“Did we take more than our due?” Weaving his tale around a Gond fable about water, artist Subash Vyam muses on the history of our relationship to this most primeval of elements. A migrant to the city, he recalls growing up in a village where water was always scarce and human ingenuity was welcomed. In contrast to the village, the needs of the city are monstrous and there is a great danger that we will run this resource completely dry. In the end, there is only one way forward: all communities need to make a pact with Nature in order to survive ― or in our mindless push to harness her powers, we might lose our own place in this universe. “Did we take more than our due?” Weaving his tale around a Gond fable about water, artist Subash Vyam muses on the history of our relationship to this most primeval of elements. A migrant to the city, he recalls growing up in a village where water was always scarce and human ingenuity was welcomed. In contrast to the village, the needs of the city are monstrous and there is a great danger that we will run this resource completely dry. In the end, there is only one way forward: all communities need to make a pact with Nature in order to survive ― or in our mindless push to harness her powers, we might lose our own place in this universe. Subhash Singh Vyam is a talented artist from the Gond tribe of Central India. His paintings often depict Gond myths, offering a balance of narrative with colour and line. His works have been exhibited in galleries and museums, both in India and abroad. Orange, gold, yellow and green are his favourite colours to paint with. I live in a city now, but I come from a small village. I’m an artist, and like many people in my community, I had to move in search of work. My parents and sisters still live in the village, and I visit them often. Ever since I moved, I have been thinking about our life in the village and life here in the city... there is a lot to be said, and I am very troubled sometimes about many things, but I didn’t know where or how to begin. Then some time ago, there was a incident in our village which gave me an idea. So I decided to tell a story around it: it is about WATER.