From The Obituary of A Studio Room: My Bare Left Foot Can't Be Replicated by Ghibli Studios (A Big NO)

 

The last few weeks have been extremely disturbing. As an educator, I get sleepless nights of not being relevant in my next day's classroom or public lecture or an interview or a performance in front of the fractured attention span of the audience whose mind, body, soul spaces are transgressed by the gadgets and zombies of gadgetophrenia. Gadgetophrenia is a symbolism of Gadget led Schizophrenia which alludes us to more of an illusion, hallucination. And then few days back all across LinkedIn, Instagram, I saw the known dancers, academics, thinkers crazily experimenting with their art gestures, body movements of performances, happy and personal moments with the studio Ghibli based AI Tool. 

I just could not sleep by seeing the gang rape and its wonderous celebration all across where dancers were happily converting their hard earned dance move to a studio Ghibli AI posture. The moment is being lived more through studio Ghibli for which thirty years of sweat, emotions were silently raped through a bunch of algorithms which are far more perfect than the thirty years of sweat, emotions but that led to so many artists being feel their safety through the Studio Ghibli. I could see how in the last few weeks, our bare foot entry to the studio rooms, feeling safe with the emotions of fellow sound artists, studio engineers, musicians, light man/woman, the tea provider, the tikki giver, the snack provider in between rehearsals during the music video shooting were all taken over by this AI tool. Easily, every single human being collapsed into the world of the hyper punk, cyber reality and started to live through AI Studio Ghibli. Studio Ghibli AI entered our space so surreptitiously but with a bang of celebration virtually almost like a violent gang rape. In exchange we entered the Cyber Space of AI Studio Ghibli. Did this movement and transaction was like a Mephestopheles and Faustian exchange!

Well, this exchange has happened and will continue to happen. This is the reality. But in this exchange process, I strongly feel that we as human beings can also live in a zone of Mephestopheles where it is in between the world of AI Studio Ghibli and our world. We can live somewhere in between. Hence, I go to my classroom, studio room, canvas board or sports spaces with a Robot or AI Consciousness. But at the same time, I dont allow, my bare foot entry into the studio room to be an obituary to AI Studio Ghibli. As this is a crucial time, to write a history which will be written in the future where it will be remembered how we entered the AI Space and how they entered ours. A transgression has started but time has come to be in between and within with a semblance of confluence. Hence, the safety of a studio room bare walk entry after a day of tears, emotions, pain, sorrow, anguish, despair, rage is a space of safety and no such bare foot entry should be taken over by AI Studio Ghibli - only if we want to write the history in a different way.

To experiment, I did try to be in between with the AI and composed a song on my ownself with the support of AI amidst the time when Bollywood's first AI film "Aisha" is getting released. The song can be found at - https://soundcloud.com/user-464461940/anando-written-composed?si=27d264d967304e6c9df43d2d69542535&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing.

But AI also termed me as - "A Friend Afar" in the last line.

That sums up what, why and how we need to write the history and not compromise with our bare foot entries into the studio room, stages, rehearsal rooms while the Paraphernalia, Bonhomie, Schizophrenia, Gang Rape of  AI Studio Ghibli takes over our space. Time has come to stay within and in between the two spaces. The faster we do, the greater will be the chance to save the Obituaries of Bare Foot Entries onto the stage and theatre. 

Till then, I will continue to enter the studio room, rehearsal room with more bare foot with a renewed conviction and determination! Hence I show the protest screenshot of the image on this blog.

