To Create Is To Liberate

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 13 September 2022 To create is to liberate To liberate is to celebrate Creation is celebration For, it's a divine passion -Translated into English from Rewani's Ottoman Turkish by the author Some friends asked Muhammad Iqbal, why did he write something every day? Iqbal really didn't have a convincing answer to it. He just smiled. It's like, why does one eat every day or breathe every moment. Urdu poet and activist Hasrat Mohani used to say, 'Likhna Meri Laachaari Hai' (Writing is my ineluctable task). The same applies to Allama Iqbal and people of his ilk, who write every day almost religiously and without a miss. Writing is a very cathartic exercise. It releases the pent-up angst and all those feelings that need to come out of the system to feel better. All creative pursuits have a tendency to seep into the psyche of a creative person. And when something seeps into the psyche and consciousness of a person, it becomes a habit. The great Bismillah Khan, would feel feverish if he failed to play his Shahnai and the legendary violinist Yehudi Menuhin would sleep with his violin and call it his greatest beloved. Often at night, he would wake up and start playing his violin and doze off not knowing the next day that he was playing violin with perfect ease and the melancholic notes sublimated the ambiance. Beethoven would eat and often fall asleep on his piano. A truly creative person does things for what's called 'Swantah Sukhay' (for one's own satisfaction). When you do something to please just yourself sans any motive, you become spontaneously accustomed to it and the hobby becomes integral to your consciousness. Yours truly writes, knowing very well that many publications might reject his submissions, yet he sends his pieces to them. Not because he has any desire left in life to see his name in print. In fact, every day, at least 4/5 publications and portals carry his contributions in half a dozen languages. He feels good from the core of his heart that he has created something (new) and sent that for its logical end. It's like conceiving a child in the womb for nine months and delivering it when the time comes. Any creation, however small it may seem, has an element of 'Srijan' (the Sanskrit word has a deeper meaning than the rather superficial 'creation'). The word ‘Srijan’ has an etymological root 'srij', which means 'getting to the root and making something unique'. This joy of 'Srijan' of something unique eggs a creative person on. 'Har Roz Ek Nayee Ghazal Likhta Hoon Main/ Jis Tarah Roz Ek Nayee Haseena Ko Dekhta Hoon Main' (The way I religiously look at a new damsel every day/ I also compose a new Ghazal without missing a day). Raghib Hoshiyarpuri's slightly humorous couplet underscores the need to do something creative every day and every moment. The problem with most of us is that we aren't aware of our creative side. We are all creative individuals. Even those who do some apparently dull and conventional jobs are also creative guys. All we need is to know the intrinsic nature of our respective creativity and do things with utmost creative pleasure and satisfaction. Never consider any task to be cumbersome because there's a creative joy in every task. We need to find that joy in our respective callings to feel happy and fulfilled. This approach or attitude is not just limited to one's job or hobby, this is extended to life itself. To quote the US poet T S Eliot, 'Where's the life, we have lost it in living/Where's the wisdom, we have lost it in knowledge/Where's the knowledge, we have lost it in information.' There's a lack of passionate interest in all of us and that's the reason, we keep bemoaning that we are bored. We get bored because we are not genuinely into the things we should be into. This superficiality makes us dull and monotonous. And when we feel dull, the whole world also appears to be like that. This is a pathetic fallacy because the whole world is just our extension. You see the world through your mental state. So, be joyful and immerse yourself into whatever you do. It'll soon become your passion. Life is enjoyable, provided we find enjoyment from whatever we do or pursue. Abraham Lincoln's first job was to clean the window glasses and he did that as if he was discharging his Presidential duties! Because he was to become the future President of the US. The college dropout Steve Jobs began his career as a humdrum salesman in a computer shop. He evinced great interest and focused on his seemingly ordinary job. So much so that he became the father of i-pad/smartphones and when he departed, he left an enormous and also the most reliable empire known as Apple. Involvement in any task, however petty it may seem ostensibly, is the key to soul-satisfaction as well as job-satisfaction. ‘Descend into your own existence and find the boundless joys.' This is the infallible mantra of life. Joy is within. Explore and expand it. ----- A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. URL: https://newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/create-liberate-srijan/d/127938 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism