Ramakinkar Baij : Opinion on Art (book published in bengali by MonChasa Publications, Durgapur, West Bengal, India)

Overview 
Translated from Bengali by Pinaki Sarkar

I am a free traveler of a fine but long road

Without meditation, it is impossible to move along this path of art.

Almost all meditation path is same, though meditation path is tough, a fight against forces, like an impostor fog it tries to misdirect free mind in the wrong direction. In order to save from them there is always a thought.

I am seeing you also, my co-traveler, I am not alone.

This puja is going on age after age.

Humanity is a mad nobility.

I thank all of you.

From my childhood I wanted only one thing – wherever road I take I will construct sculptures along those road.

Sunlight, moonlight, under the sky filled with rain those sculptures look very good.

Besides the playful origin of life, upon the rhythmic framework the lively game of life and death looks beautiful. Allow me to see.

What will I draw? What sculpture will I build?

Still I won’t leave, like mad gabbling.

Interview with  Ramakinkar Baij
Translated from Bengali by Pinaki Sarkar 

Q: In your times, what was the main problem that Artists like you faced.

A: None. There was no problem. If I knew how to draw..then there is no problem at all. Oh Yes..there was one …how to draw and another ..Women. Leave that. Problem is to produce more and collect more. Leaving these.. there was none at all.

Q: In today’s world, what is the main problem faced by the artists.

A: Freedom…Freedom to work. Will to work..it came ..it comes. And relationship with people. I have seen great human beings why will accept any lesser.

Q: Why didn’t you marry? Do you want to say something on this topic?

A: I never wanted to marry and have a family life. I only wanted to do my work that’s all. If I married it would not have been possible. I get the pleasure of family life by art. Women…yes there is a need for women. After all men has been created by nature.

Q: Your paintings and sculptures are both wrapped in Nature in a very strange way. ?

A: Well human beings live in nature itself.

Q: Amongst nature you stressed on Trees?

A: Alive. Trees. Trees are alive.

Q: Not just about parts of trees, at the level of beauty the relationship with the branches is more.

A: Branches are the real .They are alive. Leaves will come, flowers will come. The roots are real. The real are the roots.

Q: Once during his exhibition, in an interview Picasso commented that if nature did not exist then artistry do not exist. However in order to recreate nature artists insult the nature.

A: I disagree. They cannot insult. No Insult. An artist cannot insult. Artist do not mimic nature. Nature is ‘maya’..nature is ‘lila’. God created nature, his own creative play. Why wouldn’t he allow us to play? We will also play. In his play there is a rhythm, rules and framework. Play…you can also play. Creation is a play. I play that game with peace in me. Tagore in one of his pomes said that ‘I will say your name , in various ways’…’I will say with smile on my face, I will say with tears on my eyes’..my smiles are also his , my thoughts are also his. Nature…nature. Picasso has some constrictions…that is why he said that. God created ..without any reason. Birth of child also has a reason. Get happiness from what God has created. Do not clash..do not fight…just ‘lila’

Q: How?

A: How …you will get the answer yourself. If I did not get happiness then I would not have worked…no question…we will have to forget everything. We will have to only play. If there is any grudge in the mind then you will understand that you did not forget. Birth takes place for the future. That is how it is .To see, to recognize and at that time is the birth of wisdom. I get happiness, I create. Get more happiness…Buddha…Buddha…Present—birth of a child is one way is rebirth…not without me but within me …maya..maya.

Q: Most of your work is related with the Santal tribes of Birbhum ?

A: Well that’s not true. I did other things also. Yes…in a way. They are manual laborers…they work..they have hands..sun..sunlight…open hair..sweat. They get hungry…they get tired..they feel pain..sad…they are poor. Yet they are very active. I like active people. Pure, active lifestyle. The people who work at the office lead a dull life..they only seat…nobody knows what they write …let them sit. Those businessmen what is their activity..wherever I went …whomever I saw active I drew them . They have lots of beauty within themselves.

