The Creative Crisis of India

Let’s start by singing “Us and Them”

I once came across a person who looked at me like I’m an alien, on a regular work day in the office. I wasn’t wearing my bra as sunglasses. I didn’t indulge in a yelling match with the boss man that day. I wasn’t even playing obscure space rock at my desk. It was really just a regular day. That’s when I realized that the nature of my work was so different from everyone else’s that just watching me work to him was like me watching a leaked GOT episode. Squinting through the bad print, not quite sure what’s going on, but glued anyway.

Needless to say, that person was a software developer. He didn’t have the slightest inkling about filmmakers being a real thing, let alone the fact that one sits next to him at work every day. No judgement towards him obviously. After all, he almost saved me from an almost cyber-attack by the ISIS a few months after that (true story).

I once came across a community of creative professionals who have been so misunderstood as a people that they shut down their brains’ logic receptors for good. They became the embodiment of a self-fulfilling prophecy so dire that they live in a constant fear of being exploited, while demanding to be treated like benevolent deities. No, I’m not talking about designers (we’ll appreciate them later). I’m talking about musicians. The “dependent” ones who like being on the front lines fighting for the atrocities against the independent artists. The ones so blind that they cannot tell an impostor from a passionate well-wisher whose sole purpose is to give them their due. They’re alright with treating honest aid like poison and lust after bigger fish which can potentially swallow them whole without releasing so much as a fart. I have seen them roll their eyes at the prospect of a legit opportunity, without knowing the loosest definition of the legality they object to. I have seen them drool over a superficial chance of something seemingly huge, regardless of the fact that their frying their bacon in their own fat and only perpetuating their own problem.

I get it. Your problem is that you’ve been underappreciated for way too long. It was never even considered a proper profession until Indian Ocean’s hair turned white. That’s precisely why some of us are here. Not all of course, some of us are really sucking your blood while failing at retaining employs (aka my old boss). But the good people between that scumbag and you are for real. They actually gave many a fuck about whether music can be a viable career choice for your kids or not. They will protect you from assholes like him, even if they should sell their soul every day for it. They are figuratively cutting the branch of the tree their sitting on and their doing it as well as they can. They are the fresh enthu cutlets that are happy to be sandwiched between soggy lettuce and moldy bread.

My point is that creative professions in this country are fast becoming black holes for unhappiness. They only radiate from the outside and it’s easy to feel special while sitting close to one, but an inch closer and you’ll see reality for what it is. It’s a vortex of self-doubt, insecurity, instability and dissatisfaction. I’m no one to complain about musicians because designers (and yes filmmakers are also one of them) are very much in the same boat that’s destined to sink. The ones who possess some talent have been fed a heavy dose of entitlement since childhood. They walk around with heads held so high that the slightest undertone of even the most constructive criticism can ignite a cycle of flared egos and failed art. Funnily enough, they are the ones who create apps like “Sarahah”. Go figure.

You may think that’s been the case for creative people world over for ages so why is this any different. This is a firsthand experience of dealing and working with some of the most talented (and dissatisfied) people in the field of music, film, design, advertising and even food. Over the last few years, the number of people taking up these professions is so mammoth in this country that there are bound to be irregularities. It’s like even the most coveted jobs have collectively decided to suck or even the chillest of clients have vowed to make our lives miserable. I’m not talking about art for the sake of oneself here, because I feel that’s a bit irrelevant in the times we live in. I’m talking about product designers in automobile companies, writers in advertising, head chefs at five-star hotels, graphic designers in tech MNCs, producers in TV channels, production houses or even people in Bollywood for that matter. Everyone is a brink away from quitting their job and starting up. Why? is it because starting up is so fun and easy? or is it because even though starting up is super tough, it’s better than the most interesting job gone to shit?

Then of course I wouldn’t have been ranting if starting up was an option everyone could and should pursue. Let’s not get into what may happen if every photoshop operator in the country opens their own shop. We would become the new halwai. My larger concern is that who are these people making these fun jobs unbearable and why? I have a feeling it’s because of those who aspire to be one of us but don’t have the skill set. They’re the ones who have suffered in silence long enough with mind numbing jobs and have forgotten who their real enemies are. They start wars with us only to prove to us the fact that they in fact, have a job. It could even be because inspiration is such a scarce commodity that I’m getting inspired just by everyone’s lack of inspiration. My feelings also say that it’s because we have a reputation for being eccentric and manic rather than being effective and empathetic. It may as well be because we get so competitive about bagging the best gig in town that we forget that we’re brothers first. It could even be because our limited knowledge about certain related fields (albeit boring shit) makes us overly suspicious of even those who are doing right by us.

They say women are their own worst enemy. It’s because they’ve been oppressed for generations. I only hope millennial creatives don’t meet with the same infighting fate. Let’s not make talented people screw toothpaste caps. Let’s tell our kids that life after film school is no rosier that after med school. Let’s remember that it’s forgivable to play drinking games in a club where a jazz quartet is playing. Let’s start saying a big fat no to shitty client ideas. Lastly, let’s teach ourselves how to screw toothpaste caps because that will lower our expectations. There’s so much that’s wrong with creative people and those who deal with creative people today that we all need to remember that we’re all on the same side.

So how about you stop looking at me like an alien and I won’t just call you when I get hacked?

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