Should Dance Educate? How?

Sri Aurobindo once wrote:

The first and lowest use of Art is the purely aesthetic, the second is the intellectual or educative, the third and highest the spiritual. By speaking of the aesthetic use as the lowest, we do not wish to imply that it is not of immense value to humanity, but simply to assign to it its comparative value in relation to the higher uses. The aesthetic is of immense importance and until it has done its work, mankind is not really fitted to make full use of Art on the higher planes of human development. (CWSA, Vol. 1, p. 439)

What made me recall these words this morning?

I recall them because of a Dance programme I attended last evening. It was an Odissi dance performance by Nayantara Nanda Kumar. The performance was actually part of a dance theater production titled "Beyond Names" which also included storytelling and poetry recitation. Produced by Secundarabad-based organization named Our Sacred Space, Beyond Names "celebrates the paths by which we seek the Essence. Whatever way we choose to acknowledge it. It is but One Energy - to which we assign the name of our choice." (programme brochure).

It was this programme description on Auroville's website that prompted me to go for it. Particularly the idea behind the title itself, Beyond Names. A movement through the various forms to the essential one formless, through the varied names to the one eternal nameless. This sounded very inviting.

The programme started off with the usual invocation to the gods, the universe and the audience, with the dancer performing Panchadevata Mangalacharan (salutations to five deities - Ganesha, Jagannatha/Vishnu, Rudra, Surya, and Shakti). This was followed by Sthai Nato, a pure nritta piece.

For the abhinaya component of the performance, a touching Hindi poem about a barbaric act of violence committed during communal riots was evocatively recited by the dancer's mother, a librarian and storyteller, while the dancer portrayed the emotions of the story through her performance. And this is the point where I found a certain part of my mind becoming a bit more active than I would have liked at a dance performance.

The dance combined with the storytelling was definitely meant to evoke a certain kind of educative experience. But for me, somehow it felt more like a mentalised education, at times briefly touching an emotional chord because of the emotional content of the story. It failed to become a deeply moving experience that could have touched a much deeper part of the heart, maybe even the soul.

After all, arts are meant to be an education for the soul. Not just mind and heart. But that depends on the readiness and preparedness of the learner too, I suppose.

Maybe I wasn't receptive enough last evening, maybe I failed to open widely and deeply enough to take 'in' the experience. Or just maybe I couldn't 'feel' a movement away from the names and forms to the Nameless and Formless, from the seen to the Unseen, from the violence to the Peace.

All the pieces that came after the abhinaya (Prayer for Peace - Moving Meditation, Transforming Anger, Jung ya Aman) ended up solidifying this mental educative experience further. There was no dance in any of these pieces, they were more theatrical pieces incorporating words, gentle movement, poetry recitation, and a video clip of an interview with a spiritual teacher.

What were all these pieces about, starting with abhinaya? Going back to the programme brochure, they were meant to address the following:

"We are witnessing a revival of fundamentalism of various hues. We are encouraged to believe that the religion we profess is the "best", unlike the "other" that is rabid/discriminatory/primitive, little realizing that it is the notion of "best" that contains the seed of violence.

"War is but the orchestrated version of the violence that we allow in thought, word and deed. War brutalizes both victor and vanquished and makes violence acceptable, leaving a trail of broken homes, broken families, broken lives...

"Beyond Names asks: Can we not evolve ways that are non-judgemental, inclusive, loving? For, in truth, there is no "other". To hate another is to hate ourselves....to embrace another is to embrace ourselves. Is that not the Essence that all of us seek...to be able to live in peace with ourselves?"

Sounds great. And as I read the brochure standing outside the auditorium before the programme, I was actually quite looking forward to the experience. I was looking forward to witness how the dancer and rest of the performers would take me to a deep place within where these mental questions of violence, war and fundamentalism would gradually and gently ease into a place of awareness, even if only a momentary awareness, of that Essence that is beyond all names and beyond all forms, that just IS.

But sadly, that never happened for me. The experience didn't take me to that place. Even with the last piece, which was a dance performance titled Moksha and Shanti Mantra, which ended rather quickly before I could really 'immerse' into it or 'flow' with the vibration of Peace this was meant to evoke.

The experience just kept me mentally engaged with the questions such as -- why an exclusive focus on only one "name" or one "form" of fundamentalism, why use a sensationalist-headlines type of story to illustrate the deep-rooted-ness of a ruthlessly violent part of all imperfect human nature, why not use dance and movement to express the idea of mindfulness instead of the words of a spiritual teacher, why not use a video clip of dance instead of a video clip with words, and a few more.

I came out of the auditorium not sure of how I felt about the whole experience. And that's what made me recall the words of Sri Aurobindo that I quote at the beginning of this post. Particularly the part about the educative function of the arts, particularly Indian forms of dance and drama.

Which brings me today to some more questions. (Are you surprised?)

What should be the role of dance and theater in education? What kind of educational experience should dance and theater evoke? How and in what ways should dance and theater evoke a learning experience? Should they touch only the outer layers of the viewer's mind and heart as last night's performance did for the most part? Or are there ways possible through which dance and theater can take the audience to a place beyond mind, even if it is for a split second, where a mental answer is not required because the questioning mind there is silent and finds an answer in the stillness itself? What is the place and purpose of experiment in Indian classical dance performances?

And as my husband and I kept discussing some of these questions during our drive back from the auditorium last evening and continuing that over our Sunday-special idli breakfast this morning, I was reminded of another passage from Sri Aurobindo. These are the words that help me reach to that place of silence within where the questioning mind stops.

