tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83189386709450262062024-02-21T06:58:12.384-08:00Where Spirit Meets ArtWhere Spirit Meets Art- Explores, comments and delves in to the intricacies of the world of art media and entertainment as a vehicle for conscious awareness, transformation and evolution.Divya Chandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13522939062996590987noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8318938670945026206.post-81622020104173815912014-01-12T11:45:00.003-08:002014-01-12T11:47:55.101-08:00Winter Musings <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #990000; font-size: large; text-align: left;">What are you creating this winter my lovelies?</span></div>
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Divya Chandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13522939062996590987noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8318938670945026206.post-64215947073242775582012-12-29T07:13:00.003-08:002012-12-30T06:16:47.795-08:00Mirror, Mirror.....<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">With all that is happened in the last few weeks as we grapple with the
India we now live in. We now know, that we </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">cannot just blindly
rely on the status quo to protect our mothers, sisters and brothers whether its
from sadistic monsters with rods who ride in buses or the ones who hide behind
uniforms and use their lathis on its unarmed citizens. It is imperative to look
at the current state of affairs and sift through carefully what the world is
mirroring back at us .<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #000090; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">“A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #000090; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">―</span><span style="color: #000090; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"> <span style="color: #000090; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Edward Murrow<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">It’s
a time for deep self- reflection. The easiest thing to do is to point at the
perpetrators, the incompetent lobbyists, corrupt politicians or the misogynist
cops or the impotent machinery that is OUR government today.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I’m
not denying that the fault lies with them but for every finger that points
outwards at them, there are that many that point at us.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> This incident is not
the first or fifth or the ten thousandth one of violence against women in the
last so many years.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;">It is one of millions that are happening even now all over our country, as thousands of protestors are right this minute marching to Juhu and Jantarmantar.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;">How did this get so far?</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;">Who is to blame? </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;">Politicians? Cops? Law makers? </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;">Whether
we like it or not, these people have been put in power because someone voted
for them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">We
have tolerated and stood by while they have drafted & implemented archaic
laws that defy logic or justice. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #131313; font-size: 19px;">This level of violence from rapists like these or inertia on the
part of the authorities has not risen out of nowhere.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #131313; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">What we are seeing today is the culmination of a mindset,
cultivated & engendered over decades that sees and treats women as the
inferior gender, as the disposable section of society that no one wants and are
considered a “bhoj” or liability.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #131313; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Perpetuated by Bollywood fims, B grade advertising and Kyonki
Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi type of TV shows; that portray women as pawns &
accessories, commodities to be traded and negotiated over.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #131313; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Why, in the second largest democracy in world, do women still have to fill in their father's or husband’s
name on any legal form as proof of identity? Men are not asked to put their
mother’s or wives name down first to prove their validity.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #131313; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">The alarming rates of female infanticide and still widening
chasm in the female to male ratio in India is proof about the value our nation
assigns to its women citizens.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #131313; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">The ridiculous comment about<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“dented and painted women“ made by the MP from Jangipur and
the subsequent PR smooshing over by<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>the party involved, is a frightening window into the archaic,
sexist<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>mindset of the people who
make up our government and to whom we look to, to make our laws and protect us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #000090; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #000090; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">“A man is but the product of his thoughts. What he thinks, he
becomes.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #000090; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">―</span><span style="color: #000090; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"> <span style="color: #000090; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Mahatma Gandhi</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #131313; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #131313; font-size: 19px;">So as we look at them, we must also look within and ask ourselves </span></div>
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<span style="color: #131313; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">What kind of cinema do you watch and support? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #131313; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Are you a proponent of those Bollywood masala films where the
guy pursues the girl by teasing her on the road, grabbing her, singing her a
love song till she gives in?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #131313; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">What are the advertisements that have your attention?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #131313; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Are they like the one where the young cool dude frightens away
the fat aunty by showing her is propensity for violent driving on his phone?
Did you find that amusing? If that was your mother needing a ride home, would
it still be funny?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #131313; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">When you see a woman on the road or in a club or in your office
who doesn’t conform to your idea of what a woman should be?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #131313; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">What do you think in your head?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #131313; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">How do you talk about her with your colleagues or friends?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #131313; font-size: 19px;">How many families do you know off, where women are slapped
around by their husbands or in laws or asked to pray and perform special
rituals to ensure the birth of a boy?</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #131313; font-size: 19px;"><br /></span></div>
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</div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #131313; font-size: 19px;">Do you have the image or statue or Yantra of any of our Devis in
your home, car and office?</span></div>
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<span style="color: #131313; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">What does that really mean to worship the Goddess?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #131313; font-size: 19px;">Are Lakshmi, Durga and Kali mere idols for worship or are they
facets of Divine Feminine that live inside all of us, men and women, waiting to
be excavated, arrogated and embodied!</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #131313; font-size: 19px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #000090; font-size: 19px;">“Your beliefs become your thoughts,</span><br />
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #000090; font-size: 14pt;">Your thoughts become your words,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #000090; font-size: 14pt;">Your words become your actions,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #000090; font-size: 14pt;">Your actions become your habits,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #000090; font-size: 14pt;">Your habits become your values,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #000090; font-size: 14pt;">Your values become your destiny.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #000090; font-size: 14pt;">―</span><span style="color: #000090; font-size: 14pt;"> Gandhi</span></div>
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<span style="color: #131313; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #131313; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #131313; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #131313; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #131313; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #131313; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #131313; font-size: 19px;">So lets march to
Jantar Mantar and boycott Republic day and show our solidarity through verbal
& written protests but let us also self reflect in to how we have all been
complicit in this discrimination against women; in the way we see, think, feel
and talk about gender issues.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #131313; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"></span></div>
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<span style="color: #131313; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><br /></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #131313; font-size: 19px;">Only by taking responsibility for our part in being bystanders
to the policies and laws that have allowed for such gross injustices in the
past, can we hope to move forward towards creating governance that we can
actually trust.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #131313; font-size: 19px;"></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #131313; font-size: 19px;"></span></div>
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<span style="color: #131313; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">For the change we are fighting for on the roads, in our buses
and in the mindset of those who run our country must first start with us, in
every area of our own lives.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #000090;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<!--EndFragment--><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #073763; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">From A Tryst with Destiny by Jawaharlal Nehru</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #073763; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #073763; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“A moment comes, which comes but rarely in
