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The entries on this page are the exhibition pieces I created for the Indian Summer Festival in Leicester. Please find the links to my blogs on the my journey in this beautiful industry of mine...
Please follow my journey at: the-urban-alchemist.tumblr.com As another year of the Indian Summer Festival rolls around I was once again asked to write a piece for an exhibition. It was decided the exhibition would be based on the relationship of alcohol and religion and I was given the above heading...... I have also attached the original exhibition. As I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I look to you my lord for guidance. For you have been my everything and I am yours, to do with what you please… My name is Desi and I am your pilgrim and you are my sherpa. As I raise my glass in your name, this nectar flows through me brining me closer to you. The content of this glass is my vessel through which I communicate with you my lord, hear my words… hear my prayers. How can this so called drug be a sin? For it comes from the vines that hold the grapes, the wheat, the barley, the straws which bleeds honey. Are these not your doing my lord? Is this not the very ground made fertile by you? This spirit makes me feel like I can fly high enough to touch you… it shows me your face. The more I imbibe the more I hear your voice my lord, your message to me. I can feel your hand on my shoulder… your guiding hand… There is no pain, there is only joy. The drunker I am my lord… the more I love you… As I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I look to you my lord for guidance. For you have been my everything and I am yours, to do with what you please… My name is Pahk and I am your pilgrim and you are my sherpa. As I break this bread in your name, my thoughts go to my brother Desi who blackens his soul with his "liquid gold"… and all in your name my lord. He tells me it's the only way he can communicate with you… my love is all I need… my love for you is my drug my lord, hear my words… hear my prayer. He has taken the light and turned it into the dark, he has taken the day and turned into the night. Where I use your gift of wheat and barley to make bread to feed my family. He has forsaken your offering and has instead turned water to wine. My love for you makes me feel like I can fly high enough to touch you… it shows me your face. THe more I pray the more I hear your voice my lord, your message to me. I can feel your hand on my shoulder… your guiding hand. There is no pain, there is only joy. The more I love you my lord…. the drunker I am… When we are intoxicated by His presence, we will feel that we can do miracles, that we can pass through fire and water, and that we can remain unafraid when thousands of swords are drawn against us. By his grace, we won't fear anymore - neither life nor death, joy nor sorrow. 
As part of the annual Indian Summer Festival I was asked to write a piece for an exhibition. It was decided the exhibition would be based on the relationship of alcohol and India and I was given the above heading...... I have also attached the original exhibition. My name is India and I'm an alcoholic. They say alcohol was created before bread. The staple diet of man from the beginning. Alcohol was used to both celebrate and commiserate. It started wars and created slaves of people, my people… My relationship with alcohol has been an interesting journey so far. From the days of the rum trade to the Raj of The Imperial Empire. The Rum Trade, where my people were sold in exchange for barrels of rum and forced to work in offshore plantations, leaving behind their friends and families wondering if they'd ever see them again. All so the plantation owners could satisfy their greed for wealth by growing sugar cane and selling it's produce, the amber known as sugar. They soon realised they could use the sugar and turn into an alcoholic liquid to be sold all around the world… and so rum was born. The more sugar they grew the more people they needed to fulfil their ever-growing demands and so the more they took from me…. my people. Then one day the decision was made to abolish slavery… People were overjoyed to see their loved ones return, they were happy and so was I, but more importantly we were free… the knowledge taken from the plantations was used to create rums on home soil and I gave birth to sugarcane aplenty. My people turned the memory of this rum which had once signified a darker oppressive memory to that of celebration and joy… I thought this time would never end… then the Empire was born… The British had been gaining their territories with vigour and were well on their way to conquering most of the world. Their naval fleet was reputed to be the most efficient and deadly in all the lands, me and my people never stood a chance. They brought over with them strange rituals, clothes and tastes in food. They, the British, also brought gin… Ironically gin had been introduced to the English when a former king known as William of Orange had conquered them and brought over with him a liquid made up of botanicals from his Dutch homeland known as Genever. Gin became synonymous with the English and was a symbol of social status. So much so they created a style of gin known as London Dry. The British were given the nickname of limeys as they made use of limes to prevent scurvy on their long journeys overseas. I couldn't stop them entering my shores and had to watch by as they took my people's freedom and turned them into slaves once again. The British took no time at all settling in. They took what they needed and quickly created a rigid regime for my people to follow. What they hadn't counted on was being stricken down, not only by the toils of war but by the infections of malaria. They were given daily doses of tonic which contained an ayurvedic known as quinine. The English didn't take to this very well and would mix their daily dose of tonic with both lime and gin. From here the modern gin and tonic was born. As I said before I have had an interesting relationship with alcohol and I am sure there is more to come. Some of these journeys I have taken of my own accord and others I was forced to take. It will always be a part of my life and like an addict, it will always have a hold on me… My name is India and I'm an alcoholic...
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