Speaking of a true all-encompassing, life-affirming spirituality of the future and its all-inclusive connection with all activities of life and world, he writes this about the Art of a future society founded upon a true spirituality:

"The highest aim of the aesthetic being is to find the Divine through beauty; the highest Art is that which by an inspired use of significant and interpretative form unseals the doors of the spirit. But in order that it may come to do this greatest thing largely and sincerely, it must first endeavour to see and depict man and Nature and life for their own sake, in their own characteristic truth and beauty; for behind these first characters lies always the beauty of the Divine in life and man and Nature and it is through their just transformation that what was at first veiled by them has to be revealed. The dogma that Art must be religious or not be at all, is a false dogma, just as is the claim that it must be subservient to ethics or utility or scientific truth or philosophic ideas. Art may make use of these things as elements, but it has its own svadharma, essential law, and it will rise to the widest spirituality by following out its own natural lines with no other yoke than the intimate law of its own being." (CWSA, Vol. 25, pp. 229-230)

Image: Nayantara Nand Kumar, Source

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Glossary:
Nritta:
abstract dance, where the body makes patterns in space and there is no particular meaning attached to any gesture or movement. Even though mudras are used vastly in nritta, they are not used to convey stories.

Abhinaya: 
a tradition of story-telling in Indian classical dances, Abhinaya is a word made up of: abhi- ‘towards’ + nii (naya) - ‘leading/guide’. It literally means a ‘leading towards’ (leading the audience towards a sentiment, a rasa). Dancers bring forth stories based in myth or even contemporary commentary to invoke a certain response in the audience.

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Linking this with ABC Wednesday, D: D is for Dance

Untitled Meanderings

A few weeks ago, a friend and I had a brief exchange of thoughts on Facebook about Raja Ravi Varma's style of painting. I had said to him that I don't really care much for that kind of artistic work, and an interesting discussion ensued about Indian art, the inner and outer dimension of art, personal aesthetic preferences and a few other things about culture and human motives in life.

That exchange sort of inspired this post. I was hoping to go deeper into some of the points my friend and I had briefly touched upon. But as I started writing, the post took on a life of its own and it has now become something totally different.

That's okay, I go with the flow.

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Antaryatra (Inner Journey): Painting by Bindu Popli

Like I said in an earlier post, I am not an artist. Unless one considers writing that I do on this blog as some sort of "artsy" work. I highly doubt that. But I deeply admire and respect the artistic process that artists, sculptors, poets, creative photographers, writers experience - from that first inspiration to the final work of art they consider as done.

At the same time, like everyone else I know, I have my personal preference and taste in art or what I consider artistic. I am not fond of what may be called as realistic art or art that captures reality as is. For me, that piece of art doesn't say much if the only thing it says is an imitation, no matter how good and perfect, of what is found in nature or life. A perfectly done portrait of a person or an inanimate object is not really my preference in art. Where is the mystery, my mind and heart ask. Where is the hidden, my mind and heart search.

All bad art comes from returning to life and nature, and elevating them into ideals. Life and nature may sometimes be used as part of art's rough material, but before they are of any real service to art they must be translated into artistic conventions. The moment art surrenders its imaginative medium it surrenders everything. As a method realism is a complete failure, and the two things that every artist should avoid are modernity of form and modernity of subject-matter.

-- Oscar Wilde

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Over the last few years I have also come to a realisation that realism in writing also doesn't do much for me either. I am discovering that I don't care much for the kind of writing that is merely a documentation of what is observed or heard or experienced. I used to do such writing as part of my social science research training and professional work. Such writing serves an important purpose in advancing our collective understanding of outer human experience and I know from experience it isn't easy to do.

But that was then.

Now I am more inclined toward writing that doesn't merely reproduce the various 'facts' or 'realities' of life and nature as experienced by the subject(s) or character(s) in question. I am touched by the writing that makes room for the unseen, the invisible, the 'un-real' almost. No matter how enjoyable the turn of the phrase and how masterful the wordsmithing, a piece of writing that is only about 'what is' doesn't really move me. I am moved by the writing that seems to invite me to explore 'what isn't but could be', the writing that compels me to 'see' the invisible behind the appearance, to 'hear' the silence between the two audible words, to 'experience' the stillness behind all that is in motion.

That's the kind of writing I aspire to do someday.

No, not fantasy. Not science fiction. Neither fiction, nor non-fiction. Not abstract philosophy. No, no.

O Poet, O Artist, if thou but holdest up the mirror to Nature, thinkest thou Nature will rejoice in thy work? Rather she will turn away her face. For what dost thou hold up to her there? Herself? No, but a lifeless outline and reflection, a shadowy mimicry. It is the secret soul of Nature thou hast to seize, thou hast to hunt eternally after the truth in the external symbol, and that no mirror will hold for thee, nor for her whom thou seekest.

-- Sri Aurobindo

I hope to write of life and about life, but life that isn't only lived on the outer surface. I hope to write about nature, but nature that isn't only seen with the outer eyes. I wish to engage in an experience of writing that tries to seize something that is only vaguely expressing itself, or hiding itself, through the outer expression of words, sentences, paragraphs. The writing that engages with the invisible behind the visible, the eternal behind the temporal, the spirit behind the form.

If I had the Midas touch, that's the kind of writing I would like to do...



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You may also like a few more posts on writing - On Writing in English,  Blank Pages No More, Light is All You Need, Why Should I Write

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This post has been picked as a WOW post by BlogAdda. The topic this time is - "If I had the Midas touch...."