Q: Why didn’t you draw a picture of yourself?

A: I drew…when I was at the village..long before I came here at Santiniketan. Maybe I will do again later…it is just a matter of mood…but others drew me. There are pretty good ones.

Q: So will you do a self portrait?

A: Whatever an artist do is self portrait only.

Q: What is most necessary for creation?

A: Free mind. Freedom of mind is absolutely necessary and feelings. Feelings.

Q: For feelings or for expression?

A: Expression. For expression you need more.

Q: Express for what?

A: For your own and then for others. Tagore did for whom? for creation ..there is madness—there is addiction..those who create. I cannot say no.Tagore use to say of himself ‘’addicted and mad”..happiness is first.

Q: with thought and understanding?

A: not without any thought.If you want to know, will anybody understand. Picture is just a picture. Tagore use to say “I don’t care. I don’t care. Whatever way I thought, I drew that way. I don’t want you to understand. Whatever you think of it…you think “

Q: While doing work , when did you get the most happiness ?

A: Every time…every time..from my early childhood ..every time.

Q: You worked on every media?

A: Mood…whatever media was available to me at that time.

Q: Do you always think beforehand about the subject of your work? How do you proceed?

A: Sometimes I do. Sometimes I don’t. Without any thought…I just feel and go on working. Everything comes along automatically…on its own.

Q: Is it possible to complete a work so much that nothing can be added or taken away from it ?

A: No. No work is fully complete. I just go on working on it..working on it. If I get tired then probably I leave. If I get a new idea..I leave. There is always that dissatisfaction. As long as sky is empty …there is satisfaction..else the picture goes on changing. Do it again…finish it …then do it again…just go on doing it…sometimes it changes completely. Do it again…make another one. Tagore wrote five thousand poems, after that he started painting. Why? Why did he do …that wish is always there. This is what he taught us …that is why I learned…I did again…leave the previous one and make another one.

Q: In order to work what do you need most?

A: Feeling for everything. Feeling. If that feeling is weak then what we get is hopelessness. Feel …feel .If meditation is right then feeling will come.

Q: Nowadays, you are occasionally sick, still you go on painting. Don’t you want to rest ?

A: What take rest?  No…No I will have to do something..what do I do ? Sing? Talk with people?...time is very less..where is the time ? I passed seventy years …I don’t know where the time went by.

Q: Work, New Work. New story.

A: Yes. Constant observation…if my eyes are open I can see so many things together.

Q: Did you ever think that for your art what did the country, your society give you ?

A: I am not that kind of beggar. I don’t want anything. I get everything from my work.

Q: Last question, How long would you like to work like this?

A: As long as I can. To my last breadth..when my work will finish …then my meditation will also end …then emptiness will be like the sky . Sky…sky.

Sir, I am an artist of lines and planes, who only observe with my own eyes . 
By Ramakinkar Baij , Translated from Bengali by Pinaki Sarkar

In order to worship the God of life , one will always have to submit one’s complete consciousness. Even after that it is not enough, something more will remain to be needed. I have seen how lightning plays amongst the dark clouds, astoundingly strange. After that the rain, dancing peacock with its glorious feathers spread-out , without any friends , crying out in lonely consonance with the clouds.

In my childhood I traveled far away to get education but ran back to home when I heard the news of my mothers death. I came to understand death a little late. As if I don’t know how to speak. I don’t like just talking. Only one sound ‘Maa’- that’s it, no more words. A deep pain’s mute expression.

I saw Gurudev Robindranath Tagore spending his half-life composing words, tune and sound like a fountain. Overflowing. Later I saw him, for ten years he spent time in silence with lines and beautiful colors.

Speed and friction are separate. Faster the speed more it is hoarse. Where they are in tandem, music appear. A composer ends his analysis with just six syllables. A composer’s analysis technique is ancient. Using the science of these just six syllables they express all our feelings, emotions and thoughts.

