Café for Creativity

So I happen to stumble upon this article from The Guardian titled "Pay with a poem: cafes around the world to exchange coffee for poetry" and it totally got me hooked. As a part of UNESCO's World Poetry Day celebration on March 21,2015, 1100 cafes, bars and restaurants across 23 countries agreed to substitute their national currency with poetic work for a day and serve a cup of coffee to their customers in exchange of one of their poems.

In a world where artists are barely surviving with minimum means of existence, this would be a moment of ecstasy for anyone who knows the value of art.

This got me thinking. Imagine a place where you could go, sit and create whatever you like. An environment where people can come, sit together, share their experiences over a cup of coffee, paint or write together, or maybe suggest places to visit, or give details of upcoming workshops and exhibitions. A place which breathes art. The fare wouldn't be a monetary currency, but a compulsion of leaving behind a creation of your own, something original which the other visitors could have an access to, and similar to the concept of Cafe Kunzum in Hauz Khas, it could have a little box at its exit gate, where you are free to drop in whatever amount you wish.

This is my idea of a perfect platform for keeping alive the spark of creativity that we all have in us. As Maya Angelou rightly said, 

"You can't use up creativity. The more you use, the more you will have."   

So a place where you pay with your creativity, your bit of art, your soul. What do they call it? Heaven?

When I grow up, I believe I will open such a place. If, somehow, I don't and you have enough funds at your disposal, consider working with me in partnership, okay?

P.S.-

I'd suggest you to visit this amazing cafe in Hauz Khas Village called Kunzum Travel Cafe. It's a place for travelers, and has a pool of information that may be useful for if you are planning to take a break from your overloaded-with-work lifestyle. And it has got free Wifi too. No, they're not paying me for promotion. It's a genuine recommendation.

The Art of Losing an Art.

We all have that one thing that we are naturally great at. It may not necessarily be academics, music, painting or dance. It may be a good understanding of people’s thoughts and actions, or a sixth sense about something that has a greater possibility of happening.

Then there’s this one thing we all can effortlessly make possible: letting go of the thing we are naturally good at.  There isn’t a specific sequence that one needs to follow to detach itself from its natural talent. All we need to do is engross ourselves in other apparently more (actually less) important things we have to (forced compulsion) do in order to fulfil our duties and responsibilities.

It comes to us naturally. He loves to play football. But he is working in this seven-figure-salary-providing MNC which eats up all his time and energy. She had an undeniably special bond with canvas. But her two year old baby deserves undivided attention. He’s working his ass off to survive in the Law school he doesn't even belong to. Her love for fashion and design has been reduced to a couple of crumpled sheets lying between the pages of Eighteenth century classic literature.

Whatever the reason may be: forced decision, societal expectations, self-induced responsibility or foresight of future, we end up dismissing the only stress-relieving mechanism we have and end up feeling trapped in this vicious cycle which entangles us into a state of incurable depression.

My sister was a person who was so easygoing with pen and paper that even her rough draft looked like a marvel to me. Then, she got married, and call it difficulty of procuring resources or responsibilities of a house and a baby, the number of her art pieces reduced to a zero. Her mind was an upheaval, until last December, when I encouraged-rather-forced her to start painting again. And not only did her peace of mind return to happy levels but she also produced two beautiful paintings within just three weeks.

This isn't a cooked up story, it is a tried and tested technique. I tried finding excuses to not write any post for about a month and a half, and this is the conclusion that I arrived at:  Our art is the only thing to hold on to in situations of emotional and mental exhaustion. And losing it is like getting a hundred thousand dollars and making a huge paper boat with it and trying to make it float in the ocean. After all,

“The saddest thing in life is wasted talent.”

-Bronx Tale, 1993

If you could relate to even a single line of this post, the clock is ticking and this is your wake-up call! *Ding*