I am more than my…
2020
In February 2020, there were riots in Delhi. On the one hand, I was advised to change my son Zikr name to a more Hindu-sounding name for his safety. On the other hand, I saw my Muslim friends feeling the need to reiterate their identities. All I wanted to do was talk about the identity crisis nesting among men and women of Progressive India—a dilemma that forces us to question who we are, where we belong, what we should hide or reveal to be accepted by society, and tosses us in a hustle regarding what we want and what is expected of us.
I interacted and photographed nearly 100 people with the statement “I AM MORE THAN A… name/religion/your perception/gender/skin” written on their bodies. The purpose was to have a ‘face’ that stands in for the statement and has tolerated the burden of prejudice at various places—at their jobs, house, or in a rickshaw. It made apparent their need to be seen as human first, rather than being crucified for a name that stamps on them a caste, region, religion, sex and its prohibitions
I AM MORE THAN A REFLECTION MY MOTHER
The aspiration to raise her child as an individual beyond her perception and constraints, beyond her own inhibitions subsists in every mother at various levels. An essential, yet repressing struggle to let her child have her own identity is an ambitious and a liberal undertaking. Portraying similar ethos through the lens of a mother: ‘I am more than a reflection of my mother’ is ironic and sarcastic, yet radical conversation between two individuals connected by blood but separated by their subjective thinking.
Navneet is a mother herself and she wants her 5 year old son to grow up without biases. She wants him to be open and accepting of every person’s right to be who they want to be. She wants to make sure that he has no gender, race, religion or sexual biases. She had to unlearn a lot from her childhood conditioning and the world she grew up in, thus She wishes her son to be empathetic rather than judgmental.
She believes in George Bernard’s saying - “Life isn't about finding yourself, life is about creating yourself.”
His story is from the series ‘I am more than a reflection of my mother’. It depicts the view of an individual whose pursuit is to break free of the stereotypical coherences pertaining to appearances, sex and gender emanating aroused from their very surroundings. ‘Mother’, here is a metaphor of the primary source of origin: biological, as well circumstantial.
Each photo in the series itself is a progression from the primal idea, and an opening for new disclosure and cognizance of the beholder. Parallelly, what that leads to these characters is an unseen push and an immense amount of courage from their mothers who gave them life.
She loves to sing, laugh out loud, and to interact with strangers.
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