How breaking news culture made its way into my Lakme Fashion Week show

It's been a rough couple of months.

We wake up almost every day to some terrible news - bombings, terror attacks, the migrant crisis, right-wing propaganda and inhumane acts. The news apps on our phones buzz a little too often, our TV screens are filled with bold "breaking news" captions in red, and our social media is flooded with a little too many opinions. For few people this has almost become a choreographed daily pattern, but for some - the repercussions of this global unrest have been traumatic.

We live in a world that is more digitally linked than ever, and often the violence is instantly broadcast, sometimes with no form of censorship. This constant stream of news, which we can't disconnect from, can often be overwhelming.

I can feel a growing sense of anxiety amongst people and within me. I notice a shift in our everyday dinner table conversations. It's visible - the expression of a looming doom on all our faces. Does it then make sense, as an artist for me to continue with my practice as if nothing has happened, as if nothing is happening?

How are artists, who are usually some of the most sensitive people, then to remain desensitised to what's happening around?

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Amidst all this chaos, and all these thoughts muddled in my head I was invited to do an experimental presentation at the Lakme Fashion Week in Mumbai.

As the news of more bombings kept pouring in through the early stages of my conceptualisation, the feeling of discomfort grew within me. In a world that seems to be breaking apart further with every passing day - doing another show for show's sake did not make sense to me. This feeling of chaos was making me nauseous and I had to do something about it. Thus came - The Maze, in collaboration with conceptual architect Rajat Sodhi.

The Maze is a metaphor for our lives, the current times, the constant loop of feeling lost and emerging with a glimmer of hope. The Maze reflects a journey that closely mimics the world we live in. It is about feeling lost, making chance discoveries but most importantly eventually finding a way out.

It explored the symbiotic relationship between fashion, textiles, performance art and installation design to create a unique interactive experience.

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Each cubicle of The Maze showcased a model wearing a piece from the collection. It was punctuated with wall text, magnified texture installations and artwork from the collection.

The audiences were invited to take a journey in The Maze. Upon entering the Maze, they were given a small map of the maze with the message - "It's ok to feel lost". They were equipped with personal headphones that played a specially mixed soundtrack as they made their way through the dark maze, sometimes feeling lost. Once inside the maze they chanced upon meeting models, seeing up close - textile installations, and eventually making their way out, where they were presented with another map of the maze - this time with the message - "There's always a way out".

One of my favourite and the most insightful installation in The Maze was in fact one of the simplest - projected texts on walls. I went about asking 20 people from different countries to give a line on what "being lost" to them meant. The answers varied greatly from one country to the other. From a father in Lahore feeling lost when he read about acid attacks on young girls to a journalist in Miami feeling lost when his GPS did not work.

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A son in Kabul said he felt lost when whenever blasts took place in an area where his relatives lived, while a banker in London said she felt lost whenever she didn't have the internet.

These responses threw the spotlight on how disconnected we are in the current world, though ironically living in an increasingly connected digital world.

The Maze reflected these anxieties but also showed that there is always light at the end of the tunnel. We are all in this together and as the message at the exit said - There is always a way out!

The show was my way of expressing my anxieties and hopes. What's yours?