De-cluttering on My Mind

A new post in the series: Reminders to self

Prologue

As you can see I am blogging daily now, at least am trying to do so for a week-long challenge at Write Tribe. Though I generally prefer to write at my own pace, I have learned that once in a while participating in such "daily writing" challenges can help me get some necessary practice and develop greater confidence in writing something substantive even under the pressure of a deadline. I hope I will make it through these 7 days.

For this particular week-long challenge the only restriction the participants have is in the form of the different "type" of post they are asked to write for each day of the week.  Other than that, participants are free to use that "type" to write anything of their choice as long as it fits within the day's type. And of course, there is plenty of room for interpreting the "type" itself.

For the first day, we were asked to write a "List." And I wrote this.

For the second day, the type was "Answer a question" to which my response was this post.

Today, we are asked to write a review. 

In the past I have written about a few books and movies on this blog (for a few film-related posts, see here, here and here). In fact, my "list" post was also a sort of a review of the movie, Haider, though it can't be really categorized as a review. Somehow I am not really fond of writing reviews but prefer to present my interpretive or reflective take on books or movies that I find significant for some special reason.

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For this review post, I invite readers to revisit with me an old post of mine. Again, it is not really a review of a film, but an interpretive look at the set decor of the film. Surprised? Well, don't be. For the last few days I have been actively de-cluttering and re-organizing some of the spaces in my home. I have been mostly removing objects, simplifying things, and creating cleaner and lighter spaces. So it is not really a surprise for me that after eliminating many different ideas for this review post, I felt drawn to revisiting and revising this old post focusing on this very idea of de-cluttering.

Since films are primarily a visual medium, a lot of thought and planning goes into planning, setting up and portrayal of the backdrop or background against which the film's characters play out their roles and become part of a story. In many ways, the visual backdrop becomes an integral part of the story's narrative because it sets the tone for the contexts and spaces in which the characters move, live out their parts and connect with one another.

The star of this post is a Hindi film called Listen Amaya. With a stellar cast like Deepti Naval and Farooq Sheikh it sounded promising. I must add that I wasn't disappointed when I watched the film, it is actually quite interesting and different from the usual masala and formula films dished out by the Hindi film industry. The story-line is sensitive and delicate, though at times I felt that some parts were handled in a rather “filmy” and somewhat clichéd manner. But as I mentioned this is not really a critical review of the film.

So the real star of the post is the visual backdrop of the film. The opening credits of the film clearly mention that the whole set decor of the film was done by Fabindia, and obviously I was expecting a certain kind of visual sensibility and aesthetic appeal. And in a way it generated my curiosity about the film. In fact, the visual backdrop of the film was a key aspect of the film why a few people familiar with my taste in home decor and interior design had recommended the film in the first place. If you are familiar with Fabindia, you know that there is a specific visual appeal and characteristic to the whole range of their products.

Personally speaking, I like that kind of aesthetic very much – the whole hand-woven, hand-made quality and look of fabrics, furnishings, combined with somewhat bold and rustic looking old-wood furniture and home accessories made of natural  material and with an earthy-feel. Mostly, it is the Indian touch and feel of some of these products that appeals to me very much.

But then sometimes too much of a good thing can also be....well, simply too much.

  

(Too many objects crowding up a tiny corner; that tall display stand in the bedroom makes the space stuffy and dark.)

That is at least how I felt when exposed to an overdose of all the Fabindia stuff in pretty much every shot of the film Listen Amaya. It sort of became a bit distracting and irritating to see an over-abundance of the “ethnic-chic-decorated” look. Since most of the film is shot in the interior locations (home settings such as living room, bedroom, kitchen, and coffee shop), there were plenty of occasions for the filmmakers to showcase the Fabindia style of home decor. And boy, did they use them all?!

At times I was wondering if the filmmakers had ever heard of the word “restraint.” I mean, why zoom in so many times on the coasters and that serving tray? Perhaps it was the nature of their contract with Fabindia that compelled them to highlight everything in the set decor which was from Fabindia – from coffee mugs to serving trays to table coasters to kitchen utensils, from bookshelves to beds to chairs to sofa sets to wall decor to all other doo-dads that filled up the living spaces of the characters in the film. The result was that the spaces shown in the film felt artificial, crowded, stuffy and over done. At least for my taste they did.

           

(The tall shelf on the wall seems redundant, unnecessarily crowding up the space.)

As much as I like the Fabindia style (though I will also admit I have perhaps only a couple of objects in my home that were purchased from Fabindia – I generally prefer more direct and local sources than a retail chain outlet) does it mean that I would want to live in a “Fabindia style” museum which doesn’t allow my eyes or mind any visual and spatial relief? Certainly NO. And after seeing this film's visual backdrop I have become a bit more aware of how I want my living spaces to look and feel. My style (if I can call it that) involves more of a mix-and-match of different looks and styles with an aim to create a somewhat cleaner, natural, balanced and minimally decorated look.

A living space is not “decorated” by merely lining up all the products bought from your favourite store(s). A beautiful and comfortable living space is put together over a period of time in a deliberate and thoughtful manner. And a conscious and deliberate process of creating a living space (whether it is a room or a corner of the room) includes not only the process of adding objects, but also eliminating and removing those objects that don’t fit in that space. Maybe that is another word – “remove” – which the set designers of Listen Amaya could have benefited from when planning the overall visual appeal of the film’s sets. Sometimes simply by removing a bit of the “stuff and fluff” and creating a visual relief can enhance the overall appeal of the space.

