Korba, India: Graffiti, 1266122, and the Great Heat Wave

i just stumbled out of a maxi rickshaw in korba and my sketchbook is already sweating more than i am. the air here feels like a hair dryer set to 'max' and i'm pretty sure my sketchbook pages are curling into little scrolls. i checked my phone: temp 31.63°C, humidity 14%, pressure 1013 hPa. that's just Wrong, okay? like the sky decided to be a giant oven and forgot to turn off the fan. who designed this weather? i'm a street artist, i need mist, drizzle, maybe a gloomy sky to match my soul. nope. just relentless glare and dust that gets into your spray cans like tiny invaders.

some kid on the street just screamed '1266122!' at me and then ran off cackling. then i saw '1356093877' scratched into the back of a bus seat, like someone's secret code. maybe these numbers are the city's GPS for hidden walls, or maybe it's just some local kids messing with the outsider. either way, i'm writing them down incase they become a clue. there's something about numbers on walls that makes my radar ping. they could be coordinates, they could be a phone number, or maybe they're the combination to the municipal water tank that's always locked. who knows.

i've been wandering around looking for a decent spot to tag. korba is... industrial, okay? lots of coal storage, huge power plants belching out something that looks like Smog-flavored cotton candy. the roads are wide, the sidewalks are cracked, and the buildings are mostly functional, not fancy. but i'm starting to see potential in the back alleys near the old market. there's a giant blank wall beside a tyre shop that's just begging for a piece. i'll probably hit it tonight if i can find a cheap can of Montana Black. speaking of which, i need to source supplies. there's a hardware store near the bus depot that might have some spray paint, but it's all Rust-Oleum for fences. not ideal, but it'll do in a pinch.

i looked up the location on my phone, and here's roughly where i'm camped out:

the map shows i'm smack in the middle of this region, but the actual city center is a bit east. whatever. the important thing is the walls.

i took a couple of snaps with my phone to capture the vibe:

the first photo is supposed to be a valley, but i just see hills in the distance from my rooftop. the snail on the wall? that's the kind of detail i love - slow creatures appreciating the same textures we paint on. and the dried leaf? that's my current mood: everything's crisp and brittle.

i need to talk about the locals. the people here are mixed. some stare like i'm an alien, others ask if i'm from the 'film industry' because i carry a camera. i met a guy named rajesh at the chai stall who told me: 'if you get bored, bilaspur's just a short drive away. it's got a bigger scene, more walls, and they actually have a graffiti jam once a year.' that's good intel. but i'm not sure i'll last that long in this heat. my skin feels like it's been pressed with a hot iron.

speaking of reviews, i heard from a drunk guy at a bar (well, 'bar' - it's a room with plastic chairs) that the police here are super strict about spray paint. 'they'll fine you and make you buff the whole wall for hours,' he slurred. but then he added: 'if you go after midnight, they're usually asleep. just watch out for the night watchman at the coal depot - he's got a flashlight and a mean streak.' that's the kind of insider info you can't get from TripAdvisor. speaking of TripAdvisor, i checked the top things to do in korba on TripAdvisor and it's all like 'visit the power plant' and 'see the river'. ugh. not a single mention of street art. guess i'm pioneering something here.

i've been frequenting this hole-in-the-wall chai place that actually has decent reviews on Yelp.

i also hit up some local online forums - there's a facebook group called Korba Creatives but it's mostly memes. still, i posted a few sketches and got a couple of 'likes'. progress.

i've been crashing at a cheap guesthouse near the railway station. the room costs 300 rupees a night and has a fan that sounds like a helicopter taking off. but it's a roof, and importantly, it has a balcony that faces the wall i'm eyeing. i can scope it during the day and plan my piece. i just hope the landlord doesn't realize i'm using his wall as a canvas. maybe i'll offer him a free portrait of his wife (i haven't met her, but i can improvise).

the weather is relentless. i'm drinking lemon water like it's going out of style. i read that humidity is only 14% - that's desert-level dryness, but it's still hot because of the direct sun. my lips are chapped, my camera strap is sticky. i saw a lizard sunbathing on a wall and it looked like it was meditating. i'm jealous. i need to find a pool or a river dip. someone told me there's a swimming area at the hasdeo dam, about 20 km out. i might rent a scooter and check it out tomorrow if i'm not too exhausted from painting.

i should probably mention the numbers again: 1266122 and 1356093877. i'm starting to think they're not coordinates but maybe they're the emergency numbers for the local fire department? but they're too long. maybe they're the bus route numbers. i'll keep them in my notebook. sometimes random numbers become the title of a piece or the tag's name. i'll call my next work '1266122/1356093877' and see if anyone asks what it means. art is supposed to be mysterious, right?

as i sit here typing on my cracked phone screen, i'm thinking: this city is rough, it's hot, it's dusty, but it's got a raw authenticity. it's not the typical postcard place, and that's kind of why i love it. i've seen worse spots to paint. the challenge is part of the fun.

i'm gonna sign off before my phone dies. i'll try to post a photo of the finished piece if i can find a decent signal. maybe i'll tag it with those numbers.

p.s. if you're ever in korba, look for the wall behind the tyre shop on main road. i might have left something there.

if you want more intel, check out this blog post i found: Street Art in the Heart of India.

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