Artistic Freedom

''When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.
When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.

When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.

When they came for the Jews,
I remained silent;
I was not a Jew.

When they came for me,
There was no one left to speak out.''

Confessed prominent German anti-Nazi theologian and Pastor Martin Niemöller

Creativity is the supreme art. The pursuit of art, thus, is mostly a singular journey at the conceptual as well as the practical level. Art is the making of the new and the artists despite all the commercialisation around ‘create’. ‘Creation’, as art never has a precedent, a legacy or tradition in the normal sense of the term. Even if there is a tradition, it exists not to be followed, not to be learnt and copied but to be experienced and felt only to ‘recreate.’

Art is an effort, an attempt to come to terms with the various component parts of countries, memories, histories, families and gods. Art is an experience for the artist and its connoisseurs, and even for those who ‘hate’ it. Hate is not the right term to be expressively involved to art. An effort and especially a creative effort should be only appreciated. But of late, what we have seen in recent times is that some vigilante extremists are trying to determine and control the dimensions of art. Be it the unnecessary controversy around Prof. Shivaji Panikkar , the attack on Taslima Nasreen by followers of the Majlis Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) in Hyderabad in August 2007, the furore raised on the issue of Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard who caricatured Prophet Mohammed wearing a bomb-shaped turban or Haji Yaqub Qureshi , a minister in the then UP government announcing Rs 50-crore reward publicly, on the head of Danish cartoonists are all vigilantism.

Agreed it was not for art’s sake. It was uncalled for, deplorable and done with a vicious motive. But, it is also true that such violent reactions, somehow, undermine the spirit of creative urge of all the stakeholders. In any case, there will always be a section ready to misuse things created with the best of intention.

The society needs to look for ways to control over-assertion of any short of identities. At the same time overreaction ought to be discouraged for both are forms of radicalism and hence dangerous. What was done to Maqbul Fida Hussain is condemnable. The way an artist of his stature has been forced out of the country is a loss for the tradition of art in this country. Equally condemnable is the ostracising of Salman Rushdie whose writing promises a whole new era in English language and literature.

The impact is for all the reasonable persons to experience. The impact has been disastrous. Creation has got ‘ideology’. Art has become ‘political’. Love for art is being subjected to the whims of collectivism . ‘Individualism ’ has suddenly become a bad word. The expression of feelings is being subjected to hooliganism. It has suddenly got ‘national’ and ‘ethnic’ colours. Suddenly artists being attacked have got media attention. Suddenly a few artists are being blamed for being insensitive and hurting sentiments. The alarm bell is for there to pay attention to. The way not only extremists but also the so called rationalists are taking extreme positions are both detrimental to the cause of institution building.

If all this is not enough we need to revisit the last line of Martin Nimoller’s confession. Otherwise art will be tied either to art galleries who are guided by business considerations at the end of the day or to ideologies. In its existence since times immemorial the love for art was probably never guided so ‘consciously’.

Salman Rushdie once commented, ‘to say that beyond self-exploration lies a sense of writing as sacrament, and maybe that's closer to how I feel: that writing fills the hole left by the departure of God.’

I don’t want that hole to be determined or defined by anyone else.

What Makes Art Contemporary

The three word ‘arts’, ‘aesthetics’ and ‘contemporary’ are in a relationship. But a contemporary art is not necessarily contemporary aesthetics and many art practices and aesthetics sensibilities are not necessarily contemporary despite being in practice.

An art is contemporary, if identified by contemporary people who matter. At the same time an art of a better genre might not be appreciated because of bad marketing or, managerial practices. So what determine the contemporariness of arts and aesthetics is mostly not the art of the arts but the art of presenting art in front of people.

The world famous Indian artist like Subodh Gupta took themes which got an international recognition. But that does not mean he is the only person who thinks on similar lines. Subodh got cows and cow dung, tongs and daily utensils, and such materials of common use to reach this stage. But no less was the role of Flora Boillot in promoting Brand Subodh. What I feel after five months of research and exchanges with these contemporaries is it’s really dependent upon things which might have nothing to do with art.

The conclusion I am able to reach as of now is- contemporary aesthetic beliefs of those who matter is critical for an art to be contemporary.

The fact remains that any folk art is better understood and practised by a larger number of people than any abstract or modern art. Any traditional art, simply because it is in the common psyche since ages is easily understood. But a folk art is not considered contemporary as it is not taken up by the marketers to the Sotheby and the Biennale.

Utility is again not all together a lost case. The survival of an art practice requires it to be of some use. There are many experiments which are in demand today but that might not be the case about them just after a couple of years. While votaries of arts would talk of art for arts’ sake, ultimately, the purpose should be commonly identifiable.

