Random Thoughts on Random Words - Day 3 Creativity

Creativity is talked about a lot these days.It is no longer thought of  as  "Good to have" but increasingly felt most essential  for the very survival in a world that is becoming increasingly competitive.It is all about the "Survival of the fittest and most innovative". According to the dictionary definition, creativity is " the ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, relationships, or the like, and to create meaningful new ideas, forms, methods, interpretations, etc.; originality, progressiveness, or imagination:the need for creativity in modern industry; creativity in the performing arts.".

 The next question that naturally  comes up is "If creativity is all that important can we acquire and develop it like a skill or is it a personality trait that you are born with ? " The academicians seem to be divided in their opinion. Some believe it is a personality trait, a talent  that you are born with. Others suggest that creativity is a skill like any other which can be cultivated and developed over a period of time. A third view advises you to  just keep looking at things with an aim to learn something new, get fresh ideas and more ways to solve problems instead of thinking there is only one way. When you do this, creativity will follow and you will realize that creativity is not really a skill or a talent, it is both. Parents can play a big role in encouraging and supporting their children to be creative.  

Creative thinkers tend to be risk takers who have a "dare to fail" attitude. They are not scared of being different from others, could be impulsive and change their minds often. In an industrial scenario, converting the creative ideas to practical application (innovation) is the key. "There is a need for creativity to be intentional with a framework" says   Mr Sanjay Chandel, SrVP(HR), Sterling. Readers may like to read my blog " Curiosity  creates Creativity" for more on this. ( https://hrdian.blogspot.com/2021/03/curiosity-creates-creativity.html )

Now, let us take a look at the climate for creativity. Do we have more avenues now for expressing ourselves be it in respect of  literary activities or in terms of support from organizations at work? Clearly the opportunities are a lot more. Unlike as of old, people don't start work and retire in the same company. Opportunities have increased manifold. A person can today simply quit an organization that stifles or does not provide ample scope for his/her creativity as many are waiting in the wings to grab talent with a creative bent of mind. 

With respect to opportunities for creative writing, I remember that in my youth there were very few magazines and it was very difficult to get your short story or poem published. People gave up after receiving  many regret notes from editors. The youngsters today have so many more options. You can publish in your own blog, post in literary groups or on the multiple  online journals available.Further self publishing has taken the sting out of the woes of getting a book published by a traditional publisher. I myself had an interesting experience in recent times. I had written a poem on a  call given by a literary group for inclusion in an anthology which was to  be physically released followed by poetry recitation at a function in Thiruvanathapuram, Kerala. I had completed  composing the poem but hadn't yet sent it when the organizers announced that owing to the arrival of  Covid 19 , the process stands postponed. However, Covid 19 stayed longer than the two weeks we had anticipated and the project itself was shelved. 

In the meanwhile, I got intimation from our  local poetry circle in which I am a member since inception that they are planning to bring out an anthology of world class for which contributions are  invited from poets all over the country and that the poems would be judged by a secret panel to whom the names of poets would not be revealed. One would have thought that the maiden anthology of a local poetry circle would provide opportunity to its own  members to be heard. After all, it is this  handful of active poets that keep the forum going month after month. No doubt it was a very ambitious project by the three members who conceived the project, designed the cover and the guidelines, all by themselves. However the period  for submission was around two weeks, comparatively a short deadline by normal practice.  Poems could be on any subject. There was one rider though. Poets were to refrain from writing anything on the impact of Covid 19 on themselves or the society. 

I found this a big barrier as I  normally write about what is happening around me. It was a time when our migrant population were walking long distances along with their families battling fatigue, exhaustion and starvation on the way. I was not in the mood to write a fresh poem . My non participation would also have been awkward being a member of the group from its birth. I decided to send the poem "Weapon" unused and readily available with me. The poem however did  not have  the content  usually associated with poetry. It discussed about using weapons sparingly- Like a teacher/parent caning a child , strikes/lockouts being used in industries or spouses using denial of sex as weapon. When used excessively the weapon is no longer effective and ceases to serve as a "weapon'. 