history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when
the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance. It is fitting that at
this solemn moment we take the pledge of dedication to the service of India and
her people and to the still larger cause of humanity.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #073763; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At the dawn of history India started on her
unending quest, and trackless centuries are filled with her striving and the
grandeur of her success and her failures. Through good and ill fortune alike
she has never lost sight of that quest or forgotten the ideals which gave her
strength. We end today a period of ill fortune and India discovers herself
again. The achievement we celebrate today is but a step, an opening of
opportunity, to the greater triumphs and achievements that await us. Are we
brave enough and wise enough to grasp this opportunity and accept the challenge
of the future?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #073763; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That future is not one of ease or resting but of
incessant striving so that we may fulfil the pledges we have so often taken and
the one we shall take today. The service of India means the service of the
millions who suffer. It means the ending of poverty and ignorance and disease
and inequality of opportunity. The ambition of the greatest man of our
generation has been to wipe every tear from every eye. That may be beyond us,
but as long as there are tears and suffering, so long our work will not be
over.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #073763;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And so we have to labour and to work, and work
hard, to give reality to our dreams.”</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Divya Chandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13522939062996590987noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8318938670945026206.post-52351488067948214912012-10-21T07:50:00.001-07:002012-10-21T07:50:38.639-07:00Of Love, Longing and Inspiration...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br /></div>
Divya Chandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13522939062996590987noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8318938670945026206.post-55484572000631280532012-09-24T04:24:00.000-07:002012-09-24T07:13:16.480-07:00Kyonki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi- Soaps and the Craft of Manipulation<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">One of the pre- dominant leitmotifs of my childhood was my
father’s dictum on the kind of television and cinema we were exposed to. My
mother on the other hand encouraged us to sample everything, exercising the
power of choice and discretion. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Both parents were remarkably liberal in other ways; I don’t
remember them being strict about all the usual prosaic tedium like bedtime or
report cards. They were however extremely hands on about our education beyond
the school curriculum.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">We travelled 3 times a year; they took us everywhere be it by
boat, bus, car or plane. The focus was always on seeing & experiencing all
aspects of the real world. I also remember that there was an unspoken consensus
to be honest, to think for yourself and to be your own person beyond the
frivolities of superficiality.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">I was encouraged to read everything from Munshi Prem Chand,
Jane Austen, Asterix & Obelix comic books to Bertrand Russell, the Bhagwat
Gita to Ayn Rand and everything in between. There was no censorship, I remember
spending most of my after school hours up on the terrace with books from dad’s
library.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">But when it came to TV and Films my father was a totalitarian;
he believed there was a difference between films that entertained yet inspired and
the mindless rubbish that was being churned out by the Indian industry at the
time.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">We could watch movies like Devdas, Mughal-e-azam, Pyassa,
Kagas ke phool, Sound of Music, Gone with the Wind etc but anything post the
60s was strictly forbidden.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">I watched my first commercial Bollywood movie when I was 17,
years after dad passed away, I enjoyed it but I could also see what my father had been alluding to.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">This has been a defining influence in who I have become and
what I’ve chosen to do; the ability to decide what I expose myself to, what influences
and inspires me, it’s been an </span>invaluable gift, this power of choice.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #00009d;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">“You educate a man; you educate a
man. You educate a woman; you educate a generation.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #00009d;">―</span><span style="color: #00009d;"> </span><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/575321.Brigham_Young"><span style="color: #00009d; text-decoration: none;">Brigham Young</span></a><span style="color: #00009d;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">For those of you not familiar with the ‘Kyonki Saas Bhi
Kabhi Bahu Thi’ serials ( read <span style="color: #00009d;">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_soap_opera</span>)
</span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpcich0xNXb-QVp0nAUpjVWXMpOrY1ox7SWib5yDo0cfAw9n_C19i3V6BM93chIxRWlZEvxUzuWV3zRKQhn54iucTJmLQrWQaJby9aK8uBEeQr5ENfLWFSOINvX5xRpO52vRSA4bD20kIf/s1600/IMG_2145.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpcich0xNXb-QVp0nAUpjVWXMpOrY1ox7SWib5yDo0cfAw9n_C19i3V6BM93chIxRWlZEvxUzuWV3zRKQhn54iucTJmLQrWQaJby9aK8uBEeQr5ENfLWFSOINvX5xRpO52vRSA4bD20kIf/s400/IMG_2145.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="300" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">https://www.facebook.com/BooGio11Productions</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The title had a catch phrase that hooked us,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> the ( Saas) mother in
law was once a</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> ( Bahu ) daughter in law too and what it presents itself as, is a
vehicle through which the daily struggles of the ‘Bharartiye naari’ will be
addressed. It was pitched in a way that indicated that this story will hold the
answers; to how a woman can better cope with the most challenging relationship
in the Indian family dynamic, the one she has with her mother in law. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The sub
plot and the characterization, follow the old formula of creating drama around conflict
and intrigue. The scenes are then peppered with elaborate costumes, sensational
dialogue delivery and over the top sound effects.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It is however a con, what women don’t get is, that they are
being manipulated and subtly brain washed; being made experts in the old ways
of being and doing by control, fear, shame and manipulation.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcrbsonKYc-eOV3vZnthE9WbPV6qe4Ax13_v3V3AdJ4gwj1p3OvihRnVO-cn_JhoLzE7c9Dc1D9K2OHKlU4ZtcQpCyG7Zjt-gsZb1VV0sUC1PaLs0Lm6YusyomWxG7psQcfzo6O1pzoNAi/s1600/IMG_2223.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcrbsonKYc-eOV3vZnthE9WbPV6qe4Ax13_v3V3AdJ4gwj1p3OvihRnVO-cn_JhoLzE7c9Dc1D9K2OHKlU4ZtcQpCyG7Zjt-gsZb1VV0sUC1PaLs0Lm6YusyomWxG7psQcfzo6O1pzoNAi/s640/IMG_2223.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">https://www.facebook.com/BooGio11Productions</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #00009d;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #00009d;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #00009d;">“I hope she'll be a fool -- that's
the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #00009d;">―</span><span style="color: #00009d;"> </span><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3190.F_Scott_Fitzgerald"><span style="color: #00009d; text-decoration: none;">F. Scott Fitzgerald</span></a><span style="color: #00009d;">, </span><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/245494"><i><span style="color: #00009d; text-decoration: none;">The Great Gatsby</span></i></a><span style="color: #00009d;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">It worries me, exposing my sisters and daughters to this
kind of archaic garbage. There is really no other word for it but GARBAGE.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">I believe these soaps have regressed our Indian society back
in to the dark ages; instead of focusing on the opportunities that this century
has brought us; they focus on the petty aspects of human baseness, moral
repugnancy and ratings motivated melodrama.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are of
course some that are exceptions to the rule, but unfortunately most serials
that are being mass produced; are like fast food - taste good but offer little content
and even lesser or no nutritional value.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">According to the last census of 2011 there are <span style="color: #262626; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">58,64,69,174</span>
women in India.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">It is frightening to see the hidden messages in the
characterization and sub plots of these soaps that are being sent out to young
women today.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">If viewed unconsciously the underlying messages are:-</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Power can only come from position and hierarchy
and through plotting and manipulation.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Women have to fight amongst themselves to
establish their worth and position in the family.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->That manipulation, back biting and game playing
are the tools for succession.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->That there are 2 kinds of women the vamp or the
victim; women have to be segregated in to stereotypes and treated accordingly.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Everyone around you determines your worth; you
are what people think of you, so as long you pretend to be virtuous on the
outside, it doesn’t matter who you really are when no one is looking. </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">6.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Respect is bought by virtue of position and
doesn’t need to be earned through intent or conduct.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">7.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Do anything to make everyone else happy even if
it goes against your own beliefs or happiness</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">8.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Suffering in silence, sacrifice for the sake of
others and general martyrdom (or the appearance of it) are the mark of a true
‘Bharatiye naari.’</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">9.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->And of course the age-old gold digger’s mantra -
marry a rich man for an immediate lifestyle upgrade, better yet make sure you
marry the eldest son for complete and total domination.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #00009d; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">“It is impossible to build one's own happiness on the
unhappiness of others. This perspective is at the heart of Buddhist teachings.”
