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Instructions:

  • Sit…with a smile. Relax, with a smile
  • Think with a smile that one thing which at this moment you would like to do with a smile
  • Write it in the notebook kept but of course with a smile
  • Writing should be in cursive style of writing. Refer to the books kept, for the formation of alphabets in a cursive style, with a smile
  • Repeat the sentence like a handwriting practice exercise definitely with a smile
  • After finishing, you may write your name, age & occupation at the right-hand bottom of the page with a smile. Or be anonymous, with a smile
  • If you have enjoyed the activity, suggest it to as many people as you can with a … (you know, goes without saying). If not, forget it but with a smile

‘…with a smile’ is a participatory process where individuals from different walks of life had to write about an act they wish to do with a smile. The act of writing was in the form of traditional cursive handwriting practice on a four-line notebook page. Part of Sarai Reader 09, curated by Raqs Media Collective, the installation was a small study table like arrangement inside the gallery at Devi Art Foundation. Any passer-by could sit, reflect and write or read the notes scribbled in the previous pages. Kept in a sparsely lit corner for over a period of four to five months, the voluntary process witnessed a range of reactions from nostalgia to voyeurism expressed in the writing by the visitors.