[LifeStyle] What Goa artist Kedar Dhondu discovers about people through his sketches during lockdown

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Sachin Kullu was a field labourer in Jharkhand till he moved to Goa to work on construction sites. He became one among many migrants who was left without an income after the lockdown was announced to restrict the spread of COVID-19 in India. Kullu stayed home to look after his son, while his wife went to work. For Goa-artist Kedar Dhondu, he is Lonely Resident # 22 – one of the several residents who were home during this time. “I had been reading about how the epicentre had moved from China to Italy. When the lockdown was announced in India is when we really realised what is meant, that’s when I thought I should do something on it,” says Dhondu. He was also preparing for an exhibition in Milan in April, which is now postponed due to the pandemic.

In March, Dhondu sent an open call for people to share photographs of themselves at home, along with text on their thoughts and how they were making use of the time. In the following weeks he received responses from across the world, including Goa, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Udaipur, Montreal, Paris, London, Bangkok and New York. Nearly 25 sketches based on photographs have been uploaded on Dhondu’s Instagram account. “I don’t directly know all these people. It stemmed from my curiosity to know how the world was coping,” says Dhondu, who also teaches at Goa College of Art.

Even as he prepares to add colour to the sketches, each post also represents the varied challenges faced by people in lockdown and how they are responding to the ‘new normal’. Standing in her living room, Poonam Naik from Goa shares: “Fear of uncertainty demands a much more ‘responsible person’ from me”. Dhondu elaborates how she is concerned about the safety of her family, especially the elders. Satyam Acharya, Dhondu tells us, “has developed a strong bond between himself and his father as they are living together… Satyam prepares tea and breakfast whereas lunch and dinner is cooked by his father.” Pennsylvania-based artist Jackie Lima notes how she wishes “to be with friends, looking at art and visiting exhibitions”.

While most are in their homes, Dhondu also reaches out to frontline workers. Wearing his PPE, we are introduced to Jampa Monlam Topgyal, Senior Clinical Informatics Specialist, Northwell Health, Southside Hospital in New York. He writes, “Never in a million years did I ever think that I would find myself at the bedside again, working hand-in-hand with a team of incredibly talented and hardworking healthcare professionals. I forgot how gruelling and exhausting this work is and it is even more so during the COVID pandemic with many hospitals in NY working at 50% clinical staff capacity to take care of the sick. I am also thankful for my leadership who allowed me to relinquish my office responsibilities to volunteer full time and temporarily reassign back to clinicals.” Paris-based Delano D’souza is a journalist at FRANCE24. Dhondu sketches him in a newsroom. The artist writes, “Apart from people who are forced indoors, journalists like Delano continue to take risks every day. As many of his colleagues have children and need to be locked indoors, he keeps the show running by continuing to bring the news to people’s homes.”