Udantya Issue # 13 by Udantya *

THE CREATIVITY ISSUE

Welcome back from the Summer! ____________________________________________

This month on Udantya, we get creative about Creativity! ____________________________________________ Backstage Pass The Essence of Udantya Megaphone A Word from the Editors Spotlight Creative Relapse - Namita Azad Darkroom ‘Graffiti- Leaving Its Mark’- Rajiv Ramaswamy Armchair Critic Creativity Corrupted - Aparna Vidyasagar Jam Session Courageous Creativity- Shahana Dattagupta (introduction by Aparna)

©Aparna Vidyasagar

Cameo What Has Happened to the Moustache? - Gautham Rao Cameo II My Line- Pragya Sidhwani Creativity, What a Sham- Aman Khanna

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BACKSTAGE PASS

The very essence of artistic expression is that, it is captured in many different ways.

A picture, a word or a tune. Your rebellion, your journey and your destination. Here, we aim to capture it all. Join us or explore with us. Welcome to Udantya. Welcome to our creative space!

Udantya aims to be a collaborative effort. If you have any articles, photos or music you would like to share, please email us at udantya@gmail.com. Future themed issues will be announced a month in advance.

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MEGAPHONE

From the Editors I write as I breathe; because I must.

In Jam Session we shine the spotlight on Courageous Creativity, a magazine that strives to channel creativity in all aspects of our lives and existence. One of the zine’s creators,

______________________________________________ This month on Udantya, we highlight the very force that drives us every single month- Creativity! And, in the true spirit of creativity, each of the pieces presented this month are original, inventive and quirky.

Shahana Dattagupta writes of the story of her partnership with Shirin Subhani and the beginnings of Courageous Creativity. Cameo! Cameos galore!

Namita kicks off this Fall issue with the story of the loss of her creative energy and its rediscovery. Following such a journey, into the darkness that exists with creativity, what does creativity mean to her today?

We mark the debut of Cameo

contributor Gautham Rao, whose muse is the moustache. That’s right! Curious? Read on! Pragya Sidhwani makes her Cameo debut as well, with a wonderful poem titled, ‘My Line’. Poetry meets art.

Lastly, we are happy to have veteran

contributor Aman Khanna return with an examination of

We have a very unique Darkroom this month with contributor

creativity and the necessity to serve a function. Which of these

Rajiv Ramaswamy sharing with us, his photographs of graffiti

determines why we create?

and street-art in Brighton, England. Along with his photos, Rajiv tells us of his adventures in, and impressions of, going ‘graffiti hunting’!

Happy reading!

Armchair Critic features a critical essay by Aparna, which examines the corruption in creativity. When authors, cheat or fabricate, who really pays the price?

*Opening poetry piece by Aparna Vidyasagar.

SPOTLIGHT

stimulation. well too bad!

Creative Relapse!

You do what you can with it and if you run out, I had clearly run out of something; nothing

prompted or excited me.

I spent hours looking at empty

canvases and clean pages but was not able to walk to the

by Namita Azad I create. With a page turned I have etched another story in memory. With a sketch I have traced one more ambition. With the next clickthe words I’ve rhymed a whirlwind of emotions that have made peace with reality.

distance to fill them with color. And before I knew it, months had gone by where I had not embarked on a creative journey. It was like I had misplaced a part of my soul and my body was working blindly in search of it. Slowly I moved into a panic mode where I started questioning whether my creativity was

This is the path on which my mind walks on a daily

just a passing phase.

Had I saturated myself of creative

basis, to strike the balance with the mundaneness of life. For

endeavors? Was it time to stop flying and get weighted down?

me, creativity is allowing your soul to breathe.

It is that

I searched desperately everywhere for a source to re-inspire

moment where you look inward and give your dreams and

myself. Would a change of scenery work its charm? Would a

desires a form. It may be ugly, much appreciated, incoherent

change of medium do the trick? I didn’t know.

or simply unknown; yet you have given it life.

You have

connected with yourself and understood a little more; for better or worse.

