Madhubani:
A well-paved lane winds its way up to a famous home in Ranti village in Madhubani district North Bihar.
Both the road, the primary school and the relative degree of literacy in this region is courtesy Mahasundari Devi, a legendary artist, who brought international fame to the Madhubani style of paintings.
Mahasundri Devi died eight months ago, but her house continues to be a centre for Mithila art. Three small rooms are full of her paintings and accolades from across the country while each wall depicts a narrative from the Ramayana, a text central to this art form.
"This is Mithila, Sita's '
maika' (maternal home) so everything to do with her is precious," says Vibha Devi, who keeps her mother-in-law Mahasundari Devi's legacy alive.
Madhubani paintings are done by women, traditionally by the Maithli Brahmin community, the skill passed down from mother to daughter. When the works of women like Mahasundari Devi or Sita Devi started finding great acclaim and wider markets, many women saw in this traditional heritage a lucrative career, that worked with their daily household chores.
Today Vibha Devi runs a school for aspiring Madhubani artists, young women who tell us that the paintings have brought prosperity to their village, giving them both 'employment and empowerment'
Our conversation suddenly turns to politics - polling for the Madhubani Lok Sabha seat is on April 30. Vibha Das announces the clear political choice of women like her - Nitish Kumar. "All cultural activities suffered under 15 years of Lalu Yadav's regime. There were no awards or recognition for artists but things are changing since Nitish Kumar came into power. Women have also become more aware about who would make for a better candidate to vote for, so our consensus is Nitish," she says.
The vehemence in this political assertion comes from the fact that these women are defying the wider political trend. The Brahmin vote in this village, as in her own family Vibha Das says will go to the BJP. She says the women know their vote will have no political impact, they've been tracking the opinion polls and Nitish's party, the Janata Dal (United) or JD(U) is likely to lose many seats, but they are determined to make their point.
Gargi, a young artist cites a recent event organised by Chief Minister to promote Madhbuni art. More than a 100 women artists participated. Vibha tells us that the foundation stone has also been laid for the first ever institute of Mithila art in Madhubani itself. "Nitish knows how to do development with a heart and how to use art," says Vibha Das, equally excited by the fact that the women have found the strength to vote according to their own thinking - still a rare occurrence she says in their conservative society, where "we usually followed our men not just to the polling booth but also in choosing the candidate of their choice".