Every week, for one hour, I get on a zoom call with my group of 5 ‘friends’. We all met during Covid, in a larger forum, clicked and decided to keep our online sessions an ongoing tradition.
I look forward to that hour where we discuss, art, books, the situation of our world at large and everything in-between. We all belong to varied geographies and different religious inclinations. We are of diverse age groups, but our need to have safe space to share, discuss, speak our minds, have meaningful dialogue is what makes this one of the best hours of my week.
It has also become my time to do my art. I use that hour, in a way, meditatively. It helps me focus and be there in a complete way, away from all distractions. It is my way to reflect and express.
I generally like to keep my art works small, as they help me focus and zoom in. I like that. This piece is my representation of a gorgeous old building facade [the actual building is now near demolished] on Zaibunissa Street [originally known as Elphinstone street or simply Elphi to us Karachites], in my city of Karachi.
I had earlier spoken about the use of colour to infuse hope and positivity in our environment and our world and though this piece that started with not too much thought, I realised kind of midway that, that is what I was doing here. Colours are often used as a symbolic act to fill loss, with the intention of producing the possibility of hope, often appropriating a situation that reminds of hardships and trials, and in an attempt to subvert memory into a desired future. I was probably making this colourful, vibrant piece, in the hope for a better, happier, peaceful world, as mostly our discussion focused on that aspect, the last few weeks.
This piece is my small contribution towards ‘positive’ peace in our world.
While there is an immediate need to react and act fast, there is a longterm need to inculcate the true meaning of peace into the DNA of our world. There is no short cut here.
This quote by James Clear hit home, ‘
‘What can we do to create a more unified world?” then you end up with vague answers that are difficult to implement. The problem is mostly unmanageable at that level.
But if you ask, “What can I do to create a more unified neighbourhood?” then you can likely think of many small things you can do to connect your friends and neighbours.
Zoom in or zoom out. Problems that seem impossible at one level are often quite accessible from a different one.’
