A French author recounts a Dalit epic

French author Martine Le Coz first came across the story of King Salhesh in 2012, during a visit to Jitwarpur village in Bihar’s Mithila region. This was not her first tryst with art and culture from the state—she first “met” India through Mithila drawings at the age of 20; her work with artists from the region has led to three books, Mithila, L’Honneur Des Femmes, Les Filles De Krishna Prennent La Parole, and a set of oracle cards called Sept Saris. Le Coz, who visited India last month at the invitation of the French Institute in India and the publisher Navayana to celebrate the European Event Long Night of Literatures and to launch her book in the country, has summarised it in the afterword: Jaybhardan, son of Somdev and Madoderi, king and queen of Mahisautha, went walking in the woods with his younger brothers and heard a poor pregnant woman weeping. The pivotal role was played by Urmila Devi, a painter from Jitwarpur, who introduced Le Coz to a new element of the story “ confirmed Salhesh’s singularity.