Education and Creativity

J Krishnamoorthy on KNOWLEDGE

What is knowledge? It is acquired through thousands of years through experience, stored in the brain as knowledge and memory. And from that memory thought arises. So knowledge is limited always, whether now or in the future. And so thought is always limited. And where there is limitation there is conflict. So what place has creativity with regard to science? Is there a relationship at all? Please, we are thinking together, we are questioning the very source, the very accumulative process of knowledge. Science means knowledge - Latin and so on. And can creativity in its deepest sense, in its profound activity, what place has creativity or creation with regard to knowledge? We have given tremendous importance to knowledge, from the ancient times, from China, India, before the Christian civilisation came into being they were tremendously respectful, worshipped knowledge. And knowledge, as we said before, is always limited because it is based on experience and so memory, thought, is limited. Thought has created most extraordinary things in the world - all the great monuments, from the ancient of times, great art, vast technology in the present day, and the creation of a nuclear bomb, and so on. Thought has brought about extraordinary state in the world. Thought has created god, built vast cathedrals of Europe, all the things that are filled in the museums - poetry, statue, and all the marvellous things that thought has done. Because thought is the outcome of knowledge, knowledge is science, expressed technologically or otherwise. Thought also has created wars - and we are faced with another war, maybe. And human beings for the last five thousand or more years have been killing each other in the name of god, in the name of peace, in the name of their own particular tribal country. Man has destroyed other human beings, now, in the present civilisation where we are gathered here, where they are producing these enormous destructive things, that is the result of science which is knowledge.

So what place has knowledge, science, with creation? Creation has been one of the most complex problems. Various religions say this is the source of creation - god, and so on. Each tribal country, which is called nationalism has their own particular expression, have their own tribal gods. And science which has produced extraordinary, marvellous things in the world - communication, computers, medicine, surgery - all that has been the result of thought - going to the moon and so on. So can thought ever be creative, in its most profound sense? What is creation? Must creation be always expressed, manifested? That which is manifested must be limited. We are the result of tremendous years, or centuries of endeavour, conflict, struggle, pain, sorrow - we are the result of all that. Our brains have infinite capacity, but it has been conditioned, not only religiously but also nationally. You are all Americans, Chinese, Russians, and so on. We have divided the world geographically, religiously, culturally, and also we have divided human beings - the Caucasians, the blacks and the browns, like us. And so thought has brought about tremendous conflict between human beings - that's a fact - not only between individuals, but also collectively. We have also suffered through wars, through pestilence, every form of disease. And science has been able to help or cure some of all that. But also science has produced most destructive instruments of war. Before, you killed a man perhaps in a war, two or three hundred people, or more, now you can destroy the whole world. Again based on ideals, ideologies, tribal glorification, which is nationalism. Taking all that, what we are after 45,000 years as Homo sapiens, what are we, what have we become? And in this confusion - because most human beings are terribly confused, though they may not admit it - uncertain, not only seeking physical security, but also they want inward psychological security in their relationships, with regard to future, and so on. So taking all this into consideration, our brains are specialised, conditioned by knowledge, and so our activities are conditioned, limited. Wherever there is limitation there must be conflict. When you divide the world into the Americas, the Asiatics, the Europeans, the Jew and the Arab, there must be conflict; not only wars but conflict between individuals, between man and woman. Considering all this, what place has creation?

Knowledge can never be creative. We are going to question all this. Knowledge can bring about a better physical world, externally, and when we give such extraordinary importance to knowledge, which is the intellect - to us intellect is vital, important, essential, but intellect is also limited. We never look at life holistically, as a whole, not as a scientist, a physician, psychiatrist and so on. We are human beings first. And as human beings what are we, what have we become, after millennia upon millennia? Are we civilised? I know you are all very affluent society, you have a great man cars, marvellous country, beautiful roads and so on, but we, as human beings, what are we? And it is human beings that are capable of creation, not only as scientists but also in our daily life. Because after all what is important? We have forgotten, or we never had the art of living, not as scientists, as human beings. We are perpetually in conflict. And can conflict, struggle, pain, anxiety, uncertainty, can such a brain be creative? Or creation is something entirely different?

