Issue No. 02 | Volume 01
THE QASID X MUKHTALIF
Breathe
This magazine is essentially a collection of thoughts and expressions, and is dedicated to everyone out there having a rough time.
TABLE ON CONTENTS 04
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
06
THE UNCERTAINTY I WANT TO FALL IN LOVE WITH
10
VENT//WENT
13
GOD'S TOBLERONE
15
RESILIENCE IN CREATIVITY
17
LEH'D
19
ADVENTURE CALLING
21
ART IN FAILURE Page | 02
Letter from the Editor
Jusquici Tout Va Bien This is what I thought of this place the first time I got here. It doesn't take much time until I get to a good spot where it almost feels like I'm walking on clouds. It's truly impossible to take a bad photo of this place. The reason I decided to visit Kargil/Leh during these difficult times is because I wanted to visit my father. I essentially just wanted to get away from the very routine I had created for myself back home. It got so monotonous that I had frequent outbursts of emotions, and I really am not good at expressing what I feel. This small trip essentially acted as a catalyst for me to work on myself, and with the help of my dear ones, I think I got pretty close. I was in search of mental clarity, and while I did not find that, I did find out that worrying unnecessarily about certain uncontrollable factors in life isn't how life is meant to be lived. It is not your job to think about your purpose, but it most definitely is your job to live it while you still can. Stop taking every moment for granted, it won't come back. Keep your head down, trust the process, and live. I know its tough to move on when you're plagued by your own mind, but you got this. The first issue of Qasid was supposed to be the only issue ever. I was overwhelmed to find that it helped so many out there come to terms with what they were missing. It made me geuinely happy to know that my work helped people. So here we are again, with a slightly different approach, and I hope y'all enjoy it more than the first one. Cheers. by Arjun Salwan
LEH/30
SURVOLER/29
NEST/01
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THE UNCERTAINTY I WANT TO FALL IN LOVE WITH by Aafrren Chaudhary
6 months and I’m home, 3 months ago I was in silence, fading like those notes my grandma wrote on tapes and behind photos. I think about memories and poems more than ever, not because I’m a literary freak but because I understand life and death and I have a little bird in me telling me that little things like adding memories and words will never leave me. September is over, October is here and I cannot wait for winters because I can feel things I usually never do and I only think about when its not around. Remember how February feels? Page | 06
A little cold, breezy, sunny, green leaves everywhere and this haunting smell that you only connect with February? I feel it again in October. And it’s a chance to feel. Feel poetry and the words sung beautifully by artist, I dive in deeper and I don’t like being inside because the wind touches my skin and its the closest I can get to feeling love. Maybe thats why I’m a 70-year-old in a 20-year-old body. It adds up. This new normal has made me do things I never did, like fill in a 200-page diary, watch too many movies, bake bread and cakes, cook curry, find ways to breathe and calm the fuck down and not succeed always. Its made me think too much too and might I say I’ve lost too much and gained some too and I want to scream my heart out to say that I am not okay. I have something several have and hide, depression with a pinch of anxiety. With hope some won’t read, I've still said what I am. As privately I live my thoughts and plan my dreams, I see how I’m still normal maybe. If I could write a letter to people addressing my mind and hope to them, I’d tell them what it’s like and how I am not pretending. I will tell them how I hate it and yet I live with it. I will tell them that routines, meditations and sucking it up don’t always work. I would pour my heart out like honey on a warm slice of bread. But I wouldn’t hope for understanding. That’d be far fetched maybe and while I frequently find myself watching my coffee go cold and my food taste bland I realise how hope might never be true.
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VENT//WENT
by Gautam Ambaty
A week before the lockdown was imposed, I flew down to Mumbai. A two week home quarantine meant that it was impossible for me to get out until after the lockdown ended. The thing about staying home all day is that it makes you too comfortable in your own skin. For about four months, I procrastinated and lazed around. My mental health had reached a new low. One day I decided to go for a walk and to watch some flamingoes at a park not too far from my house. Over the next few weeks, I met some friends at the park and spent almost two hours with them everyday. This helped me get a grip on reality and adjust to the new normal. In September, I went trekking for the first time in my life. It was exhausting but the view on the top was worth it. It also felt like I was doing more than just existing at that point. My mental health is slowly getting better. The more I exert myself at these treks and walks, the better I feel. Isolation made me forget how important friendships were. These new experiences reminded me to value friends and hold on to them more dearly.
