‘My art is my meditation’

Yoga is now making its way into Delhi’s art galleries

FILE - In this Sunday, June 21, 2015 file photo, Israelis perform Yoga during the International Yoga Day in Tel Aviv, Israel. Thousands of yoga enthusiasts took part in mass yoga programs to mark the first International Yoga Day throughout the world. (AP Photo/Dan Balilty, File)

Since International Yoga Day was marked on June 21, yoga hasn’t remained restricted to the avenues of Rajpath and the grounds of India Gate. Instead, it’s promise of serenity and disciple has found its way into Delhi’s cultural fabric, which is echoing through music recitals, art galleries and dance performances.

While the emphasis laid on yoga by gurus of various Indian classical dance forms is undeniably positive, masters of the canvas differ.

The figure of the quintessential ‘mad’ artist, the scatter-brained creative genius, has been beaten around for quite some time. Juxtaposed with this is the yogi’s path to artistic endeavours, who finds equilibrium within the chaos the ‘mad’ artist thrives on.

So what is really conducive to creativity?

Artist and Bharatanatyam dancer Mansi Verma agrees to have been following the ideals of yoga for a while. “I saw the effects of yoga on my dance. It rejuvenated me. Yoga is a ‘cleansing’ process and it calmed me down on days I was frustrated,” said Ms. Verma.

“But none of us can stay in the same state of mind all the time. My meditation is my painting; and even then I don’t try to find balance because I believe it is slippery, if it exists. I don’t agree with the cliché of the ‘mad’ artist…but we all need some chaos in our head to create our work,” she adds.

“Young painters romanticise the stereotype,” says Jagadeesh Reddy. “It’s not about chaos, but it’s not about desperately trying to find balance either. Art is about loving life and what excites you. I had a roommate once who was a painter and it was difficult for him to paint because of his back aches. Yoga really helped him. It does have physical benefits, but my art itself becomes my meditative process. My passion for my work disciplines me, so I don’t need anything else,” says Mr. Reddy.

“The mad artist does not exist because a clustered mind can never truly create. An artist need not do yoga, but he must be a yogi,” says sculptor Gagan Vij while differentiating between the two as the practicing of postures and devotion and self reflexivity.

“The eccentric genius and the yogi can exist together because even to project chaos the right way you need to have clarity of thought and a calmness of mind,” says Sushma Behel, curator of the Yog Parv, Tradition and Modernity art exhibition at the Lalit Kala Academy.