Please as we said, we are thinking together, if that is possible. Not that the speaker thinks and tells you, or do we together as human beings think about these matters now? That is, to forget our professions, of our vocations of imitation, and as human beings can we be creative? First if we understand the significance of that then we can turn to science, religion and so on. Can we, as human beings, look at the world as we have made of it? I wonder if one realises whether we are individuals at all. Because our consciousness, which is made up of our reactions, physical, biological reactions, our beliefs, our faith, all the prejudices that we have, multiplication of opinions, the fears, the insecurity, the pain, the pleasure, and all the suffering that human beings have born for thousands of years. All that is our consciousness. Our consciousness is what we are. And in this confusion, in this contradiction, can there be creation? And we share the consciousness of entire humanity because you suffer, you have pleasures, beliefs, conclusions, opinions, and all the religious dogmas and faiths, which is shared by all human beings on this earth. So one questions whether we are individuals psychologically. You may be different, you may be tall, you may be short, but as human beings with our consciousness, are we different from the rest of mankind? We have never questioned all this. We trot along all the days of our lives accepting, imitating, conforming. When we rebel, we rebel outwardly: there have been revolutions - Russian, French, and thousands of revolutions have taken place. But inwardly we remain more or less as we have been for thousands of years. So taking all this, not intellectually but as a whole, are we creative? Or creation is something entirely different. You can invent a new method, discover, explore, break up the atom and so on and so on. It is all the activity of thought - cunning, capable, deceptive, creating illusions, and worshipping those illusions. After all, all religions are based on that. Thought has created god. The speaker is not an atheist, but thought has created wars, murdered in the name of god millions of people, and thought has created all the things in the cathedrals, in the churches, in the temples, in the mosques.

So can thought be creative? Because, as we said, thought is limited because it is based on knowledge, and knowledge is the result of vast experience. So we are asking a really very fundamental question: whether thought can ever be creative. It can invent, it can produce new weapons of war, the surgery, medicine and so on. And in our relationship with each other, man, woman, what place has thought in that? Is thought love? I know we say not, but if we look at ourselves and our relationship with each other - husband, wife and boy and a girl, and so on - our relationship is based on the image you have built about her and she has built about him. That relationship is based on thought.

So thought has been extraordinarily capable of certain things, and thought has also brought about the destruction of man, of human beings like ourselves, dividing them into ideologies - the Russian ideology, democratic ideology and so on. So please, thought can never be creative because what it can manifest must be limited. And where there is limitation there must be conflict - between man and woman, between ideologies, between the Arab and the Jew, between the American and the Russian - this division geographically, nationally, religiously. And conflict can never under any circumstances bring about a creativity of creation. So if thought is not the ground of creation then what is creation? When does it take place? Baking a bread is also creation of a certain kind, having babies, also creation, and so on, all the way up. But surely creation can only take place when thought is silent. You may totally disagree with this. I hope you do. I am sure you do! Because to us thought is extraordinarily important, which means the intellect, which is only part of a human being.

So the speaker says creativity can never take place where there is the activity of thought. And the question then arises: can thought be quiet, can thought be put aside for a while? Then who is it that helps thought to put it aside? It is still thought. I don't know if you are following all this. So it is a very complex process. And they have tried every method to quieten thought - drugs, tranquillisers, and also they have tried every form of meditation - the Zen meditation, the Tibetan, the Hindu, the Buddhist, and all the latest gurus with their nonsense (laughter) - they have tried everything to quieten the thought. Because thought has its place. But psychologically, inwardly, can there be certain silence, quietness? And love is that silence, is that quality of great strength, quiet energy.

So we are asking, is love the only factor that is creative? Not sex. I know we have reduced love to pleasure. And we have to ask what is love? If you once comprehend, perceive that thought can never under whatever circumstances be creative, because thought is limited - of that there is no question. If we once see the truth of it then we can begin to ask: is there another instrument, another way of looking at life? Then we can begin to enquire, what is love? What is compassion? What is intelligence? Intelligence is part of that thought; intelligence has created Los Alamos. And what is the nature of love? Is it desire? Is it pleasure? Is it creating images - images about your wife, your husband? Is it the images of ideologies? So to find out, to discover, to come upon that extraordinary thing called love one must have a very clear understanding of our daily life. And that means psychologically, inwardly, we have no freedom. We talk about freedom, especially in this country where you have experts to tell you what to do - specialists. I don't know, you must be aware of all this - how to bring up a baby, how to have sex, how to beautify yourself, what kind of exercise, and so you have specialists in religion, in science, and so on. And this you call freedom. And as our time is very, very limited we cannot possibly go into the question more deeply: what is freedom. Without freedom there is no love. But we are not free. We are anxious, we are frightened of death, frightened of the future, we have carried this burden of fear for thousands of years. We are talking about psychological fears first, and the physical fears later.

