Varda🌈

Happy International Women’s Day !!! On this special day I’d like to talk about the word Aunty that has turned into a derogatory term, very conveniently used as a sexist jibe. So many women, once “past their prime” are put inside this box which comes with many insulting connotations attached. This makes feminism unavailable to such women. A woman labelled as an “Aunty” is targeted even by feminist pages but what if this same woman is facing domestic violence or other problems that all women face? How can she approach other women when they are the ones who are putting her down? See, feminism is genderless but it is also about women uplifting other women. People even in their 20s gossip, are judgemental, ask annoying questions. So why is there so much hate towards “Brown Aunties” ? Everybody has annoying relatives and I’m not justifying their ignorance. Just starting a conversation and also questioning why the word Uncle hasn’t turned into an insult like the word Aunty has. Music: Aunty Kisko Bola Bey from Masaba Masaba —————————————- #browngirlart #desiillustration #browngirlmagic #womenofillustration #southasianart #brownaunties #browngirlillustrator #illustrationartists #feminisminindia #asianillustrators

Pandora’s Bride If one was to see a blue or a purple rose, rest assured that it is one that has been produced with artificial methods because these don’t actually exist in nature. A blue rose stands for mystery and attaining the impossible. Any bride hopes for a perfect future with her soon to be husband and living her fairytale dreams. However, the future still remains full of mystery as no one can foresee what is to come. A purple rose too lives up to the typical fairytale ideology as it represents “love at first sight”. While a bride has all these hopes and dreams for the future, she can only hold onto her hope that she has for the best. Just like that, when Pandora’s vase was opened, everything else escaped but Hope stayed put. And so, I decided to call this piece ‘Pandora’s Bride’. Music: The Alchemist’s Tower by Derek Fiecher & Brandon Fiecher —————————————— #hopefulbrides #pandorastyle #pandorasbox #blueroses #purpleroses #illustratedbride #southasianartists #desibrides #desiillustration #illustragram #southasianart #brownartists #girlsmakingmagic #coutureillustration #womenwhodesign #southasianbrides #girlswhoillustrate #desigirlswag #browngirlart #animatedillustration

Welhamask (Sounds like: Wear-a-mask) Starting my October posts with a personal piece about my other home, my school, as normally Founders’ would be right around the corner but are not due to the pandemic. All the masks are colour coordinated with those of the houses of Welham Girls’ School, the all girls boarding school I went to at the age of 10. Yes, we had houses like they do at Hogwarts ! The white one is a general one with tadpoles printed all over it, just like we had on our uniform which was a pair of salwar kameez. This one’s for all my lovely Welhamites 🤍 Music: Auld Lang Syne(ofcourse) by the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards ———————————————————————— #welham #welhamites #welhamgirlsschool #welhamask #welhamask #masksinschool #residentialschools #illustrationartists #southasianartist #desigirlswag #desiillustration #browngirlart #desipop #desiartist #girlsmakingmagic #illustratorsoninstagram #southasianartist #brownart #brownartist #wearart

Suicide Prevention With the media covering mainly(or rather only) the Sushant Singh Rajput case, a lot of other important issues are not being talked about enough(or rather at all). And on top of that this case is not even about Sushant anymore, it’s turned into a drug scandal in Bollywood. But whatever, I’m not here to discuss that. What I do wanna talk about is how Sushant deserved a lot more. He was such a great personality who I actually always admired. Honestly, the world lost a gem and the Indian media really needs to be more respectful. Photos of his dead body actually surfaced on television ! On national television ! It’s absolutely pathetic. Also, yes some are not convinced that it’s suicide, some say it was murder and of course his family has a right to find out. But despite the cause, the incident has created a lot of awareness about suicide in our country and I hope people give mental health the importance and attention it deserves. Having said that, I’ve taken the longest break from this account, 15 days now. No matter how many times you’ve heard this, it’s true, the world really is going through a very tough time right now. I needed this break from social media. And I think we need to normalise artists taking a break from our art accounts. They say to get your account to grow you have to be consistent but sometimes we need a break and let us have it without us feeling guilty about it !!! Well, thanks for coming to my Ted talk lol. “Make sure you give this post a double tap and leave a comment down below to let me know what you guys think. Share this with your friends”. People need to watch @thesocialdilemma BIG TIME !! Music: Qafirana from Kedarnath(film) ———————————————————————— #suicidepreventionmonth #suicideawarenessmonth #mentalwellness #illustration #bollywooddrugs #kedarnath #sushantsingh #sushi #kaipoche #diedbysuicide #sushantsinghrajput #animatedillustration #so#brownartists #southasian #mentalhealthmatters #coronapandemic #normalise #creativeblock #desiart #southasianart