What I have seen are Shivlinga, whatever sculptures we get clearly from Mohenjo-Daro-Harappa, that’s all. I don’t get anything beyond that – my eyes are the only way to see them. From nature we get two forms , man and woman. Third is their progeny. This theme has a strange beauty. Upon this is the play of  so much happiness, so much beauty.

The effort is to express this within another form. The name of that form is symbol- that is what I try.

With speed comes friction and from that sound. Where friction is in consonance with speed then it melodious else it is cacophony. A composer, with that melody only, creates and sustains music. That game is what I see everywhere.

This is symbol, that is how it is popular. Do music have these kind of symbols? A musician will be able to say that.

Nowadays it is only words that are trendy. I don’t understand, it doesn’t get into my ears. My ears are rattling. In this age another confusion is from machines. What more do you want? If this age is of machines, then when will the age of silence will come? I wait in the hope of that?

The sound of a sculptor and a painter is minimal. When Tagore use to paint , I have seen he use to keep quiet. Yet he spend most of his life with sound. Artists who work with words, with music, both of them use sound. Visual artistry with lines and planes is quiet. Only meditation. In one place Tagore wrote that ‘the treasure of meditation will have its own tune’. Here sound is used. Without sound, the expression will not have a body. Either voice, or expressive musical instrument is needed.

Sir, I am an artist of lines and planes, who only observe with my own eyes. Not an artist of sound. Anyway, there is beauty in sound also but when there are arguments and quarrels these sound starts rattling. Sound of tram, cars, truck, trains, factory sound, humming sound of the crowd – you listen to all these, yet for more sound you print and publish magazines. I really commend your patience.

Credit and Law Of Large Numbers

While avoiding the discussion on whether credit is actual legal tender of a country, I can safely say that credit is a form of future money manifested through any form of financial instrument that cannot be repaid immediately.

It is easy to understand how rapid credit (both retail and wholesale) growth facilitates economic growth. When credit is expanding, consumers can borrow and spend more and businesses can borrow and invest (in productive ventures) more. Increasing consumption and investment creates jobs and expands income and profits. Moreover, the expansion of credit tends to cause the price of assets such as stocks and property to increase, thereby boosting the net worth of the public. However this cycle to work successfully, it is imperative that every credit gets fulfilled by repayment allowing it to recirculate.

Credit in an economy needs to be managed and a balance needs to be achieved. Most recent example of global financial downturn is a great example: Rising asset prices give the owners of assets more wealth (i.e. collateral) against which they can borrow still more. This cycle of expanding credit leading to increased spending, investment, job creation and wealth, followed by still more borrowing produces a happy upward spiral of  prosperity (so long as it continues). Eventually, however, every credit-induced economic boom comes to an end when one or more important sector of the economy becomes incapable of repaying the interest on its debt.

There are other doomsday scenario with credit, which happens in many under developed countries. This happens when credit is extended to the producer of goods who in turn is not able to put into sufficiently productive use either due to lack of knowledge (like rural farmers) or through deliberate actions (many industrialists in India take loans from bank, do not repay and rather siphon away the money from India to foreign banks like Swiss bank). Again when credit repayment extends out over several years, there is a permanent loss of revenue to the economy for goods and services. In effect the spending gets compressed into a smaller window, that results in stagnation until equilibrium (there is a availability of funds) returns. In the same way, it doesn’t do a company any good to sell its products for six months and then have six months off, if that isn’t how their production schedule is setup. This will result in lay-offs and other effects which, once again, reduce the “demand” side of the equation.

In general credit needs to paid to be an effective weapon of economic activity. The greatest threat to a credit is ‘default’ or rather probability of default to the credit issuer. As it is a probability, the law of large numbers comes into picture in the sense that frequencies of events with the same likelihood of occurrence even out , given enough instances. In short if the credit issuer gives a sufficient number loan to similar type of people then LLN (Law of Large Numbers) guarantees stable long term results for the averages of some random events. Given this, there exists a profitability model (like that of actuarial probability used in the Insurance industry) based on the final expectation calculation (*) .  So looking at it linearly(ignoring all other influences) we can see that a credit issuer can, not only survive if some loans go bad in his/her portfolio but also rather enhance his profitability by driving towards issuing more and more similar loans . All he needs to do is control the number of defaults to a minimum to maximize profitability given a particular set of loans.

