The Creativity Principle

by Tirna Sengupta

The much-awaited slothful holidays tread away without much notice. It was only two in the afternoon when I bothered to know what time or what day it was. Having no History or Geography waiting for my tending, I did some channel surfing. I promised myself a little adventure. I’d split the hour into watching more than one channel. My first halt was at ‘Good Times.’ I had seen this programme a couple of times before. A team of interior designers collect information from the customers about their taste regarding renovating their house. They take their houses over for a while and hand them back decked, unleashing their unparalleled expertise in the area.  For the man who loved stones, they embellished his house with all kinds of stones – from pebbles to towers of crystals. I switched to ‘Culture.’ A plethora of expressions eddied through the green-painted banana pack on the Kathakali dancer’s face, the damp kajal around the eyes, and the thick-sketched eyebrows; his face, one clever piece, alternately turned into an angry ball of fire, a laughing monster and various other things. A spectacle of hooping balls into the basket was next on the screen with an enlivening explosion of fans’ cheers and a mighty shake of pom-poms in tune with the frills of the cheerleaders’ skirts. Tempted to find out how a story on the screen that leaves us sobbing, sniffling and laughing is fashioned behind the scenes, I stopped at ‘Film’ where they were narrating the making of an AparnaSen film. I was amused by the risks taken and the labour put in. The concerted efforts of so many talents go into making a film! Film is a brilliant piece of creation indeed!

This little game of mine set me thinking about how intrinsically creative we are. Creativity is the most elemental component of the whole universe in fact. I don’t know how the universe and all things within it were created but the splendid madness of creation around makes me wonder if it all had ingenerated from any Creativity Principle millions of years ago. Human creations are but an artistic imitation of the world at large with its myriad things of wonder. Drawing on the very objects of the world at the stroke of his brush, an artist quickens an exciting new world with a riot of colours; a dancer gracefully divulges stories through gestures and postures; a musician tells his own melodious tales through the strings and drums. Any picture painted is never a replica of the world out there but an artist’s perception of it; every story retold is a new story; every piece of music played on the same keyboard is a new composition altogether. For, we want to contribute to every existing thing and recreate it.

Every human being, I believe, has the tendency to express their originality in whatever they do. An artistic mind seeks to remould everything it lays its ‘hands’ on.  The thought of calling all innovation creative might be revolting, but it is the same impulse in the human that is responsible for it. Every profession – just like an artist’s, a composer’s or an author’s – demands creativity. A minister’s job of enforcing laws may apparently be perfunctory, but I wouldn’t think so. She can leave an imprint of her originality by creating job opportunities, designing policies, dealing diplomatically with antagonistic elements, offering smart explanations to the media to defend her own policy. Development cannot be ushered in without innovation. Introducing the four-year degree course in Delhi University or the FDI policy, both being controversial issues of the day, can be implemented to great benefit only when interests of all stakeholders are straddled in a balanced and creative manner. Well, even a lover has to be creative to impress the beloved; the corn or phuchka seller down the street, to come up with an ingenious recipe giving him an edge over another hundred competitors; and a parent, to raise her/his child to be a responsible woman or man. We create, dismantle and renovate all the way through our lives. And it begins so early! Childhood could be remembered, among other things, for the struggle to string together words to construct a sentence or build blocks, the joy of piling sand on beaches to create different shapes or for the pure delight of balling snow into a snowman. Besides the marvels we create in our adult, professional lives, we also design a schedule, personality, career and family for ourselves as we grow up. There might be some luck waiting on us, but we ultimately make our lives and help others build theirs and derive the satisfaction that we made another day.

Creation can be just as spontaneous as arduous. At times ideas crowd into a creator’s mind with an aching suddenness, urging her to construct something phenomenal almost effortlessly. This reality reminds me of how poems “come” to Ka in Orhan Pamuk’s Snow, all sewed- up and complete suddenly, urging him to grab anything to write it down on. It as if confirms the presence of someone who sends the poems down to him. Creativity is not always natural, it involves the patient and careful beading of pried-out ideas. The joy of creation is unbeatable. It is thanks to the creators’ imperative to create their craft and their immense happiness over it that we have all the meaning and glamour in the world to boast of. The world would just be a dull place without creativity. The scintillating performance of music, dance or drama, the tempting food, the up-to-the minute clothes, the gripping films, the captivating lectures, the irresistible books, the life-saver technology – everything is the result of creativity. Without creativity there would be a complete absence of art and beauty, comfort and convenience. Without it, we would even be left without the gadget we depend so heavily upon for our daily life today. There is little difference here between art and technology. Architecting an app for a mobile is not much different from composing a tala – both interlaced with creative strands.

Just as the tall skyscrapers and the stylish iPhones amaze me, certain small-and-old-and-familiar things that are so much a part of our life and no longer evoke wonder convince me that our civilization has always been creative. I still find it overwhelming to think what suddenly helped the human invent counting and start speaking. With what creativity did our ancestors fashion the languages down the ages that there are today numerous languages and dialects we have not even heard of? Also amazing are the religions that sprang up for human survival and sustenance, and all the fanaticism dancing around it, the myths that evolved and the rituals and astrology that flourished. Creativity stems from our imagination and gives shape to what we see with the mind’s eye. Our questions have consolidated in the image of God as the Almighty who ‘knows’ all the answers. We have created God in our own image and given Him an entity to embody the intangible lofty. Idols are but embodiments of the sublime human imagination. Imagining a divine image is like writing a poem. The invisible spirit takes on flesh, and the human creator worships it as something larger than this incomplete life.

The creativity principle which brings forth marvels is sure to have its negative manifestations. The good is inseparable from the evil and absolute good or evil is a myth. Our creations, like every other particle in this world, are a mix of positives and negatives. Besides the countless incredible marvels, we have developed numerous grim things, driven by the same creative impulse that now takes a different turn. We have painted the world with hatred, devised wars and crimes, hatched dirty politics and told lies. I switched to Star News the other day and learnt how a man with a fake identity ran away with other people’s money who took him for a bank agent. I was left gaping at the man’s acting skills. A sophisticated cyber-attack downed a US drone in northeastern Iran in 2011 giving it the impression that it was landing on a US strip. Creation and scheming, innovation and betrayal coexist. The hand that creates is the hand that destroys, too. Try as we may to keep them separate, the worldwide web of negative creativity goes along with a host of positive creations!

Tirna Sengupta is a twelfth grade student in Siliguri, Darjeeling. A Coordinator for the VOICES section of The Statesman since 2007, she has published over a dozen pieces on different issues there. Tirna enjoys participating in debate, extempore and photography contests, and has been training in Bharatnatyam for the last 10 years and plays basketball.

Pic: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bohman/

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