Barter System / Len-den As children, my siblings and I made several trades. It was almost like barter system as we exchanged things. To make sure it was a fair and just exchange, our policy was “Ek haath se do, Ek haath se lo”. Similarly in India, a marriage is also treated like a deal. Despite Dowry or Dahej being banned, it is practiced quite openly. The bride and her family have to give the groom’s family cash, clothes, jewellery or other luxury items. The money note in the above illustration reads: “Paying and accepting dowry is a centuries old South Asian tradition where the bride’s parents gift cash, clothes and jewellery to the groom’s family.” In return, all that the groom has to offer is his surname. A lot of women nowadays do not change their last name if they do not wish to but many are still forced to do so. I have personally never witnessed a man change his surname to that of his wife’s or their children take upon their mother’s last name. Hence, the certificate being handed to the bride by the groom reads: “This is to certify that this bride is now qualified to change her surname to that of her husband’s.” Therefore, through this piece I try to tackle patriarchy in my own way. Music: Raga Yaman performed by Ustad Bismillah Khan on Shehnai PS - I had soo much fun designing the clothes and the henna ! ———————————————————————— #dowry #dowryfreeindia #dowrysystem #patriarch #misogyny #misogynist #beti #betibachaobetipadhao #southasainart #ifwedonotrise #artofresistance #indianart #smashpatriarchy #illustration #illustratorsoninstagram #illustragram #browngirlart #browngirlartist #bartersystem #lenden #mehendi #hennadesigns #ekhaathsedoekhaathselo

Mannequin I decided to call this piece ‘Mannequin’ cause if you think about it, every clothing store dresses it’s mannequins with their best clothes. We as customers feel attracted to those clothes as we think to ourselves, “Oh that mannequin looks cool”. So why does hair still have to define someone’s beauty? NO. Hair does not define anyone’s beauty. September is Alopecia Awareness Month and I’d like to spread that message through this piece. Here are a few simple facts that you should know about the condition: 🦋 It is known as “spot baldness” in which hair loss occurs in some or all areas of the body. 🦋 This condition can lead to psychological disorders. 🦋 No cure for this condition has been found yet. 🦋 There are many different types of Alopecia. Alopecia Areata is symbolised by a blue ribbon. Did you know? A blue ribbon also represents other important issues such as sex trafficking, bullying, malaria and water safety among others. Furthermore, I’d like to say that there are many people who are not victims of any medical condition and simply CHOOSE to shave their heads. Why? Because Bald is Beautiful. Did you know? @soares_diandra is a gorgeous former Indian model who walked the runway with a head she shaved by CHOICE ! Indian films that touch on this topic: 🦋 Bala 🦋 Gone Kesh Music: it’s the Harry Potter soundtrack(duh) PS - Hope you like this dress I designed myself 💙 ———————————————————————— #alopeciaawarenessmonth #alopeciaawareness #baldandbeautiful #alopeciaareata #blueribbon #baldisbeautiful #illustrationartists #butterflyoutfit #bala #gonekesh #brownartists #southasianartist #browngirlart #indianillustrator #wingardiumleviosa #illustratorsoninstagram #womenofillustration #southasianart #hairlosshelp #harrypottermusicbox

Stay Hydrated “Paani Peelo” is the new “Horn Pukaro” or “Horn OK Please”. “Paani peelo” is Hindi and it literally translates to “drink water” in English. Are you consuming the 2.7l of water that you’re meant to per day? Just a quick reminder to drink water !!! As my friend always tells me, “Surprise your liver”! Send this to someone who you think needs their daily reminder to stay hydrated !! ———————————————————————— #paanipeelo #stayhydrated #hornokplease #desipop #desipopart #brownartist #colourful #southasianart #southasian #wordsinurdu #punjabisayings #illustration #mandaladrawing #peacockart #succulentplant #paani #desigirls #illustrationdaily #browngirl #desiswag #illustratorsoninstagram #popcultureart

Empress So here’s a portrait of my mum from when she was 20(which is even younger than I am now). It’s from the time of her wedding. So a Hindu wedding is done over 3 days as it includes many different events. This is from the event called ‘Sangeet’, just the night before her wedding day. It’s very close to the actual portrait except I decided to design the jewellery and the saree myself, while sticking to the authentic shades and colours. I also added a few extra elements just for fun. I know the music is not as traditional as the visual but I just wanted to change it up a bit, again, for fun. Also it’s some copyright free track I’ve had on my laptop from ages ago so I really don’t know who to credit😅 ———————————————————————— #womenofcreation #desigirls #womenofillustration #browngirlmagic #brownartist #southasianart #portraitdrawing #brownskingirls #brownisbeautiful #illustrationartists #illustration #illustrationdaily #illustratorsoninstagram #illustrated #southasian

Rubick’s Night / Rangeen Raat As indecisive as I am, I’m using this account again. But this time for illustrations as I recently started doing them. This is the first one I ever made and it’s based off of a picture I really really like. I know the colour scheme here might seem too bold or too colourful but this is the very thing that attracted me to creating illustrations. I can make whatever I want and add my own kind of magic to everything. I hope you like it. Also, I just finished a show today where the protagonist decides that she’s not going to let herself feel crappy about what makes her happy. And you know what? If you’re someone who simply loves creating and if it makes you happy, there’s literally no reason to feel crappy about it. Music: River Flows in You by Yiruma ———————————————————————— #womenofillustration #colourful #yirumamusic #illustrationdaily #womenofcreation #illustration #desipop #desipopart #yiruma #brownartist #riverflowsinyou #southasianart #illustrationartists