অভাব আর ব্যবহারিক অর্থনীতির প্রভাব: স্থায়িত্বের অর্থনীতি

 অভাব ঠিক কি ভাবে ব্যবহারিক অর্থনীতির সাথে মিশে গিয়ে "স্থায়িত্বের অর্থনীতি" র জন্ম দেয়। অভাব যদি চাপ সৃষ্টি করে, তাহলে সেই চাপ থেকে একজন মানুষ আর ভঙ্গুর হয়ে উঠতে পারে। সেই ভঙ্গুরতা মানুষের সিদ্ধান্ত গুলোকে আর "Irrational" করে তুলতে পারে। সেই "Irrationality" থেকে সিদ্ধান্ত গুলোতে "Biases" আসতে পারে। যেই Bias কিনা "Conformation Bias" এ ভরে থাকতে পারে। অর্থাৎ আমি কিনা সেই ঘটনা গুলোকেই মনে রাখবো যেটা আমি মনে রাখতে চাই। এবং আমার ভবিষ্যতের সিদ্ধান্ত গুলো সেই দারা পরিচালিত হবে। আজকের "Sustainability Crisis" এর যুগে এখান থেকেই অস্থিরতার জন্ম হতে পারে। 

একটি উদাহরণ দিয়ে এই বিষয় টিকে আর গভীরে বিবরণ দেয়া প্রয়োজন। ধরা যাক, অমিতাভ বচ্চন আর শশী কাপুর এর deewar ছবিটা। গল্পটা সবার জানা। দুই ভাই, কিভাবে দারিদ্র্যর মধ্যে দিয়ে যায়। সমাজ তাঁদের দুজনকেই বঞ্চনা দেয়। কিন্তু, এক ভাই মনে রাখে সমাজ কিভাবে তাঁর বাবাকে চোর বলেছিল, আরেক ভাই সেই সামাজিক চাপ থাকা সত্ত্বেও হয়ে ওঠে পুলিশ, সমাজ সংস্কার করার জন্য। একই ঘরে দুই ভাই সমাজের, দারিদ্র্যের চাপে বড় হয়। কিন্তু তাঁদের "Conformation Bias" সমাজ কে আর তাঁদের ছোটবেলার ঘটনাগুলোকে বিভিন্ন ভাবে ব্যবহারিক অর্থনীতির এক নির্দিষ্ট দূরবীন দিয়ে দেখতে সাহায্য করে। একজন হয়ে ওঠে "ক্রিমিনাল/আসামি" আরেকজন হয়ে ওঠে "পুলিশ"। একজন সমাজ কে রক্ষা করার দায়িত্ব নেয় আরেকজন সমাজ কে দেখিয়ে দেয় যে সমাজ তাকে কি দেয়নি। এবং সে কুড়িয়ে পয়সা না নিয়ে সমাজ কে তাঁর উচ্চবিত্ত হওয়ার অহং দেখায়। খানিকটা সমাজের থেকে অজান্তেই ছিনিয়ে নিয়ে বদলা নেওয়ার তাগিদে। কিন্তু এই ভাই কি আসলে বেশি "Vulnerable" চাপের কাছে। তাই সে তাঁর সমস্ত ইচ্ছে কে বিসর্জন দিয়ে এই সমাজকে প্রমাণ করার তাগিদে মেতে ওঠে। তারপর নিজেকে হারিয়ে ফেলে। হয়ে ওঠে "ক্রিমিনাল"। ভোগ বাদী, বিলাসী সত্য হয়ে ওঠে তাঁর এক অকৃত্রিম বন্ধু। ধীরে ধীরে স্থায়িত্ব ছেড়ে চাপের মুখে ভঙ্গুর এই মানুষটি এমন সব সিদ্ধান্ত নেয় যা তাঁর নয়। সেটা শুধুই সমাজকে কিছু বলবার জন্য তার "Conformation Bias" থেকে। স্থায়িত্বের অর্থনীতি ব্যবহারিক অর্থনীতির কাছে হেরে যায় আস্তে আস্তে। প্রশ্ন হচ্ছে যে এটা কি শুধুই "Deewar" এর কাহিনী না ভারতের, পশ্চিম বাংলার মধ্যবিত্তের, নিম্ন মধ্যবিত্তের কাহিনী? 

Romance and Holi

 An intense self reflection for the last twenty years has always given me an answer on - "Who am I?" 

Whenever the day and season of Holi arrives, I get the answer to my question and it is always - "I am a romantic to the core". 

