THE ART OF CONVERSATION - SHILLONG CALM FESTIVAL 2013

Chilean authorities are conducting toxicological tests on the remains of Nobel Laureate Poet, Pablo Neruda, who died in 1973, to ascertain if he was poisoned.

Whatever the outcome, Neruda lived in a violent and charged environment and so he wrote: and you'll ask: why doesn't his poetry speak of dreams and leaves and the great volcanoes of his native land? Come and see the blood in the streets…

India has also been bloodied with rape, murder, corruption or plain indifference towards the weak and the artist in every individual are reflecting on these pains and sufferings through their medium of choice more strongly and convincingly than ever before.

“For the Neanderthal man a step outside his cave made the difference between life and death. Yet he painted beautifully and forcefully on his cave walls about his world and his lonely battles…,” poet Jerry Pinto sketched the relationship of art with living beings.

But the question that begs an answer: is this voice of art audible in a volatile environment, when the argumentative Indian is constantly shouting down the other, politicians talking down gullible voters, TV shows becoming louder and brash?

“Conversation is a creative art and it is also a dying art in India, because we don’t listen as our decibel levels have taken over our senses,” journalist, author and columnist, Jug Suraiya touches on the metaphysics of Indians.

On the contrary, Suraiya finds literary festivals as “democratic” forums where everyone gets an opportunity, not just the intellectuals, to speak and hear through various mediums.

Like Suraiya and Pinto, writers, authors, artists, thinkers, publishers, students and people from diversified fields united at the three-day Shillong Calm festival last week to exchange ideas, not to lecture, speak, not to shout, hear and be heard. Calm aptly is the acronym for Creative Art, Literature and Music.

Ananya S Guha, poet and author says art is not extraneous from life and touches our life in one form or the other. He is of the view that conversations are the bedrock of any form of art and literature, be it paintings, poems or even letter-diary-writing, as demonstrated by Anne Frank in Diary of a Young Girl and the letters between Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi in Letters from a Father to his Daughter, to name a few.

Guha, meanwhile, says that the oral tradition of the Northeast needs to be recorded and documented for future generations. “Some of the authors and writers are doing it, but, we need the State support in this regard,” Guha said.

One of the top publishers and authors of India, David Davidar says creative art is a “soft power” that reduces tension and “encourages amity” and with more festivals like Calm coming up across the country, he thinks India has a “fabulous future.”

“India is one of the most interesting countries on the planet with different stories, traditions and cultures, waiting to be shared,” the author says confidently.

The co-founder of Penguin India, publishing house and now Aleph Book Company observed that Indians writing in English are being better received in India and abroad. He admits that English literature penned by Indians does suffer from a colonial hangover, but the “British Baggage” is slowly, but, surely being shed away. 

“The writers from the Northeast are slowly coming up, like Mamang Dai and others, and in the near future more colourful and vibrant stories from this region would be accessible to the people around the world,” Davidar feels.

On the other hand, actor Victor Banerjee, gave a motivational talk and believes that “what goes around comes around” and therefore reminded that it helps to be kind, gracious and honest. 

He elucidated his point with anecdotes, be it from his personal life or from examples drawn from inventors such as Thomas Edison, Polish Prime Minister and Pianist,Ignacy Jan Paderewski and others.

Talks over Northeast India’s perceived alienation was a key point of conversation during the several book releases of authors, mostly from the region.

“Sometimes we are also too defensive and consider ourselves as one from the Dark Continent. Why should we keep complaining that the so called mainland Indian doesn’t care about us…Who cares,” says Mamang Dai journalist and author from Arunachal Pradesh.

Then on the burning issues of ULFA’s diktat to sing only Assamese songs during the Bihu festival, Suraiya says that cultures doesn’t require iron-gates and body guards. “Cultures, languages must thrive organically and must thrive from within rather than being protected,” he said.

Pinto on the other hand said nobody can mandate culture. Instead, culture must be strengthened with more grants given to local artists from the Government. Local language must be taught from the school level to the University with more intensity and encourage activities that would strengthen local cultures. “But prohibition won’t work as it has always failed,” Pinto said.

Guha emphasizes that it is wrong to discourage other cultures to be part of the Bihu festival. “The purity of the Bihu festival must be maintained and elements of populism mustn’t overtake the spirit of the festival. On the other hand, any song which is in tune with the spirit of the Bihu festival should not be discouraged,” Guha was of the opinion.

Apart from the “serious” discussions there was also Flash Mob at the festival. For those unacquainted on this modern art narrative a quick Google search helps. The search defines Flash Mob as: “a group of people, who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform an unusual and seemingly pointless act for a brief time.”  

School students performed “seemingly pointless and pointed” songs and dances - whichever way you like to view it.

There were many book releases too. A Point of View, a collection of poems and photographs by former Meghalaya Home Minister, RG Lyngdoh, The Ao-Naga - Oral Tradition by Temsula Ao, EM and the Big Hoom by Jerry Pinto, Broken Arrow, by Principal Secretary Government of Meghalaya, PS Thangkhiew and Bhaskara - the Last of the Varmans by Principal Secretary Government of Meghalaya, PW Ingty.

An insight into the occult was provided by Bindu Maira during one of the healing session she conducted during the festival. Maira calls herself a professional tarot card reader, crystal healer and life coach. In the session, the different “Chakras” of the human body were soothed through meditation and lessons given to fight stress and other ailments.

But Pinto has a different take on healing and prescribes “at least one poem a day to nourish and heal the mind.” Pinto dryly warned during a session that either people must take to poetry or choose to live a “sad existence” – the audience burst into a confused cackle.

There was also a Spelling Bee competition - a take on the popular US version of spelling competition. In this Spelling Bee, Victor Banerjee and Meghalaya Government officials had or heard it, but found difficult to spell words such as “Diarrhoea or Pharaoh” after taking part in the event together with students and other participants. Then a standup comedy by Apurva Pal for the adults was a hit.

There were also artists from various parts of the country and abroad and some even took to the streets and painted the walls and the small vendor stalls. During the three-day event, photographic exhibitions were also held and workshops for students on painting, photographic creative writings were conducted.

The annual Calm festival achieved by holding  these activities in stimulating the mind into a different level of thought process, reduce stress. It also brought in laughter, scared people with reality, which many don’t want to face and mostly knitted together the idea of India amongst Indians - maybe all for a brief moment.

Pinto summaries: “as artists we have failed. We have not been able to stop a single war... put us behind bars...from the jails we will bring out art and then from our dead bodies more art would rise. We will fight and never give up...”

This is the kind of passion Neruda is demonstrating, who not only fought during his lifetime against injustice with art, but is doing so even after his death in seeking the truth. These are perhaps the defining moments of art.