Short note on Us and Inspiration

It is obvious; a person who creates, needs inspiration. There is no formula to creativity or math or even errors. Much like a tan, if you live out in the sun and out of the shade, very soon your skin gives way, it wrinkles, hardens and tans. Creativity thus is not for the fair skinned and the delicate to touch. Air conditioning cannot be an artist’s way of life.

I struggle. Yes I do. Unfortunately for me, I am born into a family of air conditioning, carpeted floors and scotch. The struggle has been to find inspiration, to have some sun beat down on me and darken my skin, to rough it out in the wilderness in the midst of plague and war. I grew up wishing I had a sad story to tell, wishing there was a secret in my life that I was yet to uncover, that my home would suddenly be struck by disarray or that I would be kidnapped by aliens…as you can see, I grew desperate. There was no poetic injustice that offended me.

Would this big bad world deprive me of my true inspiration by giving me a content life? The questions burnt my brain as I would imagine sweet unhappiness strike me down and how the words would then flow over the blank pages that sat before me. Oh, mischievous discontent, how you escape me!

Imagine a room in the middle of a hurricane. That is what it would have looked like inside my head. Papers flying, ink pots smashing against the wall, a flickering bulb from the ceiling swaying first and then tearing off of its wire and cracking on the floor, chairs flinging themselves against the brittle window. Me, standing in the middle of it all; with sweaty palms, desperate for one of the objects to knock me out so that I could wake up from my unconsciousness in a different life with a different story. But the hurricane always left me untouched, my brain would tire and I would sleep, completely conscious of my unpoetic life.

That suddenly one day turned to poetry.

I woke up from the hurricane one day and realized that I’m in love with a unicorn. I can write my poetry with his silver ink.

My Folk heroes

 Selfless wanderers, minstrels in brightly coloured clothes carrying with them, only the soul of Bengal. The Bauls, as their name suggests, appear restless as though they have been possessed by the wind, having forsaken for centuries the binds of social traditions, they are the hippies of Bengal who sing about nature, intoxication and beautiful women.

Paban Das Baul

The Bauls, do not believe in religion, in fact their cult is based on music and the search for God that everyone must carry out for their own selves. Much like the patchworked robes that a lot of them wear (as captivating as a psychedelic wallpaper), the roots of their belief is a fusion of Buddhism, Shakti-ism (believers of Kali) and Sufi Islam. The expression of one’s body is an integral part of what they believe in, of finding one’s soul mate, not a marriage partner, but one whose physicality will forever be in tune with your own. Their heritage preaches mysticism and the force of “Prakriti” (nature), never having bothered to write their songs down.

Parvathy Baul

Dressed in beads with a shock of unkempt hair and an ektara in his arms (a one stringed instrument), a Baul sits alone or surrounded by a group of those enchanted by him and sings from his heart, he booms out his voice, you might not follow his language but the very rhythm and tune might remind you of a past life, or take you on a journey of ecstasy.

I suggest you take a train to Shantinektan, find a quiet spot under a tree by yourself and listen to a Baul sing in the distance, it would be a lifetime’s worth of soul-searching. 

What are you reading today?

Flashy bookstores with long aisles of colourful reading material can only make one wonder, how many of these books got sold today? If you happen to stroll into one such store recently, you will notice how the entrance greets you with a heap of recommendations and current bestsellers.  If you have been noticing the recent trends, you can easily guess that this bestsellers’ heap will have at least a few Self Help books, a few “budget books” by Indian authors and not to forget, the latest alien/dragon killing super hero novel for the young adult. In short, the trend of publication shows a tendency of following the path of “what sells”; which is in reality, a given. But perhaps we also need to look into what it is that sells today and how it is different from what sold before.

In fact, it is very hard to believe today, that what we call "Classic Literature" today were current bestsellers once upon a time. Novels in themselves were a new genre in the 18^th century England and they were printed in small numbers, circulated within a small community. These were considered to be un-important as compared to other texts of poetry, drama, history and religion. Those who did read novels did so in hiding or at the risk of being ostracized by the rest of the community. The novel of course slowly developed and became a major influence on reading trends. The 19^th century saw, with the help of authors such as Oscar Wilde and G B Shaw, the popularization of novels on social commentary.

The first problem that will strike anybody who cares to look into the matter, is that classic literature is being “taught” extensively, and hardly being read. Readers today seem to shy away from such books in self-doubt. The audience barely ever reads about the great novelists of yesterday in magazines anymore nor are these advertised in book stores to attract readers. The only exposure that new readers have to such literature is through the academia and they probably thus decide that the language is too old fashioned and “difficult” for them to derive any pleasure from.

These “readers” of today, the audience to authors, have different needs from readers of past ages. Everyone is a working individual leading busy lives and students live in too competitive an environment to dedicate enough time to heavy literature.  They seem to require and demand a “light” and easy, on-the-go read, which they can connect to and be entertained by. For instance, Stephenie Meyer’s ‘Twilight’, has become a cult series for the teen of today. A sexy and young take on vampires, is generations apart from the masterpiece ‘Dracula’ by Bram Stoker which he wrote in 1897.