But then all this is perhaps a subjective view. And others may feel very differently about everything I have said here. No issues there. Really!

Reminder to self

However, what is perhaps most relevant and worth remembering is that these ideas of restraint and removing the fluff are not just limited to creating harmonious living spaces on the outside. The same principles apply to the spaces inside of us, where we live when we are by ourselves. Our minds, our thoughts, our emotions, our real inner living spaces. How do we practice restraint there? How do we remove the extra “stuff and fluff” from there so that we have cleaner, more harmonious and beautifully balanced inner spaces in which we dwell?

“Things in which we do not take joy are either a burden upon our minds to be got rid of at any cost; or they are useful, and therefore in temporary and partial relation to us, becoming burdensome when their utility is lost; or they are like wandering vagabonds, loitering for a moment on the outskirts of our recognition, and then passing on. A thing is only completely our own when it is a thing of joy to us.” (Rabindranath Tagore)

And this, I believe, is truly the key to a true “interior decor” – both of ourselves and our living spaces, of our inner and outer homes.

Epilogue

This is the 200th post on this blog. I am actually quite happy that it turned out to be the 200th post because the theme of de-cluttering, simplifying and cleaning up our outer and inner spaces is a perfect fit with the guiding spirit of this blog. To create beauty, to experience beauty we also need to remove the redundant, ignore the inessential, and eliminate the excessive.

 Picture credits: All stills from the film Listen Amaya are courtesy of Facebook page of Fabindia. 

All pictures of my home, courtesy Suhas Mehra

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To see previous post in the series, Reminders to self, click here.

To see all posts in the series, click here.

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Linking this to Write Tribe: Write a Review

(The original post, titled "On Harmonious Living Spaces - Outer and Inner" was published on August 27, 2013)

Eyes that Dance: Performance of Anguliyankam

June 12, 2014. SPIC MACAY CONVENTION, IIT-Madras, around 9:00 pm

The wonderful performance by Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt had just finished. The soul-stirring music of Mohan Veena was still ringing in the ears and creating a peaceful vibration within. A group of people were busy rearranging the stage for the Koodiayattam performance by Shri Margi Madhu and his accompanists. Margi Madhu is a performer, choreographer and teacher, and has also been involved in research projects on various aspects of this art form. A recipient of many awards, he is one of the few performers left of this most elaborate and beautiful dance form. Margi Madhu and his wife, Indu G, who holds a PhD in Koodiyattam, run the Nepathya center for excellence in central Kerala. 

This was my first real exposure to Koodiyattam, also called Kutiyattam, one of the oldest dance forms in the world, originating from Kerala. This 2000+ year old Sanskrit dance-drama was traditionally performed only in special venues called koothambalams in Hindu temples and only by Chakyars, a particular community in Kerala. This ancient and living art form is now recognized by UNESCO as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.

Characterized by slow and steady movements, Koodiyattam is a very difficult art form to perfect, especially because the artist must express the varied emotions mostly through the use of only his upper body, and particularly through his eyes. Koodiyattam performances are lengthy and elaborate affairs, and traditionally range from 12 to 150 hours spread across several nights.

That night of June 12, Margi Madhu’s performance Anguliyankam (Presentation of the Ring), based on Hanuman’s search for Sita in Lanka was a sheer delight for the senses. It brought to life the Sundara Kanda of the epic Ramayana, especially the part when Hanuman finds Devi Sita in Ashok-vatika at Ravana’s place and gives her the ring of Lord Rama. The performance also thrilled the audience in its portrayal of Hanuman’s appearance in Ravana’s court after he is caught by the soldiers of the demon-king.

                     

Typically the ritualistic performance of a single act such as Anguliyankam from the Sanskrit play Ascharya Choodamani is enacted over a period of 12 days. In 1993, Margi brought it outside temple premises and presented the entire text over two-and-a-half years by way of weekly performances. In June 2012, Nepathya Koodiyattom Centre presented the first full-length continuous performance of Anguliyankam outside temple precincts over a period of 29 evenings. This programme was held in collaboration with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where many students and research scholars in Indology and Sanskrit have been engaged in a deep study of the intricacies of this rare art form under the leadership of the noted Indologist and Koodiyattam aficionado Dr. David Shulman. (Read a fascinating account of that performance by Prof. Shulman here.)  

On the evening of June 12, 2014 at the student center of IIT-M campus, setting the stage took about 30-45 minutes. After this, the audience were given a brief but highly informative session by Dr. Indu, explaining some of the richness and subtleties of Koodiyattam, including the sacred nature of the art form and the musical instruments used in the performance. An outline of the story of Anguliyankam was also provided, in which through hand gestures she demonstrated some of what the audience were going to witness in the actual performance.

Margi Madhu’s performance lasted for a little more than 2 hours. But that in no way diminished the intensity of experience. The expression on his face, especially the movement of his eyes, the beats of the sacred copper drums known as mizhavu, the wonderful harmony between the dancer’s movements and the drummers' beats, all of it was enough to take you to a world where everything else sort of disappears and you just want to focus on the subtleties of the drama being unfolded in front of you. 

Margi Madhu's eyes expressed deep emotion compelling the spectator to take up the challenge of exploring deep into the layers, not only of the particular sequence in the story but also of the reality itself. As you begin to appreciate the slow and patient perfection through which subtle movements and gestures depict the richness of an emotion or a feeling, you begin to feel a connection with the moment itself. It is as if you have become that emotion itself for that fraction of the moment. Imagine what it would feel like to experience a full length performance over several days and weeks!

