“An artist is not a special kind of person – every person is a special kind of artist!” However, when we see a finished product, it is difficult to understand what went into the craft. This week marks a year since I started this weekly column for iGlobal. As a global diaspora we are growing and adapting, but also being challenged and misrepresented or misunderstood.
Whilst we hunger for quality education, we have very little say in the curricula or methods of teaching. And discrimination and prejudice continue to grow often enhanced by social media. Through my weekly columns, I have endeavoured to portray our cultural strengths and resilience through a scientific lens. I have also explained how our commercial success and entrepreneurial DNA is often denied or ignored in the classroom, even when we are the biggest customers of private and university education!
I would like this exhibit of the artist Paolozzi’s studio, as a way of illustrating how a writer and scholar works – as so little of this is visible, and we can spend hours reading and researching, and have nothing of ‘commercial value’ to show for it!
Our families often think we are sitting idle or summer is a free holiday, when it is actually the most precious time for research. So many writers and artists feel misunderstood and undervalued, and this week I would like to explain the creative process and through it hopefully gain your respect for all writers and artists. I hope to show that providing resources for their creative work is critical to their livelihood and sustenance, so when you are approached, do so with empathy and generosity too.
In the picture we have a messy studio – there are some broken sculptures, some which are part finished and then abandoned, there are books, raw materials, bags for travelling and shopping, and even a bed! Yes, so many of us work 24/7 and are passionate about what we do and care for nurturing a better more equitable and fairer world. As a social scientist, I can say that I too have a variety of ideas, not all of them are finished, and they are at various stages of progress, and some get abandoned too! I also have to travel to various debates and conferences, sometimes as a speaker, sometimes as a listener and questioner.
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Time and travel cost money and funding is often non-existent or very tight. When one is driven by public values and advancement, selfish commercial minds often have no interest in supporting such initiatives. Even when a book is written and finally published, it is the start rather than the end of a project. It needs to be talked about, promoted and debated. That requires time and effort. When our culture is misrepresented or misunderstood, that too can be an uphill challenge to overcome. I am often invited to speak and address the community, but there is no fee for this work. I speak positively about dharmic wisdom in meetings where there are no Indians present, and challenge speakers who ignore or trivialise our culture.
The pioneering work of Rajiv Malhotra in advancing global understanding of Dharma is truly inspirational for me, and he too reports how many enemies there are out there of such work. In fact he has written a whole book on this theme – ‘Snakes in the Ganga’. What is the value of such positive engagement to our diaspora? I would love to hear from you. If the pen is mightier than the sword, then give a thought to how the pen can be nourished to educate, innovate and inspire future generations to protect our heritage. So many ethical writers and artists deserve your support and encouragement – help them shape a better, more inclusive future for all of us.
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Professor Atul K. Shah [@atulkshah] teaches and writes about Indian wisdom on business, culture and community at various UK universities and is a renowned international author, speaker and broadcaster.