Now and Then.

Who the...?

Harendra Kapur.
Kyra Mathews.
Tejas Menon.



Yesterday was a bad day.
A surreal experience for me, since I had one of those moments where Art somewhat saved me. A bit. It was a perfect marriage of the emotions I had, and the emotions I felt after experiencing the art.
I lost my phone yesterday.
This is the second time in 9 months, I think. I have recently lost my kickass iPod that my sister gifted me, which had tremendous sentimental value, my nephew's mp3 player and my mom's flash drive. Yes, I'm an idiot and no this is not for sympathy. This is about the connection of art and how it manages to dig in to you, through all the clutter and crap you may have inside you and still carve a small nichè for itself amongst all the baggage you carry.

Yesterday I re-read a series that I had stopped through halfway a while ago, and had not managed to complete it. It happened like this. I lost my phone in the morning, moped for a while, then went to landmark by 1 pm and sat there reading for a good 7 hours. There is something liberating about being cut-off from the rest of the world. In my state of mind, it almost felt good, that I could escape having to tell people how dumb I felt because I lost my phone, ironically because there was no way to tell them. I did not even have the strength to feel sorry for myself or just plainly ask 'Why?'

Thus I sat and read Y: The Last Man.

Y is about Yorick Brown (and his capuchin Ampersand) the only man to survive a plague that strikes all the Y-chromosome carrying mammals(namely all males) around the world simultaneously, killing them instantly. Whats left is broken infrastructres, plane crashes, food shortages, and a whole lot of women. How Yorick survives these conditions plus a bunch of crazy chicks who are either trying to sleep with him or kill him forms the rest of the story. Needless to say a story as epic as this, has to be thought out well and thought out well is exactly what it is. In 60 issues Brian K. Vaughn manages to tell the story at a decent pace, progressing with the plot while still holding the attention of the reader. Obviously it is filled with great allegory, and social commentary but is undoubtedly and ironically going to be viewed as masogynistic and yes, chauvinistic. However Vaughn bypasses all that and continues with his story about the last man trying to reunite with his girlfriend in Australia.

But Yorick- the average everyman, still seeking his true love not knowing whether she's alive or dead, and a huge responsibility on his shoulder is someone I could definitely identify with at that moment. No, I am not the last man on earth, but at that point of shame, I wished I could just be alone, or run away. It probably sounds highly dramatic, but that my friends, is the power of art! In 7 hours I immersed myself in Y and questioned myself as he did, that is reclusiveness what we really want? or is it really the complete opposite? Maybe we just want to be accepted no matter what we do, and while that would be great, it is not fair at all to shy away from the responsibilities that each of us possess. Alas, Poor Yorick, I knew him!

Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio; a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy; he hath borne me on his back a thousand times; and now, how abhorred in my imagination it is! - (Hamlet, V.i)

I keep giving this one example of how I always listen to Billy Joel before an audition, or before facing any 'music'. Why? Because for some reason hearing his voice is the equivalent of having someone older or someone I trust saying to me "It's alright Tejas. Just get in there and do your best and know I'm right behind you". Very Uncle Ben.
Sigh.
Uncle Ben, why do I miss him so much?

Comic back to the point. The marriage of art and the person who experiences it, is a very personal moment. It's like family, literally. Because every person has their own experience when they are in contact with the art. I cannot expect anyone to have the same feelings or emotions I did when I read it, it is probably not going to happen. But maybe you will have it with something else, maybe a great album, or a great painting, when you are at another emotional level. And it'll cause you so much pain or joy or emotions you can't even describe. It's truly awesome.

That my friends is the power of art!

5 responses to "Sigh! Why art thou so?"

  1. Beautiful, beautiful post. Dude, feeling stupid and like crap, makes you an awesomer writer than you were before. It sucks muchly that you lost your phone, but look at what you made out of it - this!

    This is why I read. And write. And listen to music. And draw and paint. And try to make something new everyday. In the hope that one day, someday, someone, anyone, will feel that connect and those emotions for something Ive created.

    Kyra

  2. Same, what she said. Well, at least the first part of what she said. Ditto.

    Mehvash

  3. From one artist to another.
    Word!
    The best part being, you can't ever lose your art.

    [I'll second the second part of Kyra's comment.]

    Laralils

  4. Ah Yorick...lovely. Reminds me that I still have about 48 of those left to read. Tch.

    Hang in there.

    Mahima Mathur

  5. whenever im in a bad mood or if im upset just reading a good book fixes me right then and there..ok,like atleast 10 pages into the book.
    Nothing else i.e. watching TV,surfing the net,listening to music,dancing,singing or anything else has the same effect(ok..maybe the music thing..)
    And when i don't read abook for say more than 3 days i go crazy!!!
    Maybe it's like an escape,it reminds me that someone else out there(even if fictional)has bigger problems than me.I sometimes feel like maybe i'm 'abusing' literature that way..using it as an escape rather than as a means of education.
    The second part about your very own personal feeling when in contact with any art is so true!!
    And everytime you read the book/are in contact with the art you have a different experience,which you can never have again..now that's THE POWER OF ART!!
    I think there was an editorial article about this in the TOI/Pune Mirror once long back,it dealt with a similar theme.now i don't remember who wrote it..ugh!!

    Arunima Joshua

The All of us.

The All of us.