Simha – “After So Long // बरसों बाद”

“After So Long // बरसों बाद” is an audio visual reflection from the mind, soul, and journey of Simha, an LA – transplanted artist incorporating a confluence of genres both worldly and modern, distinct and ethereal. In Simha’s approximately 3.5 minute video, a spoken poem parallels a mantra of discovery and enlightenment.

Simha embarks into reacquaintance with oneself, acknowledgement of our trials and tribulations, acceptance of self, and the persistence of continuing on after so much has transpired. It is an exposition into making sense of existence, derivatives of purpose, and discovering the meaning in pursuit of greater truth. Growth of self is observed as not by the passage of time, but rather the acknowledgement of past traumas and the process of healing.

After So Long presents picturesque sequences incorporating nature and our place in tandem with the natural world as it has always been as well as our continual adaptation to society without surrendering the conviction of self or one’s autonomy. While Simha’s journey is intrinsic as a queer BIPOC artist born in India and raised in the US, many people will identify with the mental and spiritual journey at the heart of After So Long, as well as acknowledgement of the weight of ancestry. Both the record, After So Long and the video possess a certain meditative charm.

The theme of nostalgia for love and understanding of self is reminiscent in After So Long, as the resiliency and survival of that feeling presents a place of refuge, determination, and will to continue onwards.