New Normal
When I created this illustration what inspired me was the amount of sacrifice many women made to achieve their dreams; from the weight of society, family and traditions, and in spite of all, still achieved their goals and purposes. 
You must have also heard of the new term “New Normal” which we are all facing so now. Bringing that to context, here for my own ‘New Normal’ I’ve tried to collect and connect the unusual subject/s abruptly (and which did very well work out). This made me ( and should also make us) realise that the only hindrance to new possibilities is our man-made barriers. 
It’s very inspiring and sometimes thought-provoking how art gives us our own voice and understanding. The beautiful things about art are how they speak to different persons from different perspectives according to their experiences.
 
What they want to see
Are we chained by what society expects of us? To be a model woman as per their norms?

This piece is really asking me my intention/s for creating all these, one which still confuses me; all these reasonable questions fighting with unreasonable beliefs and traditions still hits me hard.

The question/s I constantly forward by this piece and such pieces is- Why am I drawing this? Is it because of my fantasy? Is it because this needs to be shown so that needful needs things can be done? Or am I just trying to have a Hypocrite voice for the real feminists who are fighting the real causes (Which I don’t know much about)? Do we really want to know (deep inside) all these that we seek to see? Maybe yes or Maybe no?

I ask myself everyday how honest I am to myself and to my works/Arts. But one thing which I am certain and try to convey is, what is wrong is wrong no matter what.. Whether I am a victim or a guilty one, I am ready to change for the better. And this intention is what I truly embrace through all such art. What conversation does this illustration starts with you?
The great expectation
Juggling between work and home is something women over the centuries have mastered. It is the unsaid yet understood expectations that encompasses women, whether it is a very successful woman CEO or super moms at home. And this is the inspiration behind today’s conversation.
 
It is worth admiring the fact that every woman you meet on the streets, no matter how calm composed she looks, has crossed out numbers of chores to be there at that very moment and place. While you and I, maybe we’ve just accomplished getting out of bed and getting ready to be there and then.
 
The expectations we build for women does not get smaller, but neither does their confidence in conquering it all. This art is for all those women out there combating the space for self, work and home.
Unchained by Knowledge
Are they good? No, they are powerful!
Tribute to all the powerful women who are daring enough to travel and make their dreams come true, under the constant stare and judgement. What’s more? So many of them are the ones who run the home, upkeep their roots and live life on their terms.

Here’s to more of them!

Vintage picture in luggage from @pinterest
This is us - (This conversation piece was borne out of a conversation with one of my virtual Arunachali friend)

Northeast India experiences the highest number of ethnic clashes in the whole country and yet we are not ready to talk about it or only a few yet to talk about it. There is a dire need to hold open conversations around such violence, the causes and how we can move forward with the remedy but the lack of political will from our leaders, elders and organisation will have us all wrapped in blood sooner or later. We are so busy blaming each other. Often times, conversations always begin with whose fault it really was, which then further drives intolerance towards each other side. What we need to make sure is that we don’t reduce or dehumanise either side. One must not forget that our history was written by people who didn’t understand us, and their accounts of who we were are not (entirely) reliable.

If we once set a foundational understanding, we will be willing to listen and understand in an attempt to find solutions rather than listening just to debate.

We, the Youth (NorthEast India)
As many of us (especially youth from North East India) being homebound due to pandemic, and with so many distress call from all over the country, it is apparent that we fight for two diseases: one, a fight against COVID-19 like the rest of the world; two, the North East Community facing the man-made racism. I believe humans will definitely coming out victorious over this pandemic while Racism (for sure) will go on and will still haunt us. But yes, as a resilient community/ies from the very beginning, we shall continue to fight no matter what. Insurgency, ethnic clashes, political aspirations violence, economic disparity, lack of facilities, lack of opportunity, identity crises, racism- we were tested by all, but still, we survive/d. Unrelatable to our mainstream media from movies to media, unreachable to our mainstream conversation, unrelatable icons, but we still believe in Unity in diversity. Every day we fight; some days we lose; some days we win, but still, we dare to DREAM amongst all odds. We need to applaud ourselves for our bravery, we need to raise our voice by ourself without depending on others, we need to show who we are by ourselves without someone’s explanation. It’s on to us, it’s on us.  COVID is hard on us, but this is a time for all of us to come together and understand what is really needed to done to sustain ourself without always depending on outside resources.
The year we are being summoned

Big question What Next for us?

Little note on Food (What's in a FOOD?)
The food that I serve myself every day to eat, is it really just be alive or does it have more meanings into it? It was the end of 2000s when I left my hometown for further studies and the first culture-shock I experienced was food culture. Our little homogeneous town had only prepped me about the diverse looks (race) outside the state and not the diverse food stories each carried. I never knew that ‘how we eat’ and ‘what we eat’ is a subject matter of discussion which in some cases has led to racism. But sometimes, food is also the best way to describe and show our identity, something that many of us would enjoy and would be willing to learn. So, yes, the food that we’ve been taking in (to live) is not just for living/surviving anymore. There has been cases where (unfortunately) our food behaviour caused landlords to chase us out or deny a room; and made societies file a complaint. Most often than not, just by my looks my friends already decide that my staple food would be that of the Chinese/Tibetan/Nepalese which is not true for most of us from the Seven sisters state. That said, the problem that comes with food is not just an isolated problem confined to us. It is far more widespread with a worse consequence experienced by migrants across the globe; in different forms and for varied reasons. Perhaps, this is one of the common ‘migrant woes’ the world shares. The smell of your favourite food might turn everyone’s eyes on you with disgust; your favourite delicacy might lead someone to his or her most uncomfortable place, and your favourite dish might turn into somebody’s unliteral poison which hurt him to bleed without hurting.