Inheritence, 2018

Kudchadkar 

A surname. An inheritance. An indicator of history, of beginnings, of roots?

The exercise was to live in Kudchade, the town I derive the second half of my name from. To collect stories, places, meaning.

As the Zuari flows through my hands, with it flow family and place histories. Distorted, uncertain, unsettled and volatile. Rich, celebratory, significant and beautiful.

The gulab kapa, a jackfruit tree bearing the sweetest, pinkest silken fruit – fruit that family legends are made of – sits on the banks of the river. It is now too old to fruit. But the guilded casts of its leaves materialize my inheritance – memories of my father’s favorite jackfruit that no other has been able to live up to, and about 30 summer evenings with my mother, learning the skill of recognising a perfectly ripe fruit from its delicious fragrance and cutting it open to reach the golden nuggets of sweetness. 

Technical Support: Chaitanya Modak

Photo Credits: Chaitanya Modaka and Neha Kudchadkar