Credit was significant as a form of payment in colonial America. Credit was present in all forms of trade including international trade between England and her colonies. Even in ancient times the concept of credit existed and many Buddhist monasteries acted as counterparty, almost like a modern bank to various parties like local king or merchants. However not till modern times, there was this widespread use of credit given to the individual citizens of a country materialized. This I think is the understanding behind rise of every great economy of modern world and the fundamental difference between the developing and developed countries i.e. a great infrastructure for managing and harnessing the power of credit to unleash the ‘animal spirits’.

LLN and the subsequent weighted mean to compute the expectation is linear function and do not have feedback loop associated with it. So, as long as the profitability increase linearly and probabilities of defaults remain consistent with large number loans disbursed, the economy will not be threatened and the growth will continue. However in real life, greed infuses nonlinear feedback in terms of returns and destabilized probability of defaults, or even when probability of default is a sure event (say one), this projects into spiraling growth and finally collapse of the economy. LLN , expected weighted mean can also be the rational justification for the spread of microfinance with its greatest avatar of microcredit. One can and should build an infrastructure keeping in mind that credit growth rate should be in tandem with the development rate of production and services. Small farmers, landless laborers in developing countries do not own adequate land and other assets which can be used as collateral, and consequently face a situation of inadequate availability of credit. It is they who need help and given their large numbers, LLN can easily be used to build any kind of profitability model for application of any kind of credit based financial instruments. Also being a significant, probably the most important part of the society, their well-being will have a greatest impact on the economy uplifting the entire country altogether. Only thing to keep in mind is not to kill the hens that are laying the eggs i.e. a sustainable amount of profits should be reinvested in the communities to enhance their lifestyle and building hope amongst the people , which would also act as further motivating factor.

Taking a step backward, looking at the whole issue at global level, the same concepts apply, only in this case the numbers are huge. So in a single global portfolio, the diversity of  probability of default will increase , so will the return variations, nonetheless running against such large numbers the linearity of the profitability model will be much more stable. Nonlinear feedback and spiraling growth will need to be huge to destabilize. However, if it is not properly managed sustaining the producers (farmers, landless laborers, industrial workers people who are directly engaged in real economic productivity: real economy as opposed to financial economy), that is there is no reinvestment of the profits leading to huge differences in the gap between rich and poor, the world itself will collapse, changing the face of the earth as we know it.

I would say, let us the harness the power of LLN and credit facility to bring the world together, include the global poor into a sustainable economic cycle. Let us be rich together, clearing the channels for generation and redistribution of wealth in a balance like the chakra (the wheel of Dharma) .

* According to the formula: () where X can take return value x₁  with probability of defaults p₁, value return x₂ with probability p₂

HealthCare Exchanges: Insurance products and other similar products whose risks and profitability models are dependent on the number of consumers buying should not be fully privatized.

The idea of exchange as I see is a mechanism to let loose market forces under a controlled environment. Setup a framework by having a set of well-defined laws, clearly define, quantize and standardize the value of whatever to be exchanged and finally give access to whomsoever would like to participate in the exchange activity. Simple as that, as they say and moreover it is , faster and cheaper than the lawyer-intensive process of negotiating bilateral licenses for intellectual property, the high cost of which discriminates against small companies. Too add more adjectives; it is collaborative, transparent and meritocratic.