When we visit the market, many old crafts and practices have become contemporary. Yoga and meditation have become contemporary because of their utility. Because Yoga is a rage today, it has affected all forms of contemporary fitness practices. Meditation does not give much scope of changing itself, still it is a rage. Similar patterns are visible in the art world.

Contemporary is not art but the aesthetics of men who matter and the marketers who are able to drive home the point in their mind. These marketers are not the traditional painter artists but those who got taught in Wharton and Harvard: how to sell a product.

Is it good or bad? Will this trend hurt art practice? Do we need to search for better ways to identify or classify what is contemporary art and what is not? These questions are confusing. We really don’t know what’s going to happen after 10 years to the art world. As of now the most difficult is the art of waiting to watch.

Mortuary is no mystery

By Tilak Jha, Sanjeev Kumar and Manisha Sharma

The sight of a corpse leaves many with a palpitating heart. We think it is very difficult to be in a morgue handling the dead day in and out. Death, for man, has always been difficult to come to term with. And we all want to stay away from a mortuary. But “science”, says Dr. Sunay Kumar, senior resident doctor, forensic medicine at the All Indian Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi, “has proved that the fear of dead is a misplaced notion.” “This sealed room has all the skeletal remains of the Nithari serial killings case. It is critical until the trial goes on”, says Dr Adarsh Kumar, Asst. Professor, forensic medicine at, AIIMS. A dead body is as important as those alive to ascertain the cause of death. When there is no evidence, a dead body is the greatest witness of the dead. Autopsy is what helps to know the reasons behind the death. The forensic experts in the mortuary along with their toxicology counterparts make a dead tell the tale of their death, of their claim for justice and peace and the pain and frustration they underwent while alive. But a lot of facilities and care is required and the results can be, at times, startling. Dr. D. N. Bhardwaj, additional professor of forensic science and toxicology at AIIMS, recalling one of the autopsy says, “Everyone believed the death to be a murder, but it was a road accident, where the person was hit by a truck.” Dead bodies can be of great research value. Organ donation especially eye donation is another thing being actively promoted. Dr. Adarsh Kumar, assistant professor of forensic medicine at AIIMS says, “There can be no substitute of a dead body for research purpose. And there are a few NGOs who are promoting contribution of dead bodies.” Even in a hospital mortuaries are the most ignored places. Discussing the problems of mortuaries Dr. Kumar says that good infrastructure is limited to metros. Even at AIIMS, the lack of enough hands does affect the quality of autopsy. Another major reason is the lack of enough remuneration. “Forensic experts are the highest paid people in Australia and England.” Dr. Sunay Mahesh, senior resident, forensic medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi says, “the stigma attached to this department is another major reason why the department struggles for enough manpower. But apart from monetary consideration, the stigma attached to the job is especially for the 4th grade staffs who actually manhandles the body is significant. “Life is a great surprise. I do not see why death should not be an even greater one. Wrote Vladimir Nabokov in his 1962 novel ‘Pale Fire’ The obviousness and the triviality of death is enough to recognise that misconceptions about dead be removed.

A Hairy Story!

Haircutting is one of the oldest surviving professions. India, which is now known for it’s IT and Outsourcing sectors, still has the old style barber shops. What is interesting is that even today, roadside barber stalls are still prevalent here along with the ones with proper salons.

















Some of these barbers have newly started their own businesses with their own salons. While some have carried it on as family tradition and take pride in it.
























Some of these barbers have migrated to big cities like Delhi from smaller towns. Most of them run their haircutting stalls by the roadside. And it is always a struggle for them to make both ends meet.


























As far as haircutting is concerned, it is an art for the barbers. It is something which is achieved after a lot of practice and requires a lot of concentration. If we keep this thing in mind, then they are no less than any big shot hair designer.















By Joydeep Hazarika and Tilak Jha

Reservation issue and Loksabha elections

As India prepares for the Loksabha elections, in April-May this year, party manifestoes are full of reservation promises. The party manifestoes of even major political parties including the Congress, Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI (M)] and the Bhartiys Janata Party (BJP) seems to have got caught in the reservation bandwagon.

CPI (M) in its 31 page 2-part election manifesto has blamed congress for not implementing women reservation. The party promises reservation for Dalit Christians and Muslims apart from promising reservation in the private sector. The party manifesto calls for extending 27% reservation for other backward classes (OBC) in the private educational institutions.

The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has been promising reservation for poor upper-caste people since a long time. Quite recently the party released a new slogan, “vote se lenge CM PM, aarakshan se SP, DM” (we will take chief minister and prime minister posts through votes and civil services jobs through reservation). Though the party has not issued its election manifesto saying BSP believes in doing and not in making promises.

Congress that currently heads the ruling coalition promises 1/3 rd reservation of jobs to women in all government jobs, and yes reservation in the private sector.

