On Art
Javed Akhtar says "Arts are the vocal chords of society." [1]
That parable, especially with his narration, reaches into you. Makes you feel whole and empty, twisted and uncoiled at the same time.
It is jarring, violent but most of all it is human.
In a fairly self-referential way, that analogy, is art. Because it speaks to you.
I have been noticing art around me a lot more. More so than usual. As to the cause of this change, I don't have any hints. The art I consume the most is music. On my commute to and from work, it is the easiest way to drown out the other art which is Bengaluru traffic.
I listened to this great Arijit Singh number today called Sukoon. In fact, I am listening to it again, while I think about what to write. Why don't you go ahead and give it a listen too?
Welcome back to this realm! Now, there are several things in the song, this work of art if you will, that will linger on in your senses after the song has washed over.
There is the yearning, the self-discovery, the realization, in the lyrics by Shraddha Pandit. There is the delicate layering of the instruments by Salim Sulaiman. An abrupt, and momentary, key change at the moment of crystallization of the protagonist's self-understanding. There is the comfortable virtuosity in Arijit's singing. A balance in the sargam that cradles you from one stage of the song to the other.
But what stands out, is the combination of it all. The lyrics, the instruments, the Fix You esque guitar arpeggio, the calibrated texture of Arijit's voice all come together or rather ... conspire, to make you feel what the protagonist is going through.
The protagonist has been conjured by my mind on being immersed into this piece of art. Someone who is tired of this roz marrah ki zindagi and is looking for peace. An elusive peace that she is unable to find anywhere until she finds it within herself. A most fitting summary for the social media generation.
In listening to the ebbs and flows of the song, I am drawn inwards myself. Not towards peace, but towards the protagonist. Towards becoming the protagonist.
After all, isn't that what art is? Something that heaves a tectonic shift on your perspective. Something that makes you feel. Something that makes you ... more. More than you felt before.
I believe all the artists involved, from the lyricist, to the composers to the singer, had to absorb the protagonist into their psyches. Just so that they could do justice to the song. To perform, to impersonate, to enact a moment in the life of our protagonist.
And somehow, in the first line of the song, as I hear "Dil wahi sukoon dhundhe", I am an amalgam of the artists' interpretations of the protagonist. I'm searching for the elusive peace myself. My eyebrows furrow. My lips sag into a non-smile.
That. Is. Art.
And much like the sukoon, woh mujhme hi hai.