To take it to the Streets ...

All those who know me, know that I am no good at art.
Other than a stray painting featuring in the school exhibition or being a part of an overcrowded school chorus group or failed attempts at dancing right from Jr.Kg - well I am mostly been a non-performer - more Fart than Art...
but Jokes apart, I have never been half as decent at it.

I tried beating around the tabla, blowing into the flute and I think, something to do with the harmonium as well, but didn't even last long to call myself - Jack of xyz trade.
IIT changed a few things. Music & Dance scene in IITB is truly wonderful and as a result of it, people engaging in it are looked up to and showered with graceful appreciation. But the image of grumpy teachers who taught me music in school, always lingered over. Whether it was Damle Sir in SES, or Kulkarni Sir at Tabla or some unpleasant BandMaster in school (whose name I never remember, for the same reasons - he is being mentioned here), these teachers unfortunately failed to inspire me. [Again, my lofty self-visualisations are primarily to be blamed, since quite a few good players learnt much, under the same teachers.] Other than a youthful, Table playing Gadre Sir, in school, I never could imagine, myself doing anything these teachers did, at a later point in my life. I gradually took my grudges on other places of Music. Concerts (or televised shows) of Music and exhibitions of art, were never really looked forward too. I hated the whole concept, of liking music because the whole concept, of it being a tapasya, something for which one had to slog hard for, was repulsive.
No one around me, in day-to-day life, was too fascinated by it either. My mom paints real well, but unfortunately, she hasnt had much time to do so, since I took up a lot of it by doing things that I wasn't supposed to be doing or otherwise :P.


Paris, has changed my outlook towards art significantly. Not that I am going to start harping around all of a sudden.
Here, art is for the audience, art is for the street. I was first awestruck, when I heard sweet tunes coming from a metro station, where I found out that a person was playing the accordion ... and well, begging. It is probably, wrong to term it as begging, but essentially, it was same. I was so zapped that I stayed rooted at the spot, for a good 5 minutes, gave him some change & promised to return to hear him play again. I didn't need to.
There are quite a few artists, all over the place, who played as well or better and made their living thus. Not that they would have taken anything less than a decade to master their instrument, not that they weren't well off & not that they appeared remotely disturbed by what they were doing. Artist, come in all shapes and instruments, and each was regarded honourably. I have no idea, how much a person playing on the metro lines makes, but I estimate it to be around 50 euros a day. Similarly, people who sell paintings on the streets of Paris, make real masterpieces. But then, Louvre stocks so many of those anyway, that the lesser known, spill onto the streets :D. Every Friday evening, as the museum opens up for people under 26, numerous kids with sketch books, sit around a exhibit they like and immune to everything else, practice / learn and obv. enjoy!
Similarly, the Fete de la Musique, allowed players to regale others with their art and at the same time get a good stage to perform as well. For some reason, the best of concerts I had seen, never were as inspiring, as these road-side shows. In line, with the more capitalist thumb-rules of customer-satisfaction, these artist first ensure that you completely enjoy their act, appreciate good art and then contribute as it suits you.
On the whole, the package is motivating.

I could rant on and on, but then paris has more art, than I can possibly dream of putting in words and I have more work than the orkut-blog-gmail-y!-buxfer decimated time, I have.