Finally, the day returned; when I put pen to paper, the creative juices flowed right back with the same spark, excitement and energy. My mind had magically fallen back in

Yet there are times when this process is halted.

that creative space and was ready to speed ahead. It then hit

Something on the outside has drowned the bridge to your

me that perhaps the mind does need to take a step back and

inside – a creative relapse.

decompress. Not in a state of panic, but rather the to take the

I was suffering from such a relapse not too long ago,

time away to breathe.

and it was terribly debilitating. It was like living in a closed

And so, I’ve discovered that creativity is a way of

box where you are given your portion of oxygen, space and

living. Creativity is far beyond a paintbrush or a camera lens.

It is uncontainable in the corners of a piece of paper or in the strokes of words. It is sometimes farthest in our darkest spaces and closest when the world around us is smiling.

It is the

means of discovering all that you are capable of understanding of this, which we call life. All the emotions, all the ideas, all the feelings. By creating a poem of your sadness or a sketch of your smiles, you have laid out a part of yourself. And if you were to come back and look at that piece ten years later, you will be able to instantly remember yourself then and simultaneously realize how far youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve walked away from that. Creativity gives us perspective. Our minds and hearts work in the most miraculous ways and can give birth to a magnitude of thoughts and kill them all within the span of a day. By creating something that has a form, no matter where it comes from and where itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s supposed to end, it has breathed and it has lived. And somewhere you would have too. So pick up whatever instrument, make whichever sound and create the tones your mind and heart wishes. You would have increased the dimensions of your box and created a bigger world for yourself.

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DARKROOM

Graffiti - Leaving Its Mark by Rajiv Ramaswamy Graffiti is a form of urban street art that has a large wingspan of associations – from rebellion to humor, and from a meaningless splash of colors to a striking profundity. Its rudimentary and rustic nature raises debate of it being called an art form, and its use of public spaces as canvases borders on vandalism. Appreciated by some and loathed by others; but what is undeniable however, is that it represents a unique form of creativity and expression. In 2007, when I decided to go to Brighton, England to do my Masters in Physics, I can safely say that graffiti was the last thing on my mind! I had read about Brighton – a university-town with a pebble beach, interesting architecture, cultural events and a closeness to London that makes geo- tagging yourself in conversations with family and friends back home easier! But on one of my many Brownian-motion walks through the city, I stumbled upon a car park that was empty at the time and its walls were filled with graffiti. With no agenda in mind and armed with a camera, I decided to take it all in and ended up spending close to an hour looking at the walls. It was quite fascinating and just as I thought I was done, I saw a small alley heading away from the car park that also had graffiti on its walls. I followed it and soon found myself heading following this trail through other narrow streets whose names I hadn’t heard of and just as I thought I was completely lost, I saw the Royal Pavilion (Brighton’s touch of Indian architecture, originally a residence for the Prince of Wales in the early 1800s, and located in central Brighton) right in front of me! The whole experience was thoroughly enjoyable. After that, I went ‘graffiti hunting’ as often as I could and this helped me build a map of the city on my own with some wonderful artistic landmarks! The skate-park graffiti near St Peter’s Church; the 100-foot long wall on Fleet Street that hosts an annual graffiti competition; the James Brown tribute on Robert Street; the famous Banksy “kissing coppers” masterpiece on the wall of the Prince Albert Pub near Brighton Railway Station; the car parks that act as open canvases and allow frequent updates; and the many little exhibits I found on walls, garage doors, shop windows, lamp posts etc. All of these have (spray) painted a unique

experience for me that I still cherish now that I am back in India. It also triggered a love for graffiti within me that has me going hunting yet again, this time through the streets of Delhi. In this world of black and white and grey areas, graffiti gives you color to choose from.

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THE ARMCHAIR CRITIC

artistic endeavor. There are other perks. Fame. Adulation. Money. There is immense pressure from publishers to produce

Creativity Corrupted

bigger, not necessarily better.

