"I want to paint women's lives, what they go through, what they make of it - " In the light of the current debates on Indian women's mobility and choices, young Mithila Artist Amrita Das offers a disarmingly fresh perspective. Her visual tale is gentle yet resolute, the art treading treading a fine balance tradition and innovation. In the process, she manages to steer the Mithila tradition of women's art from the domesticity of its origins to actually questioning the traditional confines of women's lives. 'Hope is a Girl Selling Fruit' is a gentle, reflective account of a young woman's thoughts and feelings as she comes into contact with the larger world. The rich imagery takes the story into another realm, inviting the reader to interpret it at many levels - a universal book that is truly for all ages.

Translated by: Susheela Varadarajan