I would argue that it is not that simple, because we need a solid in depth understanding of the nature of the concept ‘value’ that is being exchanged at the exchanges. We need to understand how it varies individually and also in groups (when coalesced together with other ‘value’). Strictly speaking, the exchange ‘value’ of anything (let us say commodity) is not identical to its price, but represents rather what (quantity of) other commodities it will exchange for, if traded. If that is the case, then price is a metadata tag with which we give the commodity a meaning in the world of finance. If we call this a notional price then the real price at which the commodity might exchange may be different i.e. the market price.  So there is a distinction between value of a commodity (notional price) and a market price.  Identification of the notional price is very subjective; depend on the present owner of the commodity and his/her perception of what he owns. Typically it will be cost of production plus markup. Market price is dependent on the demand-supply and the ability of the market participants to pay or as modern finance will say, it is dependent on the concepts of arbitrage-free, risk neutral valuation.

Notional price is the ‘value of a commodity’ as determined by the owner after considering its unique characteristics, cost of production, and owner’s perception of market swings and so on. While for certain products (like say vegetables in the vegetable market), it is rather simplistic representing the average quantity of human labor which is necessary to produce them, for others like financial instruments it is little deeper. The nominal price should not only represent the labor (all the research and other works) needed to produce; it also has the additional task representing the risk of that which it represents. Sometimes the price of this risk is way more than the cost of production of a financial instrument itself.  Say a stock, which represent the risk of performance of the underlying company or a bond which represent the credit risk of the bond issuer.

For most of the cases, be it a commodity ( like wheat, apples, fish) or simple financial products ( like stock and bonds ) the magnitude of the value of this risk is primarily not dependent on buyers of this product. Yes we can argue all the sides like the perception risk (dependent on buyer) and so on but for all practical purpose it is not, at least not like the way insurance products are dependent on. This I think is fundamental problem to be addressed in a healthcare exchange phenomenon or as a matter of fact for any exchange of insurance products. Two fundamental concepts on which insurance products values are dependent on are

·         law of large numbers (LLN) : According to the law, the average of the results obtained from a large number of trials should be close to the expected value, and will tend to become closer as more trials are performed.

For example, if a fair coin (where heads and tails come up equally often) is tossed 1,000,000 times, about half of the tosses will come up heads, and half will come up tails. The heads-to-tails ratio will be extremely close to 1:1. However, if the same coin is tossed only 10 times, the ratio will likely not be 1:1, and in fact might come out far different, say 3:7 or even 0:10.

·         concept of a  ‘weighted probability.’: a technique to find the total expected value of multiple events.

So let’s play this game:

• We are a small insurance company that insures 1000 people.
• Let’s say that 1 house will get flooded per year.
• So the probability of a house getting flooded is (1/1000)
• Therefore the probability of a house not getting flooded is (9999/1000)
• If a house gets flooded, we will have to pay $500,000
• Every person pays you $50 a month, $600 per year

According to the formula: (E[X] = x₁p₁₊ x2 p2+....xkpk) where X can take value x₁ with probability p₁, value x₂with probability p_2.

-500,000*(1/1000) + 600*(999/1000) = -500 + 599.94 = 99.94

So we will make $99.94 on average per person insured. Therefore you’ll make 1000*(99.94) = $99940.

The LLN guarantees stable long-term results for the averages of some random events. For example, while a casino may lose money in a single spin of the roulette wheel, its earnings will tend towards a predictable percentage over a large number of spins. Any winning streak by a player will eventually be overcome by the parameters of the game. It is important to remember that the LLN only applies (as the name indicates) when a large number of observations are considered. There is no principle that a small number of observations will coincide with the expected value or that a streak of one value will immediately be "balanced" by the others (i.e. gambler’s fallacy).

The nominal price and thus the premium amount of an insurance product is dependent on the above two concepts which in turn is related on the number of consumers consuming the product. This relationship is direct and will determine the existence of the product. There is almost none or little influence of financial economics of no arbitrage, risk neutral pricing on the market price. Market price of an insurance product is determined by actuarial probability, then why do we need an exchange ( in the sense NYSE operates)  like market place to manage competition. We can have a market like the vegetable market, where there are buyers and sellers, usually buyers do not become a seller.  There exists a profitability model for insurance product and competition for that profit is in distribution i.e. how many consumers can you enroll.