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #00009d; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">―</span><span style="color: #00009d; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/53778.Daisaku_Ikeda"><span style="color: #00009d; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Daisaku Ikeda</span></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Whether you live in a metropolitan city or anywhere else,
one doesn’t have to look far to see how many women are not educated today. Someone
could argue that these serials are just light entertainment, not meant to be
taken seriously; but ask the women around you, your cook or your manicurist if she knows about Irom
Sharmila or Medha Patkar? She may not them know them but she will know Tulsi
from ‘KSBKBT’ !</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">We are the one of the few democracies in the world to have
had a woman leader.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p> </o:p>The rights that we take for granted in India, the freedom of
speech, to vote, to practice the religion we believe in, to drive, to dress how
we please, to be treated as equal have been hard fought for and even harder won
by women just like us.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">When I think of inspiring Indian women like the Rani of
Jhansi Laxmibai or Kasturba Gandhi, who fought shoulder to shoulder with men in
the freedom struggle; come Independence Day, I often wonder what we have to
show these women who fought hard for the privileges we take so for granted. I
wonder what they would make of women squabbling over scraps in ‘KSBKBT’ serials
or the Kareena Kapoor inspired size zero obsession.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #00009d;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“When you know better you do better.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #00009d;">―</span><span style="color: #00009d;"> </span><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3503.Maya_Angelou"><span style="color: #00009d; text-decoration: none;">Maya Angelou</span></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">We have the ability biologically, emotionally and
spiritually to create, carry and nourish a baby in our bodies for nine months. And
when we are not carrying a baby that power to create, nourish and transform
still exists within us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">These KSBKBT type soaps teach women to be less than who we
are; keeping them far away from who they are meant to be; spirit in a female
body, the embodiment of Goddess energy, harbingers of the divine feminine.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The next time you find your young daughters or sisters watching
anything that teaches that women have to be less to have more, I hope that you
will exercise the power of choice and change the channel.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYOr0i-ezi3310tdeOdZxKox2C-FXG6ugyXoXtEOGq3jELr8AxuJ0OmJuCw1Wfqz4D-S1SQs812-B5T-tobmuBu6sMKKb2K97KcmUDK2QyUJrmCyWyCp39tklBRtRCqgSEeU6yYgeYNvU_/s1600/IMG_1524.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYOr0i-ezi3310tdeOdZxKox2C-FXG6ugyXoXtEOGq3jELr8AxuJ0OmJuCw1Wfqz4D-S1SQs812-B5T-tobmuBu6sMKKb2K97KcmUDK2QyUJrmCyWyCp39tklBRtRCqgSEeU6yYgeYNvU_/s400/IMG_1524.JPG" width="400" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">https://www.facebook.com/BooGio11Productions<br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #00009d;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">“It is an unconscious manifestation of the controlling energies that pits woman against woman with an age old goal of divide and conquer. If women are fighting against each other, their true power is diluted. </span></span></span></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">
</span></span>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #00009d;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">When women cast off the controlling energies and work with each other and support each other rather than fight against each other, their ability to create and to manifest is exponentially increased, which is why divide and conquer is so important in a patriarchal society.” – Christine Agro</span></span></span></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #00009d;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #00009d;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #00009d;"><br /></span></div>
<!--EndFragment--><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
</div>
Divya Chandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13522939062996590987noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8318938670945026206.post-6109427035543025002012-09-17T15:09:00.004-07:002012-10-12T14:35:34.181-07:00Weapon of Mass Destruction- SHAME <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #27259e; font-family: Papyrus; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">“The supreme art of war is to
subdue the enemy without fighting.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #27259e; font-family: "Big Caslon"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">―</span><span style="color: #27259e; font-family: Papyrus; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="color: #27259e; font-family: Papyrus; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Sun Tzu</span></span><span style="color: #27259e; font-family: Papyrus; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">, </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><i><span style="color: #27259e; font-family: Papyrus; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">The Art of War</span></i></span><span style="color: #27259e; font-family: Papyrus; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #27259e; font-family: "Century Gothic";">SHAME
SHAME PUPPY SHAME…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #27259e; font-family: "Century Gothic";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The last I heard those words years ago
when I was a child of 7, I cannot recall when precisely or under what conditions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #27259e; font-family: "Century Gothic";">It
is such a simple child’s rhyme but I couldn’t understand it then!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #27259e; font-family: "Century Gothic";">And
although I don’t hear the word shame much anymore, along with so many other
women living a male dominated society, I experience it every day. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #27259e; font-family: "Century Gothic";">Shaming
someone doesn’t really need much, it doesn’t have to be loud it’s a subtle
ploy...a smirk here, a timely laugh… a reproachful glare or a disapproving
stance.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #27259e; font-family: "Century Gothic";">Make
someone feel small enough and soon they will forget who they can be.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #27259e; font-family: "Century Gothic";">Diminishing
someone is an age-old weapon to control behavior; it’s completely bloodless, it
costs nothing and once done right, rarely needs a reload. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #27259e; font-family: "Century Gothic";">It’s
a quite insidious energy like a giant black snake slithering past you in the
middle of the night, it doesn’t need to bite you with its venom or show you its
fangs, just the fear it evokes by its presence and the potential danger it
presents is enough. Its been used for centuries by those who benefit by suppressing
talent, ability, power to suit their own agendas.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #27259e; font-family: "Century Gothic";">As
an Indian woman in particular, I see it all around me and taste aspects of it
wherever I go.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #27259e; font-family: "Century Gothic";">It’s
in the little things that ‘seem’ so inconsequential; must wear a duppatta,
cover your chest, so men don’t ogle at you. Don’t show too much skin when you
step out lest you get pinched, poked, mauled or raped. It’s for your own
protection.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #27259e; font-family: "Century Gothic";">The
first thing anyone asks of a victim of assault here in this country is</span><br />
<span style="color: #27259e; font-family: "Century Gothic";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“ what was she wearing?”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #27259e; font-family: Papyrus; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">"The hardest thing to explain
is the glaringly evident which everybody has decided not to see." <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #27259e; font-family: Papyrus; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">— </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="color: #27259e; font-family: Papyrus; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Ayn Rand</span></span><span style="color: #27259e; font-family: "Lucida Bright"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #27259e; font-family: "Century Gothic";">No
one ever says to your face that you are the inferior sex, but it’s implied all
the time in so many ways. There is a long list of must dos that must be ticked
off before we are respected, accepted and loved. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #27259e; font-family: "Century Gothic";">The
ideal Indian Nari must….<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #27259e; font-family: Didot; mso-bidi-font-family: Didot; mso-fareast-font-family: Didot;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #27259e; font-family: "Century Gothic";">Must maintain yourself; but only expose for your husband don’t
be a ‘fast’ girl and show for the entire world to see… tauba tauba!!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #27259e; font-family: Didot; mso-bidi-font-family: Didot; mso-fareast-font-family: Didot;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #27259e; font-family: "Century Gothic";">Must get good grades; but no need to think for yourself or voice
