Bhaunri and Daura covers

The first two images with the Harper Collins logo were selected by the client, the other images are explorations and/or in some cases, versions we prefer.

Daura: A novella set against the backdrop of rural Rajasthan, its songs and myth, and the beauty and mystery of the desert. This is the story of a District Collector who encounters beauty in its purest and most absolute form, and the effect this experience has on him and others. It is told from the points of view of nine characters – the Collector’s orderly, a Tehsildar, the Guard of the Circuit House where the crucial part of the story takes place, a pair of girls from the Nat tribe, a Raibari Camel-herder, a District Medical Officer, the Chief Secretary of the State, the Superintendent of police, and the Collector’s own journal. The story is half-real, half-fable, with a mystery which may or may not be supernatural.

Bhaunri: A companion novel to Daura, it is about the story of a woman – named Bhaunri – from a nomadic tribe of blacksmiths and her obsessive love for her husband. This is a dark tale with an ending which depicts the destructive power of desire, and offers glimpses of a fast-disappearing life.

Based on the rural, desert setting in Rajasthan, we took visual cues from Barmer Applique, to design the cover. We had hoped to work with the artisans to make these applique textiles, but due to a paucity of time and budget, we had to do them as vectors. We still hope to do this and other projects with the Barmer applique craftswomen one day.