Member of the

Melting Pot Co-operative Project

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"There iis a disconnect between what I consider tolerant, secular and civilized and what I see happening."

 

I am an artist who did her formal training at Sir JJ School of Art (Drawing and Painting), Mumbai. I have had exhibitions of my work in India and abroad.

 

 

The concept of identity is something I’ve been made aware of constantly as I come from a very mixed background. India is such a melting pot of language and culture that a common question on meeting strangers is ,”Where are you from?” Due to the fact that there is so much diversity, people slot each other in terms of ethnicity, religion and language. In this sense I am “unslot-able”

 

The question of identity and belonging is pertinent today more so with the current government that we have in India. There is a marked polarisation taking place along communal and religious lines. I find myself being marginalised as a minority as I don’ t have a strong allegiance to any particular religion or community partly due to the inter-marrying in my family of different nationalities and faiths and partly as an atheist. I have a strong sense of dismay and alarm at the way my countrymen seem to be regressing into age-old mindless beliefs on women and morality. There is a disconnect between what I consider tolerant, secular and civilised and what I see happening. In this project the challenge is to be able to address this in a non-verbal visual imagery.