My He(ART)-Full Life



Sunday, July 8, 2012

fierce ...with heart (my interview with Rita Banerji)

When Rita Banerji asked to interview me many months ago I was surprised, overwhelmed and just a little bit intimidated. I "met" Rita last year when I interviewed her for my blog (which you can read in two parts...here and here). Ever since, we have been corresponding and have become firm friends, supporters of each other and soul sisters. I am such an admirer of this sister soldier who draws light on the subject of the genocide against India's girls. She is brave, brilliant and full of heart.
We have been working on this interview for months; she asked me these questions as part of a conversation that went back and forth. Some of my answers were initially part of private e-mails to her that I later decided to include in the interview. She asked me all sorts of candid, thoughtful and out of the box questions (art, apartheid, violence, motherhood) and I reached deep down inside of mySELF to give her my responses.  I went through a minor evolution as I did this interview and am very proud of the way it turned out...it's fierce with heart. It was quite painful to relive parts of my past but also cathartic. I  hope you will read it (right here...scroll down to July 2 2012) and tell me what you think.

4 comments:

deborah from collagewhirl said...

I had no idea that abuse against women within Indian families was so widespread.

I think you are very, very brave and I'm so glad I found your blog not too long ago! You've really transformed those early and devastating experiences into your art and are constantly drawing on them to access the self, which is one of the highest things we can do.
xoxo
Deborah

SooZeQue said...

Only you my friend can speak so eloquently and always grow brighter for your experiences. Thank you for sharing ALL of your story. Loved the interview!

birds sing artblog said...

so powerful, so passionate! you are an amazing woman! and human - you are so right to share the ups and downs of life too, keeping us all true to what we can do, when we are our own most powerful allies...i love your art, i felt rita/you? chose great images to go with the points you were making, so much richer, and showing how art can reach places more subtle than words too...great interview, thank you for sharing...
dxxx

PatH said...

Very powerful, Soraya. Thank you for being so honest and open.