There is no doubt therefore that writing and reading evolve with the change in times and cultural conditions. The cultural scenario of today, with an increase in working and professional women for instance has given rise to the popular ‘Chick-Lits’. Industrialization and urbanization has led to the complete lack of nature-influence in literature, or even if there is such a presence, it happens to be a novel based on nature-nostalgia rather than a portrayal of current lives, for example Amitav Ghosh’s ‘Sea of Poppies’. With a large publication of war/crime/terrorism books such as ‘The New Pearl Harbor’, ‘In the Shadow of no Towers’, one can only guess what is on everyone’s mind.

The real question here is whether there is a need for change. Are they right to conclude that current reading trends are frivolous and without depth? “They” being literature enthusiasts and educators who believe that the present scenario of books being published, reflect on the bad reading habits of today. Aren’t these particular questions being raised, the same as when the first novel was circulated in manuscript form? The demands of the reader today are different, we live in an altered world, circumstances have changed, shouldn’t the reading public opinion as well? Of course that brings us to the key side-effect of such a change, what happens to classic literature? Are they left to be forgotten? Are the literary genius’ of old, their masterfully strung together words of brilliance in prose to be admired by a miniscule group of academia in the years to come? Hopefully, sometime in the near future, a casual reader will pick up ‘You were my crush…till you said you loved me’ from the same section as ‘Jane Eyre’ and not be judged. In a world where Chetan Bhagat and P.G.Wodehouse can live in the same bookstore in peace. 

A Lion's Heart

If you thought the 60s were a little insane, you’ll think they were stark raving mad. Who buys a lion cub from a store down the road? But it did happen and John Rendell and Anthony Bourke, brought home their new pet to their King’s Road apartment in London, after they found the him up for sale at Harrods Departmental Store (1969).

Their story with Christian, the Lion, doesn’t end only with taking him for drives in the backseat of their car or playing in a Church graveyard or perhaps even going out for some ice cream together; the truly touching part of the story begins when the two men realise within a year that London was too small and too concrete to live happily with a growing Lion. With the help of George Adamson (if you’ve seen Born Free, it was based on him), a wildlife conservationist in Kenya, they were able to reintroduce Christian into the wild. He was flown there, across continents and John and Anthony were separated from him for a year before they decided to pay him a visit. Over that year, Christian had grown into an adult beautiful Lion, and his proud human parents were overjoyed to hear that Christian had become the leader of his Pride.

One needs to watch the documentary to see how beautiful their reunion was. Without paying heed to warnings that a year apart meant that things would change, John and Anthony went ahead to the Reserve. If you own a dog, you know exactly what it feels like to come home to find him doing nothing else but waiting for you, the most honest and heart-felt emotion that a living thing can express is when your dog shows how glad he is that you came back. You might not believe it, but that is exactly what Christian did, he jumped on them like a dog would jump on his Master, hugging them with his massive paws. He even introduced them to his wife! 

This is one of those stories that make your day and if you are an animal lover it might make you teary. Christian, the Lion only reinstated my complete faith in animals and how honest and unprejudiced their affections are.  Their story might make you want to watch Madagascar again and cry yourself to sleep, cursing the government for making it illegal to walk down the road and pick up an exotic animal from the zoo. 

Bon Appetit, yes Indeed!

I found Julie & Julia on the Golden Globe listings from a few years ago, given the fact that Meryl Streep of course had been nominated in some category. Running out of movies to watch I downloaded the film anyway, despite the fact that its rating on IMDB isn't that high, and decided to watch it when I had absolutely nothing else to do.

So yesterday evening, while I piled up a mountain of laundry on my bed that needed to be ironed, I decided to let the movie play in the background while I was forcing myself to iron clothes which I should have done a couple of months ago. But then again, I found a new reason to put the laundry aside, and this one was a good excuse.

Julie & Julia is about the true life-stories of two women, separated by decades, struggling to turn their mundane lives around and all with the help of food. Meryl Streep plays Julia Child (the woman who made French cooking do-able), who had barely ever boiled an egg in her life. Julia, in the 1950’s, when she moved to Paris with her husband, takes up cooking lessons and eventually masters the art of French cooking, determined to make it simple for all. The film keeps travelling between Julia’s life and Julie Powell’s (played by Amy Adams) struggles in the early 2000’s, who lives with her husband in a small apartment in Queens. A washed-up writer, who hates her job, decides to give cooking a shot. She eventually begins writing a blog, a sort of competition for herself, attempting to cook all the recipes in Child’s humongous cookbook, in a year.

Although Adams' haircut looked a little bit like a WIG and she didn't seem to be getting any fatter with an entire year of all that French food, the movie was a delight, because it told me what I always knew (ever since I broke open locked pantry doors as a 5 year old). Food=good things will happen to you. Also, both the women eventually become successful writers and famous people, and I couldn't help thinking to myself, what am I doing wrong?I eat a lot and sit at my computer and write all day...but then it is fairy tales such as these that make life a journey through a tunnel with a light at the end (no you can't see it like that!You've got to squint). Disclaimer : Julia Child's character might get on your nerves and you might begin to wonder who on Earth (or outerspace) stole Meryl Streep and replaced her with this high-pitched overtly-happy big lady, but I looked it up...she has played Julia Child perfectly. 

So if you for one, do not have any ironing to do over the weekend and if all you’ve ever dreamt of, is to watch a movie about butter, Julie & Julia might just be your cup of tea, or creme brulle if you like.