“Kalkaji’s Daughter.”
I followed @atishi.aap towards the end of her campaign in Kalkaji, New Delhi. Amidst a gruelling election season that otherwise saw vicious attacks, polarisation and a general lack of decency, watching Atishi engage with the community in Kalkaji, especially its women, was a refreshing change.
There was a quiet, understated celebration of vulnerability, and it played out in gentler details, be it a reassuring embrace at a local meeting, or a silent nudge of the hand at a padhyatra.
“Underneath all the chaos of the campaign, lay something far deeper and solemn. Very often, in that brief moment when she’d meet individual voters, especially women, the incessant noise of the campaign would momentarily fade away. It is in these fleeting, quieter moments that you’d grasp at a rare sense of shared intimacy, one that was perhaps more resounding and impactful than all the noise around.”
“There was a shared sense of celebration, almost as if these women were personally proud of what Atishi had set out to achieve; as if her journey and effort were an expression of their own personal triumph. This was me witnessing a rare human connection in the thick of Delhi’s volatile campaign season, and if often left me feeling overwhelmed. ”