If Steve Jobs has died an

by Aparna Vidyasagar

untimely death, now is the time for Walter Isaacson to sprint

Books hold within them words of inspiration and

through the final chapters of his book. Each of J.K. Rowlings’

adventure; stories of sorrow and strength; stories so simple that we are purely satisfied by the knowledge that we are not alone. Fiction and no n-fiction alike, there is great power in the written word. But,

books were bigger than the last, leaving readers meandering through the wizarding world for chapters on end, until the real action starts.

creativity, then sometimes, things are bound to go wrong. Imagine

far above books and the pages within them, are the creators of these works. I am amazed at the prolificacy and tenacity of some writers.

A well

researched biography; fiction-series released year after year;

these

wordsmiths become

If this corruption is part of the force driving

The disappointment underpinning this essay stems from the book I was going to share with the readers this month‘Imagine- How Creativity Works’, by Jonah Lehrer.

The

intriguing premise, aims to shatter the previously established notion that creativity is in some way absolute- either one is, or isn’t. The book aims to demystify the heretofore undefinable quality of being creative. In the words of the author, “Once we know how the creative process works, we can make it work for us”. Imagine that; a world with manifold creative potential.

educators, friends, and philosophical guides.

However, since it was published, the book has managed

Surely these authors are aware of the roles thrust upon them. No doubt it motivates them to create, and create better, every single time. But, in today’s times writing is not a purely

to remain in the news for reasons more dubious than laudatory. First, of course, the book shot straight to number one on the New York Times best-seller list. Then, Mr. Lehrer was called

out for plagiarizing himself; quoting from blogs previously

There is immense creativity that goes into non-fiction.

published in the New Yorker (his employer) without

An author must take a collection of events and facts, and

attribution. This incident was somewhat polarizing. From all

combine it with their ingenuity, in order to narrate a story. The

the news story comments, it seemed as if some thought this to

story isn’t always simply there and the most thrilling bits of

be a dent in Mr. Lehrer’s integrity; showing him as lazy,

information can fall flat if not narrated properly. Certainly

careless and unprofessional. Others felt it was not a reflection

imagination comes into play, but it isn’t the type of imagination

of his character and a mere oversight. Mr. Lehrer made the

which creates; it’s the kind that allows one to see distinctly. I

necessary acknowledgements and the New Yorker came out in

cannot begin to imagine the motivation to tweak reality, except

support of him, assuring the populace that no harm was done.

that it is driven a certain type of greed; greed to achieve

All in all the only result was a healthy debate regarding the

perfection in reality. The type of perfection that only lies within

copyrights associated with blogs and why it was so wrong to

the realms of fiction.

recycle one’s own words. What if, you said it best the first time? It then gets worse. A journalist was not able to verify some quotes in the book, attributed to Bob Dylan.

When

confronted, Mr. Lehrer first denied any fabrication, then later came out with a statement admitting his deceit. He had made up the quotes (they were an amalgamation of different quotes by Dylan). They fit his story. The fall-out was immense. ‘Imagine’ was pulled off of shelves; e-books were no longer distributed; the publishers dropped Mr. Lehrer; and, the New Yorker fired him. The Corruption

The Price of Creativity The loss of honor, reputation and not to mention money are the obvious penalties for an author’s perfidy. This is then followed by a large amount of scrutiny. For Mr. Lehrer, there have emerged a few more fabricated quotes. As young as he is, it seems to be lights out for his bright future; at least for now. You see, a precedent seems to have already been set. James Frey is the veritable poster child for literary scandals. His book, ‘A Million Little Pieces’ was an emotional and powerful account of his purported battle with drug addiction and his subsequent recovery. Unfortunately, many crucial details were fabricated or highly exaggerated. In short,

the book was diminished to a work of pure fiction. At first,

and wrong, to a sliding scale adjusted to begin with the most

some argued that book still had great merits and was a story

recent, least-offensive, offense.

from which to learn.

Later however, he was publicly

leniency towards Mr. Lehrer’s earlier self-plagiarizing. At least

challenged, even by Oprah Winfrey, his biggest supporter. All

he was using his own words. Or, defending the merits of Mr.

this was in 2006; by 2008, Mr. Frey had published another

Frey’s work despite some fabrications.

book and signed on a three book deal. He still writes, and quite

story to be learned from.

successfully.

