"Call it the loose cannon of destruction - the conduit of intoxiction for marijuana, hash and more, the 'chillam' a rural Indian clay cigar, invoked in me the raw fascination of form. As an artist, I saw endless possibilities that it fired in me, to play with that shape .'As a Raindrop' or a beehive unit that I wove it into, it served the purpose of creative juice with due diligence. But it also offered itself as an iteration of transformation. An idiom of exchange in identity between the prosaic to luxury. Art can redefine the context, perception and the meaning of both. And it can do much more. To be released from the one dimensional existence of all that's destructive and prosaic to the 'nurturing being' of existence that embraces trees, I wanted the 'chillam' to become a metaphor of change as transformative as its catharsis itself. My rain 'embraces' Trees, the lungs of the city,almost as an act of performance that calls out the deafening roar of air pollution suffocating cities like Delhi. And I chose to embrace Neem and Arjuna trees as symbols, whose barks we humans peel off and shred, for medicinal properties. The rain drops of 'clay' may weep that damage or nourish the trees back into life. Either way it sets the tone for an immersive dialogue for audiences to step in, get drenched and soak it all in."

- Manav Gupta