When I recall my experience of sitting through this marvellous performance, two things strike me the most. 

In today’s time when everything is about a fast pace of life and people (children, youth and adults alike) are being forced to move faster and faster and do more and more, what Koodiyattam represents is an opportunity to appreciate the deep and hidden beauty in all that is ‘slow’, ‘repetitive’, ‘patient’ and hence 'perfect'. 

Secondly, in our present age when it has become so common to speak of and even complain of reduced attention span and extremely limited concentration abilities, watching a performance of this dance form from thousands of years ago in itself is a great lesson in developing and practicing deep concentration skills.

~ Photos by Suhas Mehra

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For my previous post on the Mohan Veena performance at SPIC-MACAY convention, click here.

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Linking this post with ABC Wednesday, A: A is for Anguliyankam

An Extraordinary Moment

August 2012. 

I stood there. In awe. In front of That. Couldn't move my eyes off That.

And in a few seconds it happened.

The tears started flowing. Tears that must flow when your heart is so full, so very full that it just doesn't know what else to do. It melts through your eyes.

These are the moments when the mind doesn't know what is going on. The mind just goes out of the picture. Thankfully. And you are there simply in that moment of oneness with That. With the Spirit of That which is in front of your eyes.

Like that afternoon of August 2012, when I stood in front of the bodhisattva Padmapani at Ajanta Caves (cave 1). What an extraordinary experience it was! There were many people in the cave, admiring, whispering, talking, taking pictures, strolling about. But all of them, all of that disappeared. Sort of.

And there I was, frozen at the spot, right in front of the over-life-size Padmapani, painted on the wall of the cave. And the tears wouldn't stop. What I felt was and still remains indescribable. But that's because describing is the task of the mind. There was no mind involved in what I was feeling. Or at least that's how it feels even after two years.

The only word that comes to mind when I recall that experience is - Gratitude. For that Experience, that Moment. For those Artists who have given us such Works of Art.

Art that has the potential to take you into Silence. To give you a taste of that rare Joy when you connect with something Beyond, something Higher than yourself. Art that expresses an aspect of Divinity through Matter.

Art that is not only to be enjoyed on the surface. It can't be because it doesn't reveal itself fully on that level. It has to be felt, experienced in a different way.

I feel blessed to have had that moment when I could experience the Padmapani in that way. Sort of.

Painting is naturally the most sensuous of the arts, and the highest greatness open to the painter is to spiritualise this sensuous appeal by making the most vivid outward beauty a revelation of subtle spiritual emotion...

... the unique character of Indian painting, the peculiar appeal of the art of Ajanta springs from the remarkably inward, spiritual and psychic turn which was given to the artistic conception and method by the pervading genius of Indian culture. 

Indian painting like Indian architecture and sculpture appeals through the physical and psychical to another spiritual vision from which the artist worked and it is only when this is no less awakened in us than the aesthetic sense that it can be appreciated in all the depth of its significance. 

~ Sri Aurobindo, Indian Art, CWSA Volume 20, pp. 302-304 

~ Photo by Suhas Mehra

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Linking this post with ABC Wednesday, X: X is for Extraordinary. 

"All Art is Quite Useless": What a Wild(e) Idea!

A new post in the series - Satyam Shivam Sundaram

A series featuring inspiring words from various sources, words that speak of timeless truths, words that remind me of the deeper and hidden truth behind surface events and phenomena, words that shine light when all seems dark, words that are just what I need - for this moment and for all times to come.

Source

One Monday afternoon. Around 3:30 pm. I thought of taking a little nap to rest my eyes after some long hours of staring at the computer. But of course, there was no sign of sleep anywhere.

Without even looking I picked up a book (yes, I still read actual printed books, not the kindle kinds) from the pile of books on the bedside table, thinking maybe reading a page or two might make me tired enough, and sleep would then bless me.

It was Oscar Wilde's classic 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' - something I had read years ago. But a few months ago my husband bought a new copy of this thinking he would like to read it. Of course, he didn't and the book had been taking a good rest on the bedside table.

Until that Monday afternoon.

Those who have read the book may recall the famous "Preface" to this book. I admit I had forgotten most of it, except for a couple of sentences which I have seen quoted in many other places in the last several years.

I am not an artist, but I have close family members and friends who are - painters, photographers, musicians, dancers, poets. And when I read Oscar Wilde's Preface that Monday afternoon, my thoughts went to all those artists I know and those I don't. And I didn't read anything beyond that Preface. I still haven't.

Here is the Preface.

The artist is the creator of beautiful things.
To reveal art and conceal the artist is art's aim.
The critic is he who can translate into another manner or a new material his impression of beautiful things.
The highest as the lowest form of criticism is a mode of autobiography.
Those who find ugly meanings in beautiful things are corrupt without being charming. This is a fault.
Those who find beautiful meanings in beautiful things are the cultivated. For these there is hope. They are the elect to whom beautiful things mean only beauty.
There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written. That is all.
The nineteenth century dislike of realism is the rage of Caliban seeing his own face in a glass.
The nineteenth century dislike of romanticism is the rage of Caliban not seeing his own face in a glass.
The moral life of man forms part of the subject-matter of the artist, but the morality of art consists in the perfect use of an imperfect medium.
No artist desires to prove anything. Even things that are true can be proved.
No artist has ethical sympathies. An ethical sympathy in an artist is an unpardonable mannerism of style.
No artist is ever morbid. The artist can express everything.
Thought and language are to the artist instruments of an art.
Vice and virtue are to the artist materials for an art.
From the point of view of form, the type of all the arts is the art of the musician. From the point of view of feeling, the actor's craft is the type.
All art is at once surface and symbol.
Those who go beneath the surface do so at their peril.
Those who read the symbol do so at their peril.
It is the spectator, and not life, that art really mirrors.
Diversity of opinion about a work of art shows that the work is new, complex, and vital.
When critics disagree, the artist is in accord with himself.
We can forgive a man for making a useful thing as long as he does not admire it. The only excuse for making a useless thing is that one admires it intensely.
All art is quite useless.

