Becoming Jane film review.

Becoming Jane austen was set in at time(1795) where boxing matches were popular(now we have video games). she struggled to start writing now every one is a publisher! You have your readers at your finger tips. The film sketches a rough outline of the social scenario and interactions of Jane the writer. What were the sources used to sketch this story? Could the story throw light on her teachers and childhood? I understand the constraints of making a 2hour 'Hollywood film' would require certain sensibilities. However my pride and prejudice makes me sceptical of this version. Pride that Jane Austen was a lady author ahead of her time and prejudice that cinema makers often choose not to be.
Quotable quotes,
sometimes affection is shy flower, it takes time to blossom.
affection is desirable, money is absolutely indespensable.
nothing destroys spirit like poverty.
toast by one member of the profession to the other.
Long slow degradation of guilt,regret and blame.

Death

My aunt died this morning.
I don't know why I don't feel anything.
I understand loss, I empathise with crying for the departed...However I would rather my death be celebrated....You never know..aren't we going to a better place..where there is no time, no constant or no change...ya sounds boring but I am fascinated by life after death...
However coming back to death,
The first person I saw dead was Sherry, ya he was my dog and in picking him up, his tongue hanging, blood slowly oozing out..I could not believe I would not hear him bark again...
I saw my granny die next...I had spend the day before singing to her in the hospital room....I feel numb...

I choose to do things, I stated cleaning when sherry left, I was comfortable running around for the obituary to reach the newspaper at ammachi's demise...

Now,my aunt is no more, I can only imagine what a loss it is for her kids, my cousins and her brothers and sisters, my aunts,uncles and dad...However I can't join the crowd to cry..I would rather do something...

How does that make me heartless and insensitive? Give me work and I can see anything through...please don't force me in idle customs and traditions that make you mourn loss....

Only in the face of loss do we view what we have, with value...
Since I have been thinking about this, I thought of making a check list of all the things one needs to act on after some one's death...

1. Death certificate
2. Insurance papers
3. Medical documents to be taken from Hospital
4. Mobile phone and personal belongings of the deceased
5. Dressing the deceased for the burial.
6. Transport of body from hospital to home.
7. Slab of ice for body to be placed while waiting for mourners.
8. flowers,agarbatti,room freshner
9. tea, coffee.
10. mostly neighbours pitch in with dinner for family
11. Priest for funeral rituals
12. Obituary to appear in local paper,community magazine and religious magazine.
13. Cemetery arrangements.
14. Dinner/Lunch after funeral.
15. travel and pick up arrangements for visiting relatives.
16. water arrangements. tank filling.
17. Property,lawyer settlements.

As I made this list I realised that so many things just happen naturally in Indian families around the chaos...

when I die, I want to be exhumed....not buried...not mourned...I plan to live life to fullest...each day to the fullest...if someone can make a video of the happy times we spent together that would be cool...But please don't wait till I die to do that...and please don't mourn my loss...I am here, there and in the space between us...

Check list for Plan of action

I have made a checklist keeping in mind SPICMACAY. However it can be used for any organisation. Do let me know what you think, what worked and didn't work for your set up.

Checklist For program
stage arrangements
lights
memento
artists profile:- gurus
First aid,water at stage.
sitting arrangements of audence. (In front of performer; engaged audience.)
email gathering counter,responsible person to follow up on sending welcome email.
announcement of future meetings,
Picking up cheque and banner after event. Clearing chairs and trash.
Completing payment to artists,sound and light system.

Through a group's Past Experiences it is necessary to document and reflect.
Past Miscommunication and good feelings
New ideas for team collaboration.
Acknoledging that we meeting diverse people from different back grounds and encouraging an environment to share without getting off tangent.
Past stories of rapport building with artists.
Recognizing that the NGO has grown and esstablishing FCRA accounts for better fund management and transparency.
Finding a flow for entry of new artists.
including/documenting art forms such as stiching, cooking,storing,rangoli making,
selecting ngo's to express twitter love.
Understanding the ngo stands connected in creating bussiness for tourism, raising questions about education and learning, taking a stand for holistic food availibility and preservation of intangibile heritage.


