I live at New Rajinder Nagar. I have two Labradors and one ginger cat. They are very happy that I am home, and half the time are in my studio, under my seat. I also have a small pond with six fish. My pets are my destressers.
When we have animals and plants around us, we learn to give. I daily spend half an hour in my kitchen garden. Seeing the plants growing, bearing fruits, and that life has not stopped with nature taking its course, helps me keep my sanity. I have also put containers for water and seeds in my balcony, and the first thing I do at 5:00 am when my pets want to go for a walk is to feed the birds.
I have made a schedule. So, I work out from 7:30am-9:00am at my home gym, and because I don’t go out for my daily walk or anything else, I meditate and work out more. Your lungs and your state of mind needs to be strong, as stress leads to low immunity. As my studio is at home, and I still keep that discipline of going to the studio all dressed for a meeting.
Initially, I had bouts of anxiety from listening to all news channels at my studio non-stop, till my children told me to stop doing that. Now, I watch the news only twice a day, though you can’t avoid WhatsApp forwards.
The day I heard about coronavirus, I kept a soap next to the tap, which is at the entrance where the cars are washed. I gave masks and my extra pairs of goggles to my driver and my man Friday. Even my cook has his own sanitiser and soap outside the kitchen, as he goes out to buy the vegetables.
Days before the lockdown, I told my helpers, except for my cook and another helper who lives with me, not to come. It has become my daily routine to call these six-seven people as they are the ones who need reassurance that things will be okay. I have joined organisations that feed daily wage workers and labourers… We used their services all the time and they have been part of our growth, and now we must look after this social system who has looked after us.
A few of my previous works are on earth goddesses, how we have raped the earth. We knew we were messing up, but didn’t do anything about it. Very little is being done even now, and though you tell yourself, ‘I’m doing good, I’m painting, and this time will pass’, it is like the sand [that is seeping] through our hands. So, this slowing down is good, with the Earth reprimanding her kids like a mother saying ‘okay, now keep quiet and sit where you are.’ We created the mess, so we can be part of its growth.
Many think, ‘oh my god, you must be so alone’, because I live alone. But, I am busy connected digitally to these initiatives, and family and friends; watering the plants, feeding the birds, taking care of my dogs; and creating art. Right now, I am painting the ancient Hindu mother goddess, Hariti, as a mother giving birth and creating, at the same time. My art is an internal journey, and coronavirus is now part of that experience.
(Delhi-based artist Seema Kohli spoke to Ornella D’Souza)