It has been years since I first fell in love with magic and it will be a lifetime longer before I outgrow it. The various worlds I have been able to find between the pages of books has done well for nurturing that love and has inspired a great number of artworks, but it wasn’t until relatively recently that I began to recognize glaring absences in the stories I’d come to love so dearly. Witnessing the consistent under and misrepresentation of South Asians in media has served as motivation to take up space in places saturated with eurocentrism, featurism, and colorism.

 

Today, I take pride in the voices I am able to amplify through my work, particularly in the fuzzy brown bodies that I am able to depict for their inherent beauty. Our cultures and people are art, and our stories are worth telling.

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"Red Pt. 1" - inspired by the song by Anju

Red like the world that rushes under my skin

I see red like the space between my eyes

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"Red Pt. 2" 

And I’m treading strong as my universe begins

I see red like the winter sunrise

…

World to come

Remember me

Ocean tide, banyan tree

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"Red Pt. 3" 

Say what they will

About my bare feet

I traded lush lands for new sands

I see their false teeth

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"Red Pt. 4" 

So we’re newly defined

Women and scholars

…

If I run out of air to breathe,

Will you sing my story back to me?