„The water is always very dirty. Whenever I bathe, my skin itches. There are a lot of broken statues of Hindu goddesses in the river.“
May 2019, Yamuna river, Delhi
Pollution Diaries is a collectively written text, composed of posts from a WhatsApp group that was active from May 2019 to April 2020.
When I moved to Delhi, I felt naturally distressed by its disrupted ecosystem. Because I didn't want to articulate these feelings from a European perspective, I asked my students to keep a simple account of how the current situation was affecting their physical and mental state, always taking a snapshot.
The chat took place as one of the extracurricular activities during the Czech language classes at the university, but rather than a language project, it was an attempt at authentic communication in which everyone could participate, regardless of their educational and social backgrounds. I was not interested in criticism, but in gradually building attention to immediate psychophysical experience and generating awareness of how these momentary states of our bodies and minds are inextricably linked to the state of the weather, soil, water, air, noise levels, and other environmental phenomena.
A year later, when the pandemic broke out and a lockdown was declared in Delhi, photos of clear skies and descriptions of pleasant states of mind began to appear in the chat. Unexpectedly, we recorded a collectively unforgettable turn of events.
It may provide a blueprint for the future.
„This is a view from my terrace today. After so many years, we now have such a beautiful sky. My mother told me that the weather used to be like this when she was around thirteen. It’s raining a lot, so the temperatures don't go up. The blue sky gives me a feeling which I know from foreign movies, because they always have a clear sky.“ 31. 3. 2020, Burari, Delhi
Bibliographic data:
Print: Resslová, V. (2020) Pollution Diaries. Brno: Quatroprint. 97 s. ISBN: 978-80-270-8226-1.
E-book: Resslová, V. (2024) Pollution Diaries. Praha: Ausdruck Books_Hybrid Publishing Platform. 97 s. ISBN: 978-80-908403-1.
Language: English, Czech, Hindi. Commentary: Aleš Čermák. Graphic design: Terezie Štindlová.
You can purchase the e-book here:
