from from Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts,
BA Illustration
to National Institute of Design (NID) – Andhra Pradesh
spring semester 2020
If I am asked where I have been in exchange, my answer is India. In truth, this is a bit of an exaggeration. After the government had declared the lockdown, two apartments in a building named after a tree became my home. This microcosm I shared with three men unknown to me at first. Three astronauts and me, the alien. At first, I had the feeling of having lost contact with reality. I drew to calm me down. In the evenings we walked on the adjacent terrace back and forth like hungry tigers in the zoo. Every day I watched the sunset. And every day the air became a little clearer. I counted the small fires in the plain in front of me. The silhouettes of the mountains burned themselves into my mind. I read all seven books of Osamu Tezuka’s Buddha series. I found a philosopher, a mentor, a friend. I phoned home. I called the embassy. The last repatriation flight left without me. After one month I stepped into the elevator again and pressed the “0” button. In three months, I walked around our gated community 249 times. I learned that a rabbit lives on the moon and wondered why I had never noticed it before. At night I listened to the rustling of the wind in the palm leaves, the chants of the temple next door. I met a colonel who told me about his time in Kashmir. I could hardly keep myself awake during the day and still couldn’t fall asleep at night. In the month of Ramadan, the moon
shone more and more golden. We got beer from the black market. I sat on the floor and ate with my hands. The fingers of my right hand remained yellow from the turmeric. The geckos in my bathroom got babies. I drew and animated. I secretly took breaks from online classes to watch the approaching monsoon storms. On the day of the solar eclipse I became ill. Two weeks later again. An Iraqi offered me a trip to America. I declined. One morning the monsoon rain had turned the terrace into a swimming pool. My visa got extended. Flocks of parrots began to over-sound the mynas. My clothes either shrunk or I got bigger. I lay on the ground, still warm from the sun, and watched the stars. Now there were sporadic airplanes in the sky. I planned my return. I said goodbye at the airport. The first night I slept on a chair in Mumbai. On the second day my eyes became inflamed because of the scratchy mask. I was not sure whether I was returning home or about to leave home.
I still miss you India.
https://vimeo.com/475827025
Animation: Hang Lee, Zhan Lee, XiaoMeng Ma (CAFA Beijing), Story: Karin Hauser, Music: Edison Blue Amberol: 2853 by F.J. Bacon from the UCSB Cylinder Audio Archive
