"What does 𝗦𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗷 truly mean? Is freedom achieved at a single historic moment or period, or must self-rule be continually imagined, questioned and renewed? India's journey towards Swaraj was shaped not by one voice or one path, but through reform and resistance, revolution and non-violence, political thought, public protest, art, print, photography, cinema and the collective will of its people. The Tuli Research Centre for India Studies (T.R.I.S.) presents 𝗦𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗔𝗝: 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝘀𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗮'𝘀 𝗣𝗼𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗛𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆, a pioneering exhibition curated by Neville Tuli. Bringing together rare artworks, prints, photographs, books, film publicity art, political propaganda and visual-textual-audio archives, SWARAJ traces India's complex journey towards political self-rule and self-discovery. From early European coastal encounters, the Bengal Renaissance and the First War of Independence in 1857 to the rise of Bharat Mata, the Tiranga, Gandhiji's inspired satyagraha, civil disobedience and mass mobilisation, the exhibition explores how the idea of India was envisioned, contested and transformed. It journeys through revolutionary movements and non-violence, subaltern uprisings, the Partition, the Constitution, the integration of the Princely States, the Emergency, wars, civic dissent and people's protests. It also foregrounds the vital role of artists, photographers, publishers, newspapers, journals, cartoons and cinema in recording and shaping the nation's political consciousness. SWARAJ invites us to encounter history not as something distant or settled, but as a daily living inheritance that continues to influence who we are and how we understand freedom, identity, and ourselves today. Watch the video for a glimpse into this expansive visual journey, and follow the exhibition as it revisualises India's political history through art, image, text and sound.

How did Sudhir Patwardhan bring marginalised lives within the modern city into public view? In “Overbridge” (1981) four people coincide upon a pedestrian bridge. This wonderfully large pencil drawing preceded Patwardhan's oil painting of the same title. Two men walk with their arms across each other's shoulders, suggesting that very Indian form of camaraderie within every city. A solitary man faces us Kafkaesque like, while a veiled woman at the edge appears marked by illness, possibly leprosy, and exclusion. Patwardhan observes them as they truly are, as stoic rather than heroic subjects. Created amid social and economic change, Overbridge reflects urban alienation and marginalisation. Subaltern Studies was also taking shape, bringing lives excluded from dominant histories into focus. Patwardhan similarly gives overlooked urban subjects visibility and dignity. Trained as a doctor, Patwardhan works as a radiologist in Thane alongside his self-taught artistic practice. Encounters with commuters, labourers and patients shape his urban realism, a genuinely empathic expression of our people and their daily grind endured with grace and resilience, but not romanticised. Within SWARAJ: Revisualising India's Political History Exhibition, the drawing asks how freedom is experienced at society's margins, placing dignity, recognition and companionship at the heart of Swaraj. Artwork: Overbridge (1981), Pencil Drawing on paper Artist: Sudhir Patwardhan