So can such a brain which is so conditioned, as a computer, can such a brain love? And is creativity, whether in science, in biology and so on, where there is great activity of thought with its own peculiar intelligence, can that thought create, be creative? If not then how does creation take place? They have asked this question, religious people have asked this question, theologians. If you go to India, they will invent their own theory about creation, so do the Christians, Muslims, and all say god, or some biological reason.

So we are saying that creation is only possible where there is love. Then what is love? Love is not desire, love is not pleasure. Love is not religious entertainment. To understand the complexity of desire, the complexity of sorrow, and the enormous - the thing that we call death, all that is part of our life, our daily living. So is there freedom? Have we love? If there is love we will never kill another human being, never. And this whole world now is collecting armaments. Every country wants the latest instrument of destruction. America is supplying it, England, Russia, Germany, and each country is producing its own deadly instruments, and amongst this chaos we want to have the spirit of creation, creativity. One hand you produce most destructive instruments of war, on the other you talk about love, peace, and so on. We live in a state of contradiction, and where there is contradiction there must be conflict and therefore there can never be creation, or creativity. It is only when the brain is quiet - not controlled quietness - when the brain is absolutely silent, though it has its own rhythm. Man has enquired into this from the ancient of days. Can the brain be utterly still for a while? Not everlastingly chattering, not probing, not enquiring, not searching, but quiet, still.

And to understand that stillness one must understand what is meditation, and so on. Meditation is not conscious meditation, because that is what you have been taught - conscious deliberate meditation, sitting cross legged, lying down, or repeating certain phrases, and so on. That is all deliberate conscious effort to meditate, which is part of desire. And the speaker says such meditation is nonsense. It is like desiring a good house, a good dress, and you desire to have a peaceful mind, which is the same thing. Conscious meditation destroys, prevents the other form of meditation. To go into that we haven't time, because that requires extraordinary perception, without the word, without image.

So, science is the movement of knowledge, gathering more and more and more. The `more' is the measurement, and thought can be measured because thought is a material process. And knowledge has its own insight, its own limited creation, and therefore it brings conflict. But we are talking about holistic perception, in which the ego, the `me', the personality doesn't enter at all. Then only there is this thing called creativity.

A story....

Jobs are not meant to satisfy us. Jobs are not animate things that have knowledge of who we are, what we are seeking and what our special needs could be. You may say that I am just making a philosophical statement. To the contrary, I believe that it is the most practical and rewarding way of looking at many things in a professional career. When I see scores of successful people around me, I believe that their achievements are largely because of such a perspective. It also occurs to me that developing this perspective is eventually beneficial in every way possible.

Let me go back a century and tell you a story. My grandfather was a medical practitioner in the Bihar of 1920s. He had a brood of children who were orphaned due to his untimely death. Two of my uncles had just about finished high school when he moved on. Their older brothers could not afford to send them to college. The two had to be gainfully employed, somehow, as soon as possible. They were taken to Tata Steel, an hour away from where they lived. Tata Steel and the government of Bihar were the only two employers you could think of in a five-hundred mile radius of my uncles’ hometown. The possible work one could get at Tata Steel was that of a technologist-engineer or of a manual worker. So, what could be done with the two boys with their high school qualifications? They were neither fish nor fowl. “Take them to the lab,’’ someone said. A German technician who ran the place was looking for a few hands. The burly German took a hard look at the two. Then he showed them a broom standing at one corner of the lab and asked them to sweep the floor. By the end of day, one of the two just ran away. To him, it was too much to handle. The one who stayed back retired as a chief supervisor of Tata Steel. The difference between the two? The one that stayed on was not trying to seek ‘job satisfaction’. Instead, he focused on satisfying the job.

The more prosperous the industry, the higher the number of people looking for this elusive thing called ‘job satisfaction’. Similarly, the more qualified some people are, the higher is their need for ‘job satisfaction’. Sometimes, it is as elusive as seeking ‘true love’. There are times when we get lucky deservedly or otherwise. But we also get used to it and conclude that it is the responsibility of the organization to maintain a continuous supply of job satisfaction.

Whenever I think of job satisfaction, I remember all those who have to work at night—policemen, airline pilots, nurses and doctors, ambulance drivers and hotel staff, and of course the sentinel of the snow and the desert and the mountains. Do their jobs ‘satisfy’ these people or do these people satisfy the jobs with which they have been entrusted? Are jobs living things that can ever ‘satisfy’ us?