 My poem obviously did not appeal to the secret panel of judges as it was not selected.  Within a couple of days of the decision being announced , I saw a call on face book for participation in an international online poetry meet and promptly submitted my unused, readily available poem. I have since been  continuously presenting poems in this forum  which has poets from all over the world. The point I am making is that today, a rejection is not the end of the world. You have umpteen opportunities to showcase your creativity.  

If earlier the problem was not having opportunity or access to the resources for your creative work to see the light of day, today the criticism has been that the quality of writing has gone down considerably with every Tom, Dick and Harry aspiring to write. In fact some speak in a derisive manner about poets/writers publishing their work in literary groups on Face book. The are referred to as "Face book poets". To my mind such generalization is unfair. Not all the publications on FB are substandard. On the contrary, they encourage writers who start small to improve considerably with time and support received  from group members. Further, why should we worry so much and decide who should write and who should not. If a person is not writing quality stuff, he/she will eventually wither away without a trace.  

I am reminded of events that happened in the Malayalam film industry. a decade after the start of the new millennium  The super stars of the industry Mammooty and Mohanlal  used to play a wide variety of roles and gained acclaim over the years. However, slowly  they wanted to emulate the super stars of other industries like Bollywood and other regional cinema  with big budgets and  a larger than life persona. This included driving swanky cars and  mouthing  lines of long monologues. Where do we speak like this in day to day life? Yet, being superstars with a committed fan base they began to feel that anything goes if they are in the film.

 Some youngsters noticing that these stars were doing movies no different from their counterparts in other industries started watching and becoming fans of actors  like Allu arjun in Telugu/  as also Tamil actors who were a lot younger than the aging stars and could do the dancing and fight sequences a lot more convincingly. It was at this time that a person by name Santosh Pandit came on the scene in 2011. He produced a film "Krishnanum Radheyum" at the cost of only Rs five Lacs as claimed by him. He acted, wrote lyrics, gave music and handled many other technical departments himself to save money. As admitted by him, he did not have  any training what so ever in film making.

 The strange thing was that this movie became a super hit. People came to the theatre to hurl abuses , sway to the the sound of badly written dialogues and substandard music. The aim was to just have a good time like in a bawdy high decibel pub in cities, the primary aim not being to enjoy the movie. At that time, there was a lot of  hue and cry and a call to Santhosh to get out of the industry. To my mind though,  Santosh Pandit was simply showing the mirror to the Malayalam film  industry. His message was very clear. I make trash in five lacs, you make the same trash spending crores of rupees. Therefore I am a lot better than you. What actually happened was,  accepting the wake up call, Malayalam films changed tack , returned to realistic story telling with many young directors and actors joining the industry. The super stars were also compelled to choose better films. Like we discussed earlier, substandard stuff will vanish with time. There is no need to get agitated by it. This is what happened to santosh Pandit as well.  He produced a handful more of films which did not enjoy the initial success and  is clearly on his way out.   

If we had the right to decide who should and should not write, then perhaps only professors of language departments would enjoy the privilege. A tribal poet like Lok Kabi, Ratna Haldhar Nag from Odisha who writes in the Sambalpuri dialect , would have been lost to the poetic world. The sixteenth century poet and devotee of Lord Guruvayurappan, Poonthanam Namboothiri  was initially not given his due as he wrote in Malayalam unlike his contemporary Melpathur Narayana Bhatathiri who wrote in the Devabhasha, Viz sanskrit. 

Legend has it that the Lord himself was annoyed with Melpathur when  he refused to read and give his feedback to a request of Poonthanam  as his  work  "Gnanapana" was not in Sanskrit .  I would like to end this piece by reiterating that creativity should not be stifled. Let the present generation with their multiple options be encouraged to showcase their best. If it is good, it will survive the test of time.  The bad will die out on its own. Why kill creativity in the womb itself?  

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