Way too easy, you’d say..
Ah! That smile.. But
I wear my heart
On my sleeve Darling!

Three acts of kindness
Four shared laughs, All
It takes for me to see
The angel within you.

Not hanging on to your praise
No! It’s your courage I see,
Goodness in little things
And attention to perfectly curated self.

Little did I know once!
Have known full well now!
Faces and facets, and a million
Colors of the world.

I saw through the lies
You decorated on the greeting card.
The selfie show and hasty choices
Of wrapping paper and within.

Relentless calls, ceremonius contact list
A backup, a third; and then more.
Organised, planned, sorted
Too good to be true.

The mirrors we avoided, lest
I saw through the glass; yet I did
I get papercuts everyday
And some from the knife too

I remember, then, I forget
Some lessons learnt the hard way
Some lessons last lifetimes
Some lessons, unlearnt & learnt

I choose to wear my heart
On my sleeve darling!

And still I rise!

Artists often have a muse. A lot of times, our muses are just updated versions of our own selves; the self that we want to be.

The more confident, the more giving, the more flaired selves that we project onto our muse; yet miss the fine point, that, we are that and much more.

I feel one’s subconscious is grounded enough to aim for only the attainable. The romantics amongst us know full well that our muses are only a stone’s throw away from us.

Personally, as a romantic, I’m highly guilty of romanticising my pains, victories, aggravations and obsessions, a notch too much. But that is where my creative freedom feels free.

Being a hands-down extremist, I get involved in things for the long run. Being the sensitive kind, to top it all; I jump into the ocean with paraphernalia in tow.

Then I swim. (I cant swim IRL or like ever.)

And fight…

I fight to keep everything i jumped in with, safe, and afloat.

And no matter the burning lungs, the near-deaths and the loss of a belonging or two, I reach ashore

I reach ashore and still I rise.

P.S. the term ‘romantic’ here refers to ‘marked by the imaginative or emotional appeal of what is heroic, adventurous, remote, mysterious, or idealized’ and ‘romanticising’ in the same context.

About the Project

Project Brief: Incorporate Boudoir styling & play with the ethereal appeal of it.
Execution Synopsis: The fact that boudoir styling is now becoming mainstream & everyday, minus it’s sexual appeal is quite a change in itself. To play with boudoir styling & not bringing out the the atypically sultry or contemporarily casual; but experimenting with the ethereal appeal of it, was what I have tried to do here. A solid attempt to create dreamy visuals with a ‘romantic’ vibe.

Model: Dhvani Thakkar
Styling & Make Up: Dhvani Thakkar
Photography & Editing: Harsh Hudda