Case in point, much of the

He still presented a

In the end our varied reactions to corruption, seem to

The possibility of redemption and the resurrection of a

boil down to the premium we put on creativity. It is a valued

career for a talented individual brings optimism to a bleak

characteristic and those who create are cherished individuals.

situation. But, is the shortness of our collective memory giving

It is for this, that second chances are given and castigation is

individuals who deliberately mislead, a free pass? Mr. Frey

restrained.

lost out on one seven figure book deal following his ‘scandal’

essence of their creative energy. In the meanwhile, scandals

only to secure one more, a year later. How much punishment is

and falsifications continue to occur. But, who pays the greatest

deserved? And who gets to decide?

price for corrupted creativity?

What of the readers then? Because of the roles authors and their books can take on, a reader may feel rather betrayed. What difference can an irate letter make?

Or, a few may

choose not to buy an author’s books, but what loss is 10, 100 or a 1000 fewer books in sales? Readers have no recourse in a larger sense. The biggest repercussion however, for readers and society alike,

is that we are forced to adjust our moral

compasses- shifting the gradient from a mono-chromatic right

We hope that they will remember the honest

JAM SESSION

Courageous Creativity by, Shahana Dattagupta Introduced by Aparna For those lovers of creative expression, we wanted to highlight a wonderful web ‘zine’- Courageous Creativity. The zine, started byShahana Dattagupta and Shirin Subhani is presently in its third year. It is published on a monthly basis and delves into themes that amongst other things, challenge us, bring us joy, or cause pain; but most surprisingly lead us to tap into our creativity. This is not just in order to drive creative expression in the traditional sense, but to bring creativity into the way we choose lead our lives.

This is the story of Courageous Creativity in the words of its creators. * Courage is the ability to act inspite of fear, and Creativity is an original way of looking at things and connecting the dots. So, Courageous Creativity offers personal stories of insight and action from people “like you and me,” who have seen things uniquely, taken action in spite of fear, and are willing to be vulnerable in sharing their stories in a collective forum. - Shahana Dattagupta and Shirin Subhani

Shirin Subhani and Shahana Dattagupta first met through their work in Seattle’s ‘Yoni ki Baat’, a South Asian live production of true stories of womanhood and sexuality, inspired by Eve Ensler’s Vagina Monologues. They were deeply inspired by the transformative power of vulnerability and storytelling in a collective forum, and at the same time, they also realized that personal narratives of courage and insight transcend gender, national or sociocultural identity, professional background and other divisions, connecting all humans in positive, forward motion. Additionally, rather than agenda-based activism, they became deeply interested in understanding creativity – each person’s unique way of seeing things and acting in the world – as the most fundamental driving force for the evolution of human consciousness.

So, Shirin and Shahana started this zine to tell trans-cultural stories of

courage, creativity and change, connecting contributors and readers from all walks of life, from all over the world! In this journey, a notable moment of delight occurred when someone said, “I read the news, and I read Courageous Creativity, and think: Wow, are these two different worlds? Could Courageous Creativity become the news?” Indeed, Shirin and Shahana hope that Courageous Creativity will come to represent a world of free thinking and courageous action! * This month marks the last of three themed series, ‘Dreaming Big’, ‘Embracing Uncertainty’ and ‘Failure is My Muse’. Courageous Creativity can be found on the web at http://www.flyingchickadee.com/zine.html. Those who love the smell of a freshly minted magazine can also subscribe to the print version of Courageous Creativity! Just write to Shahana or Shirin. Each issue is priced at $6.

CAMEO

What Has Happened to the Moustache? by Gautham Rao I believe Creativity is shown in a bunch of different ways but one of them is to take something that is normally used one way, and then play around with it to get joy another way. The creative outcome of a game of regular Jenga

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*** _ Gautham Rao believes that an avenue of creative expression is to play around with the ordinary and elevate it to something extraordinary, gaining immense joy in the process. Anything can be a source of inspiration; Gautham’s imagination is stoked by his moustache! What’s your ‘muse’-tache?

