Tag: Death | Varta Trust

Quote: The value of oral histories is especially significant for socially marginalized communities whose stories are often silenced, distorted, or wiped out by the dominant groups. The very act of remembering and narrating can be seen as an act of defiance against silencing. We need to do more and more of oral histories – narrate, record, disseminate, and even re-narrate our stories far and wide. When a story becomes like a living organism, the task of silencing becomes more difficult for those who want only one narrative to survive.

Vartanama Mar '25

Memory works

By Pawan Dhall

Pawan Dhall on the many hues of remembering – personal, political, accepting imperfections and more

This square-like graphic is a stylistic representation of a photograph of a daytime view taken from a window in the author’s room in his new home. The view consists of a bright blue sky speckled with light clouds, a pine and a neem tree in the foreground, and glimpses of some houses painted in light colours behind the trees. The lower part of the photograph is presented as the cutout of a human face looking downwards or inwards to symbolize self-reflection. The cutout is juxtaposed against a white background. Two vertical lines in black on the left and right edges of the photograph give the impression of a window frame. Photo credit: Pawan Dhall

Vartanama Dec '24

Gains, losses, glosses

By Pawan Dhall

End / beginning of the year self-reflection notes by Pawan Dhall

This image is a sketch of Arvey Malhotra’s face drawn by Rimu Panda and posted on Instagram along with a line that says “Sweet soul, we are all sorry.” In the sketch, a youthful Arvey is looking at the reader, gently smiling and holding up his hands to show nails painted in different patterns and colours. Arvey was a jewellery and nail paint artist. He is wearing a red ring on the ring finger on his left hand. He has a thick mop of hair and is bearded. He is wearing a light brown pullover jacket. The artist has drawn a small white halo above Arvey’s head to the left side of the image. The sketch has a pleasing background of hues of pink, yellow and orange. The image has been slightly edited by the author of the article Mihir Seth

Insight, Vartanama Mar '24

The paradoxical need for queer death

By Mihir Seth

Death by suicide among queer youth should galvanize action to address the global mental health crisis, argues Mihir Seth

This main photograph is a daytime close-up shot of two large leaves growing on the forest floor at the Chintamoni Kar Bird Sanctuary in Narendrapur, a southern suburb of Kolkata city. Both leaves show gradual signs of decay and one of them is nearly half withered away. The leaves are surrounded by a variety of other foliage, twigs and dried leaves. The decaying of the leaves signifies not just the end but also the cycle of life and rejuvenation. Photo credit: Pawan Dhall

Vartanama Dec '21

Hope . . . and doubt . . . spring eternal

By Pawan Dhall

A year-end piece on pain and rejuvenation, hope and uncertainty by Pawan Dhall

This daytime photograph shows a small cactus planted in an earthen pot placed on a window ledge at the author’s home. The cactus was planted and looked after by Lakhi Bibi, who used to work as a cook and attendant at the author’s home and passed away recently because of COVID-19 infection. The plant is symbolic of Lakhi Bibi’s character, as sturdy and toughened up as the cactus by the countless challenges life threw at her. Photo credit: Pawan Dhall

Insight, Vartanama May '21

Homecoming during a pandemic

By Pawan Dhall

Pawan Dhall shares life-changing moments from the COVID-19 pandemic. Trigger warning // Hospital descriptions, death

This is a graphic abstraction of a garden of leaves, flowers, tendrils and small plants. To the inside of a rectangular frame with thick black borders can be seen an assortment of flora in shades of black, grey and light yellow along all four sides of the frame. In the centre is an open space sprayed with small light blue spheres, some slightly bigger and some very tiny, while others seem to have exploded into a cloudburst of dots – in a way symbolizing the dissipation of life into thin air, no longer there but still present in the form of the flora shown around the frame. This graphic was created with Windows Microsoft Paint software. Graphic credit: Pawan Dhall

Vartanama Feb '18

Of death wish lists

By Pawan Dhall

Death doesn’t have to be something morbid. Especially if one considers what Rabindranath Tagore said about death being ‘completion’ and not the ‘end’ of life (or so I remember from...

Tagged Under: Death

Memory works

Gains, losses, glosses

The paradoxical need for queer death

Hope . . . and doubt . . . spring eternal

Homecoming during a pandemic

Of death wish lists

Queer Friendly Resources

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