on 'Genius'

Those who know me, will very easily be able to announce what a miser I am when it comes to the use of terms like 'Genius'. I remember knowing this man, who named his personal diary -'The Gospel of a Genius Mind'... which I found very amusing, more because I believe 'Genius' is a very specific term... (at the same time, it carries its own set of ambiguities with it though) and should be used very carefully to retain the cognoscenti that follows it. But inspite of all these apprehensions and sensitivities attached to it... I find this term very useful sometimes... as it beautifully translates the feeling that some people are able to impose on my personality... through their ever-enchanting presence ( and there the word... beyond it's linguistic boundaries, creates this 'supercalifragilisticexpealidocious'-istic meaning for me, encompassing a wide range of thoughts and emotions flooding in my mind and heart respectively (let Ryu seperate it as body and mind).

The best thing about my life these days is, that I'm being bestowed with this opportunity of using this word more often for the people I'm interacting with... not only physically... but also 'meta'physically!!! Overwhelmed with these talks, discussions and arguments that come as responses to the floating ideas which camouflage us in every meeting, I'm bound to use this word again and again (and everytime realize the crisis of inability of a language to capture a multidimensional experience).

I'm reminded of a recent class for example, where one of the most beloved profs we have, Shomu, as we lovingly call him... entered the class with the basic question of "what/who is Dionysus?", and what followed was an around two hour long 'Performance' that he gave (and we were also a part of) on Greek Tragedy. It was so well structured and organised, that I'm sure even Aristotle would have revisited his 'Poetics' after going through that experience ( I'm avoiding the notion of viewership, as I find it completely impotent in justifying this 'state of mind'). I remember, how he very modestly (and logically, as he always is) picked up instances and examples from history about historical analysis to construct an image of our perception and idea of a greek tragedy (ofcourse with his own inputs of facts and most importantly- possibilities) and then, how by bringing in Nietszche and his book ' The Birth of Tragedy in the Spirit of Music' he opened gates for several debates around the notions of Greek tragedy, music, performance, ritual and yes.... 'Transformation', leading to a crescendo which in itself was an 'ecstatic transformation' for everyone who was present there.

After the 'Performance'... as calling it a class would be injustice of the highest order... I was wondering if a performane exists only in real time and real space... and what is the scope of 'performative afterthought/aftereffect' that starts the moment the performance leaves the stage and enters one's mind exploring more dimensions, forms and meanings on the most creative theatre in the world- called imagination. I was also curious to know if the reproductions and remakes of performances take place as a response to this 'aftereffect' which acts as the ground on which subjective choices are inserted in an already existing performative experience added with the notion of 'I could have done this with it... if I were the artist' (its notable, that here I use the word artist as the creator and not merely the representer). Interestingly, coming back to what Shomu did, I never visioned myself at his place while giving it an afterthought... but instead, kept on shifting places in the performance space (in this case, unforunately the classroom), to explore the different possible receptions of the same performative experience, and was amazed to realize how awe-struck I was with it at every attempt... and wondering, how he came up with such a narrative structure which was so engaging (apart from it being a very interesting issue in itself, let's accept it that many theoreticians have all the talent in the world to make it sound dry and complicated.... giving enough reasons to the listeners to renounce the attentive mode) and so well planned with really exciting high points and a grand- auspicious finale... being very patient, calm, and logical at the same time... without projecting any sensation of what is to follow beforehand and getting driven away with enchanting issues... now that is what I call a 'GENIUS'.