Rajendra Shyam, depicts the Gondi tales in great detail on his canvases. His paintings are dense in their treatment and there is perfect symmetry. His favourite colour is brown in all its shades. He has adopted banda, the rope used to bind sheaves of grain, as his motif to provide texture to his forms. "It is the banda which ties the crops so the farmer can sell them and feed his family." In gratitude, Rajendra uses the symbol as his signature.
As a child, Rajendra was drawn to digna and bhittichitra. With his sisters and their mother, Bera Bai, he would plaster walls with cow dung and then decorate them with digna patterns and floral designs. He was often taunted about this passion for decoration - as this was seen as "girls' work". But Rajendra believed in doing what he loved most - painting. Rajendra fondly remembers the love of his elder brother who never ever scolded him. He always encouraged him to study, saying: "You will get a good job in future if you concentrate on your studies now." When Rajendra was in Class X, he lost his beloved brother and could not continue his studies, as he had to work to support his family.
He and his companions would go deep into the forest to fetch firewood. Sometimes they spent the night in the forest, with people from other villages. As they sat around the fire they had built to keep wild animals away, an old man from the group would tell them stories. So gripping were his tales, that they sometimes stayed up all night, listening spellbound.