Hi Kings & Queens

Nobody’s gonna want you like I do

Madhubala’s melancholy:

Pencil, charcoal, oil paints on canvas.

Madhubala, a Bollywood icon, lived a life just as tragic as ‘Anarkali’, a character she played in her last film, the classic - ‘Mughal-e-azam’.

After being diagnosed with a rare heart condition, Madhubala kept fighting for her life and doing justice to her art while sadness colored her life off the screen.

A woman of resolve and uncanny character, she spent the last of her days in loneliness and died at the untimely age of 36 but left behind a timeless remembrance full of art, beauty and strength.

Madhubala when asked about love had once said,"No peace or happiness is possible in life without true love."

Your love is deadly.

Sacred sins.

ਪਵਿੱਤਰ ਪਾਪ।

What is a sacred sin?

Smelling a rose and turning it into wine?

Drinking the holy elixir and turning it into poison?

Loving your tears and sighs?

Abusing your faith?

F**king someone you hate?

To burn in the fervent fires of lust?

To erase the traces of sin altogether by praying in a sanctuary?

Is any sin ever sacred?

-

Ra on Fujifilm.

12”x16” on Photorag Baryta.

The problem.

•

A thousand years ago, we made love.

Never seen a night so calm,

I look at you. Your tears fall in silence.

Your gaze goes through my heart like a long needle. I reminisce the beginnings;

We hurt each other, with no words.

We can still hear the fireflies.

•••

ਐਨੀ ਸਕੂਨ ਭਰੀ ਰਾਤ ਕਦੇ ਨਹੀਂ ਵੇਖੀ ।

ਮੈਂ ਤੈਨੂੰ ਵੇਖਦਾ ਹਾਂ। ਤੇਰੇ ਹੰਝੂ ਚੁੱਪ-ਚੁਪੀਤੇ ਡਿੱਗਦੇ ਨੇ ।

ਤੇਰੀ ਨਿਗਾਹ ਮੇਰੇ ਦਿਲ ਥਾਣੀਂ ਇੱਕ ਲੰਬੀ ਸੁਈ ਵਾਂਗੂੰ ਲ਼ੰਘਦੀ ਐ;

ਮੈਂ ਸ਼ੁਰੂਆਤੀ ਦਿਨਾਂ ਦੇ ਖਿਆਲਾਂ ‘ਚ ਖ਼ੋ ਜਾਂਦਾ ਹਾਂ।

ਆਪਾਂ ਦੋਵੇਂ ਇੱਕ ਦੂਜੇ ਨੂੰ ਖ਼ਾਮੋਸ਼ ਰਹਿਕੇ ਜ਼ਖ਼ਮੀ ਕਰਦੇ ਹਾਂ ।

ਪਿੱਛੇ ਹਜੇ ਵੀ ਜੁਗਨੂੰ ਸੁਣਾਈ ਦੇ ਰਹੇ ਨੇ ।

To Naseebo.