In the corporate world, like any other place, when we open the bonnet and look under it, we find a whole bunch of tough, dirty but strategic tasks that must get done for the bacon to come home. Sometimes, they are so tough and so dirty that they overshadow the strategic nature of the job. So, all such jobs have to be ‘sold’ to prospective incumbents. More they are sold, less buyers they attract. Often, the man who takes up the job is either a loser who has no other choice, or someone who just views it as a transit camp. For many potentially high-performance individuals, a false sense of survival, desire for glamour or just the need for creature comforts make these jobs undesirable. “I would rather be in Kolkata than be posted to Mungher.’’ “I rather have the corporate planning job than be collecting bad debts.’’ Or, consider this one here: “Give me a cerebral job, I do not enjoy handling transactions...’’

Few of us ever ask the boss to be rewarded with a tough and dirty job. We only look for the ‘plum’ ones. Yet, there are people, who given a tough and dirty job, make it strategic: they transform the job in unbelievable ways. In a typical career span, there must be at least four such solid stints in one’s life to make the person a solid professional. All the great people I know have been in the trenches for much of their lives, and their inventory of bruises outnumber the commendations they have received. The occasional commendations stay on the wall. It is the bruises that these people carry with pride.

by ,

Subroto Bagchi,CEO,Mindtree

Super star Rajnikanth--The style samrat.

"Naan oru dhatavai sonna, Adhu nooru dhatavai sonna madhiri"

"Naan solratha thaan seivan, seiratha thaan solluven"

"Idhu Eppadi Irukku"

can u imagine any other actor in the world uttering these words with style and charisma our thalaivar had done.
I am sure u will be eager to read this whole article in one second..as usually i used to feel.
There may a 100 new actors who can do anything for cinema..change their physic..does 4-5 roles ..but i am sure Tamil film industry will have only one super star..and we will have only one "Thalaivar"-"The commercial BOSS".

I am not going to give u his life history..a conductor turned actor,sorry "Inspiration" for all his fans and so many.Just point out the reasons why he is the super star, and why all politicians comment on his every actions.If i have made u interesting... just read the entire article.


During the late 70s, when Rajnikanth made his mark as a hero in Tamil cinema, his movies were usually ones which had a very powerful story and relied on Rajni’s acting, which I believe is tremendously under-utilized till date.

Then in the early 80s, Billa happened, and everything about Rajni changed forever. He became a style icon and almost every single movie in the post Billa era, except Thalapathi, has relied on his style and ‘punch’ dialogues. But Thalaivar is simply superb and mind blowing in all of them .

Once it was said that "sun never sets in britain Empire", and it is for sure, we can say "Rajni's film will never be a failure".
Let me justify the above statement:
-> Baba ,which is said to be his flop movie had earned 20 crores,similar to the value ,what all other actors in the tamil industry will have for their super hit movie.

-> And my next justification may hurt someone,sorry freinds!!!
"sivaji-The boss"-became a super hit movie and the history of tamil cinema has been
re-written-and the reason is one and only bcoz of super star in it.



I understand that I am being too critical about this great film which is running full house in all parts of the globe. I am extremely satisfied and enthralled about all the technical work that has been taken for the film. All the technicians from photographer, musician, editor, art director to Shankar rocked. Hats off guys, you have taken Tamil film to the next euphoria.
But the first half of the film ,with reapeted villain and romance sequences make us clear that-"Shankar cannot handle our thalaivar".Shankar wanted to strike a balance between style and substance in Sivaji and miserably fails. Sivaji will be a blockbuster, because of one reason - Rajnikanth for his stupendous acting, captivating dialogue delivery and attractive mannerisms. He takes a stroll with this latest hair style , full back comb. His dressing also changes to give him a vibrant look.
The best scene of the movie is obviously the tea shop scene, where SS is quick witted and rational in threatening the villain in his own magnetic style.Then comes the great 10 min sequence where SS imitates sivaji, MGR and kamal. He clearly stands out with his distinguishable acting prowess.
-> And after this is ........,Yes the entry of Mottai boss as MGR. What a concept, visualization and thinking. This final and most important part of the movie stand out of the rest, full credits to SS and Shankar for the same. SS looks dazzling with shaven head, usually known for his hair style till this. The screenplay suddenly goes in jet speed till the climax and finishes with a grand finale Matrix fight.



Sivaji is supposed to be a 3-legged chair (Rajni+Rehman+Shankar). But right now balancing on a single leg (Rajni).But we know his 1 leg=100 legs,thats our thalaivar..