Anything that has profitability model can be privatized or rather to privatize any service we need to find out a profitability model.  Most common thinking is that well defined profit motive makes an organization more efficient, reduces waste i.e. deliver more for less. On the whole this is good for a society. This is the thinking behind privatization of the health care industry.

I would argue this is not always true; profit motive can make an organization more efficient but not more effective. Services , not only health care, but those which affect a large number of people , should and will always have certain other well defined goals other than pure profit.  In that scenario, single minded focus on profit, or marketplace built to just enhance that will defeat the very purpose of the existence of the service.

There should be a balance, while controlling costs, organizations should try to meet all the goals to justify its existence. Not sacrifice everything to the altar of profit and costs.

It is for this reason I believe that healthcare insurance and many other similar services in involving a large number of people should be semi private. Slight privatization will bring in the cost efficiency while the part public will harness motivation of providing quality service with other more larger goals in mind.

Global Currency is inevitable, question is what’s next ?

With dollar as a reserve currency gives United States a de-facto dominant role in the global economy.  Why will other countries subject themselves to U.S. fiscal and monetary policies over which they have no control?
In post-world war eras where US have come out as a winner, this acceptance would have been there, but today, in 2016, the world has changed a lot.

What happens today is that a nation’s currency is serving the geo-politically motivated perception of a global proxy for depth, strength and productivity of its economy and the stability of its political system. In many cases, particularly developing countries are suffering because of this perception. A number of developed countries while having a stable political system are not as productive as compared to several developing countries.  Yet people residing in these countries are enjoying a higher wage rate and luxuries for certain labor which could be produced elsewhere at much reduced cost. While morally this is exploitation but in pure economics term, from a global perspective, this is wastage of precious resources. This benefit of ease in price comparison (fringe benefit will be reduced transaction cost) along with labor mobility that is possible in today’s world outweighs everything.

Imagine a scenario; Britain has a negative shock because of fall in the prices of its largest export. Wages in Britain must fall compared to wages elsewhere in the world. With a global currency in play this will happen with macroeconomic adjustment and wages will fall in real terms. Today this do not happen , the nominal wages remain almost same and because of  ’perceptive’ exchange rate mechanism  the slack is mostly cut with a slight fall in the real rates.

As we all know that theoretically currencies should be valued based on trade flows but in reality that is flouted from both sides. While China may have been keeping its currency exchange rate low to boost exports, on the flip side, the developed countries have been trying to maintain a high exchange rate to keep its transaction cost lower. Some economist will say a new form of exploitation tool is the currency exchange rate. 

There is benefit for everybody, the developed world will get a level playing field for its industries and the developing countries will have stable currency and free from the dependencies on foreign monetary policy. Hegemony of exchange rate exploitation will end allowing them to benefit from pure productivity and efficiency of their economic activity.  The world will align itself more towards the mission of Finance that is efficient allocation of resources, no matter where in the world.

Yes there are significant hurdles to achieve that end as monetary policy could not be enacted on a country by country basis. Any change in monetary policy would have to be made at the worldwide level. The supply and printing of a global currency has to be maintained by a central banking authority, sealed from all external political interests. Unless we have a single global government to maintain uniform fiscal and monetary policy, I think it is almost impossible to create such an independent body with sufficient powers to manage a world currency. As long as we have multiple countries, we will have a collection of local economies restricted by the political boundaries, a world currency will not help as even though the currency/finance might flow easily, real economy will not flow easily, example labor movement will be restricted. Politics is the horse and economy is the cart.

The dream remains; it is just a matter of human ingenuity to solve. To start with we are already expanding the basket of global reserve currencies, stepping away from the dependency with dollar.  Then there is a rise of new technology, bitcoin offering the possibility of a technology based system that works with little human intervention, this might eliminate the conflict of the global vested interests.

