Making Space

Alsana lives in a small, chaotic neighbourhood in Ahmedabad, cut off from the rest of the city by an 85 acre landfill on one side and a highway on the other. Her family, like many others, moved here after the 2002 riots in search of safety and security. The area was a jungle, with no electricity or roads. Now, houses bump up against each other competing for space. In a place like this, a room of one’s own is hard to come by, but Alsana has a corner. Only her rules apply here. The corner takes on different forms - each an expression of her inner life, at odds with the world. Meanwhile, Alsana’s drawings show signs of the society seeping in, as she grapples with her identity and conflicts closer to home.