Saugata Chakraborty

“I would like you to work on the cover of my new book. It’s a humorous account of the life of one Shantilal Biswas, who frequents those facets of life where neither shanti (peace) nor biswas (trust) resides. Shanti and Anjali live in a Mumbai suburb with their 12-year old son Monty (the Mischievous). Would you be interested in doing the work?”

From that first query to this first “rough sketch” for the cover sent over WhatsApp, the three-week journey had only one pit stop- prompt for the cover. It went like this:

“Cartoon illustration of Shantilal’s family in their suburban Mumbai flat. Monty is seen holding a frog in both his hands, ready to release it on Anjali’s head. She is seen wearing a saree with flowers in her hair bun, carrying a cup of tea to Shanti, who is poring over a bunch of papers with an oversized magnifying glass.”

After Jayanta Biswas quietly changed the overspilling Bournvita into aamchi Mumbai’s cutting chai, and we (me fueled by Anirban Choudhury’s eye for the detail) both agreed on the shadow speed of the text bubble/ ribbon and the glittering celestial objects on the cover, I remembered the requirement of that expensive piece of retail space for displaying the logo of the publisher.

Of course, Redgrab Books, like I suspect not many publishers would, have backed the madness that went beyond ‘Mostly Mundane’ and they fully and any other appropriate adverbially deserved the place in the quietest corner of this raging cover. That they did not leave the back cover to chance or to me

But then, like every good things in life, the cover story also began much before I requested Jayanta to play King Midas. The prompt for the cover came from my significantly better half, Sharmi. Still earlier, the inspiration to create a cover that stands out came from some of the best book covers that I have seen in recent times, designed by the brilliant team at The Book Bakers and the man at the helm of affairs there, India’s best known literary agent these days, Suhail Mathur. Now the world would know who led me to Prayagraj, the home of Redgrab Books.

Coming next: The Mostly Mundane Blurb