Lastly I would say that this debate is same as thinking when to go for centralization (in this global currency) vis-a vis decentralization (local currency as it exists today). Human civilization, as a whole  always had political structure which was an open decentralized system (each country have its own system),  is one in which the entry of peers is not regulated. Any peer can enter or leave the system at any time. The idea of money, as it was discovered while we evolved as a society was also implemented in similar manner. There is no single centralized authority (there are central banks for each country but not for the whole of civilization) that makes decisions on behalf of all the parties. Instead each party, also called a peer, makes local autonomous decisions towards its individual goals which may possibly conflict with those of other peers. Peers directly interact with each other and share information or provide service to other peers.

Standing today , in the 21^st century if we look at human history , from Mesopotomia-Mohenjadro to Ashoka-Alexander to Mao-Lenin-English colonialism to information technology driven society of today on thing is always common i.e. an effort to centralize and control political structure (whatever its form is ) and reap the subsequent economic  benefits of a larger financial entity. With that trend in mind , in a global context the introduction and operation of global currency (centralization of the currency,  maybe managed via a centralized global bank ) is inevitable. It is just a matter of time , human society is inevitably is moving towards it.

The questions is what’s next ? like any natural phenomena this push towards centralization will reach its peak ,politically with a global government and economically with a global currency and then ….like a cycle decentralization will start. With higher fragmentation and entropy, what will our society look like then ? I don’t know. Will we believe in universal human rights then? One thing for sure whatever be it , this cycle of centralization and decentralization will continue forever, that is the balance , the spinning Chakra.

Jukti Takko Aar Gappo (a 1974 Bengali film directed by Ritwik Ghatak)

Reason, Debate and A Story by Ritwik Ghatak.

(An extraordinary film on a unique theme)

Let me start by saying that this is an extraordinary film, one of the best movies I have seen, or rather I will say one of the best movies ever made. I would say , at least for two reasons if not more, cinematic technique that achieved an intense intimacy with the audience and the adaptation of a complex cerebral theme into a linear time dimension of cinematic expression.

Ritwik Ghatak , has a unique approach to film. His technique is devoid of any influence from any of the great predecessor film director and is uniquely his own, derived from his background on theatre and his understanding of the amalgamation of music, linear time, still photography, moving photography and drama. As you watch this film you would feel that the characters are, in some ways , on the stage with a live audience, acting out a powerful drama . As if the they step out of the screen to talk  to you and you are forced to respond to them, to react very sharply for or against them .Yet they are not, Ghatak applies extreme creative montage with the sound. Imagine the construction of the opening scene ( where Ghatak ,acting as a failed intellectual, interact with his wife) with cuts to the close-ups of the individual actors and the environmental props like ceiling fan, where he artfully applies  background sound to transcend  the drama of acting into a cinema, yet keeping a strong taste of theatre as an ingredient.

Ghatak made his films with very little resource, you can see that in his movies. His cameras hardly move, there were at times he had to use footage which I presume he wouldn’t have, if he had better funding. Poverty cannot push down human spirit, rather at this time it rises to great consciousness and exactly that’s what happened to Ghatak , his artistic sensibility rose. He crossed all the barriers to conceive a new cinematic language.

 Thematically, Ghatak challenged himself to tackle an extremely difficult topic, the confusion of a failed intellectual, self-analysis, self-criticism. The main character, which he himself acted out was concerned about the following

•          Partition of Bengal and the associated angst and disillusionment. The fact that India the freedom fighters fought for and they India they got was different.
•         Importation of foreign ideas (in this case Communist political ideology) without proper Indianizing it .
•         The eternal conflict of classical culture and the popular culture.
•        Economic depression of the times.
•          Exploitation of the goodness and naivety of rural folk.
•         The idea of mother (as lived though by Indian consciousness) ,its pragmatism and humanness.
•         Boy like behavior of adult male as seen through the eyes of the mother.
•         Corruption and breakdown of morality

Ghatak’s character could not bring all these together into a single coherent intellectual plane and figure out a way to live life. He fought , tried to grasp and lost and so gave up, choosing the final path available , that is to escape. He escaped in alcohol and then ultimately with his death.  Yes, the film is pessimistic in that sense , yet on the other hand to give a sense of optimism he chose faith. Faith in his belief of the ‘idea of mother’ as someone who is pragmatic, wise and humane. Someone who is life sustainer (Prakriti in Vedic Sense) and will carry on the responsibility till new solutions are found  out through the intellectual effort of the next generation , his son (Purusha, pure consciousness, in Vedic Sense) .

