Kokil

‘The cuckoo bird’s “coo” fills up the field [while] women walk to gather water…’ is what the artist conveys through this work. Leaving a large portion of the pictorial space blank, creating branches and leaves of a tree in swift brushstrokes, Asit Kumar Haldar paints this beautiful, melodious bird in black that has been a muse not just in folklore and visual arts but also in literature and music. People carry on working is what the koyel sings. If only we would pause to hear the birdsong.