Meri Dudhu by Shanti Chaudhary

This is a song, a poem, and a love letter to a mother from her daughter. What does the daughter remember about her mother?

“Dudhu” in Bara Jilla Tharu bhasa means mother. This book is a song written by a daughter who remembers her mother. The song follows the life of the author Shanti Chaudhary’s mother, from child-marriage to being one of the most artistic women when it comes to weaving mouni, also known as dhakkiya in other Tharu communities. These are small colourful baskets that many Tharu women make. These mounis are made by using a needle-like object called sedana or chedana, and two kinds of dyed grass (muja and barani) found in the tarai region of Nepal. This story was originally written in Bara Jilla Tharu language.

Illustrated by Ubahang Nembang.

Srijanalaya produced this book with the support of The Asia Foundation’s Books for Asia program. Srijanalaya is an NGO based in Nepal that creates safer spaces of learning through the arts. For more information, visit: srijanalaya.org