After a long time I hear the chirping of birds. Silent
greenery looks at me curiously from the glass window. Brick and mortar clutter
the space beyond the tree. The kaleidoscopic view of nature here refracts only
the residual urbanity. Fringes grow faster than the planned centres. Constant
evacuation of the peripheries expands the possibility of the centre to puff up
further. There is controlled arrogance in the air, which is split by the
wailing of a vegetable vendor. This sight and sound of the world is same
everywhere. It all depends on who sees and hears them in what and which state
of mind. My friend has moved from spectacular works of art to stuffed woollen toys
in constricted shells. He has a large house, large places to party, large
cities to travel and a large number of friends to share his ideas with. But he
has moved from large works to small ones; that too placed in suffocating cages.
I can understand him. He is responding to his state of mind. Art of whatever
kind from, however the artist tries, comes from the mind of the artist; if it
is cluttered his art would reflect that clutter. It is all about the space
inside mind, or rather mind itself is the space.
How do you define space? I am not a scientist so I am not
even attempting to give a scientific definition to space. Space is everywhere
or everywhere, the idea of everywhere itself is space. In space, we see
physical things with shapes and space gets defined according to the contours of
the physicality of the objects. A wasteland, which has been a vast expanse of
filth, would turn into a beautiful architectural complex when it comes up
there. The space was there but it was an expanse of dirt and in the cultural
and visual thinking of ours a vast expanse of space whether it is of absolute nothingness
or of filth is just a space of immensity and we do not like the spaces of
immensity because it defies definitions. We need objects to fill in the space
with. For space, physical objects are like what a name to a person. Name makes
the person a definitive subject; a countable and recognizable entity. He could be
tackled easily. He could be tamed and brought within the system. A nameless
person is a meaningless wasteland. He invokes fear, anxiety and terror. That’s
why we fill in the places with objects. A room corner is not a corner if there
is not flower pot. A room is not a room if there is no book shelf. A kitchen is
not a kitchen if there is not an array of pet bottles filled with innumerable
items which perhaps one would never use or rarely use. These things give
definition to the space that we dwell. A corner without a triangular table and
a flowerpot is not a corner. It is a disturbance; children fear corners so are
the grown up. Children fear blank spaces so they fill in them with lines and
doodles. Grown up fill in them with things.
Space, for me is knowledge; it is not a thing. Knowledge is
not information. Knowledge is not a library or Wikipedia. Knowledge is the
limitlessness of existence and abundance of life. It happens within what we
call our ‘inside’. But there is no inside and outside. This duality is created
by fake spiritualists. Human body is mind and human mind is body. And it is
space. Space is truth; perhaps the only truth. And if space is truth it happens
both inside and outside alike. If space is knowledge, then it happens both
inside and outside alike. Knowledge is consciousness. The awareness about
consciousness is knowledge and knowledge about consciousness is awareness, both
give the freedom to experience space. In space there exists one’s ability to
live and grow. When there is no space there is no knowledge; it just becomes a kaleidoscopic
refraction of spangles. When there is no knowledge there is no space too. Space
is for knowledge and knowledge for space and the thirst for both gives freedom
to a human being. Space is self created. A person who fills in oneself with
things and all what is not needed has the tendencies of anal retention; one who
does not want to shit. He accumulates all what is not needed. He is afraid of
being light. Space is lightness. Knowledge is lightness and everything happens
both in human mind and body, which are not two entities but one and the same.
Only when a person experiences such freedom of knowledge experiences
space and in that space beauty comes filling in. When beauty joins hands with
truth the real works of art happens. If art is happening in a constricted way
it is the reluctance of the artist to let the things go. He chokes himself with
the responses to what has happened to him so far. But I do not say that it is
not good. It is good as far as it is cathartic and self purgative. Such art
which is limited of space is a sort of confession, a sort of self flagellation
and a sort of repentance. This art will pass and space will come back. But let
me warn you; space is not about bigness. Space is not about smallness. Space is
about freedom. In the most crowded place one could feel this freedom. This freedom
comes from his perennial understanding to accept the given and improve from
there. The improvement does not have external parameters. It does not have
internal parameters either. It fills in the space, that is you, automatically
and flows out. It is like love. It cannot be measured in ounces or litres. Love
has only metaphors as measurement. So is space, so is freedom. Expressions are
metaphors. Life is an expression of an organism. Human beings express their
space, therefore their freedom or slavery. De-cluttering of anything does not
make space. Filling up or vacating do not make space. Space happens when one
decides to be space itself. Freedom starts where everything else ends and your
existence begins.
Now you may ask then what about other practicalities like a
leaking faucet, an empty gas cylinder, an un-ironed shirt and so many other
things? One could be a good driver but he need not necessarily be a mechanic.
But a good driver should have the basic knowledge of the engine as well as the
places where he could get the problem solved. So practical problems could be
solved, if not all by oneself, but with the help of the experts. But brooding
over a leaking pipe will not solve any problem. It will clutter space and it
will limit freedom and as a result of it, it will finish your existence. I am
not preaching. I am trying to talk to myself on a Sunday morning. I could see
the silent greenery peeping at me from the glass window. And beyond it the
nature has become a jigsaw of brick and mortar.
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