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.
Zdravo svima. Ja sam umetnik i otac - po drugi put. Hvala. Želim da sa vama podelim svoj poslednji umetnički projekat. To je dečija knjiga za iPad. Pomalo je luckasta i blesava. Zove se "Pop-It", i govori o stvarima koje mala deca rade sa roditeljima.
(Music)
(muzika)
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.
Ovo je o učenju na nošu - kao što, nadam se, većina vas zna. Možete da pomerite tepih. Možete da navede bebu da kaki. Možete da radite sve te zabavne stvari. Možete da bušite mehuriće. Možete da crtate, kao što bi svi trebalo.
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 sa dečijim knjigama: Mislim da su pune propagande. Indijac ne može da kupi jednu od ovih američkih knjiga u Bruklinu. Ja nisam tako vaspitan. Rekao sam, "Suprotstaviću se sopstvenom propagandom." Ako pogledate pažljivo, ovde homoseksualni par podiže dete. Ne dopada vam se? Promućkajte i dobijate lezbejski par. (smeh) Promućkajte i imate heteroseksualni par. Ja čak ni ne verujem u ideju savršene porodice.
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 detinjstvu. Išao sam u strogu hrišćansku školu gde su predavale kaluđerice, kaluđeri, časne sestre i braća. Zapravo, odgajan sam da budem dobri Samarićanin, što i jesam. Na kraju dana bih se vraćao tradicionalnoj Hindu kući, koja je verovatno bila jedina Hindu kuća u islamskom komšiluku. Ja sam slavio sve religije. Ustvari, kada bi u našem komšiluku bilo venčanje, svi bismo za tu priliku ofarbali kuće. Sećam se da smo plakali kao kiša kada su jarići s kojima smo se leti igrali završili u paprikašu. (smeh) Svi smo morali da postimo za Ramazan. Bilo je to veoma lepo vreme.
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 da kažem, nikad neću zaboraviti šta se desilo kad sam imao 13 godina. Babri Masžid - jednu od najlepših džamija u Indiji, koju je izgradio kralj Babur, u 16. veku - uništili su Hindu aktivisti. Ovo je u mom gradu izazvalo velike nemire. I po prvi put, na mene je uticao ovaj nemir zajednice. Moj mali petogodišnji sused je dotrčao i rekao: "Rags, Rags. Znaš da Hindusi ubijaju nas Muslimane. Budi oprezan". Rekoh: "Brate, ja sam Hindus." (smeh) A on će: "Haa!"
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 inspirišu događaji kao što je taj. Čak i u svojim izložbama pokušavam da ponovo oživim istorijske događaje kao što je Babri Masžid, da filtriram emotivni deo i prikažem sopstveni život. Zamislite da se istorija uči 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.
Sećate se dečije knjige koju promućkate i seksualnost roditelja se promeni? Imam još jednu ideju. Dečija knjiga o nezavisnosti Indije - veoma patriotski. Ali kad prodrmate, dobijete pakistansku perspektivu. Prodrmate opet, dobijete britansku perspektivu.
(Applause)
(aplauz)
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 da odvojite činjenice od pristrasnosti. Čak i moje knjige o deci imaju slatke, čupave životinje. Ali one se igraju geopolitike. Odigravaju sukobe Izraela i Palestine, Indije i Pakistana. Zastupam veoma važan stav. A to je da je jedini način da podučavamo kreativnost taj da decu na najranijem uzrastu učimo drugačijim gledištima. Ipak, dečije knjige su priručnici za roditeljstvo, pa im bolje dajte knjige koje ih uče perspektivama. I obrnuto, tek kada ih učite perspektivama deca mogu da zamisle i da se stave na mesto nekoga ko 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.
Zastupam stav da su umetnost i kreativnost osnovni alati empatije. Znate, ne mogu svom detetu obećati život bez pristrasnosti - svi smo pristrasni - ali obećavam da ću naučiti dete mnogim perspektivama.
Thank you very much.
Mnogo vam hvala.
(Applause)
(aplauz)