To achieve this Ghatak chooses a travel theme, as his main character travels through space ( the rural Bengal)  and events , he introduces dialectics by employing new characters, events at various stages.  Here is a brief summary …

Character	Played By	Concept/Event
Nilkantha Bagchi	Ritwik Ghatak	Thorugh he named the failed intellectual as Nilkantha (Nilkantha is the name of Hindu god Shiva, who drank poison that emerged from the oceans to prevent it from destroying everything in the world), the character did not survive
Durga	Tripti Mitra	is the mother and sustainer of new generation , his son Satya
Satya	Ritaban Ghatak	New Hope. Somebody who can find out new solutions are found out through renewed intellectual effort
Bongobala	Shaonli Mitra	The idea of mother (as lived though by Indian consciousness) ,its pragmatism and humanness.
Nachiketa	Saugata Burman	Economic depression of the times
Jagannath Bhattacharjee	Bijon Bhattacharya	a Sanskrit language teacher, has been depicted as a representative of ancient Vedic civilization, classical culture
Shatrujit	Utpal Dutt	Partition of Bengal and the associated angst and disillusionment. The fact that India the freedom fighters fought for and they India they got was different.
Panchanan Ustad	Gyanesh Mukherjee	Representative of rural people, not very educated, but very rich with his own popular culture and heritage.
Leader of Naxalites	Ananya Ray	Importation of foreign ideas (in this case Communist political ideology) without proper Indianizing it .
Police inspector	Shyamal Ghoshal	Bureaucracy with Empathy
Alcoholic person in village	Jahor Roy	Exploitation of the goodness and naivety of rural folk by the urban.
Others At the park	Played by many	Corruption and breakdown of morality
Panchanan Ustad vs Jagannath Bhattacharjee	…..	Boy like behavior of adult male as seen through the eyes of the mother.
Interaction with Local Village Leader	….	Exploitation of the goodness and naivety of rural folk
Throwing stones at Jagannath Bhattacharjee	…	Complete ignorance of the societies classical culture and mocking it as madness. (pure symbolism on the abhorrence people had on Vedic thoughts, after three hundred years of colonial rule...post colonial India)
Nilkantha's encounter with the former intellectual turned underground pornographic novelist, Shatrujit (Utpal Dutt) in an open field	---	an allegory for the Bengali people's own complicity in the dissolution of their homeland and culture through petty self-interest, abandoned ideology and resigned complacency

However above is not a complete list of motifs that he employed in this film to convey the idea of a ‘desire of self-inflicted destruction’. His opening sequence of a frail, elderly villager seeking shelter from burning sun, staring blankly at the camera from a makeshift hut with trio of dancers dressed in black, dancing in anticipation of the old man’s death sets the mood, human frailty.  Yes, Nilkantha did not want to give himself to death by making statements like “slipping is not death” or “ I have to do something”, yet on the contrary he chose death by persistently choosing alcoholism or choosing to pass the night amongst the naxalites who he knew for sure will be wiped out next morning ,by the police. This is the paradox which he settled by choosing death, succumbing to the weight of history, to escape the pain of conflict and his failure, leaving his son, his books as the future to bring together what he could not.

This was Ghatak’s last film.  What did he want, I wonder? Probably he wanted to find some meaning in the political and cultural turmoil of then India, get to a solution and find a way towards the moral existence of this new country and growth path towards economic affluence.