your opinion…( tch tch badey intellectual ban gayi!)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #27259e; font-family: Didot; mso-bidi-font-family: Didot; mso-fareast-font-family: Didot;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #27259e; font-family: "Century Gothic";">Must have a well paying job; but don’t make your own decisions (hmpff these modern girls I tell you, soo selfish !)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #27259e; font-family: Didot; mso-bidi-font-family: Didot; mso-fareast-font-family: Didot;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #27259e; font-family: "Century Gothic";">Must be adjusting – bend over backwards to fulfill everybody’s
needs at <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #27259e; font-family: "Century Gothic";"> the cost of your own {
chi chi! “log kya kahein gay” ( what will people<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #27259e; font-family: 'Century Gothic';">say)}.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #27259e; font-family: Papyrus; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">“Most books on witchcraft will tell
you that witches work naked. This is because most books on witchcraft were
written by men.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #27259e; font-family: "Big Caslon"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">―</span><span style="color: #27259e; font-family: Papyrus; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1221698.Neil_Gaiman"><span style="color: #27259e; font-family: Papyrus; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Neil Gaiman</span></a></span><span style="color: #27259e; font-family: Papyrus; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #27259e; font-family: "Century Gothic";">It’s
a very confusing message we send out to young girls. Our eyes are beautiful but
our breasts are not. We must work hard to be beautiful and accomplished BUT we
have to earn our right to have an opinion, a voice or any choices or make our
own decisions. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #27259e; font-family: "Century Gothic";">Our
boys and men need not be taught how to look at women nor should the laws insure
a woman’s safety but we must dim down ourselves so as to keep them from acting
on their primal impulses. Nor are they taught that we are the same as them and
don’t have to earn our right to be treated with respect or consideration. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #27259e; font-family: Papyrus; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">"You are not a mistake. You
are not a problem to be solved. But you won't discover this until you are willing
to stop banging your head against the wall of shaming and caging and fearing
yourself. " <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #27259e; font-family: Papyrus; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">— </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="color: #27259e; font-family: Papyrus; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Geneen Roth</span></span><span style="color: #27259e; font-family: Papyrus; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Grande";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #27259e; font-family: "Century Gothic";">Shame
is such a powerful weapon, it has a domino effect, maim one and the rest will
submit just from the fear of it. Shaming someone for their choices is emotional
violence at its worst.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #27259e; font-family: "Century Gothic";">When
a man thinks its ok to pass comments on me on the road,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #27259e; font-family: "Century Gothic";">Or
when am asked to cover up for my protection,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #27259e; font-family: "Century Gothic";">Or
when am asked to prove my worthiness, because I am born a daughter and not a son<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #27259e; font-family: "Century Gothic";">I
am compelled to look at the energy behind it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #27259e; font-family: "Century Gothic";">What
is the religious or cultural influence that makes ‘that’ ok?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #27259e; font-family: "Century Gothic";">Is
it from the decades of Hindi movies that show men chasing women around trees
while they sing love songs? Or from the never-ending advertisements that show
us that our self esteem sits in pot of fairness cream, toxic hair dye or in the
latest anti aging formula? Or is it from the music videos that objectify women,
by showing them little more then a collage of boobs, eyes, thighs and bums?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #27259e; font-family: Papyrus; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">“Because today
we live in a society in which spurious realities are manufactured by the media,
by governments, by big corporations, by religious groups, political groups...
So I ask, in my writing, what is real? Because unceasingly we are bombarded
with pseudo-realities manufactured by very sophisticated people using very
sophisticated electronic mechanisms. I do not distrust their motives; I
distrust their power. They have a lot of it. And it is an astonishing power:
that of creating whole universes, universes of the mind. I ought to know. I do
the same thing.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #27259e; font-family: "Big Caslon"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">―</span><span style="color: #27259e; font-family: Papyrus; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="color: #27259e; font-family: Papyrus; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Philip K. Dick</span></span><span style="color: #27259e; font-family: Papyrus; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #27259e; font-family: "Century Gothic";">So
what is the solution?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #27259e; font-family: "Century Gothic";">How
can we turn this poison into medicine?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #27259e; font-family: "Century Gothic";">When
we start to live life consciously, it stops being about pointing a finger and
becomes about finding and healing that which allows the wounding to take root.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #27259e; font-family: "Century Gothic";">My
sister says she sees it coming from a deep place of insecurity and lack, this
need to make someone else feel small and less. </span><br />
<span style="color: #27259e; font-family: "Century Gothic";">I couldn’t agree more but I also
see that what makes it possible for someone else to shame us, be it a person or
society as a whole, is that we are seeking their approval.</span><br />
<span style="color: #27259e; font-family: "Century Gothic";">We need someone else
to tell us what we wear, how we look, feel or think or do is ok. And in that
approval we find our sense of safety and where we belong. But in the seeking of
that outside approval we give up our own power.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #27259e; font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">I think here in the sub continent
men are taught to believe that shame really is a woman’s domain, her burden to
carry, and her plight to bear. They have been taught to see us as the weaker sex,
who has to be managed and handled.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #27259e; font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">From where I’m standing, the other
side of the coin of shame, is Honor.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #27259e; font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">And like everything else in the
patriarchal society we have looked outwards to save ours. Our whole notion of
what is appropriate has been handed down to us. We are taught to follow
convention and to suppress our own inner knowing. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #27259e; font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">Wikipedia defines honor as </span><span style="color: #27259e; font-family: Papyrus; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">-“</span><span style="color: #27259e; font-family: Papyrus; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"> an abstract concept entailing a
perceived quality of worthiness and respectability that affects both the social
standing and the self-evaluation of an individual or corporate body such as a </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="color: #27259e; font-family: Papyrus; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">family</span></span><span style="color: #27259e; font-family: Papyrus; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">, </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="color: #27259e; font-family: Papyrus; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">school</span></span><span style="color: #27259e; font-family: Papyrus; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">, </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="color: #27259e; font-family: Papyrus; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">regiment</span></span><span style="color: #27259e; font-family: Papyrus; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"> or </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="color: #27259e; font-family: Papyrus; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">nation</span></span><span style="color: #27259e; font-family: Papyrus; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">. Accordingly, </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="color: #27259e; font-family: Papyrus; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">individuals</span></span><span style="color: #27259e; font-family: Papyrus; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"> are assigned worth and stature based on the harmony of their
actions with a specific </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="color: #27259e; font-family: Papyrus; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">code of honor</span></span><span style="color: #27259e; font-family: Papyrus; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">, and the moral code of the </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="color: #27259e; font-family: Papyrus; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">society</span></span><span style="color: #27259e; font-family: Papyrus; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"> at large.”</span><span style="color: #27259e; font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #27259e; font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">I believe that just like Love is
