‘When an old man dies, a library burns down.’
This African proverb is the thought on which this entire book is based. It is therefore a collection and a recollection of the various teaching material the author has used as an art teacher in his entire teaching career.
It is not a How To book. Nor is it a Do It Yourself book. It can at best serve as random inspirations for enabling creative thinking. By throwing light into the way the creative mind thinks.
It has lots of stories, anecdotes, concepts, quotes, examples and exercises that the author has used to enlighten his students.
The structure of the book is free-flowing. Much like the stream of consciousness. One thing leading to the other. To the other. To the other.
Though the recollections are random, they have been broadly divided into eight chapters. But that’s only to give a method to the madness.
The chapters broadly cover spontaneous thinking, Lateral thinking, the story of language, the need to be forever receptive, exercises to unleash your creativity, among many things.
This is a collection of some of the finest proverbs found in five Indian languages: Hindi, Marathi, Malayalam, Tamil and Sanskrit; and one foreign language: English. Proverbs are nuggets of wisdom distilled across many languages and many cultures, over many centuries. They are simple life-lessons written in the simplest and most memorable of words. Simple enough for even children to understand. And powerful enough for people to retain them throughout their lives. In short, proverbs are mankind's gift to mankind. Something that should be imbibed by every generation, and passed on to the next. For enriching everyday speech, and for embellishing literary writing.
This book is the result of all the art experiments that a grandfather conducted with his five-year-old granddaughter in the first five months of a Lockdown unprecedented in human history. These experiments celebrate childhood and the spontaneous creativity of childhood which is free, uninhibited and done with joyous abandon. This book would encourage parents, grandparents and art teachers make their children explore the world of art with a fresh, new perspective.
Stories from across the country about people who have special bonds with the wildlife around them: People in Mumbai live with leopards in their neighbourhood… School children in Karnataka discover an unusual creature in their village… Youth in Nagaland spearhead a ban on hunting… Ten short stories - all inspired by real-life situations!
