This is not Red. Is this not Red? – is a book of drawings about me and my surroundings. The other day I was watching a video where Turkish artist Gülsün Karamustafa made a statement, ‘I don’t believe by itself art can change the world. Art can be the backup for everything. Art can be a memory. Art can do very many things but activism is something that you go and fight yourself with an axe.’ In my making, I am yet to conclude my thoughts about the role my art plays. But definitely my art questions everyday crises. It is something that doesn’t allow the creator and the viewer to escape.

The series of drawings, text and collages in this book are mostly based on candid conversations with friends and family members. These could have been individual drawings put up on the wall. But to me they resonate like an ongoing story. They inform each other in a narrative progression which calls in for the form of the book. The text ‘This is not Red. Is this not Red?’ in red circle shaped paper stickers is revealed as we flip through the pages. The reader may miss it if not mindful.