Probability of Being

Most of the time artists are the first ones to fall in love with their artwork and once it is finished, they even want to possess it secretly. As hard it is to separate from the work, at the same time overwhelming and soul-satisfying- if someone else has understood the music they were creating through their art and want to own it without any negotiations or conditions. However, some works go beyond these criteria of buying and selling or possessing. I do not say such works need to be masterpieces or be outstanding, but still, this is how art wishes to be manifested- unconditionally. As I got up early last morning in Badanga, I woke others up who wished to join me for my last visit to the mountain, and they took no time to get up. Anant was usually sitting at the fire every day in the morning, seeing we are off to some kind of expedition, he offered us some chai and joined us. Anant was another artist in the residency- a printmaker with a thorough knowledge of his art. As the group

As the project comes to its closure and so was my stay at Badanga. Apart from the last minute anxiety of giving the finishing touch to the project, I was satisfied to have made most out of my stay at the place…bonded not just with the kids but also with the school teachers, few villagers and of course most of the artists. I learned a lot from the children of Badanga more than I could absorb at that moment, but I surely needed all those lessons for the next phase of my life i.e. the phase of isolation and lockdown due to the outbreak of COVID- 19. Our videographer had already left two days ago leaving me worried about the final image of my finished work. Anyways I had no control over those things, so I continued with what needed to be done. Prepared a title page (the night before) around full empirical- size sheet to paste on an old tin board, that I noticed was perfectly placed in the valley from where the mountain needed to be viewed. Early next morning just a few hours before the

          Celebrations in school                                                                              Children too excited with Jasmin* Children of Badanga were too excited about us outsiders coming to their village and doing different art projects, as most of the projects involved working with these children. After school they would visit the residency place where some of the artists are working, then they will run to another project site. In a way there was never a defined set of children working in a particular project. As far as my project was concerned, as I said I managed to get some kids (like, 10+ years old) at the beginning followed by just a couple of kids working with me for a couple of days. These two were my constant companions in the execution of the work with other kids joining or not joining us as the project was developing. And after some days, their numbers shoot up as they would wait for their treats after the day’s work.     Shantilal and Pannalal were my co

Living in minimal resources with not a single tea shop in the village- completely relying on the arrangements at the residency for three meals of the day (with a no time schedule approach) and chai, and that means we had to manage our work time accordingly. However, we knew the organizers in this remote setting were trying to do their best and this kind of experience in a way made us more adaptable and accepting of the onsite/workplace challenges. In a way this following ‘no schedule’ thing was working well for all of us artists and one happy thing for us (for which I am personally very thankful to the organizers) was- the whole of the village was open for us to execute our projects. One big regret I had at that time was not bringing my HD camera to document my project as it was quite a challenge for our official videographer, Alok to document works of around 20 something artists. One early morning, as I came out of my cottage, I saw Zaynab and Sanjid sitting near the bonfire. Some

                                                  working on the mountain                                                                                          Linh on the day of the exhibition                               Spending time on the mountain for my project...the mountain in return did give me some moments of strangeness and amusement. One of the days as I was packing my bag to go to the mountain, my roommate, Linh just came in and gave me a corn chapati prepared by her wrapped in a newspaper. This gesture surprised me in a much pleasant manner and I immediately took the bread from her and packed it in my bag (she knew I was packing some leftover breakfast sometimes when I go to the mountain early). Linh would usually talk less and apart from being a brilliant artist, her observation of people was much mature for her age. I was always glad to have her as my roommate and this association felt much like a divine plan. There’s much people absorb from each other in the silent

What was that day in the village, I do not remember but by this time I was quite sure of my routine. I would get up early in the morning around 4-5 am to meditate for an hour. The whole atmosphere of the village had a different energy than that of the city. Everyone including children would get up early in the morning around 4 am, the kids would take their cows and goats around in the hills for grazing. They would come back, help their mothers in preparing food, would clean the house i.e. one room earthen cottage and also do the dishes. I felt connected with the energies so much so that I would always get up in the morning no matter what time I slept in the night. A distant sound of an old village woman singing in a nearby farm every day at the dawn was simply enchanting and added to the meditative mood in the morning. The energies of the place were seemingly affecting me and moreover, I was realizing how so comfortable I am mentally and physically in minimal available resources…like I

Initial days on the mountain as I started working were difficult. First, the mountain was steep and slate stone rocks were slippery. However, embedded in an acute angle, that still allowed some kind of grip that one gets used to as one gets into the habit of climbing the mountain. There was no drinking water (except some  collected rainwater in a small pit nearby) or source of food around so one should be prepared for the day. The clear skies were beautiful, but the sun was hitting hard- and the semi-reflective surface of the rocks was adding to the heat and the glare. With no trees around it was quite a challenge to find a shady spot to rest for a few minutes. The experience of the first day was enough to prepare me for the rest of the days. I knew the mountain better and while I kept on cursing myself to fancy such a task, at the same time I was quite joyful in a way and was willing to go with this flow. As I came back from the first day’s work, and narrated my experience

Space resonates with different kinds of songs, different kinds of music. There are songs with words, there is music with beautiful sounds and then, there is a song without words and there’s music without a sound. To be able to listen to deeper songs of silence, one needs to be a listener...a listener of strange sounds of silence. And even this listening comes in layers; for there is a listening that is enforced and where one has to 'train' the mind to be silent and then, there’s listening that is more natural and comes effortlessly…listening towards the sound of silence that is more profound and deeper among various sounds of silence. A trip to village Badanga, the second day of the stay at the residency, as we (the invited group of artists in the 12 days art residency- Refer my previous blog posts- ‘Save Earth’ and ‘A deeper pull’) touched the remote point in the village it was almost evening. As randomly and impulsively everyone was walking…pretending to be part of