My Own Dussera

Sometime back, I read an article on (where else?) the net. It explained in some detail how the same thing, an idea, a joke, an article, gets repeatedly read and re-posted on the net and elsewhere; till someone comes across it on multiple sites or platforms. So far its OK. What the author had issue with was that, that last someone starts claiming proprietorship for it as a result of what he considers "research"! That is not so bad, but the idea itself, even though fallacious at times, gains credence as a result of this constant repetition!

That one article froze all my ambitions of writing a regular blog post!

Mainly as a result of having too much free time on my hands, I tend to read a bit more than the average guy. Frequently, I come across ideas or things I find worth sharing. Occasionally a few topics or ideas from different sources just gel together. The end product seems like worth passing on and sharing. I had big plans to share all those things here, on a regular basis. But the above article stopped me in my tracks, instantly making me feel like a fraud and a thief! I was consumed with a feeling that nothing I was ever going to say was original!

But not anymore!

The reason is an extraordinary booklet called, "Steal Like An Artist" by Austen Kleon. If u have not read it yet, read it! Won't take more than a couple of hours, even at a snail’s pace!

Austin Kleon is, in his own words, “a writer who draws”.(“I make art with words and books with pictures.”) He has been translated into more than 20 languages. The Atlantic called him “positively one of the most interesting people on the Internet,” & I agree wholeheartedly! You can learn (almost) everything about him here.

I won't  spoil ur fun by saying anything more about him; but I promise you, a visit to his site, even a cursory one is a delight! Sure to lift ur spirits!

What he has done in the book is deconstruct the whole myth of Original Creativity!

He convincingly argues that whether in arts or literature or in fact in any of the creative pursuits there is hardly anything that can be called original, in the truest sense of the word!

Just as in a kaleidoscope, it is all there, even before you pick it up; the multicolored pieces of glass & the angled mirrors, but every actual view is different and changes with each little nudge u give to the kaleidoscope. And in that sense, every new view is ur creation! So in creativity!

We all have that “Light-Bulb” moment from time to time when, as a result of something you hear or read, an idea pops up in our head like the light-bulb in comic strips. Each of them may not compare with Newton’s “Gravity” or Einstein’s “Relativity”; just as every view through the kaleidoscope is not breathtakingly beautiful. Every such creation may not be extraordinary or "Genius", but all the same it has a rightful claim to be called a creative and original output! Sant Dnyaneshwar, the 13th century Maharashtrian, BhaktiMarg Saint-Prodigy puts it beautifully in his inimitable style, 

“jçpçnbmçç®çí ®ççuçCçí, pçiççÇ Pççuççdzçç MçnçCçí; cnCççívççÇ kçÀç³ç kçÀJçCçí ®ççuççí®ççÇ vç³çí?”

(Freely translated it means, 'just bcoz the Swan's walk is world renowned for it's majesty, does it disqualify everyone else from walking?')

Austin Kleon has of course put all this much more wittily and convincingly, than I ever could! Following his own advice, he has also quoted extensively from various sources. 

So, I have shed all my doubts. Consider this as my own ritual crossing of the boundaries (çÆmçcççíuuçbIçvç) traditionally associated with Dussera!

I hope to write, & write often! I don't know how often, but write I will!

 So keep visiting! Who knows, u may get lucky & find a view that takes ur breath away, your own “Light-Bulb” moment!

Happy çÆJçpç³ççoMçcççÇ!!!

PS: Your comments will be greatly appreciated, & if u leave ur email address here, I will try & get back to u. (I am quite new at this, so help me out guys!)