Thandav

Mythical Solitude 

Series of Photomontage Dance, 

Thandav and Shiva. One day in 2018, my friend was dancing to the classical Thandavam 

I had remembered to bring my camera along that day. permitted me via his gestures, and I stayed in the background and captured all the Thandavam moments 

Initially, I didn't know why I was taking pictures, but it became clear that subconsciously my mind was encouraging me to take these pictures so that I could revisit and narrate them again. 

A young man, my friend, was finally becoming the voice of suffering. Rapid development projects and nomadic lifestyles are his future. He struggles daily to lead a life of solitude with challenges. Because of this, his voice is not heard; his screams are not seen. Because of this, he is dancing frantically. 

He exudes a palpable sense of resentment and rage. He squirms like a worm between the four walls of his bedroom, wriggling like boiling water since he is unable to dance in public. Thandava is the Hindu deity Shiva's way of expressing intense emotions such as rage and ecstasy. He uses the Thandava dance to display his grief. Shiva, the God of creative destruction, assumes his most ferocious form during this Thandava. The Rudra Tandava frequently represents cosmic devastation. It also means letting go of the repressed rage. How might images of this dance by my friend be used to convey a larger narrative? Alternatively, how can such a performance be made available to the general public? Is it possible that these trials might help individuals better understand the concerns of other people? Or, how might images be used to tell such tales to a wider audience? As a photographer and artist who has worked extensively on documenting and conveying stories about migration and nomadic lives, I want to connect these images to the performance. 

Overlays of text and script 

My photographs draw from mythological, literary scripts such as Geetha Saram (brief of holy script Bhagavath Geetha), Vaikunda Ammanai (Based on Mahabharat mythological script recited during funeral gatherings), Ramayanam (mythological text/ lays foundations to understand and recurring cosmic presence on not belonging or the nomadic existentialism The lives of gods, kings, and other characters in epic and literary stories convey the experiences of individuals who have been touched by a succession of displacements and changing lifestyles, all of which are epic and literary stories. We can examine our lives and reassure ourselves with these stories without getting tired of calculating our misfortunes. I include lyrics of epic and literary stories directly into the artwork, putting into words and visuals what is spoken about the unsettled existence and sequence of displacements of individuals who are viewed as heroes or characters in the stories, as well as their personal concerns. 

Abandoned interiors 

Buildings and interiors that have lost their lives fascinate me. I am reminded that those abandoned buildings may have been the residence of somebody some time ago, before they were abandoned for whatever reason. These walls keep the secrets of those who lived inside without leaking. Some people's joys and anxieties still live inside the building, as do the pages of their own stories they inherited. Those memories still linger in all the stuff they left behind