the antidote for Hate, Courage is for Fear then Honor is the one for Shame. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #27259e; font-family: "Century Gothic";">When
we understand that our rights are not given to us like some boon earned through penance and suffering but are ours
to claim</span><span style="color: #27259e; font-family: "Century Gothic";">.</span><br />
<span style="color: #27259e; font-family: "Century Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"> When we learn to honor ourselves, gender bias and its associated power games become irrelevant.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #27259e; font-family: Papyrus; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #27259e; font-family: Papyrus; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #27259e; font-family: Papyrus; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">“I, with a deeper instinct, choose
a man who compels my strength, who makes enormous demands on me, who does not
doubt my courage or my toughness, who does not believe me naïve or innocent,
who has the courage to treat me like a woman.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #27259e; font-family: "Big Caslon"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">―</span><span style="color: #27259e; font-family: Papyrus; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="color: #27259e; font-family: Papyrus; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Anaïs Nin</span></span><span style="color: #27259e; font-family: Papyrus; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment--></div>
<!--EndFragment--></div>
<!--EndFragment--></div>
<!--EndFragment--></div>
Divya Chandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13522939062996590987noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8318938670945026206.post-44024275208872432722012-09-08T03:56:00.000-07:002012-09-18T12:13:46.221-07:00Zen And The Art Of ..well just .. Being!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #3e1caf; font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">“Passion can transform the mind,
body and spirit...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3e1caf; font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">Passion can align you with the
wisdom of nature and the power of what is in your heart.” </span><span style="color: #3e1caf; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">―</span><span style="color: #3e1caf; font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3104611.JoLynne_Valerie"><span style="color: #3e1caf; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">JoLynne Valerie</span></a></span><span style="color: #3e1caf;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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I love all aspects of performance, but my favorite part is
when you get on the floor after the first few readings to work on the
character.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
To start with you have the basic outline in the script, but
the fleshing out to make a character “ real” and believable happens when you
start working physically with your team through exercises and scene work on the
floor.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The process of bridging
the gap between the writer’s fantasy and the director’s vision is the actor’s
job.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I see the Writer
is the architect who has designed the house, his vision is the foundation of
the house, he lays out the basic plan of action, he answers the where, who,
what and when of the story. The Director is like the manager on site; making
sure that the plan fits and the building comes up on schedule, encouraging
everyone to their best and ensuring everyone is kept happy doing the work. The
performers make up the house; the walls, windows, doors, floor etc are the
blanks that you the Actor fill in; finding the character through your body, your voice,
from your memories and in your emotions.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s like this fabulously complex jigsaw puzzle and the
clues can be found from the landscape of your life, your experiences, your
perceptions or from the way you choose to experience yourself and the world
around you. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For me this is the most exciting part…the excavation! </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The journey of discovery is not about the end result but the
process you open yourself up to, which holds the opportunity for transformation
and growth.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #3e1caf; font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">“The body is wiser than its
inhabitants. The body is the soul. The body is god’s messenger.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="color: #3e1caf; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">―</span><span style="color: #3e1caf; font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6085.Erica_Jong"><span style="color: #3e1caf; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Erica Jong</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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We usually do this through theatre exercises, which also
include breathing techniques, movement, dance, voice exercises, guided
visualizations, improvisations and group games.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As simple and fun as they sound and indeed are, it’s also a
rigorous and exacting process, not just physically and psychologically but also
emotionally.</div>
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<br /></div>
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To get to the core of your character’s essence and to be
able to embody that truthfully, one has to strip away any and all conditioning
that interferes with.</div>
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For e.g. If you are playing the role of a prostitute that then
requires you as the actor to get extremely comfortable in your body. It’s not
just a physical thing; one also has to come to terms with any of your
prejudices and judgments about the profession or the character’s choices and
motivations. The body doesn’t lie, if you are squeamish about sex or sensuality
it will shine through and the audience wont believe you. <br />
<br />
<br /></div>
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<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;">"Standing here</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;">The old man said to me,</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;">"Long before these crowded streets</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;">Here stood my dreaming tree."</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;">Below it he would sit</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;">For hours at a time</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;">Now progress takes away</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;">What forever took to find</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;">And now he's falling hard</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;">He feels the falling dark</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;">How he longs to be</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;">Beneath his dreaming tree</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;">Conquered fear to climb</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;">A moment froze in time</span>"- <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;">The Dreaming Tree - Dave Matthews </span><br />
</div>
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I think one of the greatest diseases in our times is
loneliness. The dictionary defines it as “ being without companions”; I don’t
mean loneliness in the conventional way.</div>
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<br /></div>
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I see it in the world around me, as this very quite dull ache,
an insidious energy that is the motivating force for a lot of people’s
ambitions to “Be Somebody” and</div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Get somewhere”
to somehow “Be More” by buying and owning more. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It shows up in so many different ways, the endless search
for a soul mate, fame, and money, success or even notoriety; in addictions be
it for food, drugs, sex, shopping or alcohol.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When I look at loneliness as energy, I see it as disconnect;
being disconnected from the fundamental truth of who are, from spirit or
source, from the power that connects us to everything, to the earth, ocean, sun
and sky. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Its what keeps us feeling empty & isolated, an
incomplete fraction looking for that elusive thing that will make us whole.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of the ways
that I find can fill the gap, the missing piece and the connection is through
the arts. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #3e1caf; font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">“To be yourself in a world that is
constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3e1caf; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">― Ralph Waldo Emerson</span></div>
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What I love about theatre and (I think this is the reason
that in spite of TV, Film and the Internet it has survived) that its real;
whatever happens on the stage between you and the audience, you cant fake it, either
the piece works or it doesn’t, there is no editing or ‘Photo-shopping’, dubbing,
or<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘special effects’. </div>
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In the end it’s you (the team that puts up the play) and the
