By Shreya Kapoor
A week back i was having dinner with my little brother and he was talking to me about Andy Warhol and Van Gogh (yes, the Indian education system is catching up!). He was asking me about why they painted the way that they did. Why were the stars in starry night so huge and why did Andy Warhol pee on his own paintings!? I tried to explain to him that it was a reflection of what they were feeling at that time, a reflection of what they were going through. After a long conversation, when he realized he was bored he said “it’s madness, they’re mad,” he got up and left. At first i was irritated, did he just call some of the world’s greatest painters mad? After a minute I realized that he was right. It was madness that drove them to create what they created.
The dictionary defines madness as the state of a serious mental illness or extremely foolish behaviour or a state of wild activity. I’d beg to differ though, I think madness is the privilege of seeing something in a unique way. If it weren’t for this uniqueness Manto wouldn’t have written what he wrote and Freddie Mercury wouldn’t have sung the songs he sang. Imagine living in a world without Bohemian Rhapsody! (Neither can I)
So i guess my 10 year old brother was right they were mad. Thanks to their madness that we are able to live in a world which is much more bearable.
Check out previous redefinitions here!