* What has happened to ‘the moustache’? At what point do we now link the fashionably curled (and oiled) piece of facial hair to the Robin Hood movies of the 60s, Tom Selleck, and pedophiles? (Not listed in any particular order). Sure, you may tell me that moustaches are still prominent in developing countries, November and popular amongst cops, but the trend is declining. Note the chart below: as you can see, moustache levels are on the decline after an exponential growth in the 60s. The brief upswing was primarily a result of the extraordinary lift in moustache growth inspired by Yosemite-Sam. Why do I bring this up at this time? When asked to think about creativity, I did a little soul searching. What inspires me to be creative? I am a strong believer that inside all of us are tiny little avatars from different universes living a different life. In Universe A, I am a pirate; sailing the seven seas, plundering towns for booty, answering to no one, and ‘Yo-ho-ing’ every night as I go to sleep. In Universe B, I am a cowboy; living the grit of the west, drinking whiskey with cereal, howling at coyotes, and cheating at poker. In Universe C, I am a circus ringmaster; cracking my whip at roaring lions, shooting kids out of cannons, and squeezing fifty two clowns into one hilariously small car.

However, in my present universe, I am limited. My creativity is stifled by the lack of moustaches. You cannot be a clean shaved pirate.

No one is going to take you seriously as you board a ship with smooth, hairless, facial skin and demand their ‘booty’.

Cowboys without a bushy upper lip would be carded as they entered the saloon for a pick-up poker game or a night out with the hussies. And, what is a circus ringmaster without a well oiled, curled, and coiffed moustache? He is a ringmaster with no respectsomeone to be laughed at by the trapeze artists, or even worse, the bearded woman. So, let’s bring the moustache back. Let’s get rid of the shackles of professional metro-sexuality, Hollywood personalities (pointing fingers at you, Mr. Tom Cruise), and GQ. Grow out that patch of creative freedom and feel the warmth (and comfort) of your inner artistic self against your upper lip. Stroke the bristles of inspiration and stoke the flames of your prickly muse. I will grow out my moustache until it reaches its full potential. It shall be a bushy beacon to all other moustaches and be placed on a well-trimmed pedestal (metaphorically) as a symbol against facial-hair oppression everywhere. It shall be my life’s ambition, my goal, my future. That is, at least until my local elementary school sends me a note asking me to shave ‘cause I’m scaring the kids, only then is this thing coming off!

CAMEO II

My Line by Pragya Sidhwani An ivory sheet, and a pencil. That pencil tempts me, and so I caress it and let it flow between my fingers. I let it flow on this ivory sheet, hovering at an exact distance. Contemplating on what figment of my imagination, I will realize today.

I make it stop in an upright position, as does a fearless soldier who is ready to drop a bomb on my command. It drops a dot. I let it seek refuge on my index finger, and drag it across the ivory sheet. Proud of its sacrifice, it leaves a mark on its motherland. You deserve it. But alas, the pastels attack! They extend from one boundary to another, parallel and harmonized in their invasion. Their vibrancy dissipates laterally, as they appear to move against the Light. Nevertheless, they smear their power across my ivory sheet. They overshadow my line. You did not deserve this. You are still the Maker of my world.

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Creativity; What a Sham! by, Aman Khanna _ Let’s try reinventing the wheel- literally. Disassemble the ways in which we have regimented our mindset, and start from scratch. But before we begin, we need to think of what should govern this process. Should it be driven solely by function or should we let creativity take over? As I ponder the nature of creativity, I begin to wonder why there is a need to be creative. Shouldn’t the progress of humankind be governed solely by necessity rather than creativity? Isn’t creativity something which comes after the realization that there is a need to be met, after hours have been spent slaving over the functionality of such an object or solution? We can always try and give a chair three legs instead of four, or change the curvature of the bonnet of a car. The fact still remains that the initial design was governed by function and necessity rather than the need to make it more appealing to the human eye. But then again, design in itself is very subjective.

A creative perspective did in some way guide its ultimate creation.

So then it’s

settled;creativity and functionality go hand in hand; conformity is what comes out of accepting that a if certain design works, it works. I get up every morning to brush my teeth with a rectangular toothbrush and paste squeezed out of a cylindrical tube. It works. But if I’m Picasso, I may have a foot shaped brush with toothpaste being squeezed out of a synthetic nose. Besides how weird my morning routine would become, such designs may not work for some people. Not only would it be aesthetically displeasing, but it could render a rather simple task difficult to perform. We are forced to choose between creativity and functionality on a daily basis, and more often than we think. Do I buy a fancy sports car that guzzles gas but makes me look good or do I buy I car that fits my budget and does what a car is supposed to do– drive me around. Creativity can come at a cost. Let us not debate efficiency in this context because branding a certain creative process can improve efficiency, but shoot up prices. Patents have allowed corporations to monetize creativity. Having certain curved edges and a home button in your design can cost you a billion dollars (Samsung vs. Apple). If you think of it first, the idea is yours. On the face

of it, it seems legitimate. If you think of it first, all things ever made with even a slight allusion to the original idea, will cost you your house. Many argue this is necessary to conserve originality. And, without this, we will have cheap knock-offs on the streets. So in a nutshell, I have to be creative and extend upon an idea without utilizing the original product design.

In essence, I should be

reinventing the wheel every time I have a creative take on it. So a single person (read corporation) can forever monopolize on the original content. Even if a non-monetary initiative to improve upon an idea is made, I will have to sacrifice my first born child. It seems preposterous that we live in a world where the laws are getting more stringent on trying to ‘proprie-tize’ (if that isn’t already a word, I should trade mark it!) intellectual property to the extent of killing creativity. “Sorry son, you can’t draw the Sun like that, Picasso already did fifty years ago, it’ll cost you an arm and a leg”. I also wonder if there is more to breaking conformity than just artistic progression. Can breaking conformity , for art’s sake, lead to breaking conformity on a much higher level? For example, art in the renaissance era was driven by a sense of revolt against the church. It aimed to end the mindset of illogical servility and revolted against forced conformity, since the masses could relate to tangible creativity rather than fancy speeches.

The artist’s revolutionary mindset manifested through his (or her) work.

Ergo,

creativity can serve a purpose. Again, we see a sense of functionality, reason and logic, coupled with an artistic foresight. So creativity is necessary; as necessary as functionality or we would all still be living in cookie-cutter homes. We have aerodynamic cars, making them more efficient; and more efficient cars to make fancier. A very symbiotic existence. Boundaries are created by a sense of complacence, by not questioning authority and by letting a sense of satisfaction set in, by knowing that something works. Creativity fueled by a sense of non-conformity can sometimes bring down a regime and can force us to start thinking beyond our boundaries. But we can only improve upon an idea by pushing the definition of how we think it should work. Sometimes we should take a leap and then judge how it well it worked, just for the sake of it. To me creativity doesn’t have any rules, only logic does. Even though a foot shaped brush doesn’t seem easy to use, it makes for a funny sight for sore eyes. I guess in the end, the answer lies in finding the middle road; not having to give up one aspect too much for the sake for the other. Until then, it’s standard toothbrush for me!

FAQ We’ve had a few questions over the past few months, so we thought it would be a good idea to chart out our very own FAQ page. Do you have specific requirements to submit to Udantya? Absolutely not! We love it all; the quirky, the unexpected and the conventional. Share your ideas with us. We want to highlight creativity and artistic expression in all forms. Since we are a web-magazine, we have not yet felt the need to set any page limits or length restrictions. If that changes, we will let you know! How much time do I get to submit a piece? We usually announce the following month’s theme when we release an issue. Our rough editing scheme is as follows. (When you email us to contribute to a particular issue, you will get a set dates for that month). -We usually ask for a short summary of your idea for the intended piece by the end of the first week of the month. -The first draft follows roughly a week to ten days later. You can submit a first draft even if you didn’t tell us your overall summary. Partial drafts are also accepted, so that we get an idea of the direction of your piece. -We like to work closely with you and reserve a week thereafter to finalize a draft. Our goal is to facilitate your vision for your piece and we view this portion of the process as a team effort. Can I send you stuff even if it doesn’t fit a theme? Yes, of course! We will try to find a place for it. You may even give us ideas for more themes! Might I make a suggestion? Yes! Questions, comments, suggestions and ideas are all welcome. Just email us at udantya@gmail.com