exchange of information and energy with the audience in that moment. No re-
runs or out takes. Its all about the here and now.</div>
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To be able to generate and deliver that experience all performers
have to develop a certain level awareness, transparency and presence. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The key word being – presence, the ability to be fully
present in the moment. To be fully who you are, accepting and owning the traits
you deem good or bad, in the body that you have; tall or short, fat or thin,
using all of your talents and abilities. When I look at some of the actors most
admired say Marlon Brando, Meryl Streep or Amitabh Bachan, Ive found that they
all have this in common; a certain indefinable quality called charisma, I see
this as presence. It’s a level of self-acceptance, mastery in the way of just
BEING!</div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLL3bhZiqXLrY-48d24DX_wMuOuI7iIY4IfW3jWlit9Vw8Qzeg30rN0TB_Rwc9X-4W1f3_cR-F8H6ZLt4H5mvSWu7fVsnJyti974yJuVJingMnCfnAiVbCAOEe3UpCYdmQugWLTWvQNw6R/s1600/26.05.2010+089.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLL3bhZiqXLrY-48d24DX_wMuOuI7iIY4IfW3jWlit9Vw8Qzeg30rN0TB_Rwc9X-4W1f3_cR-F8H6ZLt4H5mvSWu7fVsnJyti974yJuVJingMnCfnAiVbCAOEe3UpCYdmQugWLTWvQNw6R/s320/26.05.2010+089.jpg" width="213" /></a>One of the key attributes we work on through group exercises
is to remain centered, fully present in your body in the moment. Using age old
yogic breathing techniques help you develop the ability to be alert yet calm, connected
to your body yet also responsive to what is going on in your environment.</div>
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<br /></div>
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During workshops & rehearsals, irrespective of whether
the participants are performers or not, all exercises that focus on learning to
be fully present are the ones that I’ve found to have the most long lasting
effect for them even after they are done with the workshop.</div>
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If there were one thing I could add to the curriculum of
every learning institution would be this subject and these exercises. You
couldn’t score them on a report card but they would be an invaluable tool for
the school of life.</div>
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<span style="color: #3e1caf; font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">“To live is the rarest thing in the
world. Most people exist, that is all.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3e1caf; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">―</span><span style="color: #3e1caf; font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;"> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3565.Oscar_Wilde"><span style="color: #3e1caf; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Oscar Wilde</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--EndFragment--><br /></div>
Divya Chandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13522939062996590987noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8318938670945026206.post-70771022365268412432012-08-26T12:04:00.001-07:002012-09-17T04:42:48.036-07:00The Curse of the " Wanna - Bes" Part 2 - Finding Nemo<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Big Caslon';"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Big Caslon";">We are that generation of Indians who have been blessed to have cruised the wave of the opening of our economy to foreign investors, the advent of cable TV and the inevitable globalization that followed.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: "Big Caslon";">We watch the latest sit coms & films, eat fast food from international food chains, shop for the latest trends in fashion and more importantly imbibe the notions of success that come from the illusion of fame and glamour not just from our culture but from across the globe.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Big Caslon";">Now as much as I enjoy the benefits of all this connectivity reading the latest issues of GQ & Vogue or watching YouTube, I am deeply aware of the inconspicuous side effects of this level of exposure.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Big Caslon";"> We live in an age that defines “success” in a twisted way.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Big Caslon";">Looking at the rising statistics of drug use, plastic surgery and celebrity suicides one would think that it would be obvious that fame isn't the ideal marker of happiness or success.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Big Caslon";">The standards by which we qualify success have become more and more convoluted.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Big Caslon";">In this day, as long you as you are the right size, live in the right address, have access to designer clothes, shoes, gadgets or have a certain number of friends on Face book you can consider yourself successful.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Big Caslon";">It’s all about how it looks on the outside, about external validation.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
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<br /></div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Big Caslon";">There is this huge compelling need to be recognized and acknowledged as attractive or talented or worthy of being, well, somebody.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: "Big Caslon";">The problem with being obsessed with being “ somebody” one can forget how to be you.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUopGj0YGKjLVswpmymA9gYxBhI2xYUcyLdkWnHhn3LKZWX-2Wq_PFt7mzaaHHAUjbOYPXW7oOZyucndWZMj0jvqSOfNHuq2LTBaGSwBnVhp8x9Rln51VkwLkpOa40fLhyphenhyphenMK89uo0_cOjv/s1600/IMG_3024.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUopGj0YGKjLVswpmymA9gYxBhI2xYUcyLdkWnHhn3LKZWX-2Wq_PFt7mzaaHHAUjbOYPXW7oOZyucndWZMj0jvqSOfNHuq2LTBaGSwBnVhp8x9Rln51VkwLkpOa40fLhyphenhyphenMK89uo0_cOjv/s320/IMG_3024.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #2a00a7; font-family: 'Big Caslon';">“The wound is the place where the Light enters you.” ~ Rumi</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Big Caslon";">I’ve found that for most people, who want to be actors or models or in any job that involves being in the limelight; it’s about being seen. Somewhere in their childhood or in the structure of their first families they felt neglected, unseen or unloved.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Big Caslon";">As simplistic as that sounds, most artists’ start out that way but with time and a conscious desire to heal they move past that initial compulsion.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Big Caslon";">In my reality, only when I have been able to move past the needs of the wounded ego and align with my spirit’s plan and potential, I have then been able to bring something unique and extraordinary to whatever it is that I have chosen to put my energy into. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Big Caslon";">That is the approach that has worked for me whether I was writing a new script or directing a project or when taking a photograph. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Big Caslon";">
It stops being about being on stage or in film but more about doing what makes your heart sing irrespective of who is watching or if anyone is watching at all. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Big Caslon";">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Big Caslon";">It becomes about the work, how much you & your collaborators grew and evolved in the doing & making of it and how it affected your audience be it 3 people or 3000. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Big Caslon";">And the work stands, irrespective of how much money I made on the project or how much publicity we got doing it, or how the reviews read, because the intention behind it was crystal clear.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #2a00a7; font-family: "Big Caslon";">Acting is something different to everybody. I just know that if you watch an actor or actress getting better and better, I think that's them just understanding themselves better and better.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #2a00a7; font-family: "Big Caslon";">Cameron Diaz</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">I </span><span style="font-family: "Big Caslon";">believe that each one of us is born with a mission and given traits, talents and flaws to enable us to fulfill that mission. The mission is in-extricably tied into what we each bring to the world and our contribution in making it better than how we found it.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Big Caslon";">For me success has become about living in alignment with spirit (Buddha nature, higher self, God what ever you want to call it) about following passion, living with conscious awareness and embracing the responsibility that comes when you understand how powerful you are. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Big Caslon";">It doesn’t mean that I remain completely un-affected by issues of money or bad reviews or unsupportive people; I now look at those moments as opportunities for growth and as material to use in my work. Today using theatre and film to spread awareness is my passion; tomorrow I may end up being an apple farmer who is to say.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Big Caslon";">The greatest gift I have been given by my teachers has been to learn to spot the difference between the ego’s desire, the hearts longing and the soul’s calling. And in that I've found my freedom.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Big Caslon";"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "Big Caslon";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia, serif; line-height: 18px;">“When I was a child my mother said to me, 'If you become a soldier, you'll be a general. If you become a monk, you'll be the pope.' Instead I became a painter and wound up as Picasso.”<br />― <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3253.Pablo_Picasso" style="text-decoration: none;">Pablo Picasso</a></span></span></div>
