A Tradition of the Modem there is an alternative, for then one can take it as a premise for further discussion. But what has happened in the west in the past few years is something quite curious — it has led to the devolution of the work of art as an object, but it is a consciousness that turned everything upside-down. The artist himself, in a gesture of self-mutilation, discarded art — an artist once tried to strangle his own penis in public. What I am hinting at is, do we not examine all this? We are not living in a situation where we have 40 to do this, where we do not have choices — we have a definite choice, and this choice is not arbitrary, and this choice is falsified if we say that we do not belong. I am not referring to an Indianness bom of chauvinism, but I do suggest that internationalism turns into a sort of linguistic esperanto. It does not go deeper into the purpose of language. But it is attractive. And that can be a problem. The situation that prevails in India is anarchic, and it is important to emphasize a consciousness of the modern, but it is also important to distinguish this — in recognition of our topsy-turvy situation — with the false consciousness about the modem which exists within our situation. There is false consciousness of both the tradition as well as the modem. Vivan has been grappling with some of these ideas, and they are very different from the idea of the modem which prevails around us generally. I attended another seminar, on contemporary Indian art, just recently, and Geeta and Vivan were there too, where a group of artists spoke and my God! I concluded that our view of the modem is really a very minority view. And, in fact, unless the distinctions are made, we may, by evoking the tradition, be abusing that as well — even while we muddle through the modem without coming to terms with it. Journal of Arts & Ideas