As a child, being in a patriarchal binary society meant feeling caged by anything that is imposed on me by the male gaze. Especially flowers! It was hard to like them. Through ideas of beauty, fragility, and softness, they symbolised a woman I was meant to embody.

​

I slowly grew up from hating and rejecting them to slowly seeing them as friends and confidantes. This journey symbolises a world that I try to understand through them, especially when I have feelings of anger emerging. One such time is when I wrote this poem. Perhaps to console me or perhaps to just share my feelings. Here, my journey with flowers is in three chapters: My childhood, my confusing late teen years, and my present.

 

Made in collaboration with fellow artist and friend, Ritika Jathar, we use imageries from my childhood, embroideries and my mother’s sarees to convey my feelings from each part of the poetry.

​

The project is supported by the British Council as a part of the Creating Heroines Grant.