The Zen of Making

How can we be creative everyday?  In reality, many of us use extraordinary skills on a daily basis. A panwala  swaying slowly while his quicksilver hands wrap a pan into a gilori with mesmerizing elegance, a carpenter who brings a plank of wood he is planing, to eye level to check its perfect,  a potter who centres a wad of clay and then effortlessly lifts it into a symmetrical pot, a surgeon who closes up a cut in a rhythm of knotted stitches, a cook slicing onions into uniform rings, a hairdresser whose scissors deftly style a mop into a sculpted  form. The list seems endless.  It’s the “without realizing” that prevents us from feeling creative.

One of the ways in which objects or actions are valued is by the naming of them. The hand gestures or mudras of classical kathak dance each have very specific names. Buying a paan called “un se na kehna”   (don’t tell my partner) from the famous PIDC paan shop in Karachi added fun to the experience.

lagawaT ki ada se un ka kahna pan hazir hai

qayamat hai sitam hai dil fida hai jaan hazir hai              Akbar Allahbadi

(The alluring way you said here is the paan

It’s the end of the world, its cruelty, I am smitten – I offer my life to you)

Naming also becomes a sharing of creative intention.  In the 30s, Maulvi Abdul Haq, known as the father of Urdu, fulfilled a 25 year long dream by commissioning Maulvi Zafarur Rehman Dehlvi to travel the length and breadth of India to collect terminologies used by artisans. It resulted in a treasure in 8 volumes called “istalahaat e peshawaraan”  ( terminolgy of artisans) that needs to be pulled off dusty shelves, republished and translated to share with the world. Pesha e Maymari or architecture, Ara kashi  working with a saw, Chilmun sazi  bedroom furniture, khakrobi , sweepers, kashti rani or boatbuilding  ,  tayyari e paposh or shoemaking,  zar baafi or working with gold thread, shireeni saazi or preparing sweetmeats, making jewelry, clothing, musical instruments and gardening and even terms used by criminals.  

The Japanese understand that by naming actions these are not only organized and recognized but also acquire a spiritual significance. The practice of "kintsugi" or repairing with gold, is an art form that joins broken pottery with golden lacquer, drawing attention to the breaks. In this way the broken pot represents our own resilience in the face of misfortune. Kintsugi generated the Bunka cultural movement which gave rise to ceremonies like Sado, the tea ceremony and ikebana, flower arrangements, reflecting  the Zen philosophy of wabi-sabi (beauty in simplicity).

Just as making aesthetically balanced things can place us in a reflective awareness, it is equally restful to watch someone making something, whether simply watching someone neatly sweep the area outside their shop,  henna pattern applied to one’s palm, a florist making a garland of jasmine and roses, a gardener transferring a plant from a pot to a flowerbed, a crane lifting heavy building material to the top of a building,   or machines weaving cloth in a mill.

The internet is full of videos titled  “Stressful Day? Take A Deep Breath And Watch This Video Of An Artisan Putting Together A Wallet” “A Great Way To Calm Your Mind: Watch Japanese Craftsmen Make Paper By Hand” Many learn to heal by immersing themselves in some activity - knitting quilting or golf.

The Zen master, Koun Yamada, reminds us “the practice of Zen is forgetting the self in the act of uniting with something”.      

Durriya Kazi

March 17, 2019

durriyakazi1918@gmail.com