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Divya Chandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13522939062996590987noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8318938670945026206.post-77186275433012455172012-08-26T07:08:00.000-07:002012-09-01T12:44:47.889-07:00The Curse of the “Wanna-Bes” Part 1<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #3e1caf; font-family: "Big Caslon"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 20.0pt;"><span style="color: #3e1caf; font-family: "Big Caslon"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 20.0pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span>
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<span style="color: #3e1caf; font-family: "Big Caslon"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 20.0pt;"><span style="color: #3e1caf; font-family: "Big Caslon"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 20.0pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">“Acting is everybody's
favorite second job”</span></span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3e1caf; font-family: 'Big Caslon';"><span style="color: #2a00a7; font-family: "Big Caslon"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Big Caslon"; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt;">Jack Nicholson</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: 'Big Caslon';">For as long as I can remember whenever I
tell somebody what I do, </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: 'Big Caslon';">five out of ten times that somebody will tell me one
of two things -</span></div>
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“ Oh my God! Audition me, I’ve always
wanted to be an actor!"</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Big Caslon';"><span style="font-family: "Big Caslon"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Big Caslon"; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">or </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Big Caslon';"><span style="font-family: "Big Caslon"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Big Caslon"; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">“I used to do plays when I was in school!</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Big Caslon';"><span style="font-family: "Big Caslon"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Big Caslon"; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">Will you hook me up for auditions? I love being
on the stage”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Big Caslon';"><span style="font-family: "Big Caslon"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Big Caslon"; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;"> (But do not want to follow through on
either demand).</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Big Caslon';"><span style="font-family: "Big Caslon"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Big Caslon"; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">And then I ask my usual question, “ ok but
what is it that you do now?”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Big Caslon';"><span style="font-family: "Big Caslon"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Big Caslon"; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">They answer…</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Big Caslon';"><span style="font-family: "Big Caslon"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Big Caslon"; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">“Oh I am a Lawyer "</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Big Caslon';"><span style="font-family: "Big Caslon"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Big Caslon"; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">“Banker”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Big Caslon"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Big Caslon"; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">“Wife”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Big Caslon"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Big Caslon"; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">“Mother …..”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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My response to that is always the same, “
Well, then that’s what you put your time, money and efforts into becoming. If
you wanted to be an actor you would’ve done that”.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Big Caslon"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Big Caslon"; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">Now I don’t say that to squash anybody’s
long held dream, I say that because I understand that is the curse of our
times; what I call “ the curse of the wanna-bes”.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Big Caslon"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Big Caslon"; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">Being known equals success!</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #2a00a7; font-family: "Big Caslon"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Big Caslon"; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">“An ounce of behavior is worth
a pound of words”
~ Sanford Meisner</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Big Caslon";">In my experience as an actor, director and
teacher, I find 75% of the so-called “wanna be” some bodies I encounter at work
or at auditions or in my workshops are not really interested in the craft of
acting or theatre. They are interested in being “known” as “the actor” and far
more invested in the perks that come with.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Big Caslon"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Big Caslon"; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">The “ wanna be” exhibits traits that are so
easy to spot.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGcPJ_VTJmoNCd4psuh_GrONsY8EzsM0KXUh40iSyx96GTFDsSoy05anVu7bfyIOvrPV3jST7diUpFnXLZHp8ghAp400HB1Z89mE3LZVycAfea8JhhSn92LGNi3jTRtdxF-Wdu6bf6rkeJ/s1600/IMG_1694.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGcPJ_VTJmoNCd4psuh_GrONsY8EzsM0KXUh40iSyx96GTFDsSoy05anVu7bfyIOvrPV3jST7diUpFnXLZHp8ghAp400HB1Z89mE3LZVycAfea8JhhSn92LGNi3jTRtdxF-Wdu6bf6rkeJ/s320/IMG_1694.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "Big Caslon"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Big Caslon"; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">He will show up habitually late, unprepared,
having done no research on the script, his role and most of all no work on
himself.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Big Caslon"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Big Caslon"; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">He will know what Brad eats for breakfast
and how many hours Hrithik puts in to get that six pack but would never have
bothered to learn about a Stella Adler, Uta Hagen, Abrar Alvi or
Shakespeareana. Much of his attention is focused on being the next big thing
and therefore his acting vocabulary is a mélange of ham performances mimicking Salman’s swagger or SRK’s head shake or lip tremble or both.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Big Caslon"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Big Caslon"; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">He will be obsessed with the size of his
biceps yet be blissfully un- aware of his ignorance in all things pertaining to
the reality of being a working actor and still expect to be treated as the
single most important person in the room.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Big Caslon"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Big Caslon"; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;"> The difference between the “ wanna be”
and the real performer becomes glaringly obvious.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Big Caslon"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Big Caslon"; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">As an actor that level of ignorance and lack
of respect for the job used to infuriate me.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Big Caslon"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Big Caslon"; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">But when in the position of director or teacher, I was forced to look through more compassionate eyes to find another point of view.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Big Caslon"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Big Caslon"; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">Finding the root problem which is a lack of self validation was easy enough but what then was the way to heal the dis-connect?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Big Caslon"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Big Caslon"; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">I've found that any form of art can be a conduit to heal, grow and change.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Big Caslon"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Big Caslon"; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">Theatre techniques for example are used to strip the performer of cultural, familial & societal programming, more importantly to break self perceived limitations and work towards becoming as transparent & honest as possible.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Big Caslon"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Big Caslon"; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;"> The simplest tools like breath,movement, dance, guided visualizations are used to remove blocks, encourage creativity & cultivate expression. </span><br />
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So now when I direct a project or while facilitating workshops I pick those theatre exercises that are specifically hold the potential for a deeper connection.<br />
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My intention has become to create the opportunity for growth and hold space for those who wish to risk it; and for those who want to remain infected with "the curse " I remind myself to respect their choices.<br />
