Where Fireflies Live?

When my mother’s family was living in refugee camps on the Indian side of the border, their lives were always under constant threat, especially due to fires. Sometimes rioters lit the refugee camps on fire, sometimes they were cooking accidents - but their temporary homes could easily be set ablaze. A big reason for this was because they were now in the Great Indian desert, Thar. The air was dry and fires caught on quick. My grandparents had instructed the kids to run as fast as they could if they ever saw a fire. My mother, two years old at the time, remembers holding on to her older sister’s hand and running. But she remembers that the place they ran to was behind some bushes where there were always beautiful fireflies. I imagine their conversation going like this:

My grandmother: “When you see the fire run.”

My mother (a toddler): “Run to where the fireflies live?”

My grandmother: “Yes! Where the fireflies live.”

Life is always made beautiful through the eyes of a child who can find beauty in the most difficult of times.

Medium: Ink, acrylics on canvas

Size: 24 x 30”