Checklist for propaganda
Advertisement/teaser building brand.
Posters, interviews to build tempo.
tweeting, retweets, showeringing twitter love to sister organizations. Building tempo towards an event through tweets.
Facebook pages for artists,updates,discussions,groups for cause,ads to raise money and awareness,causes, Showcasing photos and press coverage in photo album.
google maps updates,linked to facebook group
calender:- google,yahoo,
Press note to local media, magazines, telivision, national;regional and international radio,podcasts.

Future Plans
Phase 1
Making a database. Past,present,national international.employing a content management system.
Branding of cause. Ad film? You tube video. What is it? What is it not?
Making ppt for schools, colleges, sponsors,hospitality partners,trasnportation partners,communication partners – mobile phones
List of available artists,dates time,virasaats,conventions
fixing dates for orientation with school,colleges,corporates, governmet officials,bureacrats, Vice chancellor, commitee heads.
following up with saturday meetings. The location of the meeting should change weekly or monthy and should continue in educational/ngo's/co-porates too.
Phase 2
Interesting events once a month
sms database
getting stories/experiences/blogs online
fixing up dates and venues

Phase 3
A month before event.
Week before event:- Buzz about artist, quizzes about artist in the assembly.
day before event
Event day

Phase 4
Follow up with schools for interpretation of events.
reflection of past concert.
connection of art with studies.
Emails of students to artists

follow up on ideas

I had the opportunity of meeting the Vice chancellor,Prof.Radhavallabh Tripathi of Rashtra Sanskrut Sanstha of Delhi at a seminar in Madras.

He had heard about SPICMACAY and seemed enthusiastic about the movement too. He had expressed interest to meet spic volunteers in delhi...I was suggesting we could do a Kudiyattum performance along with a Sanskrit text the students are learning.

I was wondering if we could create a format on google docs as that is easier to share.Also I was hoping we would could come up with a format for inviting the artists and wondering if we could link it up with google maps. As in Every artist has a document in a larger folder of artist which is classified according to their genre. It has details like good time to call, contact person, may be past anecdotes of seniors who have interacted with the artists.

at the last meet, kiran sir had mentioned that Doordarshan has agreed for a ad slot about SPICMACAY. I am curious about the list of parameters Doordarshan must have set.In my head yellow splashes...what if we have yellow in its different forms.. yellow bags...yellow tshirts..yellow shoes...with a common red dot and then the photographs of the many artists/students collating to make the SPICMACAY symbol....

Art inclined administrators.

At the college level I have observed we are forced to learn Sanskrit. Not understanding the context or concepts of the text. Not discussing the depth, metaphors or comparing the changes
between then and now. I would like to work on the text in a different way with the students. While we introduce the text through chanting,traditional puppets and folk art, miniature paintings which are so vivid and pulsating I am sure it will leave an impression. We have the
students express their understanding of the text through dance, drama or drawing. We encourage them to change the text, intersperse it with issues they would like to connect it with. Then we invite the Kuddiyatum performers who ideally have an intensive in the morning with the students pointing out some intricacies of the dance form followed by a performance in the evening. The students are involved at every step of organising the event, escorting the artists, gathering
the funds. The performance happens at a community space. This experience is documented and the highly enthused students are given an opportunity to attend the national convention of SPICMACAY.

I believe through art we can bring into forum niggling topics necessary for public debate. I wish to take a firm stand against exploitation.Whether it is the depleting earth resources, the queer community or women.

I hope to make a concise action plan that could be put in place in schools across India. I am curious to explore and integrate Art in education. Students like me are not aware of the rich
and artistic traditions of the country, of the vibrant and ever evolving nature of creative arts. I would like to find out more about the gap in a rich cultural heritage being on the periphery of education. Find out more about the problem associated with integrating art education in schools. I hope to make an action plan to integrate at least one art form theatre/music/puppetry in schools.

