Lightlifters Blog

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Shubho Nabobarsho! (Please keep the sound on) #happynewyear #bengalinewyear #newyear #nabobarsho #poilaboishakh #1427 #shubhonabobarsho #coronavirus #pandemic #mask #nest #sunbird #birdsofinstagram #birds #nature #spring #vigor'ssunbird #animation #2danimation #procreate #adobepremiere #illustration #illustratorofinstagram #artoftheday #instainsta #instart #stayathome #staysafe https://www.instagram.com/p/B-_wVEaDpAu/?igshid=17acswczf5zhk

[lightlifters]

Kaveri, Healing #riverkaveri #kaveri #cauvery #healing #nature #riverofindia #india #pollution #pandemic #coronavirus #pandemic2020 #covid19 #covid #pollution #pollutionfree #saverivers #saveearth #illustration #procreate #procreateart #instainsta #instart #illustratorofinstagram #artoftheday #artistsoninstagram #fish #heal https://www.instagram.com/p/B-jL4HVD-kB/?igshid=1m76s6im3fq5x

[lightlifters]

Batman Cares? #coronavirus #corona #covid #covid19 #virus #anotherrelieffund #india #procreate #poor #procreatedrawing #illustration #bats #batman #illustratorofinstagram #photooftheday #artistsoninstagram #instainsta #instart https://www.instagram.com/p/B-d_xtGDBv0/?igshid=i49a0db4xsq

[lightlifters]

Bathed in Bareilly #coronavirus #imposedbath #illustration #illustratorofinstagram #photooftheday #artistsoninstagram #instainsta #peace #artoftheday #bareilly #instart #girl #virus #treatpeopleright https://www.instagram.com/p/B-b-_3TDHB3/?igshid=kdqybc7s0p46

[lightlifters]

To Ambika, with Love In such challenging times, when a human forgets how to treat another human — often exercising a blatant misuse of power — the one thing we need to learn from the world of animals is their ability to love and coexist. Every human being deserves the same right and respect as any other. This is a small token of love for Ambika, a 72-year-old member of the Smithsonian National Zoo’s Asian elephant herd. She was euthanized on the 27th March following a recent and irreversible decline of her health. Ambika was given to the American Zoo in 1961 as a gift from the children of India.  #love #coexist #elephant #asianelephant #animalkingdom #smithsonianzoo #illustration #illustratorofinstagram #photooftheday #artistsoninstagram #artoftheday #instainsta #instart #children #nature https://www.instagram.com/p/B-ZKDt-DCIo/?igshid=1vzhdssutwjb7

[lightlifters]

The Deafening Sound of Silence #hunger #migrantworkers #hungrychildren #hungryfamilies #coronavirus #lockdown2020 #india #help #illustration #illustratorofinstagram #artoftheday #instainsta #instart #peopledying #urgentneed #donate #actnow https://www.instagram.com/p/B-Wh5LLjElA/?igshid=1nmmb1mlinkl3

[lightlifters]

The cost of Unity #coronavirus #anandvihar #migrantworkers #thepriceofastatue #healthcare #delhi #thestatueofunity #helpworkers #illustration #illustratorofinstagram #artoftheday #artistsoninstagram #photooftheday #instart #instainsta #lockdown2020 #india #hunger #foodforworkers #tansportforworkers #shelter #actnow https://www.instagram.com/p/B-T7l4pDqwc/?igshid=j5vrqit8bme8

[lightlifters]

The Return #returnofthewild #nature #animals #wildlife #deerinthecity #coexist #redemption #green #forest #wildlifecorridor #coronavirus #warning #earth #saveanimals #illustration #deer #illustratorofinstagram #illustrator #artistsoninstagram #photooftheday #artoftheday #instainsta #instart #animalcare #lovenature #saveearth https://www.instagram.com/p/B-RONtyj-UO/?igshid=1qqfrxd262659

[lightlifters]

For Whom The Bell Tolls #migrantworkers #dailywageworkers #lockdown #helpworkers #coronavirus #corona #walking #illustration #illustratorofinstagram #photooftheday #artoftheday #artistsoninstagram #instainsta #pandemic #india #instart #notsafe #wearepriviledged https://www.instagram.com/p/B-O9VY_D7e2/?igshid=1nigprlms9st2

