2. Vasakasajja Nayika – Love, Longing and Left ‘On Read’ – Kangra Paintings on Love Meet Modern Dating

“What more could you want, what more could you need?This is enough, truly enoughYou alone have come and stayed by meWhen I open my arms,You ignite a fire in my heart,And lift me up, soaring into the skies.”

(Inkem Inkem Kavale)

Vasakasajja Nayika, the expectant heroine, opaque watercolour on paper, Guler, c. 1750-1760

This post is the second in my series on “Love, Longing and Left On Read: Kangra Paintings Meet Modern Dating” in which I am connecting these beautiful Indian miniature paintings with the various situations that can happen in modern dating, connecting the different times and culture, as I always love to do. The introduction to the series you can read here, and the first part on Utka Nayika you can read here.

Vasakasajja Nayika is also known as ‘the expectant one’ because she is the nayika who is all prepared and waiting for her lover, or husband, to return from his journey. In this Guler painting from the mid eighteenth century the nayika is seen standing on the balcony and gazing out at the dark monsoon clouds gathering. There is a slight worry on her face – will the rain stop him from coming? What a disappointment that would be because the bed, as you can see, is all made. And all dolled-up she is as well! Fresh clothes, kajal, earrings… ready for the dance of love. Some renditions of the Vasakasajja nayika theme include the nayika arranging her bed carefully, or getting ready herself with the help of servants. This is the key Vasakasajja Nayika theme: anticipation and getting ready.

She is adorned, every thread and jewel a whisper of desire. Her eyes trace the door, the path she knows he will tread, each heartbeat a drum, each breath a prayer, between hope and hesitation. She may seem passive, just standing there gazing at the clouds, but she is not; she is fire contained, a rapture tempered into elegance, a dream that dances between what is and what might be. Her gaze meets the wind as if reading letters from afar, her hands, the ritual of preparation, each movement both gentle and charged, as if the monsoon itself had lent her its rhythm; soft patter of rain, sudden clap of thunder, a quiet eroticism in the anticipation of union, the longing of two worlds about to meet.

She embodies the poetry of waiting: the delicate tension between being seen and remaining a mystery, the subtlety of heartache, and the sweet thrill of hope. She stands before the mirror, every brushstroke and curl a small act of hope, her phone buzzing softly, a modern drum of anticipation. Each outfit laid out, each subtle perfume a signal, her heart rehearsing the meeting, the text, the laugh, the fleeting magic of noticing and being noticed. Her excitement is both joy and tension; the waiting, the imagining, the thrill of being wanted, yet the awareness that the heart must stay guarded. She is poised, radiant, playful, ready for love that may bloom today or tomorrow, her anticipation a modern ritual, as old as poetry, as new as our phone screens.

And when he comes and when he hugs her he will say ‘I love your earrings’ or ‘You smell nice’, and she will smile and roll her eyes playfully. ‘These old earrings?’, as if she hadn’t spent the entire afternoon getting ready. But he knows…and she knows that he knows, but it doesn’t matter because this is still the ‘lovebombing phase’ where compliments and sweet gestures flow freely like a sweet, intoxicating river. This mood of Vasakasajja Nayika’s happy anticipation I combined with this super radiant and cheerful Telugu song ‘Inkem Inkem Kavale’ especially these lines which I have quoted bellow. This is a pure love happiness, one yet untainted by any doubt, fear, resentment or anger. This is a very short phase – but oh it feels like heaven!

“Inkem inkem inkem kaavaleChaalle idhi chaaleNeekai nuvve vacchi vaalaveIkapai thiranaalleyGundellona vegam penchaaveGummamloki holy thecchaave”

“What more could you want, what more could you need?This is enough, truly enoughYou alone have come and stayed by meWhen I open my arms,You ignite a fire in my heart,And lift me up, soaring into the skies.”