Then: beaded embroidered handbag: 3 generations

Ruchi Chopra

Artist Statement:  Poetry should transgress, narrate, and dispossess the origins as a way forward to tell a story of the missing and marginalized voices. Poetry itself is a ritual, a memory, a story encapsulated in personal narratives, nuances, and words: their minimalist to maximalist texture, variation, tone, and contradiction.

I feel the sense of transgression and belongingness through my poetry that pierces, screams, heals, stretches perception, and asks questions: Can art, music, and literature be reimagined and rebuilt considering displaced voices, lost identities, freedom of expression, rising consciousness of inequality and rapidly changing modern life?

Standing on a white Lambretta’s deck while my father drove to places, such as a temple, street side book market, newly built overpass, and fairground, is my first image, expression, memory, and intro to poetry.

1.

 

flavored gum sticks / mini sanitizer / paperclips /

potted coral bells / BOGO / scented candles /

shopping cart / journey / earmarked / grocery /

receipts / crumpled as ball of yarn / plastic rewards

/ cards / chores lists / schedule / appointments / reminders /

dings on / smart phone / snouts / seasons / blossoms / on /

/ beaded embroidered handbag / counting /

cursive steps / narratives / fricatives / bless

 

2.

 

stories / lullabies / mother / talked about / holy basil /

sacred Fig / tree / mud paved / Verandah / collecting dews /

red / yellow / thread / ceremonious / coconuts / trees / water /

coins / rattle / clumps of papers / crumpled as ball of yarn /

cardamoms / safety pins / marron / Bindi packet / handkerchief /

bank stubs / payroll stubs / ball pens /

beaded embroidered handbag / counting /

cursive steps / narratives / fricatives / bless

 

3.

 

narratives / memories / mother talked / about grandmother /

hibiscus / flowers / dipped in / milk & honey / chants / bells /

dawn / dusk / cows / birds / goats / night flowers / blossom /

displacement / honor / blisters / exile / holy basil / sacred fig /

tree / collects / sunlight / in a brass temple bell / kept at the /

windowsill / near / potted coral bells / pickles / varieties / seasonal /

ceramic jars / no paperclips / clumps of money / crumpled as ball of yarn /

beaded embroidered handbag / counting /

cursive steps / narratives / fricatives / bless

 

4.

 

brass bells/ ringing / 6 am / noon / 3pm / 5pm / sang / fortunes / bestowal

chants / hymns / exile / three generations / narratives / memories / dipped / in /

dawn / dusk / milk & honey / lullabies / rattle / rice balls / stray conversations /

crumpled as ball of yarn / paperclips / potted coral bells / snouts / hung on / windowsills /

beaded embroidered handbag / counting /

cursive steps / narratives / fricatives / bless  

 

Ruchi Chopra is a former journalist, part-time teacher, and content creator. Her writings draw on her experiences as a South Asian with ancestry rooted in India's Pre-Partition era. She grew up in India and now lives in Ohio with her family.

She loves exploring creative mediums through photography, writing, recycled crafts, and collages. She is passionate about poetry and storytelling as a medium to create awareness of Socio-cultural, Human-Rights, Gender, and Environmental issues. 

Her work explores longing, hope, resistance, diaspora, and exile themes. Her poetry draws inspiration from the migrant's roots. Her poetry is a lived experience from oral storytelling, lineages, photographs, memories, traditions, and community and family longing through the lens of a South Asian woman of color.

Website: https://chopraruchi.com/