Hello, I Can't Speak" is a contemplative and critical reflection on the erasure of histories, landscapes, and ethics in contemporary India. This artwork presents a series of photographs taken across various locations, each bearing the scars of destruction, whether cultural, ethical, environmental, or a direct result of anthropogenic impact. Over these images, a long, black silhouette procession made from ash moves like a silent witness, evoking the weight of memory, loss, and unresolved histories.
Ash, as a material, carries a duality, it is both the residue of devastation and a symbol of rebirth. Here, it becomes a metaphor for the silent remnants of a distorted reality, where the dominant virtual narratives suppress the deeper truths of India’s socio-political landscape. The procession of silhouettes acts as an unspoken lament, a testimony to the consequences of neglect and exploitation.
The artwork also references the Megalithic burial sites, where stone structures mark an end, a finality that simultaneously reestablishes the idea of death and remembrance. In this context, the stone stands as both a monument and a resistance, challenging the transient nature of virtual reality by grounding the work in physical history.
Interwoven with this visual narrative is text from Subhash Chandra Bose’s "Mission of Life", a historical echo juxtaposed against the dissonance of the present. By placing Bose’s ideals within today’s conflicts, the work questions the trajectory of national identity, governance, and ethics, prompting viewers to reconsider the gap between historical aspirations and contemporary realities.
"Hello, I Can't Speak" is not just an observation but an urgent call for reflection, on the muted voices, the forgotten spaces, and the buried truths of a nation in flux.