Aav re, Varsaad (Come, oh Rain)
June 2020. The first lockdown. I lost my grandmother a few days ago, and that incident suddenly made me want to grab on to whatever I called home - old photographs, childhood storybooks, recipes. This urgency resulted in a brief chat with my mother about what kind of food defines our family.

When asked as to what the monsoons reminded her of, my mother sang this poem which is quite common in Gujarati homes: 'Aav re Varsaad' (Come, oh Rain). That small conversation became a longer one, and then 7 tiny films; primarily a journey through memories of past monsoons, and what my mother personally thinks about eating habits. With a borrowed camera and only the Sun to light the frames, this was a heartwarming exercise for all of us at home to make peace with my grandmother's passing.

Credits -
Direction, shoot and edit: Nihar Desai
Production: Bay101 Film Studio
Equipment: Lauren Jayapreeth (thanks for lending me your camera!)