It is Time to Console the Past and Secure Artistic Future

Dear Readers,

Namaste! Welcome to the month of April. Like many of you, this is my favourite month too! This beautiful month unfolds gently the beauty of nature and it also holds a deeply sacred and symbolic place in the Hindu calendar, as it often marks the true beginning of the spiritual and cultural year across many traditions in India.

This month brings the Rongali Bihu in Assam, Baisakhi in Punjab, Vishu in Kerela and Pohela Boishakh in West Bengal uniting us to the fullest with nature, fresh start and a new beginning. This month arrives not as a declaration, but as a gentle unfolding. There is something deeply poetic about this month, the air itself seems to carry a fragrance and hopes. Trees, once austere and contemplative, now bear tender greens with a certain grace, as if rediscovering their own vitality. As I walk the aisle covered with colourful flowers on both the sides, episodes of my childhood dreams, happiness and laughter glitters in my eyes.

My mother used to design a frock and hand embroider it with her self created designs and gift me. Till the last moment I stand by her and keep watching her imagination taking shape through her hand that holds the needle and thread. Once in Bihu, it was almost 7:30 pm in the evening and she was just finishing her last knot. I was all prepared to go to the Kharghuli Bihu ground in Guwahati with my father. She cut the thread, released the frame, looked up and smiled. Handed me her designer frock. I wore and walked down our hill filling the fulfillment which I cannot express. Irrelevant moment for many, but its special for me, not because I was wearing my mother’s design but felt proud that, besides all the household chores and business which my mother handled, she still had time to live her passion and gift me something which is handmade! She could have easily bought something from the store. But she chose to undergo investing time, creative energy, stress and pain. This is where a real artiste lives through - being silent, focused and goal oriented.

The month of April also celebrates The World Heritage Day on April 18th and The World Dance Day on April 29th. Both integrally important for a civilisation and a country to sustain and safeguard its traditional arts, culture and heritage. But these soft powers are often neglected, overlooked and suffers through a corrupted lineage of administrations. A cultural body without a vision, honest executions and noble purpose often stems out to be a poisonous ecosystem, especially because being artistes we all prefer to remain silent and do not question.

From past almost twenty five years, life’s perspective has been changed drastically. Maybe due to the intervention of internet and global connectivity. This is a boon indeed, but safe guarding emotional values is on our call. We should not blame outside agencies or medium for us on losing something which we could not hold due to our fault and lack of attention or interest. For an artiste too, their values and concentration has changed drastically again due to competition and livelihood.

This is the best time in today’s world of globalization and social media connectivity for an artiste to popularize one’s mission and actions, easily connecting through many possibilities. But what majorly lacking is a clear perspective and intention amidst many. I won’t use the term ‘devotion’, because it varies from individual to individual, but ‘purpose’ and ‘intention’ matters the most. If devotion is intentional and purposeful then it is dangerous, as it only truly seeks unconditional and pure attachment.

In this world of aesthetics and arts, conditions are labelled every where. Undoubtedly, we need to have a strong spine to stand by our principals and ethics.

When someone stand by their principles and ethics, it is not that they are stubborn or adamant or arrogant. But it is because, they are judgmental in their own executions and that they care to be socially responsible. Each of their intentions and decisions matter to ten others who follow them, and from these ten, another hundred is affected and so on. Visually a huge network is affected, distorted, deviated and misguided if that single person who is entrusted with a designation or work or leadership is fowl and corrupted. And mind it, corruption is not limited to finance only, as it is contagious it easily paves through our psychology and emotion making us passive bystanders.

Silently witnessing wrongdoings but prefer to remain quiet due to fear of losing assignments, public stages, remunerations, leaves us being somewhat remaining dependable throughout. We are convinced that, change could never happen, despite no matter how many complains and struggles. We become conformists and thus confine to adjustments and illegitimacies being enablers.

This world of arts and aesthetics is filled with massive possibilities for oneself but at the same time we all know the hardships we often go through. Somewhere we are scattered, polarized and mute. Why? Again fear of losing assignments, public stages, remunerations, etc. If asked how to overcome, different people will have different notions. Amidst all of these, some or very few will revolt, become vocal and reach out! They will speak aloud about the wrongdoings, without giving a damn to attaining assignments, public stages, remunerations, etc. Some will wait for the storm of corruption to pass by and many will mingle with the storm and achieve all the possibilities they could have ever achieved in their artistic journey honestly. They do not have choice.

Because to experience honesty, one needs to implement and streamline artistic procedures and systematize it, validate reasons and face confrontations. And above all of these, public notification of works done, budget allocation and distribution on their official websites are essential to understand wherein the pesticide needs to act. How many times out of nepotism and favouritism, an artiste or a troupe is been given an artistic task, or similar scholars been invited, etc.

An artiste’s sole purpose is to perform, research, curate and release its creative genius on a public platform. But, if this also gets hampered and few selected artistes keep getting chance, then there arises loss of hope and establishes professional delinquency. Students, learners and practitioners are all shaped accordingly and hence an entire ecosystem is generated out of such malfunctioning.

Unlike sports, survival of art is crucial, because here, two minus two is not always zero. Some may stretch a tail down and might say nine (9) looks elegant and some other may stretch it up and confirm six (6) looks beautiful. Until the authority of such departments, bodies and ministries fail to streamline a system, and curb down trespassers it could be never possible to attain meritocracy.

It is often seen that a handful of nominated personalities are attaining programs, authority and most importantly trust. In a country with approximately 1.47 billion people out of whom 7 million are registered artisans, though up to 200 million are estimated to work informally in textile and handloom sectors and the Ministry of Culture has collected data on more than 5.5 million artistes who are part of its national cultural topography survey. And apart from this, around 100 million are Content Creators who focuses on digital arts, music and cultural storytelling. But, the creative industry is estimated to employ only about 8% of India’s working population. How sad is this? We boast of our culture but there’s no openings for it, people who works honestly are often targeted feeling insecure, private openings pay very less as they are not bound to follow any norms. Moreover, some national cultural institutions have failed to provide diligent, time bounding and systematic teachings but are availing grants and at the same time are also bleeding pain.

This is the time to console the past and secure the artistic future with solutions and strategies. Where there are lakhs of unemployment in our country especially where there are no openings for artistes at all, there seems no need for an individual to hold two positions. India has enough scholars, academicians and professionals who can give their services within the stipulated time. Moreover, complaint letters written to the highest authorities like that of PMO, CMO, respective ministers and others need to have a separate interventions without messing and involvement of the politically nominated position holders and the bureaucrats. Grievances as such gets spoilt when they toil around at the official level, it will just pass from table to table and none of the chair holders will accept their fault and neither their seniors will admit their mismanagements. And the ones who supported politically appointed individuals will stay on their side.

I personally believe that, such position holders should be immediately removed after investigation by a special team because it defames the government, the entire political party and the higher authorities who firstly appointed them.

Exterior grand cultural works can hype the department or the individual leading it and may temporarily heal the image, but rooted system is what is essential for an impartial execution and implementation of permanent strategies. This will trace many such artistes who are still unaware of many possible performing stages, grants and exposures meant for them. Their ignorance is not to be blamed, the ones who are responsible to reach out to such in every nook and corner of the art world is to be staunched. Being artistes, we all should be alert of any kind of misdoings and mishappenings taking place openly in the world of arts. Because if we do not voice out today, we should not blame our generations for taking up other professions for a stable livelihood.

Because if you remember, when our Class Teacher in standard VIII asked all of us about our dream when we grow up, none of us wanted to be a struggling artiste.