Hi everyone. I'm an artist and a dad -- second time around. Thank you. And I want to share with you my latest art project. It's a children's book for the iPad. It's a little quirky and silly. It's called "Pop-It," And it's about the things little kids do with their parents.
Pozdrav svima. Ja sam umjetnik i tata -- po drugi put. Hvala vam. I želim s vama podijeliti svoj zadnji umjetnički projekt. To je knjiga za djecu za iPad. Pomalo je razigrana i šašava. Zove se "Pop-It", i radi se o stvarima koje mala djeca rade sa svojim roditeljima.
(Music)
(Glazba)
So this is about potty training -- as most of you, I hope, know. You can tickle the rug. You can make the baby poop. You can do all those fun things. You can burst bubbles. You can draw, as everyone should.
Dakle, ovdje se radi o treniranju kahlice -- kao što većina vas, nadam se, zna. Možete škakljati sag. Možete djete voditi na veliku nuždu. Možete raditi sve te zabavne stvari. Možete pucati mjehuriće. Možete crtati, kao što bi i svatko trebao.
But you know, I have a problem with children's books: I think they're full of propaganda. At least an Indian trying to get one of these American books in Park Slope, forget it. It's not the way I was brought up. So I said, "I'm going to counter this with my own propaganda." If you notice carefully, it's a homosexual couple bringing up a child. You don't like it? Shake it, and you have a lesbian couple. (Laughter) Shake it, and you have a heterosexual couple. You know, I don't even believe in the concept of an ideal family.
Ali znate, imam problem s knjigama za djecu: mislim kako su pune propagande. Barem poput onog Indijanca koji pokušava nabaviti te američke knjige u Slope parku, zaboravite. To nije način na koji sam odgojen. Stoga sam rekao, "Boriti ću se protiv toga s vlastitom propagandom." Ako pažljivo primjetite, radi se o homoseksualnom paru koji odgaja dijete. Ne sviđa vam se? Protresite je, i imate par lezbijki. (Smijeh) Protresite je, i imate heteroseksualni par. Znate, ja čak ni ne vjerujem u koncept idealne obitelji.
I have to tell you about my childhood. I went to this very proper Christian school taught by nuns, fathers, brothers, sisters. Basically, I was brought up to be a good Samaritan, and I am. And I'd go at the end of the day to a traditional Hindu house, which was probably the only Hindu house in a predominantly Islamic neighborhood. Basically, I celebrated every religious function. In fact, when there was a wedding in our neighborhood, all of us would paint our houses for the wedding. I remember we cried profusely when the little goats we played with in the summer became biriani. (Laughter) We all had to fast during Ramadan. It was a very beautiful time.
Moram vam ispričati o svom djetinjstvu. Pohađao sam tu jako pristojnu kršćansku školu u kojoj su podučavale časne sestre, očevi, braća, sestre. U osnovi, odgajan sam da budem dobar Samaritanac, i ja to jesam. I na kraju dana bih otišao do tradicionalne Hindu kuće, koja je bila vjerojatno jedina Hindu kuća u pretežito islamskoj četvrti. U osnovi, slavio sam svaku religijsku funkciju. Zapravo, kada bi u našoj četvrti bilo vjenčanje, svi bismo krečili naše kuće za vjenčanje. Sjećam se kako smo jako plakali kada su male koze s kojima smo se igrali tijekom ljeta postale biriani. (Smijeh) Svi smo morali postiti tijekom Ramadana. Bilo je to jako lijepo vrijeme.
But I must say, I'll never forget, when I was 13 years old, this happened. Babri Masjid -- one of the most beautiful mosques in India, built by King Babur, I think, in the 16th century -- was demolished by Hindu activists. This caused major riots in my city. And for the first time, I was affected by this communal unrest. My little five-year-old kid neighbor comes running in, and he says, "Rags, Rags. You know the Hindus are killing us Muslims. Be careful." I'm like, "Dude, I'm Hindu." (Laughter) He's like, "Huh!"
Ali moram reći, kako, kada mi je bilo 13 godina, nikada neću zaboraviti što se dogodilo. Babri Masjid -- jedna od najljepših džamija u Indiji, koju je izgradio Kralj Babur, mislim, u 16. stoljeću -- je srušena od strane Hindu aktivista. To je prouzročilo velike pobune u mom gradu. I po prvi puta, bio sam zahvaćen tim nemirom u zajednici. Moj mali petogodišnji susjed dođe trčeći, i kaže, "Rags, Rags. Znaš da Hindusi ubijaju nas Muslimane. Budi oprezan". A ja, "Čovječe, ja sam Hinduist". (Smijeh) A on će, "Ha!"
You know, my work is inspired by events such as this. Even in my gallery shows, I try and revisit historic events like Babri Masjid, distill only its emotional residue and image my own life. Imagine history being taught differently.
Znate, moj rad je inspiriran događajima poput ovog. Čak i u mojim izlaganjima po galerijama, pokušavam ponovno posjetiti povijesne događaje poput Babri Masjid, destilirati samo njihove emocionalne ostatke i zamisliti svoj vlastiti život. Zamislite da se povijest podučava drugačije.
Remember that children's book where you shake and the sexuality of the parents change? I have another idea. It's a children's book about Indian independence -- very patriotic. But when you shake it, you get Pakistan's perspective. Shake it again, and you get the British perspective.
Sjećate li se one knjige za djecu gdje tresete i seksualnost roditelja se promijeni? Imam drugu ideju. To je knjiga za djecu o indijskoj nezavisnosti -- jako patriotska. Ali kada je protresete, dobijete pakistansku perspektivu. Protresite je ponovno i dobiti ćete britansku perspektivu.
(Applause)
(Pljesak)
You have to separate fact from bias, right. Even my books on children have cute, fuzzy animals. But they're playing geopolitics. They're playing out Israel-Palestine, India-Pakistan. You know, I'm making a very important argument. And my argument [is] that the only way for us to teach creativity is by teaching children perspectives at the earliest stage. After all, children's books are manuals on parenting, so you better give them children's books that teach them perspectives. And conversely, only when you teach perspectives will a child be able to imagine and put themselves in the shoes of someone who is different from them.
Morate odvojiti činjenicu od predrasuda, da. Čak i moje knjige za djecu imaju slatke, krznene životinje. Ali one se igraju geopolitike. One igraju Izrael-Palestina, Indija-Pakistan. Znate, ovo je jako važan argument. A moj argument je kako je jedini način da sebe podučavamo kreativnosti podučavanje djece perspektiva u najranijoj dobi. Naposljetku, knjige za djecu su vodiči o roditeljstvu, stoga im bolje dajte knjige za djecu koje ih uče o perspektivama. I obrnuto, samo kada ih podučavate perspektivama, djeca će se moći zamisliti i staviti sebe u cipele nekoga tko je drugačiji od njih.
I'm making an argument that art and creativity are very essential tools in empathy. You know, I can't promise my child a life without bias -- we're all biased -- but I promise to bias my child with multiple perspectives.
Iznosim argument kako su umjetnost i kreativnost vrlo esencijalni alati u empatiji. Znate, ne mogu obećati svom djetetu život bez predrasuda -- svi mi imamo predrasude -- ali obećavam kako ću staviti predrasude u više perspektiva.
Thank you very much.
Puno vam hvala.
(Applause)
(Pljesak)