I love the colours you've used here... not entirely sure I agree with your message though.
Do you not think rich people can be genuinely depressed? It is an illness after all, a chemical imbalance in the brain, and illnesses by nature do not discriminate in terms of wealth or class. The wealthy can still get physically ill... you wouldn't say, "You're really rich, you've no reason to have cancer." How do you know, without being actually inside somebody's head, that depression is merely a fashion statement for them and not an actual, debilitating condition?
Carlie M, UK, Feb 17

From day one, this one has been controversial with viewers here. Not so much in India. I think it has to do with class but not in the sense you say, more cultural environ than economic class. This too was about the same time [almost-to-day] as the 'off to kill someone else's father'. I was rather new here and perhaps still coping up with the culture shock.

What I saw here was - almost everybody's basic needs are met - food, clothing, shelter and secondary too more or less - security, education, etc. And everybody is 'stressed out'. So the bottom-lines in India and here are vastly different. There sheer survival is a problem - to meet the basic needs. And we have a rising class of neo-rich against dirt-poor. Painting is more addressed to this class than a universal statement. Not only that the arrogance of the neo-rich is to blame the victims of the system - the poor for their plight and India not 'growing' fast enough - that's a different topic though my resentment against this class is the prime motive behind this pic.

I have been challenged during discussions here when I show the pic for real - 'I hope you are not talking of clinical depression'. I am not. I am neither undermining depression of tsunami, earthquake, war victims. This is about the class for whom it indeed is a fashion accessory. I see two or three strong currents behind this depression - one is over-consumerism [if there can be such a term] where people have become what they buy with money - my house, my clothes, my car - mere symbols make me up, decide my station in society, my self-image. But these symbols don't make me wholesome, so vacuity and depression and 'buy peace of mind', as if it were a commodity. Second current is medicine - and relatedly pharmaceuticals. They will invent an illness where there is none. Third current is 'alternative therapies' whether yoga- meditation or reiki or  feng-shui or scientology - this is a growing business. Lots of money is involved in it. It is this lobby's interest as much as medicine's to keep people constantly under some fear.Some close Indian friends here are very actively dedicated to some sect or the other. One is called 'Art of Living' . They charge you some 250£ for a three day- 4 sessions course - every 2 months or so!You attend the session of 3 hours and turn up the next day meaning lodging boarding is not covered in those 250£. Obviously only the affording will attend it and stick to it.

Just y'day there was a discussion going on on Sky - are we a nation of hypochondriacs? - I don't know why it took them so long - 13-14 years! - to bring up that topic.

As against the reading here, in India it is immediately seen the way I intended. Must be cultural difference, I guess.

anyway, I very much welcome different ways of looking at the issue and disagreements. If you spell out yours, we can talk.

By the way, the best comment I have had on this pic  -

'oh, I thought depression was free!' That still makes me smile.
CK Purandare

I agree with many of your socio-political points, just not sure we're on the same page with regards to defining "depression". When I studied psychology we were told that depression as an illness often has no specific cause. So if a person was grieving after a personal loss or traumatised by war or natural disaster, from a psychiatric perspective they wouldn't be described as having depression... grief, trauma or PTSD may apply, but we were told "depression" is usually only diagnosed when the problem is long term and not a reaction to a specific event. However, I only studied psychology to A-level, so maybe the definition is broader when studied at university level. The definition has also become problematic due to possible overuse and self-diagnosis, so maybe we are on the same page with our attitudes towards "therapy as a fashion statement" culture.

On a personal note, I guess the piece strikes a nerve because during times of severe mental instability I've been judged by some for not managing a socially acceptable level of sanity despite the privileges of my First World upbringing. You know from reading my book that I'm not some spoiled rich brat but I've had that assumption made about me by others, possibly because I'm quite well spoken or because I have access to a computer. While on a global scale I've had quite an easy life, it's still been my own personal hell at times. This makes me try not to judge another person's suffering as being fake just because their life looks easy from my perspective, even though some people test my patience at times.

By the way, I'm not saying you are necessarily making those kind of judgements yourself, just that it could be read that way. It's definitely an interesting piece of work to have inspired such debate and varied interpretations.
Carlie M

Thanks Carlie for a detailed response! I truly appreciate it.

Idea is to provoke, not just produce eye-candy or something so abstract nobody can connect with it. As said in my earlier reply, this is not a universal statement. Nor am I conversant with definition of Depression - how it differs from trauma or anxiety...Nor do I ever undermine or trivialise somebody's anguish. Still, the basic aim of my work [I dare not call it 'art'] is to document social pathology. Where does a phenomenon fit into social scene? I mean global scene. So all I am saying is depression has a class facet, often ignored. It can be seen more in the West but also in haves in developing countries. 

Your point re being nonjudgmental is interesting too. This is quite a dilemma for me. If I am value neutral, I really support status quo. I have no statement to make. And that is wrong. You know Graham Greene used to say something like - it is duty of an artist / we owe it to society...to be a piece of grit in the state machinery. Since his time, State has other contenders to control the system - mentioned earlier like medicine-pharmaceutical nexus, paranoia creating agents, etc. Someway, I would like this venture of mine to be upsetting, not for the sake of it, not as a rabble-rouser but to say something I see as having some validity. Necessarily, it becomes a generalised statement seen by a viewer thru' the individual life-experiences - and that can become contentious.

Anyway, whether we agree or not I really like that we have some discussion on an issue. That is very important to me. I am grateful to you for sparing some thought and time for furthering the discussion.
CK Purandare

I know this kind of feeling and these kind of colors. It's a good illustration . Do you know William Styron, darkness visible- a memoir of madness. I read it in french.
Helene Grasset, France, Jan 07

Fantastic message.
I definitely feel a sad/creepy vibe. It's gorgeous.
Julianne, USA, April 07

Another way to look at it is that people struggling to exist can not afford the luxury of depression. However, this does not mean they are not depressed any more than it means that people who have managed to pull themselves into a position of material comfort have no reason or right to be depressed.
This is a bit of a sore spot. Perhaps I do not have the intended interpretation. I think in a broad study it is a good metaphor although I take issue with using depression as a theme, not the art, just the title. Boredom, or ennui?
- Grace
Both the ways are intended in the picture, in a rather populist way.
It is more against 'Depression' as a fashion accessory.
Boredom or Ennui may not have punch or common appeal as Depression.
Further, I had something more in mind while doing this piece.
Depression and its treatment have become a whole industry these days. Being stressed out, depressed seems to be an in thing. And quacks promote feng-shui/yoga/meditation/reiki..... to treat it.
Most of it costly indulgence for the affording.
Now perhaps the title is clearer to you?
- CKP
Up to a point.

Depression is a real issue. Is it life and death? No, only in some cases of suicide, but nevertheless, it affects millions of people
- Grace