Sunday, September 20, 2015

The difference between culture and art

Indians can't help being pretentious. More so, when we are online. We can't help but submit ourselves to the harsh fallacies of intellect and stupidity. We are so submerged in American Civilization that we're unable to see where we come from. Look around you. Is there anything "Indian" about your life except the food maybe (if you excuse the technology that goes into production)? Where exactly is our culture rooted? Before this happened to us, we were clouded by British Colonialism. To be fair, it's difficult to ascertain who we really are. We take immense pride in the bygone era called Indian Civilization though we barely know much about it except our patent on zero. The history is too long and life is too short. Understanding anything takes time. We took years to understand our parents despite being close to them. Understanding doesn't come easy. To make matters worse, art has always been complex. Which might explain why given a choice, we'd take the first flight out of the country on a holiday instead of exploring the historical places that might hold clue to our identity as a people. No wonder we are yet to make peace with our past. However, that doesn't stop us from showcasing our ignorance in the form of knowledge. Whenever the topic of Indian culture arises (and the ambiguities attached to it), Indians online are bound to highlight pictures clicked at Hampi or Ajanta & Ellora arguing "Look how open-minded our ancestors were!" or "Look how sexually repressed our society has become!". Intellectual pursuits, philosophical conquests and everything else take a backseat. Only sexual liberation matters. The only problem here is they are missing the chronological as well as the social context. Those explicit paintings and carvings were the creations of accomplished artists of their times. They didn't reflect the society. People weren't banging each other in public or ass-fucking a cow before milking her. Artists, be it of any era, are meant to push artistic boundaries. And our Indian painters and sculptors did exactly that. The plus points to be taken into consideration is the patronage they commanded from the rulers of their era. Which ensured that their work would stand the test of time. But the modern Indian idiot won't understand that because there is a HUGE difference between culture and art. Just because MF Hussain chooses to paint Mother India in nude doesn't mean we all subscribe to his idea. Of course, we are expected to respect artistic integrity. Something people from our good ol' civilization remarkably did. But who's going to explain these subtle nuances to those wanting a random Sanskrit word inked on their body just because Adam Levine has one on his chest?