Greece….Displaced

Hi all !

Twinny back from the land of olives ,love and peace.. Greece!

Amongst the pretty sights of this delightful land is the heart wrenching one of Hellinikon airport .. the old airport of Athens .. home now to 67000 Syrian refugees ,half of them children..

Another 12000 homeless scattered on the idyllic Greek islands … here are some pictures.

Here they are.. men women children ..in makeshift camps, Living day to day .. Uncertain of the very unsure tomorrow …

Living in an airport taking off to Nowhere….

It’s been 5 years 5 months and 5 weeks …since the Syrian Civil War began…
And just why did it begin???

Well…

In 2011 some civilians revolted against the oppressive Bashar Al Assad government ….

Instantly the government took action…A tad too harshly!

In response, angered rebel groups formed ,calling themselves Free Syrian Army ( FSA) …. Though fragmented themselves they

garnered support from Saudi Arabia , US , France…All these on one side.. …

And

the Ruling party’s Syrian Armed Forces ( SAF) on the other …supported by Iran ,Iraq ,Russia….

A FULL SCALE CIVIL WAR ensued and is STILL in progress….since 2011 !

Tit for tat !Tat for tit…tit for tat , tat for tit … Nonstop fighting..

A war where NO ONE winning , BOTH sides loosing..

LOOSING …PRECIOUS LIVES and TIME…Alas…!!!

This WAS beautiful Syria …

And now … Ravaged , incarcerated in a heap of rubble …

Here is a picture of a Syrian boy rescued from the rubble of a detonated home….taken just a few weeks ago … tearless ,stoic ,unmoved by the sight of blood , the sounds of explosions ….he has seen and heard the same many a time ..

Bulldozing its way into a country already on its knees is the vicious IS (Islamic State) ,killing gruesomely anyone not agreeable with its extremist views………mass destruction……..the only agenda …

Destroying even world heritage sites of ..ancient cities Palmyra and Allepo… DEVASTATING HISTORY forever!!
In all , nearly 3 Lakhs Syrians have been killed ..

And Half of Syria …11 million out of a total population of 23 million( same as that of Austrailia…)forced to flee their home …..saddled with a new name ..

”Refugees”……..
Amrita just why are you pulling at my skirt??

Want to say something Twinny .

Now what??

Well if you allow me .. Wanted to tell you how an artist evolves.. NOW amruta ???? Must you .. At this juncture …???!

Yes it’s relevant ..!

Pleasssse!

Ok ok go ahead…

Well.. This is about Ritu Dhillon .. My amazingly prolific artist and friend …

I want to tell you her journey…How she started her career ,fresh out of JJ school of Art .. And As all talented young artists do,started with realist paintings like so….

Then came her romantic Bedouin phase .. Her favourites and mine too … Soulful eyes and all…

Then the phase of angst….Some Paintings crying out , some caged in and dark , some fighting out…
Faced with the loss of her brother and father and the simultaneous fracture of her painting arm.. She stopped painting..becoming more or less reclusive ..spending a lot of time alone watching news channels and reading magazines while bringing up her twin children…..

In the last five years , her sensitivities awoke to the horrors in Syria …

.. And She started painting again.. When an artist has more to say .. The painting is less ,the complexity of thoughts more….Have a look…in order ..

‘The Child Soldier’

‘Troy ‘

‘Lost ‘

And finally ‘Displaced’

Look at … DISPLACED closely .. To you ,it looks like a mass of black lines.. See the left corner… Human figures walking away from their ruined homes.. Leaving for a land Unknown….. Desperate ,Terrified….Displaced!

From their homes.. from all things familiar… challenging even for a single night… leave alone 5 years of ones life…..

So what the heck is the world doing to help ..??Greece in an economic dump…one in four unemployed…so getting jobs here for Syrians super tough..