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.
Pershendetje te gjitheve Une jam nje artist dhe jam nje baba - per here te dyte. Faliminderit. Deshiroj te ndaj me ju projektin tim te fundit. Eshte nje liber femijesh per iPad. Eshte paksa i cuditshem dhe budallik. Quhet "shfaqu," Dhe eshte per gjerat te cilat femijet i bejne me prinderit e tyre.
(Music)
(Muzike)
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.
Pra ky eshte per trajnimin e vogel -- sic shpresoj qe shumica prej jush e di. Mund ta ndryshoni qilimin. Mund ta beni beben te dale jashte. Ju mund te beni te gjitha keto gjera qesharake. Mund te beni te pelcasin fluskat. Ju mund te vizatoni ashtu si cdokush mundet.
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.
Por ju e dini, Kam nje problem me librin e femijeve: Mendoj qe jan plot me prapaganda. Te pakten nje Indian duke provuar te marr njeren nga librat Amerikan ne Park Slope, harrojeni ate. Nuk eshte kjo arsyeja qe pse erdha ketu. Keshtu qe thashe, " Une do te numeroj kete me prapaganden time." Nese e vini re me kujdes, eshte nje cift homoseksual qe po sjell ne jete nje femi. Nuk ju pelqen? Tunde, dhe do te kesh nje cift lezbik. (Te qeshura) Tunde dhe do te kesh nje qift heteroseksual. E dini cfare, Une madje nuk besoj ne konceptin e nje familjeje ideale.
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.
Duhet tju tregoj rreth femijerise time. Kam shkuar ne shkollen e krishtere te drejtuar nga murgeshat, baballaret, vellezerit, motrat. Praktikisht, jam rritur te jem nje njeri i mire, dhe jam. Dhe ne fund te nje dite shkoj tek nje shtepi tradicionale Hindu, e cila ishte pothuajse shtepia e vetme hindu eshte nje lagje e perhapur islamike. Thjesht, une kam festuar secilin religjion. Ne fakt kur ishte nje dasem ne lagjen tone, te gjithe ne do te vizatonim shtepit tona per dasem. E mbaj mend kur ne qame teper kur nje ciap i vogel qe luanim veres u be ushqim i preferuar. (Te qeshura) Ne te gjithe duheshim te agjeronim per Ramazan. Ishte kohe shume e bukur.
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!"
Por me duhet te them, kurre nuk do te harroj, qe kur isha 13 vjec, kjo ka ndodhur. Babri Masjid -- njera prej xhamijave me te bukura ne Indi, e ndertuar nga mbreti Babur, mendoj qe ne shekullin e 16 -- ishte demoluar nga aktivistet Hindu. Kjo shkaktoi shume dhune ne qytetin tim. Dhe per here te pare, Isha prekur nga mungesa e qetesis. Komshiu im i vogel 5 vjecar vjen brenda duke vrapuar, dhe ai thot, "Lecka, Lecka. E dini qe Hindut jane duke na vrare neve Muslimanve. Beni kujdes." dhe une them, "njeri, une jam Hindu." (Te qeshura) Dhe ai reagon, "Huh!"
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.
Ju e dini qe puna ime eshte e inspiruar nga ngjarje sikurse dhe keto. Madje edhe ne galerin time, mundohem ti kthej aktet historike sikurse Babri Masjid, te gjesh vetem emocionet e mbetjeve dhe te imagjonoj jeten time. Imagjinon sikunder historia te jete treguar ndryshe.
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.
Kujtoni ate librin e femijeve kur e tundni dhe seksualiteti i prinderve tuaj ndryshon? Une kam nje ide tjeter. Eshte nje libee per femij rreth pavaresis se Indis -- shum patrotik. Mirepo kur e tundni ate, ju fitoni nje prespektiv Pakistaneze. Tundeni prap dhe ju do te merrni nje prespektiv tjeter Britaneze.
(Applause)
(Duartrokitje)
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.
Ju keni nje fakt te ndar te paanshmeris. Madje edhe librat e mi per femijet kane kafshe terheqes e te pushezuara. Mirepo ato po luajne gjeopolitiken. Ato jane duke luajtur nga Izraeli - Palestine, India -Pakistani. Po e bej nje argument shume te rendesishem. Dhe argumenti im eshte se menyra e vetme per ne per te mesuar kreativitetin eshte duke i mesuar femijeve prespektiven ne moshen me te re. Pas se gjithash, librat e femijeve jane manuale mbi prinderit, pra me mire ti japesh libra femijeve qe i mesojne per prespektive e tyre. Dhe ne te kundert, vetem kur i mesoni prespektiven nje femije do te jet ne gjendje te imagjinoj dhe te vendos vetveten ne kepucen e dikujt tjeter i cili eshte ndryshe nga ata.
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.
Jam duke bere nje argument qe arti dhe kreativiteti jane vegla shume esenciale ne mirekuptim. e dini, qe une smundem ti premtoj femijes tim nje jete pa anshmeri -- ne te gjithe jemi te paanshum. po i premtoj femijes tim paanshmeri me disa prespektiva.
Thank you very much.
Faliminderit shume.
(Applause)
(Duartrokitje)