Many years ago, I was randomly going through my newsfeed and I read about this man, who played cello at Baghdad bomb site, minutes after the deadly explosion. I think his name was Karim Wasfi. I vividly remember reading his interview. Upon asking why he did that, he answered that he wanted to minimise the damage through his art. He wanted to reach equilibrium – between tragedy, madness, pain on one side, and an artistic expression that defies it on the other.
I was going through my newsfeed again and I saw a man in Houston playing piano in his flooded house. His house was full of water. It was absolutely ravaged by the natural disaster. And he was sitting calmly there, playing piano. That's what art is: it helps you create an equilibrium, of sorts. It defies madness, grotesque and natural calamity.
Some years ago, I saw a photo. I don't know the exact place. But there was a policeman with his gun pointing at a woman, and she was pointing her pen at him in response. I think she – despite being unarmed – was less vulnerable as compared to the policeman with a gun. Or at least that's what I think of it.
I remember a few months ago, there was a deadly blast at Sehwan Shareef. Many innocent people died. But on the very next day, there was a greater number of people. And then there was this typical dance. That was a strong message spelled out through art: you can't defeat us. You're a murderer. You'll kill us because you are so afraid. You'd kill us because that's your last resort. You'd kill us because you can't understand humane ways. And you can't fucking understand the power of art, the symbolic defiance. That exactly was the message. Or that is at least what I deciphered from all of that.
That is what I deciphered from all of that.
So, yes, art of any kind is very very powerful. I think the best way to fight back is through the power of art. Paint stuff, sing a stupid song, play that fucking guitar violently (the only violence you should ever think of). Play the cello. Sit in your flooded house and play that piano, with a calm that an idiot like me can't maintain on best of the days. Dance at shrines. Do everything you can with your artistic prowess. Do everything you can to fight them off. Because you are going to win. Because you might have already won. So what exactly are you afraid of? People who don't know shit except pressing a button and blowing themselves off to silence you? I think you have already won.
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