Sometimes you learn some great lessons when you’re least expecting them. I was watching Furious 6, and this particular dialogue hit me hard. Not only the truth in it, but also the conviction with which the character delivers it.
That’s when I realized; in all my stories so far, I have never been able to create a character so strong and powerful as this one. It’s one of the things that make a character stand out, and be remembered. It’s the self-belief, the conviction, and – to an extent – arrogance that defines a character.
Between a character like this and a character that remains silent in that exact situation, I’d always prefer this one.
That’s a writing lesson I’d never forget; for a character to linger, she must display powerful attitude.
I am a South Indian and my mother tongue is Tamil.
I just said that, because today is a special day for us Tamils. It’s called Pongal.
Pongal is also a famous food item prepared with rice. It could either be sweet – prepared with jaggery, and ghee roasted cashews, or savory – prepared with lots of black pepper.
It’s the day farmers thank the Sun for a good year’s harvest and pray for a better harvest the following year. It’s like Thanksgiving Day for them. It’s only their special day, farmers who work so hard to fill our plates – but as things go on the real world, we all get a public holiday.
Ironically though, while the rest of us relax and rest, farmers spend the day making pongal and offering it to the Sun god. The following day, is a celebration for the cattle that helps in farming. They bathe their cattle, feed them grandly and thank them too. The following day is when they take meat – and in grand fashion too! Generally, it’s a week-long celebration for farmers.
Students celebrate this holiday as much as the farmers; all schools and colleges close for a whole week. And with the weekend just around the corner, most people have gone home to family to celebrate the holidays. They make pongal early in the morning, offer it to the various gods they worship, and spend the whole afternoon watching the back-to-back movies telecasted on TV. A typical holiday at a typical (modern) South Indian home.
Did I mention Pongal is one of the most auspicious days of the Tamil calendar?
Ever had that feeling of being lost? The frustration of not being able to be as good as you want to be? I know I’ve had that feeling – still do, but that’s when we need words like these. To calm the soul, to assure us that it’s all going to be fine. Because everyone’s gone through it. Every artist faces a point where he or she’s torn between scarcity and abundance.
Art doesn’t make money grow on trees; we all know that. And we still choose to do it.
What do we hope for, when we continue to create art despite knowing that it might only lead us down poverty’s path?
Are we hoping for the next best seller? The cover image of a popular art magazine? The headlines of the reputed news channel that no one but the rich have the time to while away on?
Hell yes! Every artist hopes for recognition. And abundance.
But these’s more…
It’s not just the glitter that we’re after. We create art, because we have to. Because knowing that you want to be an artist and not working on it, is like burying all your dreams and accepting a hideous mask in this already two-faced world.
And as artists, we can’t do that.
So we create art instead – the only thing we can do to stay sane. Such art comes from the heart; it’s raw, it’s fresh and it connects with its audience.
And once we’ve reached that point, the glitter follows.
It’s a beautiful life, an artist’s. And Amanda Palmer has beautifully phrased it in her book, ‘The Art of Asking.’ I haven’t read the book, but after reading a few excerpts, the book’s now on my list. If you enjoyed this excerpt, you might want to check out another one I shared sometime ago, also from the same book.
P.S: The image is a screenshot from Brain Pickings Weekly (with their signature yellow quotation mark.)
The Chaos Within 