My long term goals include being part of a model where each individual may be given the space to be. Thus students may be able to appreciate and respect cultural heritage and cultivate rich interests which they can pursue in their leisure and later in life. I believe the hope of education could be to sensitise children to tolerate and if possible accept differences around them. Most of what I am saying has been said before. I want to be part of making it happen at the grassroots’ level. I foresee ideological differences and a long struggle with bureaucracy. However I hope to rejuvenate the particular art form of Kudiyattum and creating a web of art inclined administrators.

Creating learning spaces around art

Learning is a dynamic process. The teacher and student constantly exchange seats.It transforms the rasik and rasa. India is a land of oral traditions. We are a group of talkative and noisy people. Instead of adopting blindly, education boards that do not strengthen core concepts. We must strive to recreate the oral tradition in context of the technology-aided civilisation we live in. We need to move away from the violent teaching practices adopted in the name of education.

The classical tradition in India is a complex science. It is high time we work towards demystifying its complexity. On approaching a work of art the reactions most of us have range from wonder, boredom to delight. Each reaction of the audience is an important tool to understand what we can do to sustain these art forms. As a community, if we don’t attempt to ‘see’ these dying art forms in a new light we might loose sight of them forever.

The need is to find contexts for ancient wisdom. Bringing them into learning spaces where they can be questioned and analyzed before being accepted and integrated or rejected. However, the attempt must focus on the experience and creation of a memory.

India as a country has been striving to preserve its rich cultural heritage. Its commendable of the government to make efforts to reach out to artists communities and take them to village communities, however if use art forms as puppets for propaganda when needed and not give them spaces to explore their intricacies and tell their own stories. Folk art traditions which are sporadic and spontaneous have a predictable format in ‘shows’. With star artists and attractive women.

SPICMACAY as a voluntary group movement has most importantly created a rapport with artists of fame and folk traditions. The efforts are noteworthy to reach out to the large number of students across the country. However, some quarters perceive the movement as an elitist group. Classical traditions have most students turn their backs. I believe, the college level is too late to approach individuals to be sensitive to the arts while being bombarded with mass media, which numbs our senses.

Artists have always been on the periphery of society. With no place to go and a society which has a mix of people who raise them with praises during a evening but will be shocked and hurt if their own child wants to become an artist.

An evening with Pandit Hari Prasadji Chaurasia.

As a child I have listened to the call of the valley a thousand times, no may be a million times. The beauty of listening to instrumental music not only lies in the notes strummed in quick unison in a set pattern. The most powerful and evocative experience for me is the images!
I am fascinated by the images,music paints for me. I remember sharing my mum's delight on experiencing the playfulness of a rivulet, through the music. Nadi ki kal kal charting its own course or the drawing the rats out of town or Krishna engaging the gopis.
On the 3rd of February at the National Centre for Biological Science Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia did just that. I second the lady in the audience who was moved to tears by his prayer. The prayer for everyone's good health. My mind evoked humbling images of asking for grace and direction.
My heart sprang with delight when 72 year old panditji, after playing for two hours obliged us with playing the pahadi tune. Though his fellow musicians had kept away their instruments. However, greedy me still yearns to hear the call of the valley from his lips,in his audience.
He gave us a true feeling of the lecture demonstration asking for questions. Earlier before the concert in true journalistic fashion I did the stupidity of interviewing him. The following is a loose transcript.
Panditji, please tell me more about your experience in engaging with your students at university. Do they interact with your students in the gurukul?
Yes, I stay abroad for 6 months, some of my students come and stay at my gurukul and learn and interact with my students here too.
Have these interactions being documented? Using technology which is cheap e.g. Videos can we have these students create something new, remix the original, question the traditional interpretations?
However After I used the word remix, I realised he had disconnected. I don't blame him. Till very recently I also had different echoes for the same word.
“So what do you want from this?,” He asked.
I floundered,as I tried to articulate my enthusiasm to understand, respect,imbibe,capture the great art form he embodied.
The beauty of his lips sealed in a kiss with the flute that uncoiled such peace in my soul, The brow tense with concentration in creation of a divine revelation. Art,life,beauty....how it fills me with despair and hope at the same time!