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The challenge & lesson for me, has been to accept others as they are, where they are and find the place where I can honor their journey.<br />
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</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #2a00a7; font-family: 'Big Caslon';">‘The actor has to develop his
body. The actor has to work on his voice. But the most important thing the
actor has to work on is his mind”</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Big Caslon';">
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<span style="color: #2a00a7; font-family: "Big Caslon"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Big Caslon"; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt;">
~ Stella Adler</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Divya Chandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13522939062996590987noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8318938670945026206.post-24720660220091579522012-08-10T05:41:00.001-07:002012-09-21T01:42:10.595-07:00The Artist and Her Other Half <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 24px;">The Artist and Her Other Half</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">https://www.facebook.com/BooGio11Productions</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia;">In this day of such convenient
technology, I often wonder, why people still flock to theatres to watch live
performances where the price of a ticket is about the price of a CD or DVD. Or
better yet why not just free stream something online in the comfort of
your own home?</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;">Why endure traffic jams & parking
hassles or juggle work schedules & family commitments to be in your seat on time.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;">When we buy a ticket for a show be it
music, dance or a play, somewhere we take the risk that this might be the night
where the artist may be not give her best performance. We take the risk along
with the performer that the lights or sound may malfunction or one or many may
mess up a scene or a step.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;">Why then, in spite of the
potential for disappointment are we still so drawn to the world of artists and
live performances?</span>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-family: Georgia;">“The privilege of a lifetime is to
become who you truly are.”</span></div>
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<span style="color: red; font-family: "Times New Roman";">―</span><span style="color: red; font-family: Georgia;"> C.G. Jung</span><span style="color: red; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;">All of us are born with unique gifts
and abilities but I’ve found that those who choose to become artists claim that
path tenaciously, sometimes like medicine or like a life jacket.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqFrYiaXZsDZXO8fMLnVgjVq0nXCtbp2raYugWJU00Te5P1dzILbNt5rUNm8jN6y8wtYhoWQ5N2mlbnTKivM2V0oWmqGNWVP7dZ2NHO9om8cGPfXGERUzG7QnpPh1OX3T8D6g6FBgFP7pL/s1600/sangam+simla+2010+032.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqFrYiaXZsDZXO8fMLnVgjVq0nXCtbp2raYugWJU00Te5P1dzILbNt5rUNm8jN6y8wtYhoWQ5N2mlbnTKivM2V0oWmqGNWVP7dZ2NHO9om8cGPfXGERUzG7QnpPh1OX3T8D6g6FBgFP7pL/s320/sangam+simla+2010+032.JPG" width="316" /></a></td></tr>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;">I have found that an artist, any kind
of an artist, be it a painter, composer, dancer, architect or even someone who
uses food to create a masterpiece, has the ability to see, hear, experience and
explore the world in a way that is out of the ordinary.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;">How an artist is able to make use of
that ability is termed as "talent" by those who qualify merit.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;">All artists (recognized or not)
interpret what they taste, smell, see, </span><span style="font-family: Georgia;">and<span style="color: black;">
hear around them in ways that are unique to them. I believe those extraordinary
abilities are their senses, interpreting the energies of the universe...</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;">Where does an artist’s colour palette
come from? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;">Or how does a musician create a tune,
or set the rhythm?</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;">It’s not from the mind! It comes from
our interaction with Mother Nature, and from our response to the contrasts and
contradictions in our environment.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;">Every shade of every colour exists in
the planet around us, the space in between the sounds around us, create the
beats; our every mood and emotion can be found in the light of the moon and the
sun, in the dark of the sky and in the scape of topography around us.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;">Artists have the ability to
experience these more vividly and their task is then to express and create
something from those nuances.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;">Their canvas could be the drum, a
string, the stage, a plate or a page.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;">Think of Mozart making music in his
head even when he was deaf, Van Gogh presenting the myriad of colours in a
sunflower in a way that no other person had done, that too when he was
apparently on the brink of losing his mind.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;">Or take someone like Pina Bausch who
found ways to express eras and revolutions through her body. We artists are
explorers and interpreters of energies.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">“One does not become enlightened by
imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">―</span><span style="font-family: Georgia;"> </span><u style="text-underline: #0000F5;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; text-decoration: none;">C.G. Jung</span></u></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;">The main difference for me, between
an artist and someone who is not, is that the artist will take all the good
and the bad from her life and put it to work.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;">Great works come from the integration
of the light and the shadow parts of us. By milking every
experience, from excruciating pain that comes from loss to the euphoria of "first
love’s" spell to find meaning, healing and growth is the artists journey of
alchemy.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;">It’s a step towards integration,
towards wholeness, towards the divine.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;">We all seek that connection in
different ways, through romance, the pursuit of success, some do it in a temple
or a mosque and some through a song or a poem as an act of prayer.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;">So the question is again...</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;">Why go to any kind of<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>art shows instead of perusing them
online? </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;">Because somewhere we want see,
meet & experience the creator of the work.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;"> We want to hear the background
story of where she comes from, what life experience brought her to this point. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;">We want to see where and how it
influences the creation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;">We look for the ordinariness in the
extraordinary.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We seek to find the human-ness, hoping that maybe through the
artist we have a taste of the connection to spirit.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;">To see through their eyes what we
feel in our hearts.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;">In contradiction</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;">My acting teacher Barry John once asked us </span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;">“What is the most important factor in
theatre?”</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;">His answer …”the audience”, without
them your work doesn’t have a point.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;">Now years later, that answer still
troubles me; as an actor, writer and director I always honor the importance of
the audience and yet I also see the value of following your passion regardless of
whether it is acknowledged or deemed worthy by others.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;">I think one of the things that binds the
performer and the audience is the pursuit of truth. The audience can always
spot the lie, the in- authenticity of your performance and the performer always
knows when she is faking it.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;">In my reality, the artist and the
audience are two parts of a whole; two equal parts that bring creation full
circle. Like the artist and its muse!</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;">They are only half complete without
the other. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;">But together they can hold the space
for creation, for transformation, for inspiration…and most of all for the
potential for magic!</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;">Copyright © 2012
Divya Chandra</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">When we create or appreciate art, we set free the spirit trapped within. That is why art arouses such joy. Art—whether skillfully executed or not—is the emotion, the pleasure of expressing life as it is. Those who see art are moved by its passion and strength, its intensity and beauty. That is why it is impossible to separate life from art. Political and economic developments may seem to dominate the news, but culture and education are the forces that actually shape an age, since they transform the human heart. ~ Dr Daisaku Ikeda</span></span><br />
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Divya Chandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13522939062996590987noreply@blogger.com0