The Monkey Made Payasa
When I try to recall the bedtime stories my grandmother told me, I realise that most of them have slipped from memory. These moments remain meaningful yet incomplete without the stories that once shaped them. Through this project, I aim to visually document and reinterpret one of these oral narratives using experimental typography and printmaking. The story involves a monkey who craves to eat a sweet dish and how his cooking experiment goes wrong.
Fabrics often serve as heirlooms within families, particularly among women. Building on this idea, I printed a set of two scarves, along with their packaging and my grandma’s recipe for the Payasa (the sweet dish) that the monkey was trying to cook. Experimental typography acts as the central visual language, translating spoken words into tactile form. The scarves will feature text in English and in Kannada, my native language. Designed for women aged 20 to 70, these scarves are intended to be worn by both my grandmother and me.
Typography
The design of the typeface is inspired from the noodle-like form of vermicelli that is dropped into the river by the monkey.
One fine morning, a monkey up in a tree craved some sweet payasa. He climbed down, strolled through the market, and brought back all the ingredients he needed. He lit a fire, poured everything into a pot, and began to cook. But just then, he realised he had nothing to stir the pot with! Without thinking twice, the monkey dipped his tail into the pot and started stirring.
“OOOUUuuu!” he howled, leaping around as his tail began to burn. Angry at the payasa for hurting him, the monkey carried the pot and poured the whole thing into the nearby river.
That night, he lay in bed, tossing and turning. His stomach rumbled louder than the wind. Hungry and regretful, the monkey crept back to the river. He looked down and felt sorry for the payasa he had wasted. The monkey leaned over and began to drink. And drink. And drink. Until, before he knew it, he had swallowed the whole river that once held his sweet payasa.
Packaging
Making
Photography
