I believe that the capacity and ability to respond to a situation is a positive manner makes a period an artist. In this definition four qualifying words have been used 1. Capacity 2. Ability 3. Situation 4. Positive. There need some explanation. First, Situation: by this I mean any happening in time & space, to self, or society, or environment. For example war is a situation—Poverty, Affluence, Peace, Tranquillity, Riot, slum, Abuse, Rituals, Congregation are situations, No one can for indifferent to them, because very situation everyone in longer or bigger way. But the question is how positively one responds to a situation makes a person an artist. For example when Kabir says “मिट्टी कहे कुम्हार से, तू क्या रोंदे मोहे| जिस दिन ऐसो आयेगा मै रोंदुंगी तोये” or when Mahatma Gandhi says “I made Himalayan blunders, or Jawaharlal—Long years ago we made a tryst of with destiny—when Hussain Paints a Mother, a lantern and umbrella, when Bhim Sen Joshi or Lata Mangeshkar hums a tune in easterly …  such are the examples of Responding positively.

This leads me to the two words capacity and ability. A child for example neither has the capacity nor the ability to respond to war situation but it has the capacity and the ability to respond to a situation of affection, beauty, hurt—as have all animals, birds,, etc. Their response is instinctive. It is a God given gift. The thing is that they are not aware that they are responding. They do not know that they have the capacity and ability. For example when a potter makes pots, he is not aware that he has the capacity and ability to create that he can be an artist. That he is an artist but is not aware of the fact—even as a child is not aware, even as bird that sings is with aware that they are all artists, that they have the ability and capacity to be so.

Aditya Prakash
11/11/93