A walk down through the memory lane of all celebrations of Holi in Kolkata and Delhi only shows me that during the week of Holi - "I am always expecting to see the unexpected and not yet achieving or getting it exactly. " 

This gap between the constant hope of expecting the unexpected inspite of not getting it ever but with a sustained beauty of still having the faith makes me a romantic. 

As a romantic, I become a captive audience of the cinema halls of 80s, 90s, where as a romantic I become a captive audience of my faith of the hope of unexpected.

 I am not like the distracted audience of today's cinema halls who sees Pushpa, Chhava, Animal on the screen, cheers, cries at violence but at the same time distractedly likes, puts a thumbs up on Facebook at the same time. The distracted audience is cheering and at the same time existing within whatsapp family groups while being in the cinema halls. 

In my entourage with my Holi memories of Kolkata, Delhi, I prefer to stay like the audience of 80s, 90s of the cinema hall in captivity. I stay happy with the moon having a hope of fore seeing the sun. I stay faithful to my hope of seeing or being able to see the Sun in the hope of being a captive audience of the moon. 

Today, in 2025, while being asked a simple question by my student at class - "Sir, How Do You Celebrate Holi?", I realised I have become a melancholic nationalist, patriot, individual who is a captive audience of a cinema show of 80s, 90s, 2000 memories of Holi in Kolkata and Delhi. Hence, I have turned out to be a Romeo who is struggling with a phone to become a distracted audience and wait for Juliet while holding to the captive memories of Holi and seasons of Holi. My student in the class and her simple question posed to me in the class today made me realise this and I am thankful for that!

ঘোরানো মাথার ফ্যান

 আজকাল রাত হলেই 

ফ্যানের সাথে সাথে 

মাথার ছাঁদ টা ঘুরতে থাকে

লোকে বলে আর আমি ভাবতে থাকি 

এটা কি ভের্টিগো না পৃথিবীর বন বন করে ঘোরা 

অনেক সময় মনে হয় একটা কাঠের চেয়ারে 

বা কাঠের পালঙ্কে বসতে বা শুতে শুতে

আমি হয়ে উঠেছি পৃথিবী 

আমি তাই কেঁপে উঠি ভূমিকম্পের মতো 

কাঠ হয়ে উঠি খড়া ও মরুভূমির মতো

আমার স্নায়ু গুলো স্বপ্নশীল এই নীল পৃথিবীর মত 

কিন্তু পৃথিবীর যুদ্ধে শিশুদের রক্ত স্নান 

পৃথিবীকে ও কাঁদায় না 

আমাকেও কাঁদায় না 

কোনো নগ্নতা আমার শরীর কে আর স্পর্শ করে না

আমি তো পৃথিবীর মত ক্রমশ হয়ে উঠছি স্পর্শ কাতর অস্পৃশ্য স্পষ্ট

যা আবার অস্পষ্ট এক আঙ্গিকে 

আমার আঙুল গুলো রোজ সকালে থাকে শিথিল 

যেমন গাজা তে আর গাজা নিয়ে সব কথা শীততাপ নিয়ন্ত্রিত হয়েছে

কিন্তু আবার গরম আসছে 

আমি ঘামি ও পৃথিবী ও ঘামে 

মানুষ কাঠের পালঙ্কে থেকেও বেঁচে ওঠে 

সে চলতে শুরু করে 

এটাই তো পৃথিবীর নিয়ম।

Water and Wine As A Free Good

 Is piped drinking water drinkable in India? If it's drinkable, is it chargeable? Both the answers are a big "No" in New Delhi. However, bottled, private mineral water is priced in New Delhi. The early classes of the micro foundations of economics made us to think in the following way - a) A good which is a normal good has a negative price elasticity of demand whereas for a luxury good the same demand curve is positive. 

Thus if the price of a luxury good increases then the quantity demanded of the same good goes up due to income effect. On a similar note, for a normal good if the price increases the quantity demanded of the normal good falls down. In this way, if there is no clean piped drinking water in New Delhi, and only reliable clean drinking water for middle and upper income class households is bottled mineral water, will it's consumption go down for such households  if the price goes up. The answer to this is too a big "No". Then why water which is so necessary and normal as a good for survival is often not priced whereas diamond which is not necessary for human survival is still priced high when people consume diamond in the form of wearing a jewellery from South Ex shops of New Delhi.