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Hidden Home #coronavirus #corona #staysafe #hiddenathome #illustration #illustratorofinstagram #illustrator #artistsoninstagram #instainsta #instart #warning #photooftheday #lightlifters #stayathome #lockdown #india https://www.instagram.com/p/B-MHLHOjd8Q/?igshid=19d99afislb6x

[lightlifters]

Happy Holi! #happyholi #holi #colours #coloursofindia #digitalillustration #digitalart #illustration #illustratorofinstagram #photooftheday #artoftheday #artistsoninstagram #instainsta #instart #illustratorsoninstagram https://www.instagram.com/p/B9ihZJZD_Rd/?igshid=q06qeeftrzu1

[lightlifters]

This is for all the students of India, and everyone else who have stood up against these relentless, inhuman, fascist attacks on innocent people. Like a recently circulated poster shared the message, I quote, ‘If you divide, we will multiply.’ And as we do so, we will be supported and led by these fearless women, from JNU to Jamia Millia, from Shaheen Bagh to Bangalore, and at every corner of the country where fascism and misogyny have threatened our existence. It is time, and we won’t stop. 

#aisheeghosh #jawaharlalnehruuniversity #jamiamilliaislamia #jnusu #stopfascism #stopthehate #stopviolence #shaheenbagh #nocaa #procreate #nonrc #students #peace #protest #isupportjnu #democracy #standupforyourrights #india https://www.instagram.com/p/B7FqCRtDDVn/?igshid=omf3nqfualml

[lightlifters]

Hope #harmony #together #blackandwhite #birds #love #peace #nature #birdsofinstagram #illustration #procreate #procreateart #digitalillustration #lavasa #dasvelake #artoftheday #instainsta #illustratorofinstagram #photooftheday #artistsoninstagram #cormorant #egret #2020 #lake #dusk #drawing https://www.instagram.com/p/B62Dys6DIpw/?igshid=1nmzurdw7uw7

[lightlifters]

This is how August Kranti Maidan in Mumbai looked on the 19th of December, 2019. Hope we all will remain together and share love and peace forever. Happy New Year! #happynewyear #2020 #hope #love #harmony #instainsta #instart #illustration #procreate #photooftheday #artoftheday #secular #augustkrantimaidan #artistsoninstagram #illustratorofinstagram https://www.instagram.com/p/B6yM66SD6Tu/?igshid=ibluahpg5epn

[lightlifters]

It was the evening of the 19th  of December. The people of Mumbai, like in many other cities in India, came together in thousands in August Kranti Maidan and voiced their protest against the CAA. The sun had set and the protest was almost over. We stood at the junction of Kemp’s Corner, an upmarket neighbourhood in South Mumbai, and witnessed the constant flow of people coming out of the recreation ground. The protest, initially quite visible in our clenched fists and loud slogans, had gradually waned to some feeble gurgling in the stomach. We were hungry. We went to a few nearby restaurants and they were all fully occupied. The rest of my friends in the group planned to try out another restaurant a little far away but I decided to go back home.

The road to Grant Road station was still completely blocked with the sea of people walking out of the ground. I decided to walk ahead in the opposite direction and take a cab instead. After a short walk, I spotted a taxi at a petrol pump and asked the driver if he would take me to a nearby station. The Mumbai police had diverted the traffic by blocking some of the roads in the vicinity for reasons of safety. The roads to all the nearby stations had a heavy flow of slow-moving traffic. Churchgate station, the main junction for local trains in the western line, seemed to be my best choice at that moment. The driver agreed and I got into the cab.

The driver was unaware of the protest, but noticed a large number of people on either side of the road and asked me the reason. I told him about the CAA protest in brief, how it goes against the basics of the Indian Constitution and how it discriminates on the basis of religion. He occasionally looked at me through the rear-view mirror as we spoke. He was an old man of medium built in a khaki uniform. He had a white stubble that complemented his dishevelled white hair with locks that curled up like sickle feather here and there. Two Hindu rosaries that hung from the rear-view mirror swayed gently as he drove the car. I spoke about the ominous possibility of Muslim persecution, glanced at the swaying prayer beads and asked him what he thinks. The prayer beads convinced me that he is a Hindu. I somehow, expected to hear a prejudiced opinion against the Muslims staying in India. He spoke in a dialect of Hindi and said -

‘I don’t believe in any religion, I think there is no religion above humanity. I judge a person by the opinion he or she has and that’s what is important to me.’

