned movement across different landscapes, Jivya finds the first language his grief could understand, one of rhythm, repetition and form.
What also stayed with me is how the book treats Warli art, not as a cultural artifact to be explained, but as something alive, something that spoke to a silent child when words could not. The circles, triangles and lines on that mud wall were not just paintings, they were an invitation. The author also encourages the reader to create art, in a similar fashion which made me introspect to know more about Warli art.
The illustrations are of course the highlight of the book as they will nudge young minds to pick up art as a form of expressing their emotions, even the deepest ones. Highly recommended for kids and adults alike.
My Rating:
5/5.