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Photography by Stephen Chen
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God's Toblerone
by Arjun Salwan
To discover clarity, you must undergo disarray You can end up amidst certitude You have yourself when you don't have anything else You're at your best when you're feeling the pressure Allow yourself to uncover you to you You can't be alive while you're warding off your own brain This isn't for you, dream again Do you think trees in the forest wonder why they were put there? Do you think think the soil wonders what its purpose is? Think about all the things you enjoy and cherish Like tacos, or burgers, or toblerone They’re your creations, a human’s Stop continuing to live waiting to die You’re God’s toblerone
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When you think about it progressively, Some days it feels like you’re not progressing at all, Other days you think, “Well, maybe a little.” You waste so many years being miserable, Because you assumed that was the only way to be. And I? Yeah, I don’t wanna do that anymore
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RESILIENCE IN CREATIVITY by Maneesha
There are times when we go speechless. We've nothing to tell but a lot to share. Coming forth as an artist, I learnt to express my silence through creativity and art which speaks louder than any other screaming slogan. Running hands of an artist project untold tales. Tales you never know occurred and became the reason behind any successful artwork. There might be many sleepless nights, haunting traumas, harsh realities behind the scenes but an artist paints it out so, that his trauma is what others might find inspiring.
Piece like 'The Dark Side of Moon' talks about the dark thoughts you overcome eventually. And just because you overcame them doesn't mean they're not in you anymore. That's why it's important to let go of attachments. 'Breathe' is one colourful eye-catching piece full of flowers and dreams but those arrows gave enough idea about what it is to actually grow beautifully. An artist, indeed is a good way to describe someone who’s not afraid to create even if her next step is a downfall. So, don't hinder your growth. Dare yourself to try. That's what makes me an artist who speaks with power. Page | 15
The cure to self-sabotage is to anchor yourself to the universal truth that you are worth it. you are worth the effort.
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LEH'D
by Shardul Awasthi (Mukhtalif)
Leh and Kargil are one of the most beautiful places to visit in India. The natural topography looks like they're very delicately placed. One is taken in by the awe-inspiring landscapes and clear blue skies as soon as they land in these beautiful mountain towns. Amidst these high naked mountains are some of the most carefully placed monasteries which overlook picturesque valleys. Snow cladded peaks at the far end look like a heavenly work of art. It looks as if God himself has painted this landscape in strokes of brown, green, and sometimes red and skies in blue, pink, and purple. Leh is a place to be visited by everyone. Page | 17
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After a long "stay at home" policy, I finally got my chance of getting out and about. I was finally headed to the crown of our nation.
ADVENTURE CALLING
There are various ways one can go to Leh-Ladakh and each way has its own beauty to oer! One such is a drive to Leh through the Manali route. You come across such pretty spots and pretty hard-to-pronounce names too. You just get to know you've come to a different
by Aashni Pabbi
place. The topography, so sleek. The skies, so breathtaking. Its like nature trying to engage you in some free therapy.
While moving through the terrain, you're bound to come across prayer flags. They symbolise the relationship between an individual and his roots. Its strange to even think, us humans could ever encompass God as a whole. The entire experience honestly instigates you to think about the simpler things in life, and how just going to a different place can help refresh your mindset. Page | 19
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ART IN FAILURE by Sagun Kashyap
Who were you before the world told you who you were
?
Remember that person again Become something outside of what you do Realise the power you truly hold
’
A life living in another man s perspective is no life lived at all
Dream
’
’
You ve to envision the future you re willing to fight for Existence could be beautiful
,
or it could be ugly
’
But that s on you If you like what you envision If not
,
,
then its beautiful
then you might as well fade the fuck out right now
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CONTRIBUTORS Aafrren Chaudhry (@aafrren_chaudhary) Gautam Ambaty (@gautamambaty_) Arjun Salwan (@arjunsalwan) Maneesha (@maneesha._) (@moonartsstudio) Shardul Awasthi (@shardul.0.0.1.9) (@mukhtalif_19) Aashni Pabbi (@aashni_pabbi) Sagun Kashyap (@whatsername22)
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Qasid X Mukhtalif
THANK YOU! Issue No. 02 | Vol.01