I was so pleasantly surprised. Our whole country is in constant unrest about this for so many days.  Articles being printed on the newspapers, supported by online videos, research data on the television, memes, posters and debates that are circulated every day but he said it so easily.

The car stopped at a signal on the Marine drive. The vast expanse of the Arabian sea merged with the deep blue night sky that spread like impenetrable darkness to my right. The signal turned green and the car started to move forward. This man in khaki uniform, I was sure, knew the way ahead.

#iopposecaa #nrc #npr #isupportequality #stoptheviolence #sharelove #peace

[lightlifters]

I had gone to Pakistan as a part of the student delegation for the 6th joint convention of PIPFPD (Pakistan-India People’s Forum for Peace and Democracy) in 2003. The convention took place in a hotel in Karachi and there was a small STD/ISD phone booth opposite the hotel. On the second day, I called my parents in Kolkata, India from the same booth. The owner of the booth was a tall, clean-shaven, well-built man in his mid-thirties, dressed in a brown Shalwar Kameez. I finished the call, came out of the booth and paid him the money for the call. He took the payment, smiled and asked me if I am from India. When I said yes, he grinned cheerfully and said, ‘Welcome to Pakistan!’ I thanked him, quickly realized that he can be a man of great help, leaned over and asked in an undertone, ‘Sir, would be knowing where Student Biriyani restaurant is?’ Even though it was a peace convention, I had done my homework well.   ‘Of course,’ he smiled even more and added, ‘Do you want to go there?’   ‘Yes’, I said, suppressing my excitement.   ‘Come, I will take you there’, he said warmly.   ‘But Sir, my friends want to come with me too. And you have to take care of your phone booth’, I said.   ‘Please bring your friends along!’ He never bothered to ask how many of us were there, and added,   ‘You are my guest, you are from India! I will keep my booth closed for a day, it doesn’t matter!’ I was so touched at his gesture then. Sixteen years have passed and today, when my country is burning for all the wrong reasons, I am remembering him even more. To use brute force of batons, guns and tear gas against harmless students by pulling them out of their universities and injuring them will never, ever mean anything else but a cowardly, fascist act of violence and bigotry in the name of law. India is India because people of all religions stay here together, share peace and love with each other. It is the worst of times and it is for us to see if we can change it to the best of times.   Whoever is joining the protest, see you at August Kranti Maidan today. Please protest peacefully, be safe and keep the grounds clean!  #iopposecaa #caa #nrc #npr #jamiamillia #aligarhmuslimuniversity https://www.instagram.com/p/B6PvpCYDeC0/?igshid=sa60hn2e3if

[lightlifters]

Terminal 3 at the Dubai airport bustled with its usual group of astonished passengers, curious tourists, jetlagged travellers, eager sellers and compulsive buyers. My camera bag weighed about 13 kilos as I moonwalked my way forward. I felt quite conceited about my equine ability to carry weight and walk around. I walked ahead for 3 minutes, already feeling like the strongest man alive when I spotted a towering figure in front of me. It was a man of colossal proportions ­— probably from the future — belonging to a size and built which evolution is yet to catch up with. This Hercules in transit covered his fretwork of deltoids, pectorals and quadriceps in a modest red Polo shirt and a pair of beige shorts. As everyone around me scurried through the myriad display of brands, I ogled at this magnificent display of brawn. He often demonstrated a fantastic show of flexed muscles achieved through simple, candid actions of touching his nose.  That’s a confused Goliath posing like David, I thought, as I scampered around him like a happy halfling admiring the radiant beauty of a magic ring.  (This is the eighth post in the series. Previous posts can be found on my Instagram account https://www.instagram.com/lightlifters/  or Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/pushan.chakravarty.7 )     #hercules #giant #herculesindubai #dubaiairport #terminal3 #illustration #illustratorofinstagram #photooftheday #artoftheday #brushpen #kuretake #artistsoninstagram #instartist #instart #instainsta #traveldiary #illustrationnow #visualartist #lamy #artsanity #illustragram #traveljournal (at Dubai International Airport Terminal 3) https://www.instagram.com/p/B57D8b5ATe2/?igshid=1i2bjh7bef2h4