AlPhA KaPpA DeLtA PhI

As I sit on my desk writing down whatever comes to my mind,  I find that today is an unusually silent day. Monday’s are always full of energy. You re-charge your energy levels over the weekend and spend them cautiously over the week. Cautiously, because, by Friday you are drained out and you are possibly sleep walking your day at work. I am warding off sleep in the god destined hour of sleep, afternoon. Wait, isn’t that supposed to be night. Hmm. That’s for people who are not working. For all those gentlemen and women toiling at a work place, afternoon is the time to sleep.

Let me go ahead. This is a routine Monday post-lunch hour at work, in an software company. The usually noisy team nearby is unusually silent. Have they fallen asleep as well? Let me look. Nah, they are just on an extended tea break. The only noise is from the pressing of keys on my keyboard, the occasional ringing tone of a cell phone and the one that is keeping me up, against God’s wish, the noisy girl nearby indulged in a loud personal conversation over the telephone. Seriously girl, get a room..!

Well, what about work? I leave that secondary to God’s wish - “Thou shalt sleep in the noon, or spend the rest of your life in the forbidden Garden of Eden”. So basically, it’s a choice that Adam and Eve faced with the forbidden fruit – “Eat it to be doomed in the Garden of Eden”. What do I do? Stay awake and anger God or sleep and please him. Hmm. Easy!

Hurt Locker and Avatar are battling it out at the 82nd Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars. Both the movies have recieved a pile of nominations under various categories; from Best Costume to Best Picture. And keeping in mind the jury’s tendancies in the past, they are both expected to share the honours equally.

Despite several nominations, the award for Best Picture and Best Director are the most sought after. The academy has never selected two movies for its Best Picture award and is expected to follow the same. The Academy cant play compromise and select both the movies. So which one of the two exciting movies will get coveted award. I am betting, nay, willing to play online roulette on Hurt Locker. The movie has a more serious/relevant theme, plus the Academy has never given its full nod to animation movies. Though Avatar stretched all existing practises in film making, Hurt Locker will walk away with the award.

Best Director, well James Camerron should run away with this one rather easily. Kathryn Bigelow did an awesome job, and it’s International Women’s Day as well. But I am willing to play the casino game roulette on James Cameroon winning this. Very few director’s are so well versed with neearly all aspects of film making, as James Cameroon is. He deserves this. Better luck next time Kathryn.

Meanwhile, news is out that Christopher Waltz has won the Best Supporting Actor Award for Taratino’s Inglorious Bastards. No casino roulette on this one. Great Job, Chris.

Art has always come under the control of vigilante groups. The freedom of expression through non-conventional methods (unlike verbal) has been a grey area. Writing, painting and speaking have been commonly targeted forms and the divisions have been mostly on religious grounds, with little care for the real issues behind them.

M.F. Hussain is a celebrated artist. He has been acknowledged by the powers that be, in the world of arts, as an artist par excellence. So when he drew those paintings of Lord Saraswathi baring all, it should be looked at as an expression of something more profound than obscenity. The pedigree of Hussain begs you to look at it with an artistic eye. And that is not too hard too do either. Temples in India are filled with sculptures of women scantily covered. The temples at Khajuraho are dedicated to acts of love-making. And Hindus celebrate these as a part of their society. So, is it right to say that Hussain’s paintings drew the attention of Hindu extremists only because of his Muslim religion. I think it would be.

This is a poor reflection of the state of arts in India. Art has always enjoyed patrons in the form of rich kings, in ancient India. The Indian republic though, seems to be constrained by the tender fabric of democracy and can do little but provide inadequate security after violence breaks out. In the absence of strong protection artist are often left bare in facing up to such threats. Most often the mobs get to impose their will, or the artist will have to face ostracism. And the result of all these is skewed creativity which acts akin to cancer on the human body. They pave way for death (in creativity) without one realizing it. Art, as was in the past, may never speak for true human conscience.