Well, I got an answer to this paradox a month back while treating my international guests with a glass of wine in a well known restaurant of Khan Market of New Delhi. As a host during the dinner in the well known lutyens location of Khan Market when I ordered for a bottle of wine for my guests it was charged. The bottle of wine, in the location of Khan Market acted as a normal good. However in the same restaurant and during the same dinner, when I only consumed 10 ml red wine in comparison to the entire crowd who were ordering bottles of wine, my 10 ml wine was uncharged by the restaurant. They gave a price signal that in the relative positioning space of a consumerist society and a typical lutyens Delhi restaurant, 10 ml wine was almost like a free water and was free, uncharged while other bottles of wine were charged as a normal good.

I understood, how, class, consumption, relative welfare position of a consumer in a society was making the same red wine free (in marginal amount of 10 ml) for one and chargeable for others. I could realise when the same good transforms to be a normal to a luxury across societal classes based on the social, consumerism culture. In my micro foundation class of economics, I experienced how - "Water and Wine can both become a free good in a society" in a completely paradoxical and antithetical way. Possibly microeconomics needs to be written in a new way with "Water and Wine"!

Disclaimer: Views are personal 

Why Melancholic Nationalism Is What I will Ought to Believe Today?

 Human beings never knew how they became what they are today. They are also not aware of what it means in terms of their responsibility to be what they are today. Therefore we see acts of terrorism, violence all across the world. Assertion of ideologies have replaced the love for humanity. Nation states are in a transgressive journey to impose their ideologies but not necessarily loving the nationalism or the state of love for nation by being a nation soul rather than a nation state. 

All across the world these symptoms are prevalent amongst the nations driven by new norms of rise of nationalism after the world has seen through various other forms in the past. The larger the prevalence of this symptom, greater is the pervasive force of nationalism driven by assertion, power, ideologies, right to control and not by principles of soulful surrender. 

It is over here, I propose a "melancholic nationalism" that might act as a barrier and a stoppage to the terror of existing nationalistic forces all over the world. The essence of such a "melancholic nationalism" will be based on the premise of love and surrender for nation and humanity. Love and surrender are enmeshed with melancholy and as such a nationalism will be driven by love and surrender it will be nothing else other than "melancholic nationalism".

The core realisation of it will be based on the love of humanity which recognises vulnerability of a human and a nation and hence such a realisation will enhance the love for nation through a principle of soulful surrender by everyone for the nation and humanity. 

It will therefore create a space for the convergence of love, vulnerability, presence and absence. When such a convergence will happen melancholic nationalism will be established all across the world driven by the love and vulnerability of an existence of nation. The world will surely be a better place with "melancholic nationalism" rather than"deep state nationalism". The next coming years will therefore see a clash of "melancholic nationalism" with"deep state nationalism".

কনভোকেশন

 কালো টুপিটা তে ওকে বেশ মানায় 

কেন ওটা তো আজকে ওড়ায় 

কে বলল তাঁকে ওড়ায় না উড়িয়ে দেয় 

আজ আর তারা নয় বন্দি 

চিত্ত ভয় শূন্য বিনা ফন্দি 

এক অচিন পাখির উড়ানে 

ছড়িয়ে পড়বে তারা সমগ্র প্রাঙ্গণে 

আজ ওদের দিন আমাদের শুধু দেখার

দেখতে গিয়ে বার বার বোঝার 

কি দরকার এই যুগে সাপের 

বেজি খেলা সেই মাপের 

যার মেয়াদ ছিল কিছু সময়

আগে থেকেই সেই খেলা আর নয় 

জঙ্গলের মাঝে পড়ে গিয়ে

ওরা উঠে পড়েছে আজ টুপি নিয়ে

একটা কালো টুপি 

ওটা ওদের সত্যি খুব মানায় 

জানিনা এটা কে বা কারা বানায়।