Khirki - 2 by Riya Chandwani

This work depicts the windows of abandoned Sindhi homes, silent witnesses to Partition; bearing the absence of those who once stood behind them. Each architectural opening, carefully rendered in its distinct pattern, becomes more than a structure; it becomes a vessel of memory. Riya imagines these windows as keepers of the lives once lived around them - of glances exchanged, of voices that passed through, of the light and shadow of daily rhythms now lost.

The work asks: Can these openings, once meant to let light flow between inside and outside, also become portals through which people may someday return, physically or emotionally, to spaces they once called home?

To deepen this meditation, the work includes a line by Pakistani poet Shaikh Ayaz:
“Tiri Pawanda Tarien, Jadahein Garha Gul alomiya, Tadahein Mildaseen, Ho Tadahein Milandaseen.”
“We shall meet again, when red flowers bloom on the branches.”

This verse carries a profound longing. hope that reunion, though deferred, is not denied. The windows in the work echo this sentiment: they are not just about looking out or in, but about the yearning to reconnect with a lost homeland, a lost time, and the fragments of a shared history.

This artwork was exhibited at Method in the group exhibition "The Parliament is Now in Session" (August 2025)