But we expected a different Rajni, a different thalaivar after a long gap........but i am satisfied bcoz i will watch him even if he just sits all through out the movie ..and atlast give me his magnetic smile.But this entire review is bcoz , all others review it in a wrong way, and
say something about Rajni-which i cant tolerate for sure.
sorry friends .i think i ve been too much involved in sivji review,let me take u back.

I just wanted to say why he lives in many of our hearts and lead us in many practical situations of our life.
His dialogue in the movie padayappa
->"kashta padamae ethuvum kedaikathu.....appadi kedaikerathu eppavumae valkiyezha
nilaikathu", is classic and mind blowing , and i am sure this had leaded me in many situations, and it may have happened for u all.


->"I only fear god and my conscience," his usual replies have taught me more.
->"When I started to earn a living, I did not know that one day I would come to Madras and become film actor. For me, no matter how famous I become, I will always be a pal to my pals, because they are my roots," -and this teaches me what life is ..its not money , its not car or bike, but simplicity- most powerful weapon of our Thalaivar.

->During his speech in padayappa 200 days function, superstar announced that he was gifting his Raghavendra Kalyana Mandapam to the people of Tamil Nadu. He had created a will in which he transferred the mandapam, which is presently in his name, to the Raghavendra Charity Trust. He then handed over the will to an advocate on stage. He said that it rightly belonged to the people since it was the money they had spent to see his movies. Explaining his decision to make this announcement in public, he said that he had done it this way so that he could not go back on his word. He said even a good decision made in private may be taken back at a later time but not after he had made it in public - And we know this is our super star.
->He has every thing in his life ,what we will think it is enough for life,like money,family etc., but he is search of some eternal thing , and advices all his fans to be quite and peaceful and seek god, really a true leader.

->And coming to the political controversies ,i am sure u will know about that JJ controversy in 1992.Let me leave that,coming to Ramdoss matter in baba....
I am sure no one wud have known about him before this matter..he became popular bcoz he was against super star...and the rest u know guys ,the media gave him much importance and made popular--"a cheap publicity trend".

And let me conclude now:
He may be 57, but as he had said the style and charisma had born along with him , and it will never fade.The super star seat is not his identity ,it is like his shadow , even he cant threw it off if he wishes, it is a seat given to him by millions of his die hard fans...and there is no one in this world ,and there will be no one ,trying to sit in it,
where our thalaivar had his place in 30 years of his cine life-"THE BOSS".

Life is Beautiful...Live it

LIFE!! Life is beautiful. it should be lived at all costs! we find happiness, laughter, sorrows, tears, heartaches, deep blows, jilts,BETRAYAL, despite all that i find that LIFE is still beautiful..... yes i repeat IT IS BEAUTIFUL..... I accept that at some turns of our life we find it difficult to cope with some kind of a situation, and sometimes get so much depressed with life that we say we wish to end this life, whats the use of being alive....... but after some time we regret having said so and we once again start enjoying this life the way it is!!!.......we then realise that pains and heartaches are for short durations be it tough and killing at the moment it hurts, despite that life is to be lived and enjoyed each minutes, say each second, every lapse of a moment is precious and should be LIVED..... ASK IT WITH THE PERSON WHO IS SICK AND IS TO BREATH OUT HIS LAST BREATH...... HE IS THE BETTER PLACED TO SAY HOW WONDERFUL IS THIS LIFE WE ARE LIVING.... AND THAT DYING PERSON HOW FAR IS LONGING TO BE BACK TO LIFE TO LIVE IT ONCE MORE......

So friends enjoy life with all that it gives, tears or laughter, accept all and you will find life more beautiful to live it..................­.........
We human beings have only one life to live; then why not celebrate and enjoy it? All of us are born with valuable gifts to make our lives happy; but we hardly make use of their full potential. If only we realise this, all of us can enjoy life.

Our domain is the present. Let us not allow ourselves to drift into the past, nor should we avoid the realities of the moment by thinking about the future.We know we cannot change the past, but we can ruin the present if we are not careful. So let us not squander the precious little lifetime given to us by feeling sorry for the past that NEVER returns, or worrying about the future that is UNCERTAIN. Let us try to optimise joy in our lives by focusing on the here and now.

Joyful moments can make a lifetime of happiness; their memories can create a heaven on earth.REMEMBER, we have only one chance to live the happy life of a unique human being and NOBODY gets a second chance!!

THEN WHY NOT CHOOSE TO LIVE A JOYFUL LIFE, AS LONG AS WE LIVE!
thanks to........

Shah of Mauritius.