A stunning new show of Indian painting at the Metropolitan Museum in New York, shows 220 miniature paintings from the 16th to the 19th century. These miniature images show scenes of everyday life, stories of the gods and activities of the ruling Mughals. This delicate portrait of Krishna's lover Radha shows her preparing food much as it is prepared in many parts of India today. She sits on the floor with her tools and ingredients laid out around her (note the group of small round eggplants behind her) and tends two clay pots sitting atop a clay stove. On our trip to South India in February we will see these stoves in daily use.