What a collection of witty aphorisms here! So Wilde-like.

By sharing this Preface here, I am not declaring my complete agreement with all the things Mr. Wilde says. For example, I am not convinced that "All art is quite useless." Of course, one would need to first figure out what is meant by Art. And what is meant by Usefulness? Does a beautiful piece of hand-made pottery, say a vase or a bowl, made by a studio potter qualify as art?

But I think I somewhat follow the line of argument that Wilde is making here and see the value of his point and accept its partially and contextually relevant truth-value. And certainly, when one situates the Preface in the larger controversy that surrounded this particular book, the author's words become hugely significant and very apt.

Wilde added this Preface to the book, along with several other changes, after the first, 1890 edition of the book was highly criticized. He used it to "address the criticism and defend the novel's reputation." The collection of statements in this Preface also "serves as an indicator of the way in which [he] intends the novel to be read." 

But the main reason why I became fascinated by this Preface is this: It serves as an excellent illustration of what Sri Aurobindo refers to as the conflict between Aesthetic and Ethical tendencies of the human mind. In his major work on social philosophy, The Human Cycle, he writes: 

There is in our mentality a side of will, conduct, character which creates the ethical man; there is another side of sensibility to the beautiful,—understanding beauty in no narrow or hyper-artistic sense,—which creates the artistic and aesthetic man. Therefore there can be such a thing as a predominantly or even exclusively ethical culture; there can be too, evidently, a predominantly or even exclusively aesthetic culture. There are at once created two conflicting ideals which must naturally stand opposed and look askance at each other with a mutual distrust or even reprobation. The aesthetic man tends to be impatient of the ethical rule; he feels it to be a barrier to his aesthetic freedom and an oppression on the play of his artistic sense and his artistic faculty; he is naturally hedonistic,—for beauty and delight are inseparable powers, —and the ethical rule tramples on pleasure, even very often on quite innocent pleasures, and tries to put a strait waistcoat on the human impulse to delight. He may accept the ethical rule when it makes itself beautiful or even seize on it as one of his instruments for creating beauty, but only when he can subordinate it to the aesthetic principle of his nature,—just as he is often drawn to religion by its side of beauty, pomp, magnificent ritual, emotional satisfaction, repose or poetic ideality and aspiration,—we might almost say, by the hedonistic aspects of religion. Even when fully accepted, it is not for their own sake that he accepts them. The ethical man repays this natural repulsion with interest. He tends to distrust art and the aesthetic sense as something lax and emollient, something in its nature undisciplined and by its attractive appeals to the passions and emotions destructive of a high and strict self-control. He sees that it is hedonistic and he finds that the hedonistic impulse is non-moral and often immoral. It is difficult for him to see how the indulgence of the aesthetic impulse beyond a very narrow and carefully guarded limit can be combined with a strict ethical life. He evolves the puritan who objects to pleasure on principle; not only in his extremes—and a predominant impulse tends to become absorbing and leads towards extremes—but in the core of his temperament he remains fundamentally the puritan. The misunderstanding between these two sides of our nature is an inevitable circumstance of our human growth which must try them to their fullest separate possibilities and experiment in extremes in order that it may understand the whole range of its capacities. (CWSA, Volume 25, pp. 95-96, emphasis added).

A lot is packed in this one paragraph. It may require a slow and careful reading. Perhaps a few times to fully appreciate the point being made here.

Many of the controversies that we witness around art and literature can be understood in the light of this psychological basis, this misunderstanding between the two sides of human nature and mentality. It certainly explains much of the criticism Wilde's book received, the plot of which also interestingly deals with similar themes of aestheticism, hedonism, morality, virtue and beauty.

Is there a way to move beyond or reconcile these two sides of our human nature? That is an obvious question. But in life there are no quick or obvious answers. The only answer I can give now is - read the full chapter at least, if not the whole book :)

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Linking this post with ABC Wednesday, W: W is for Wilde

When a Movie is Not Just a Movie

A few weeks ago I watched a movie called "The Monuments Men". Doesn't the title itself sounds interesting? To me it did. Well, to my husband actually who picked it up from the DVD store. He saw the cover, saw George Clooney on it and he knew I would enjoy it no matter what. And he was right. I enjoyed the film, and not just because of George Clooney (did I say that the film is also directed by him, so a two-in-one kind of treat if you are a real fan), not because it is a great film or anything, but for some other reasons which I will share in a minute. I enjoyed the film even though at times the plot seemed a bit chaotic with too many characters in too many different locations....but then there's always the George Clooney factor. Really. That takes care of many things, at least for me. And if that's not enough, how about throwing in the mix Matt Damon too. Can it get any better than that?

Of course it can. 

If you start going a bit deep into what the movie is telling you.

