meethapani

Humour The digital networks teem with jokes, satirical videos and memes, from politics to the absurd new world leaderships. Humour is a coping mechanism that can balance out overwhelming circumstances, neutralize aggression and heal relationships. It is also a means of expressing criticism of society that escapes social or legal restrictions.     The court jester could get away with saying things that an ordinary critic would be beheaded for. With the end of traditional kingships, the court jester transformed into the stand-up comic, holding the mirror to society’s weaknesses Dark “gallows humor”, coined by the Germans during the 1848 revolutions for the persecution of liberals is, as Antonin Obrdlik says “an index of strength or morale on the part of oppressed peoples” . Humor can be used as a weapon for mass resistance.   The Italian’s used the slogan   “ Una risata vi seppellirà ”, during protests against the Ancien Regime, which translates as “It w...

Re-thinking Education The 1200 plus acres of the arid campus of University of Karachi magically turn lush green after the rains, hidden seeds become beautiful flowering plants, dragonflies mysteriously appear   and puddles teem with tadpoles. Teaching art feels pretty much like that: a little watering and amazing talents emerge.   Training in the creative arts by their nature must focus on self-realization and expression of the inner voice.   According to psychologist, A.I. Krupnov, self-realization, one of the aims of all education, is best achieved by persistence. While creative education assumes the student’s self-regulated persistence, many academic programmes are standardized, prescribed and inculcate passivity. If, as George Bernard Shaw says “intelligence forces us to learn”, this lack of engagement can only stem from the methodology of teaching or perceiving the content as irrelevant to the student’s future life. Many seek higher education degrees, ...

Turning Thoughts into Action Social media allows a platform for ordinary people to express their opinions. Many go further and share the actions they have taken usually in the social sector such as the Robin Hood Army or Roti Bank, Fixit, and Transparent Hands However, it is also true that shelves of university libraries, and research centres are filled with amazing studies and reports and inventions that rarely cross over into the world of policy makers or manufacturers. A lot of intellectual activity becomes an end in itself. In his paper, From Thought to Action, Jonathan Dancy asks can theoretical reasoning lead to action? Or does it only create a set of beliefs and intentions? Even if action    is not the intended result of thoughtful reasoning, at the very least it needs to be shared outside the inner circle with the aim to inspire action. Philosophy and art are expected to play a quieter role as influencers, rarely expected to turn their observations i...

“The Beautiful Sorrow of Things” I like movies with happy endings. Sadness sends me into a panic, as if I will never get out from under the weight of it all. Yet I have to admit there is an arresting beauty in sadness. Tragedy, sadness, melancholia, anxiety, and even ugliness has generated some exquisite art, music, films and theatre over the centuries. Sometimes tragic events are shown with objectivity such as the Death of Marat by David, sometimes the internal angst of the artist comes through with stunning effect such as Van Gogh’s Starry Night – the view from the window of him room in the mental asylum. In his essay ‘Atrabilious Reflections upon Melancholy’ (1823), Hartley Coleridge (son of the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge) praised melancholy as a more refined state of mind than happiness: “Melancholy is the only Muse. She is Thalia and Melpomene. She inspired Milton and Michael Angelo, and Swift and Hogarth. All men of genius are melancholy – and none more so than...

ART AND EMPATHY Empathy has become the hot new subject for social scientists. A relatively new term coined in 1909, it is defined as the ability to put oneself in another’s shoes. More than sympathy – feelings of compassion, or pity for the hardship of others-   empathy is the ability to feel as the other feels and may be followed by some form of action – to support, assist or simply be available. It is identified as a fundamental skill in a world where businesses cross continents, migration brings cultures in proximity to one another, and religious polarization generates wars with devastating consequences. Not restricted to humans, empathy also informs environmental policies to achieve human “progress” without destroying nature and animal habitats that are shrinking with alarming speed. The creative arts - Literature, Cinema, Music, Art, Dance - have, since the establishment of human societies, gifted society the opportunity for empathy.   Empathy gives people th...

What’s in a Name? It is estimated that about130 million babies are born in a year. Each one will be given a carefully considered name. A name that indicates their gender, family, culture, and possibly religion.   It will indicate their parents’ aspirations with the assumption that as the child grows he or she will develop a personality and values reflected in their given name.   The importance given to naming a newborn can be gauged by the elaborate naming ceremonies across the world. Names are decided in a dizzying array of systems: Tasmiya of Muslims, the Baptism of Christians, Namakaram of Hindus, Chaathi of Parsees, The Chinese Moon-yut or red egg and ginger party. Philosophers have debated , with no clear conclusion, whether a name is merely an objective   title or a description of the person.   However, in practice, names are imbued with all manner of qualities. Some believe a name determines the destiny of a person. Numerology has been applied to...

Diaries, Journals and Notebooks Leonardo da Vinci’s notebooks have probably brought him more renown with academics than the fifteen paintings he made in his life time. Filled with investigations of anatomy, botany, geology, mathematics and inventions for bridges, flying machines, war machines, submarines, musical instruments, they continue to be relevant today. A small hand bound notebook was always tied to his belt at all times, ready to jot down ideas, observations and a to-do list. The pocket notebook was also a fixture of many writers, scientists, soldiers and statesmen, including Darwin, Hemmingway, Beethoven and George Lucas. It came to be seen as a masculine, accessory. Maugham kept a writer’s notebook in which he wrote sketches of people he met who might make it into his next novel. Frieda Kahlo, Paul Klee and Picasso’s notebooks, like that of most artists were not only part of the creative process but were also a “friend” in difficult personal times. Picasso said ...