Himali Singh Soin: ‘Writing a book is an act of democracy’

The poet and artist read excerpts from her book, ‘we are opposite like that’ at a session organised by the India Foundation For the Arts

Imagine being stranded in the snow capped mountains, cold and hungry. Having lived in New Delhi for most of your life, images of hot buttery parathas invade your mind. And, voila, the heart leaps for joy as you encounter a woman selling hot parathas in the snow. This is what Himali Singh Soin says what love is to her, and the primary language of love that she has explored through her book, we are opposite like that .

The book, which was published in 2020, speaks about every component that indirectly causes climate change. The author read out excerpts from her book at a session, organised by the India Foundation for Arts, recently. The session, organized as part of Project Showcase@IFA, to showcase diverse art projects, was moderated by Delhi-based photographer and curator, Anshika Varma.

In the book, an almanac of astrological readings, made-up maps, poems, love letters and stories, Soin has explored nature through poetry.

Soin, who shuttles between London and Delhi, uses metaphors from outer space and the natural environment to construct imaginary cosmologies of interferences, entanglements, deep voids, debris, delays, alienation, distance and intimacy.

Going to Poles is like going to space, she says. “The idea of exploration is to decolonize, and let the idea of nature seep into you. The book is an act of rebellion, an act of democracy. Writing a book, and not being an authority, is freedom for me.”

The book has graphics that narrate a different story parallelly. Soin says that she has used these graphics so that they narrate a different story on the side, because she believes even when language makes no meaning, it can stay through pictures. “The book has all my sensory experiences.”