One Cold Winter Night

          The place where I come from, we never get to see the snow and the minimum temperature it can drop during the winter would be around 4°C. And now it would be unfair on my part to even try to explain how cold a winter can get and by the way, our winter here is almost over when I am writing this. So I will not even try to do that. But yes, I would want you to come with me on a walk through some streets one cold winter night.

Title: The Sleep 

Medium: Oil on Canvas 

Size: 30x24 Inches 

Sold to a private collector from UK

Signed and dated at the bottom right hand corner. 

           If you ever have had the opportunity to walk through the crowded streets of New Delhi before, you will know what I mean. But if you haven’t, here is what it looks like. As you would have already guessed it, it’s always crowded and honestly, it’s not even very safe to walk but the irony is, you are even at your worst if you are driving. It’s almost like a circus show where a person throws knife at an apple placed on another person’s head as the bull’s-eye. You are never safe. One moment, a car will honked at you when it’s almost about to hit you and the next moment you realized a beggar is pulling you from behind (you can even say molesting) for just a two rupee coin. Don’t fall for that unless you have a million in coins. One moment you will realize that you just got hit by a motorbike on a bicycle lane (Yes that happens) and the next moment, someone just pulled you to a corner to show you branded Ray-Ban goggles that you can buy it at “Only For You” price. Of course it’s a fake. And if you are a foreigner or a tourist, God himself will find it hard to save you from all the Auto Drivers and Rickshawpullers (but this I will leave it as homework for you to find it out for yourself). But then, the winter night sets in. Now we walk.

          The streets become deserted; fogs rule the roads and some stray dogs cuddle up somewhere in the corners for some sleepless night because of the cold. It’s just the starting. Soon, another layer of coldness will swipe over, that will be near enough to wipe out anything on its way. And then another layer, that will leave the bones of the stray dogs to chatter. Now the show starts and until the first light of the morning takes over and wipe out what just happened last night. You know these layers I am talking about. You have had the taste of its chill even with your warm clothes on and beneath the roof. But somewhere down these streets where we are walking right now, in some corners, someone is taking the same cold with a different degree of coldness as a cut on their skins. Another person is trying hard not to chatter his teeth because it makes him feel even more colder. One kid is shivering so bad that it might even wake up the person next to him. A mother is trying hard to warm her child, but she seems to run out of heat herself. What they need? No!!! They don’t have the strength to think right now. They are too busy trying hard not to be in the list of people who, “Seven people reported death last night due to the cold wave that swipe through the capital”. 

          Now, my painting doesn’t tell the story of any this people. Nor does it tell the story of what their suffering is or what they need. It was a painting I did here in winter when the cold was at its lowest and a theme based on a winter night when sleeping inside the warm blanket seems like the only comfort left in the whole world. But, that doesn’t mean, their story is not worth telling. It’s a shame that the government seems to be doing nothing for them and even these filthy rich are too busy attending late night parties. And it’s even a shame on me that these are the people who had pulled me for a 2 rupee coin, overcharged me for a rickshaw ride and enticed me for “Only For you” price for some fake Ray-Ban goggles during the day. I hope you like our walk. Stay warm.

Last Words: An original piece, but I must admit, certain aspects of this artwork is inspired by another work, in terms of positioning. More than that, it's an original creation.