In Letter and Spirit: Artist Angeli Sowani shares the stories of the unsung Indian heroes of World War I through an exhibition | Lifestyle News, The Indian Express

In Letter and Spirit: Artist Angeli Sowani shares the stories of the unsung Indian heroes of World War I through an exhibition | Lifestyle News, The Indian Express

Written by Parth Khatau |Updated: April 2, 2019 12:35:43 pm

In Letter and Spirit: Artist Angeli Sowani shares the stories of the unsung Indian heroes of World War I through an exhibition

Angeli Sowani’s fascination of war and subsequent love for painting soldiers started in 2001 when she moved to England from India.

A photograph from the collection

One million and more Indian soldiers were transported in troopships to Europe in September 1914 to fight a war that was not theirs. They perhaps did not even know what they were in for. Months into the war, the tired and homesick soldiers wrote letters to their loved ones back home, often asking them not to follow in their footsteps. “I have managed to bring together a fair number of postcards and letters which were translated and censored at the time by a literate Indian soldier and a British officer,” says Angeli Sowani, curator of the exhibition titled “Medals & Bullets” that was recently held at the Jehangir Art Gallery in Mumbai. All the portraits and letters have now been made available for viewers on Sowani’s website.