You Felt That?

I have a conviction that I would like to bounce off you guys. Some of you who are my friend and listen to me blabber in your DMs, you would have heard me talking about this stuff sometime or the other. And if you haven’t, well then, you’re here, aren’t you?

Life Is Simple. We invite drama. Life can be pretty straight forward and without any complication that is big enough to bother your mental peace. If we do things a practical way, keep our head down and become absolutely objective oriented in our dealings, then we can be as untouched by drama as is a 4Th year Engineering student of Hope. Apologies for feeding the stereotype, it will happen if you’re in BBA too. (Attac kyu kar raha hai bhai? IK I'm Sorry. Been There. Done That.)

And mind you, I don't mean it in a demeaning way. We need drama. It helps us process our feelings. And what's the point of living if I can't feel happy when I see a Balloon, or Cry when I remember my ex or even feel pain if I am hurt because my office Peon forgot my Coffee after I was up all night doing some work for which I am grossly underpaid. To feel is to be alive. And let me tell you. Feelings are crude. They are crude in the sense that all being have them. They are basically neural data summarized. Hot? Hurt. Don’t Touch. Hungry? Meat! Eat. Simple Thought processes that become muscle memory. So what’s different when it comes to humans? Or more sentient beings than say a cockroach? That would be the comprehension of such data. The power of selection as to what am I supposed to do when I am met a particular stimulus. So, where a cat would think, {Hungry? Meat! Eat.}; a human will think {Hungry? Meat? But I love animals. Paneer? Kal Hi toh khaya tha ☹, Malai Kofta? Yes! But wait first let me put on Brooklyn 99. Eat.}. Notice how there was decision making and further neural data branching out from experiences? That is different. This when experienced more actively and let a bit loose, becomes what Pop Culture refers to as “Drama”.

But then why doesn’t everybody get this? If they do then what's the need for art. I feel art is much more than just..."bhaalo laglo dekhte/shunte”. Art is an ancient form of passing down knowledge. Stories dance music art craft food dressing culture. It looks good so that people cherish it. Kind of like mums putting Baingan in Pizza. And this kills the concept of being better than someone at art. It’s about delivering value. General Public is too.... taken by the idea of societal affairs, social frameworks and excelling at them to be stopping and appreciating the real things in life. Like water, or a couple fighting as it rain and neither of them is worried about the rain. Cause they're together. And when they listen to this in a song or see this in a movie (Aashique 2/ Half Girlfriend/The Notebook), they tend to gasp in awe. Because they never stopped to appreciate the little things. As humans it is our nature to give more weightage to experience rather than just the mere knowledge of it. For Example, Porn? Ok! But Sex? Gots to try it out! This is what makes art a better teacher than mere knowledge. And while I say this, please don’t think books aren’t Art just because it is the written word. They are auxiliary art. They need a catalyst to become real art. Usually a teacher. But In India we make do with Mr. Dubey from Saharanpur. But again, without digressing, I would just like to point out how Art being and Experience teaches us things in a manner which makes retention way easier. This is why things you learn from movies/songs are retained by your brain. Because it was an experience.

I feel instead of harassing kids for remembering Bruce Wayne’s Mother’s Name, Teachers can actually take a hint and make use of Experiential learning, rather than the same old things which make us uncultured bionic robots up for sale for 3.2LPA. Until that Happens, we have to cherish Mr. Dubey. From Saharanpur.

Nishant Gupta.

P.C: Self.