Bhav

Bhav derives from the Hindi word for emotion, intention, and inner disposition the unseen motive that gives meaning to any act.

The composition unfolds across a monochromatic field divided into light and dark, not as absolutes, but as coexisting states. From opposing diagonal corners emerge two vivid orange red entities, their intensity heightened against the black, white, and grey ground.

These entities are connected by a gamcha a humble cotton scarf widely used by Indian farmers and working class communities bridging presence and vulnerability.

The background is rendered in greys rather than absolutes, underscoring the belief that suffering, like emotion, is relative defined by context and time.

The gamcha carries lived history. It was given to the artist by an unknown woman on a rainy day an unprompted act of solidarity that became the emotional nucleus of the work.

The narrative echoes Draupadi’s disrobing from the Mahabharata, where cloth appears at a moment of ultimate vulnerability. Here, the intervention is human, anonymous, and materially modest yet morally immense.

Red and orange reject emotional neutrality. They assert urgency, empathy, courage affirming that emotion is not passive; it acts.

At its core, Bhav asserts that intention outweighs material value. A simple cloth, offered freely, became everything needed to feel safe in that moment.