Jitish Kallat's works probe the impact of India's rapid economic development and of related social changes. He focuses on the transformation of urban society and on the complex relations between the individual and the crowd in the busy urban sphere. His visual syntax builds on the texture of the surrounding metropolis – a poor, crowded, chaotic patchwork of different elements.
‘The Cry of the Gland’ features 108 photographs of the front pockets of shirts worn by men commuting to work. These intimate, personal accessories are transformed into a colorful, kaleidoscopic collective portrait of a certain sector of society. Approaching commuters randomly in the street, Kallat photographed the pockets of their shirts, often bulging or sagging under the weight of daily necessities - pens, cigarettes, keys, wallets, cell phones - resembling a tumour-like growth on the body. Kallat has described this act of stepping close and registering a picture of bodily protrusions laden with personal possessions as a kin to capturing a short story.

"Kallat's interpretations are refreshing as seen in the photographic series 'The Cry of the Gland'. There are 108 frames of that many male shirt pockets holding sundry objects from medicines, ball pens, note pads etc. They say a woman's handbag says a lot about her; Kallat's portrays the identity of the common man via his pocket. Each pocket bears a story making this an engaging documentation." ( Jasmine Shah Varma, "Mumbai Art Sighting", Art etc., May 2011)

"I am often drawn to the small details in my environment whose sudden appearance represents evidence of some internal process and equally, this image could then become an apparatus to manifest certain ideas within a work. A bulging shirt pocket laden with daily necessities....carries emergent meaning and potential." (Interview for "India: Art Now" Catalog, Arken Museum, 2012)