You might have guessed by now that this is not a review of the film. Those you can read on the net, if you have heard of something called Google. A few reviews that I read after watching the film (I generally avoid reading anything about a film if I am planning to watch it) were a mixed bag, some pointing out the historical inaccuracies in the film's plot (the film claims to be based on true events), some referring to other flaws in the film narrative, the lack of character development etc. But all that is too technical for my specific purpose here.

What I found most interesting in the film was the idea behind the story. The idea that while the whole world was burning under the massive flames of the inferno called Second World War, there was a small but very important concern taking hold of some minds that the War was destroying not only millions of human lives and thousands of cities and towns, but was also posing a great danger to the innumerable pieces of art, architecture and sculpture, one of the greatest accomplishments of any civilization.

Saving art and sculpture in the middle of a gruesome, most horrible war? Can any piece of art be worth more than a human life? Can a group of dedicated art-enthusiasts really save some precious art without concern for their safety? Should they have taken that risk? The film brings out some of these questions. And I, for one, thought that it was worth reflecting on those questions because they challenge us to think about the conflict that often arises between saving the life of human beings and the life of humanity. They challenge us to reflect upon the fact that a culture, a civilization is a living, breathing thing, which must be protected and aggressively defended, even in the middle of a war.

“The culture of a people may be roughly described as the expression of a consciousness of life which formulates itself in three aspects. There is a side of thought, of ideal, of upward will and the soul’s aspiration; there is a side of creative self-expression and appreciative aesthesis, intelligence and imagination; and there is a side of practical and outward formulation.” 

 ~Sri Aurobindo, CWSA, Volume 20, p. 106 

The film’s premise and especially the true historical events which inspired the film really provoke the audience to reflect upon the value and necessity of all possible efforts that must be made to preserve and conserve the highest accomplishments and achievements of a culture’s creative self-expression and aesthetic imagination. It compels the audience to dig deep into the need for an aggressive defense of a culture and its highest accomplishments against all barbarism, whether it is an invasion from the outside or a parasite from within. It certainly made me recall this line: 

“The culture which gives up its living separateness, the civilisation which neglects an active self-defence will be swallowed up and the nation which lived by it will lose its soul and perish” (ibid., p. 57).

That is what the art-enthusiasts in the film were trying to do. They were trying to protect and defend that which made their culture living and unique, they were ready to sacrifice their lives to protect and defend the finest accomplishments of their civilization which were under grave danger. An idea like this in itself makes the film worthwhile in my subjective view.

But then there were two other things that made the film even more interesting for me. And these were not in any way part of the film’s story-line or narrative.

One was this thought at the back of my mind which at times even made me feel a little disconnected from the film. As I was watching this wonderful example of how some of the best art and sculpture produced by centuries and centuries of Western civilization was being so courageously protected and defended, I couldn't help feeling a tinge of pain when my thought went to the cruel historical reality that it was the same Western civilization which was behind the massive destruction of so many wonderful human accomplishments – be it in art, sculpture, systems of education, ways of life, languages, religions, – in so many parts of the world.

So many indigenous cultures and civilizations all over the world have had to face the destructive might of the West, in the name of imperialism, colonialism, settlement, civilizing mission, (and now economic globalization). What about all that?  -- a part of my mind kept raising this question. But the other part very much understood that the film was not about that, the story was set in a very particular historical moment, and that’s what it is concerned with.  And yet….

The second thing, which was again not part of the film’s plot or narrative, which made the experience more thought-provoking for me, is related to the first but is particularly relevant to India. A part of my mind wandered to the most violent and brutal destruction that had been unleashed on India’s finest sculptural and architectural marvels. The ruins of India’s glorious heritage and civilization are scattered all over her landscape for anyone to see. Thousands of broken stones and beheaded statues in thousands of Indian temples and cave-monasteries built thousands of years ago speak the story of the massive destruction they had once gone through at the hands of invaders and looters.

Kailash cave-temple, Ellora, photo by Suhas Mehra

They also speak the sad story of how even today India is not fully awakened to the need of protecting and defending this great heritage, these great accomplishments of her culture and civilization. The threat this time is not from the outside invaders, but from the in-house ignorance, apathy, indifference, neglect, and total disregard. The threat this time is not so much from the bullets and machine guns, but more from the home-grown weapons of mass delusion that are launched incessantly by the aggressive marketers of the glories of commercial-consumerist-mechanical-materialistic view of life(style).

Well, you would have never thought that a write-up on a film can be this long, especially when it doesn't even claim to be a review of the film. Let me conclude by saying that while the film as a film may not be that great (yes, despite George Clooney and Matt Damon), it certainly compels the audience (at least it compelled me) to reflect upon a few very important questions about the significance of art and all other highest aesthetic accomplishments in a civilization’s evolutionary march.

The film forces us to ask ourselves if we are doing enough to defend and protect those achievements of our past which have given our culture and civilization a unique stamp. It raises the question whether the future of a civilization depends on the extent to which the present generations can preserve and protect the finest splendours that have been handed over to them from the generations past.

Designing Mom

A new post in the series - When a Picture Leads

(The difference this time is that the picture is given as a writing prompt by Write Tribe - a wonderful resource supporting writers, bloggers, and wanna-be writers)

One look at the “girl’s room” of the ‘model-home’ in the residential complex where they would soon relocate, and her 10-year-old instantaneously pronounced – “Not even for a second think about doing my room like this.” 

She smiled and felt relieved. Her aesthetic sensibility and preference for simple design had passed on to her daughter. 

