As part of my final research paper at university, I explored First World War writing and its intricate connection to India. After all these years, the war remains predominantly Eurocentric, even though a third of the British army fighting at the Western Front was Indian. The objective was to juxtapose these ideas of war by viewing it from a socio-cultural perspective and hence, making it more inclusive.

The research has been divided into two broad categories; the first establishes the relationship between war writers such as Wilfred Owen, Rabindranath Tagore, Amar Singh, and Indian soldiers. The second aims to integrate all these ideas of memory and language using the reader-response theory to consider the impact of these works in the context of the 21st century.

In many ways, the First World War was a turning point in Indian history as it stirred a desire for independence. That being said, war writing is more complicated than anybody expects it to be as it subtly decodes ideas such as human emotion, interaction, vulnerability, and social identity (in this case, class and race). The goal is to highlight the impact war writing (including poetry, letters and diaries) have on memory and language.

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Being a writer, it is essential for me to have a voice of my own and most often it is brought to life by me giving my opinion on things. This series focuses on me reviewing films and exhibitions that I experienced in my time as a student at Saint Martins.

The first of the three reviews is a critical analysis of A Time for New Dreams by Grace Wales Bonner at the Serpentine Gallery, London. In this provocative exhibit, Bonner pays homage to her Caribbean and African ancestors by exploring themes such as rhythm, spirituality, meditation, mysticism, identity and transience.

The second review is inspired by Bollywood film Uri: The Surgical Strike directed by Aditya Dhar, starring Vicky Kaushal and Yami Gautam amongst many others. This film explores ideas such as war, loyalty and bravery in the context of the Indian National Army, which raises many questions on the basis of nationalism.

The last review is on the Cavalcade of Dreams, an online exhibition by Debbie Korbel and Ellen Rose. This exhibit presents a circus through the eyes of someone in an anesthetised dream -making it relevant in the context of the pandemic. Having been the first online exhibition I had ever viewed during the pandemic, to me this exhibition is a symbol of a surreal time.

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