Lateral

 Do different things differently.

Do same things differently.

In a nutshell this is what is Creativity. But again, is it that easy to be creative? Moreover, the Devil’s advocate inside us will say, ‘Ok, let me walk in the reverse direction. Can I then be called as a creative person?’

Though this might bring peals of laughter, the question as such cannot be brushed aside. Recently I read an article/interview in the newspaper in which a prominent person revealed his secret of success. And guess what it could be...It was ‘Making stupid decisions’. He went a step ahead and said all of us-especially the students- should be encouraged to make stupid decisions. I know this sounds a tad farfetched and even outlandish, but one has to go deeper to understand and appreciate this and not just be stuck at the surface.

What sounds stupid today might sound novel tomorrow. When the Wright Brothers expressed their desire to fly, the elders said ‘Are you stupid? Only angels can fly and not humans’. What would have happened if they too believed that it was a ‘stupid idea’ and had not listened to their heart? Examples galore..

It all boils down to just two questions- Why? and Why Not?

A young man sat under an apple tree and saw the apple fall. He thought, ‘Why is it falling down and why is it not going up?.

Gravity was discovered.

A gentleman heard the echo of his own voice. He thought,’ Why should it be heard only here? Why not in other cities/town/countries?’

Radio was invented.

A star batsman thought ‘Why should the bat be held only facing one direction while playing a shot. Why cannot it face the other direction as well?’

Reverse Sweep was invented.

What was common among all these people?

‘Why’, ‘Why not’ and most importantly ‘Stupid thinking’.

If stupidity is used as a euphemism for creativity, I am sure the word ‘creativity’ won’t mind that!

During the late ‘70s when a gentleman from an obscure village in Tamizh Nadu wanted to do ‘same things differently’, ‘different things differently’ and asked ‘why’ and ‘why not’, he was ridiculed and mocked at by many. But undeterred he went ahead and invented new idioms and even syntax for the language called music.

As an example ( I can quote at least 3000 examples but for obvious reasons, am taking up just one song), see this song . Eppudu Eppudu from Aakhari Porattam (1988). It is just a romantic duet in a commercial movie and the situation is a normal situation (normal in movies and abnormal in real life). But this gentleman thought differently. ‘Why should the pallavi be normal, why not do something different?’, he thought and composed a first line which when decoded in the taaLa parlance goes something like ‘’ta ka dhi mi/ta ka dhi mi/ ta ka dhi mi/ ta ka dhi mi/ta ka dhi mi/ta ka dhi mi /ta ka dhi mi/ta ka dhi mi’’. That is, divide each beat into 4 micro-beats and fill them up with words.

 The line that continues follows the same design but the pattern changes with gaps called as kaarvais- in between.

I am not dwelling deep into that as that would amount to technical details, which in more than one way would spoil the aesthetics if analysed at least in this context.

The same kind of design with some variations in the pattern is seen in the second half of each Charnam too. In fact, even the beginning of the song is different with only the percussion sounding for a while and the guitar joining and sounding at a very odd place. At the same time, what should not be lost is the fact that the pattern followed by a host of the percussion instruments in the Prelude, is a precursor to what is in store in the Pallavi and CharaNams.

As if to show how beautiful creativity and innovation could be, the bass guitar sounds so different when it appears in the Pallavi. So does the family of guitars in the rest of the Pallavi.

The ebullient streak of creativity continues in the first interlude as well with the guitar and the strings having a friendly banter-with the former even playing alien notes with a palpable sense of joy- and the brass flute joining in the latter half even as the strings play in the higher octave.

If the taaLa pattern is all about ‘doing different things differently’, the raga/scale pattern is ‘about doing same things differently’. ShankarabharaNam is a raga which has been used ubiquitously by the composer. Needless to say ‘Eppudu Eppudu’ follows this raga/scale. The guitar piece in the first interlude and even the first part of the CharaNams might remind listeners of some of his other songs. But how subtly different these are from the other known compositions is a fact which will be deciphered by the trained ear. In any case, the classical shades in the first half of the CharaNams cannot missed by the cognoscenti as well as the uninitiated.

 The second interlude is an yet another example of innovation. If the first segment has the vocals(SPB) just saying ‘Ha’ and the drums and the claps responding, the next segment has the piped instruments moving with gusto to the backing of a host of percussion instruments. The last segment sees the playful romance between the guitar and the percussion which plays a different pattern for the ‘n’th time.

Do same things differently.

Do different things differently.

You will know why you should do it and then ask why not.