Hands have brains

Published in KFI newsletter in 2012

 

Why did the cave man draw on rocks? Why do we do what we do? Man is unique in his gift to create. We have this ability to use our hands and minds to create with or without a purpose. All creatures create for a purpose; but man’s gift to create takes him beyond the utilitarian. As children we  played with our shadows, made bubbles with soap, we built sand castles and as we grew older we started styling our hair, colouring our faces, and using our creativity in clothing ourselves. Our body becomes our first and immediate medium. Could it be that we do this as an outlet for our creativity and not just for vanity and courtship? We see creative outbursts all around us even in a cluttered urban set up with no aesthetic relief. The scratched paints on walls, doodling on the hand, drawing on fogged window panes, are all expressions and in some way a latent creative energy. We often put creativity on a pedestal. Making it a prerogative of a few who we claim are talented. It is however in us, as natural as breathing, as natural as eating: This urge to create is almost like a natural rhythm in us, and creates a balance within us. Today we lay a lot of stress on the power of the mind and tend to  look at the mind as place for emotion and intellect. The brain is much more and needs food beyond words and visuals, (which in today's world it gets even without trying) . 

I feel, that when we receive information and gain knowledge we are consumers. When we use our mind and body together to conceive and make we become creators. If the mind only receives and never conceives and creates it will tip the balance in the body. Input needs to equal the output in us. What goes in must comes out!! We know that from some practical experience don't we?

At times our body even mimics the act of creating (cracking our knuckles, drumming on the table, playing with our hair, playing video games), giving us the illusion of creating but it may create restlessness more than balance.

            We all know artists draw, and we often look at drawing as that pencil sketch which is the end result. But I had read somewhere, that to draw really means to draw from; to draw the essence (a lot like drawing water from a well) of what is in front of you, to make it a part of you and then to express it back in another medium. This completes the full circle. This is why each sketch is different; because each person draws differently, internalises differently and expresses differently.  That song we like to hum when we see the rain is this same creativity. It is not “that” song; it is the song we have created with our own vocal chords.

Once we begin to understand the above we stop considering art as something external to us. Whether everything we create can be aesthetically appealing is part of a different debate, and a long and arduous journey which needs deep engagement and honesty. But for that, the journey needs to begin.

             Every ethnic culture has creativity within its social fabric. Their social patterns encourage the use of their mind and body together. Weaving, painting, building, body art, grooming, cooking, dancing and singing are all part of their regular life. In the urban world we have outsourced most of these activities, and have increased our consumption through books, television, internet etc. Maybe this creates an imbalance or lacuna in the social fabric. 

            When we start using our body and mind together we start sensing a resonance with the world around us. If we have woven a basket we may think twice before removing a birds nest from our balcony. If we have attempted to make perfect round chapatis, we won’t bargain with the potter over the cost of a diya.  If we have tended a garden we will look at a huge rain tree in awe.  If we have sketched the bark of a tree we may begin to appreciate the lines on our face. The crow may teach us a musical
note. We may sense a rhythm in the flow of the traffic and the blare of the horns in the rush hour traffic.

By letting our hands do what the were meant to do we may help our eyes see things differently and our mind think differently