In this artwork, Nikheel Aphale has written two Hindi words - Susangati and Susamvad. Susangati means good company, compatibility or part of the same scheme. Susamvad means meaningful conversation, or well-aligned thoughts. Letters have a way of interacting with one another to create beautiful words - showcasing an excellent example of co-existence and harmony. Their compatibility with each other results in a beautiful scheme of diversity, togetherness and unity. This artwork - created as a diptych - shows the same spirit, by using the abstract rendition of two apt words - Susangati and Susamvad - written in the Devanagari script.
The artwork is part of the "Varnamala" series by Nikheel Aphale, who considers the Devanagari script to be his muse. Varnamala means "alphabet". Devanagari is an ancient Indian script in which Sanskrit, Hindi, Nepali, Marathi and some other languages are written. Nikheel draws parallels between the constitution of letters and human beings, through the lens of diversity, co-existence and togetherness. His artworks, inspired by and rooted in the beautiful Devanagari script, celebrate the ideals of unity, diversity, humanity and oneness, using letters as a metaphor. For instance, the Devanagari script allows one to write exactly how a word is spoken, reflecting honesty and purity of expression - values much appreciated in human beings. There is also no concept of upper case and lower case letters in the script. All letters are at the same level - no hierarchy, no discrimination in terms of position - perhaps an ideal to strive towards in human society too?
