One would think that Joseph sketches to pass her time commuting to college or the office where she interns. But this daily practice sprouts not from boredom; it is pure artistic expression. “I think it’s something about capturing a particular moment and putting it on paper. I sketch what strikes me, like little pieces of joy,” Joseph tells us. The student and artist, although she doesn’t call herself one as yet, has an archive of sketches that capture the moods, struggles, and in-between moments of commuters, most of whom are women, children, and vendors in the women’s train compartment. She titled it Dheemi Local Hai.

Diya Mary Joseph

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Over the course of many commutes, the Kharghar resident has picked up tricks on quick and fluid sketching. “People leave before I finish sketching them. So I first capture their key characteristics and complete the sketch after they leave,” she explains. As a Mumbaikar commuting in packed trains, she’s learned to travel light with a few brush pens of basic colours, using the case flap to mix colours for different fabrics and skin tones.

Joseph’s live sketching sessions began as nostalgic drawings of train travel in November 2020. The sketches are a colourful mix displayed on her Instagram account where final artworks are digitally transferred onto train tickets with ‘happy journey’ on the top left and the sketch’s title next to it. About her archive, she says, “The coexistence of people from varying backgrounds reflects an interesting mixture of stories and cultures.” Joseph has no future plans for the series yet; she wants to continue documenting people passing time in trains.

Log on to: @dheemilocal_hai