Missing Mukta didi
I dedicate this project to my domestic staff back in India - “Mukta” didi (didi is an honorific term which means elder sister). I am very attached to her perhaps value her more than before, especially after having been away from her for sometime. Before coming to New York I was extremely excited to live independently in the big city all by myself. The only problem was that I had no real experience of it. Soon after coming here, I realized how much effort goes into running, even a small house and how much work Mukta didi has always done at home for myself and my entire family.
I am sure that it might sound as if I am a spoilt young woman but in India it is very common to have a live-in domestic staff partly due to culture and partly because ours is a labour surplus country. Neither is it uncommon to form a friendship with someone who has stayed with one’s family for a long time.
Here in New York I realized that I have no choice but to do all the chores that she or my mother used to do, all by myself. At first I found it extremely difficult to manage school and simultaneously do the cooking, cleaning dishes, laundry, buying groceries etc. In doing so I was reminded of my mother’s constant advice for learning to manage things and achieving balance.
In these images I have tried to address the changes in my life in a humorous way and with a sense of newly discovered appreciation.