“What if she'd wanted some ‘artificial’ décor, like that ‘beach-ey’ poster on the wall in this concrete jungle? Would the designer-in-me agree?” She shook her head as if to not even entertain the thought and walked out, knowing exactly what their ‘real’ home would look like. 

Source: Image 1, Image 2 mine

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To read previous posts in the series "When a Picture Leads" click here.

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Written for Write Tribe 100 words on Saturday Prompt - using prepositions in, on, at, and the picture of the pink bedroom above.

Of Spaces and Lives

A new post in the series - When a Picture Leads

The bookcases filled, the tabletops decorated, the walls adorned, the shelves artfully arranged. I like it all, enjoy it all and care for it all. 

Yet sometimes a feeling enters, quite quietly, a sort of a longing to escape from it all. Of wanting to give it up, almost all. 

To experience the simplicity, the emptiness, the barrenness almost.

To be in a space that has all the room for stuff of life, yet is content with simply being. Unadorned, untouched.

Balancing the simplicity of minimalism and simplicity of fullness - my ongoing struggle with designing my space, my life.

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This post is inspired by the two pictures, shown above, of the two vases by Japanese American artist, Isamu Noguchi. I first saw these pictures a few years ago on the WWW, and since then I have simply loved the simplicity of these designs. Noguchi designed these vases in 1952 and called each of these simply as "vase". Perfect. Simple. Timeless. 

To see the previous posts in this series "When a Picture Leads", click here.

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Linking this post with WriteTribe 100 words on Saturday prompt: quite quietly

That Long Wait

A new post in the series - A Poem and A Song

It is actually quite amazing when you find the same thought being expressed through a picture, a poem, a song, or even a gesture. Perhaps it happens because the thought has sunk deep into you, at least for the time being, and you just view a certain picture, read a certain poem and hear a certain song as expressions of that singular thought. 

Or perhaps they really are conveying the same thought, but in different shades and hues. 

And it just so happens that when that very thought captured your attention, certain pictures, poems and songs also appeared before you allowing you to delve deeper into the thought and let it reveal its deeper essence to you. 

Regardless of how it happens, it is always a moment to relish and cherish the beauty. The beauty of the picture, the song, the poem. The beauty of the experience. The beauty of the moment.

Source

She waits. And waits. Will he come this evening? What if he doesn't come? What will I do? How will I bear more waiting?

But wait a minute, what if he actually comes? Is the garland ready? Is the lamp lit? Am I ready? Even worse, will I recognize him?

And so it goes. Every evening, every night. New morning, same old waiting. Old love, a new kind of waiting.

She waits. And waits.

Waiting

The song I came to sing 

remains unsung to this day. 

I have spent my days in stringing 

and in unstringing my instrument. 

The time has not come true, 

the words have not been rightly set; 

only there is the agony 

of wishing in my heart….. 

I have not seen his face, 

nor have I listened to his voice; 

only I have heard his gentle footsteps 

from the road before my house….. 

But the lamp has not been lit 

and I cannot ask him into my house; 

I live in the hope of meeting with him; 

but this meeting is not yet.

~ Rabindranath Tagore

Singer: Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan

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Linking this with Everyday Gyaan - Anything Goes on Sunday-2

Eastern Light

A new series - Light and Sound

When a picture searches for its music, or a piece of music finds its right picture...the result is a magical experience of Light and Sound. 

Photo by Hengki Koentjoro, sourced from here

There is a certain mystical quality to the above picture, something about this skyline of grand temples and pagodas that seem to be reaching up to the infinite heavens above.

A few more silent minutes of contemplation reveals that the picture also speaks of a sense of deep awareness that the real infinity lies within, hidden between or behind or underneath light and shadow, clarity and obscurity, luster and dullness.

To me at least, in its own way this picture speaks of something very specific that emphasizes the uniqueness of the East, where the deepest inmost seeking has traditionally been the starting point for most of the outer action, including the building of massive structures where inner contemplation meets outer worship, with an aim to unite the worshipper, the act of worship, and the object of worship into One that is in fact Everyone and Everything.

In their own language of melody and notes, of sounds and silences, Pandit Ravi Shankar and Friends expressed a similar sentiment in their album East Greets East. The picture above seems to find its music in the following track...  

Don't the picture and the music go together well? I think so.

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Linked to ABC Wednesday: "E" is for East.

Beauty in Opposites

A new post in the series - "All Music is Only the Sound of His Laughter."

Sometimes you find beauty and meaning when you come across two absolutely contradictory things. 

Like this ghazal by Ghalib, in the young voice of Jagjit Singh from late 1960s. The feeling of Hopelessness, Lost-in-the-World is wonderfully expressed through the words as well as the singing. 

And then, a few days later you see something like this -  

Photo by Hengki Koentjoro, via here

This picture appropriately titled Hope by the photographer captures and expresses so perfectly the essence of what Hope is  - a bright light shining through where all seems dark and dreary. 

This oscillation between Hopelessness and Hope is what our ordinary experience is mostly about. There are days we feel so full of hope, optimism and a quiet feeling of assurance that all is well, and all will be well. And then there are days when we just don't know how to let go of this persistent feeling of doubt, despair and hopelessness. 

Maybe it is this oscillation that keeps us real and grounded in this relative realm where the chaos and mess of every-day life can at times be overwhelming and over-powering. Perhaps if we can somehow grow in our acceptance of this simple truth that the length of the shadow is only as real as the movement of the light, maybe we can then learn to see this oscillation as part of the inherent beauty of this worldly existence of ours....just like the dance of light and shadow. 

Perhaps. 

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