From the Ocean of Indian Folk Stories: Two Books on the Birth of Bamboo

Two new books based on Indian folk stories with beautiful folk art illustrations have just been published by The National Mission on Bamboo Applications (NMBA), yet another valuable contribution to the growing list of folk-art based books available today.   The two books share a theme – the origin of bamboo but are very different in terms of style and content.  The Bamboo Maiden is based on a Gond folk tale and has beautiful black and white illustrations done in the typical Gond art style while Durva’s Bamboo Forest is a story from the Mithila region and is done in the Madhubani style of painting. NMBA is a technology initiative of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India and is working on capacity building measures to boost new usages of bamboo. Bamboo is a readily renewable natural resource and thus, offers great economic and ecological advantages.  As part of its efforts, NMBA publishes manuals and books on var...