I have been with Tara Books as a designer for a year. Amongst the several projects I have worked on, this was a rather special one. I was given the task to relook an illustrated Tara classic – I Saw a Peacock with a Fiery Tail which was released in 2010 and has been reprinted several times after that. With stunning art by Pardhan Gond artist, Ramsingh Urveti and a clever design by Jonathan Yamakami – flipping through it has always been fascinating.

An unusual collaboration between indigenous Warli artists, a writer-gardener and book artisans, this book is a celebration of the miracle that is the seed and its place in our lives and cultures. Read on for an account of its evolution, and how it came to take its imaginative final shape, a combination of four book forms—each of them reflecting a particular aspect of the cosmos contained in a seed.

By Gita Wolf

When we first published this book, we didn’t overthink it…25 years later, its time has come again, though in a slightly altered form. So what has changed in the meantime? Quite a lot, as it turns out. 

By Gita Wolf and Joëlle Jolivet

"When I came back from the hospital, I just drew a self-portrait… maybe to make sure that I was still alive? I think I drew one portrait every morning. It was very spontaneous, connected with the feeling of the day." This fantastic book was never thought of as a book, to begin with. It came together—literally—by accident.