Once, walking in the hills of Gholvad, observing the shapes of the trees, artist Mehlli Gobhai told poet and writer Jerry Pinto, “You see how it is all geometry. Life has geometry underlying it.” Gobhai found art everywhere, Pinto notes in The Secret Life of Mehlli Gobhai (Pratham Books). The artist is best known as one of the leading abstractionists in India, but he was also an illustrator of children’s books. He wrote and illustrated several titles such as Lakshmi: The Water Buffalo Who Wouldn’t, The Legend of the Orange Princess and Ramu and the Kite, among others.

Mehlli Gobhai

To honour his work, Bandra-based MCubed Library presents the Mehlli Gobhai award for the Best Work in Children’s Book Illustration every year. This will be the fourth year of the award. “[Gobhai] was a painter with a giving heart,” Pinto tells us. “His generosity was manifested when he left, in his will, a quarter of an estate to artists’ charities. I thought it would be a good idea to create an award for children’s book illustrations,” Pinto shares, fondly recalling his earliest encounter with Gobhai at the latter’s exhibition, Hinged by Light, held at the Pundole Art Gallery, Fort, in 1994. “I went to the MCubed Library [with the idea for the award] because I love this space, the library, and what it’s done, being a safe haven for children to come in and experience the joy of books.”