The BJP on the other hand promises all the reservations promised above but opposes religion based quota.

As election dates are nearing, the reservation issue is back. Be it regional or national party reservation sops continue to polarize voting patterns.

Death In Delhi

The one thing that has kept me perplexed in the last two years of my stay in Delhi is that what is it that makes me and probably many others of all sorts to love and hate it at the same time. From what I am able to conclude about based upon my own experience is, it’s the difficulty in our home towns more than any thing else that makes it attractive.

I love travelling; and that I loved always because the wanderer in me is powerful than so many other things. I have travelled a lot in Delhi also. Just yesterday, you won’t believe, I went to AIIMS mortuary and then to the Safdurjung mortuary.

The plan was to meet the people who actually handle the dead body and get clue of how I can do a video story of around 2 min. It was difficult. The first time I had thought of doing this story was last year when I had been to AIIMS to record the ambience in a hospital premises as part of our radio assignment.

But yesterday’s was much tougher than what I would have otherwise imagined.

The moment I reached, I found a dead body lying wrapped in the lawn. For a moment I thought like returning, like thinking bad about what kind of project I have planned!

I waited for around 15 min. thinking about my pressed jeans that I wore just the same day and will have to cleanse once I am back. I also thought that some day I will also be wrapped liked the one lying in my front. That no one has ever avoided death, nor can I. that I too will need to handle a body of people who I love so passionately. And that they will show no emotion once they are dead. I felt about my parents, about my grandpa who died when I was a kid. I thought about my kids who might have to handle my dead body. I thought about the business of handling dead, about the people who handle one every day.

It’s not normal.

Why not? It’s like anything else. It’s like just handling a chicken, a lamb! Nope! Definitely not! Man is not chicken. Man is not animal. He is more than an animal. A chicken can’t build institutions, a lamb can’t build empires. And man can’t stop resisting for if something unwanted happens to him or her.

It was my first conscious encounter with death. I had seen many deaths around me. We all have seen. But I had never thought of presenting death. I had never thought of reporting death. I had never thought of looking towards a dead body just like a body.

Am sounding stupid? I hope so! Not because I think it’s bad. Not because it’s not normal. But, because like everyone else, I also fear death. In our lives of struggle, we never count death as a factor. We earn to live, we give to earn again. We don’t do anything to die peacefully.

We run away from dead body, from flyovers where a person meets an accident, from a collapsed building where a family is buried alive, from a pond where a car jumps drowning and killing all inside, from hostels where a student hangs himself, from a village where people die after drinking spurious liquor.

Hello, death is unavoidable. But we can be much more responsive towards people who die due to negligence of us ‘will die later men’.

Economy and Election

When problems come, they don’t come alone. Sometimes, solutions are there too. We God believing human beings can’t wait for eventualities to come naturally. We actually create one, when they can be avoided. We give sops; allow black economy to flourish when times are good. We also do away with fiscal responsibility and of course we dream in every decoupling type theories and surveys that present the rosy picture of a sustained growth, whatever happens in the other part of the world.

Hello! We better not dream that decoupling means, getting not affecte4d at all. This is not possible. Simply because however less we are coupled; there will always be exports and imports and yes FDIs and FIIs who will be affected in case there is a financial downturn.


And least not when the IMF estimates global growth contraction in 2009 to a range of (-) 1.0 to (-) 0.5 per cent; first in 60 years. Another first is that all the advanced economies – the United States, Europe and Japan – had never gone so firmly, simultaneously, into recession. The world is projected to contract by 2.8 per cent in 2009, again the highest shrinkage in the last 80 years.

In a speech delivered at the Confederation of Indian Industry's National Conference at New Delhi on March 26, 2009 RBI governor D. Subbarao said, “In a globalized world no country can be an island.” I would say not even an island can be completely decoupled today.

Let’s have a fact check. India’s two-way trade (merchandize exports plus imports), as a proportion of GDP, increased from 21.2 per cent in 1997-98, to 34.7 per cent in 2007-08.
The ratio of total external transactions (gross current account flows plus gross capital flows) to GDP, this ratio has more than doubled from 46.8 per cent in 1997-98 to 117.4 per cent in 2007-08. Though the external demand, as measured by merchandize exports, accounts for less than 15 per cent of our GDP. Still it’s a significant number, at least enough to tarnish the scorching growth figures.

Well, while the government continues with stimulus measures and has already invoked emergency provisions of the FRBM Act to seek relaxation from the fiscal targets, the real recession threat will be faced by the next government.

For the time being one another stimulus package is eager to be poured in the economy in Loksabha election. And if newspaper reports are believed the expenditure is set to cross 10000 crore barrier; that’s more than US presidential election!

Well, but this black election stimulus will only; delay the crisis to come powerfully: NEXT TIME dear!