I was sitting in front of the computer, it was the last day, I must write my regular page for ‘Universal Colours’; failing that Amir would be angry with me though not showing it.

I am struggling to find the hook to hang may thoughts on; Roopa walks in with a big smile and pair of bright eyes, eyes those exude the delight of being alive.

Saturday, 23 January 2010

Avtarjeet was invited to give a talk by The Press Club of India, New Delhi

Most people when they get the chance to address the press, they talk about their achievements, it is more so the case when one returns to his/her home country after having spent few decades abroad. It is only natural, since most of us when we leave our countries, we go to achieve something.

I have come here to you, NOT to tell you about my achievements, , I have come here only to share my realisations. As all achievements have a short lifespan, where realisations are life long, sometime they remain in the public space beyond one’s life.

I walk on this planet,
looking looking
wondering, wondering
being amazed
at the beauty around us.

Curiosity – First Step to Creativity

We human beings are born as curious animals. The first thing children do is to observe and explore their surroundings; based upon these observations they form images and ideas to make sense of their surroundings.

Once children know what is around them, they start to imagine the things those are not within their visual field, taking cues from sounds and other indirect perceptions. A child’s ability to imagine/dream things those are beyond their direct experience is the first step towards creativity.

Time as concept

When a Maori villager came to visit London for the first time, he was amazed at so things, and he tried to make sense of everything from his perspective. After spending over a month, he returned to his village in New Zealand. Every evening people from his village would come to his house and he would tell them stories about London, and entertain them.

During the 80s, Panjab, my homeland went through a difficult period. Indira Gandhi government created a Sikh separatist leader in the Panjab, as result a lot of young Sikh joined this separatist movement.

At one time on this planet, there were only fish, animals, birds and insects, and one of the animals looked like humans, yet they were not different from the other animals. They were all fighting and killing and eating one another and that made God very unhappy.

In 1985, I was invited to take part in St Louis Arts Festival. During my stay with two local artists, one of them very kindly arranged an appointment with a director of gallery, where he was showing.

I am writing this letter because I have so many Jewish friends, those are wonderfully humane people as are most of my Muslim friends and others. As you all know that I am Sikh from India, where after sixty years, my family still talks about the over a million people massacred on both sides, Sikhs and Muslims during the partition of the Panjab. There has been several wars between India and Pakistan, those all fought on Panjabi soil. On the other hand, Sikhs have no neighborly dispute with Israel.

In the aftermath of 3 days of tragic drama in Mumbai, politician and media commentators trying to put the pieces together, and Indian people are asking many questions and demanding answers from their leaders and the security forces.