'Victor'
CHANDRAGUPTHA THENUWARA
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| CHANDRAGUPTHA THENUWARA |
In the immediate aftermath, I lay on a hard cot for a long, long time, fighting claustrophobia in my inability to change position under the tyranny of slicing pain and sticky bandages. I drank little and ate less, worried as I was about how to make my way to the toilet. The neighbours, undoubtedly joyful to still be alive and together, chose those early days to purchase goat after goat, each of which would wail plaintively, questioningly, for days on end, confused at their immediate situation but certain of their ultimate fate. My own wails were less plaintive than angry, furious even. But my confusion was just as broad – recollections jumbled and plans in disarray.
Movement came back slowly but with much urgency, like a spring crocus desperate to escape the icy grounds for the fragrant, sun-warmed winds from the south. Slowly I became reacquainted with my old body, and regained a modicum of control over its abilities and potentials. With movement came warmth, for the first time in months, as rusty old muscles rubbed up against rusty old tendons, and blood again pumped through my veins.
And with warmth, everything expands, and so too the world. Taking my first steps down from my upstairs room, I realised that – of course! – the neighbours had not painted only their roof, but in fact had redone the entire house. I realised that the sun moves not merely from the bedroom to the kitchen to the veranda, but rather from one side of the neighbourhood to the other, highlighting all. I realised that the speed with which a body can go from pulsing and warm to limp and cold is infinitely faster than the other way around.
This is part of a regular series of Himal’s commentary on work by the Sri Lankan artist Chandraguptha Thenuwara.
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