About 75 years ago, my grandfather, a young man, walked into a tent that was converted into a movie theater like that, and he fell hopelessly in love with the woman he saw on the silver screen: none other than Mae West, the heartthrob of the '30s, and he could never forget her. In fact, when he had his daughter many years later, he wanted to name her after Mae West, but can you imagine an Indian child name Mae West? The Indian family said, no way!
大约在75年前, 我那还很年轻的祖父 走进了一个帐篷 改装而成的 电影院, 而他马上疯狂地爱上 了在银幕上的女人: 那人是在三十年代的 万人迷梅·蕙丝. 他从此对她无法忘怀, 甚至於几年后 当他有了一个女儿, 他想把她改名為梅·蕙丝. 但你不可能想像有一个 印度孩子叫梅·蕙丝, 印度的家庭都说:绝对不行!
So when my twin brother Kaesava was born, he decided to tinker with the spelling of Keshava's name. He said, if Mae West can be M-A-E, why can't Keshava be K-A-E? So he changed Kaesava's spelling. Now Kaesava had a baby boy called Rehan a couple of weeks ago. He decided to spell, or, rather, misspell Raehan with an A-E.
所以当我的孪生兄弟Kaesava出生时, 他决定在Keshava的名字的拼写上 作出一点修改, 他说既然梅·蕙丝可以是拼成 M-A-E, 為什麼Keshava 不可以是 K-A-E, 所以他把Kaeshava 的拼写改变. 而Kaeshava 在几星期前 有了一个小男孩名叫Rehan, 他决定把它拼成或可以说是把它 拼错為Raehan,有一个A-E.
You know, my grandfather died many years ago when I was little, but his love for Mae West lives on as a misspelling in the DNA of his progeny. That for me is successful legacy. (Laughs)
你要知道,我的祖父 在我还是很小的时候已经去世, 但他对梅·蕙丝的爱 以拼字错误的方式 长存在他后代的DNA上, 我觉得这是一个成功的遗传(笑)
You know, as for me, my wife and I have our own crazy legacy project. We actually sit every few years, argue, disagree, fight, and actually come up with our very own 200-year plan.
而至於我, 我太太和我有一个 疯狂的传奇计划, 我们事实上每几年都在 争论,反对,争执 最终想出 我们的二百年计划.
Our friends think we're mad. Our parents think we're cuckoo. Because, you know, we both come from families that really look up to humility and wisdom, but we both like to live larger than life. I believe in the concept of a Raja Yogi: Be a dude before you can become an ascetic. This is me being a rock star, even if it's in my own house. You know?
我们的朋友认为我们疯掉, 我们的父母也认为我们疯掉, 因为我们两个 都是来自一个 谦逊和智慧的家庭, 但我们两个都想生存 得比生命更伟大. 我相信一个胜王瑜伽行者的概念, 要成为一个苦行者前, 你先要成为一个讲究生活的人. 这是我成为一个摇滚巨星, 虽然只是在家里. 你能理解吧.
So when Netra and I sat down to make our first plan 10 years ago, we said we want the focus of this plan to go way beyond ourselves. What do we mean by beyond ourselves?
当我太太Netra和我 在十年前坐下 去制定我们第一个计划时, 我们希望这计划的重点是 要远远超越我们. 那么超越我们是指什么呢?
Well 200 years, we calculated, is at the end of our direct contact with the world. There's nobody I'll meet in my life will ever live beyond 200 years, so we thought that's a perfect place where we should situate our plan and let our imagination take flight.
噢,我们计算二百年后 将会是我们对世界 的直接连接的终结. 我所认识的人 没有人可以生存超过 二百年。所以我们想, 这将是把我们的计划 扎根的好地方, 并让我们的想像起飞.
You know, I never really believed in legacy. What am I going to leave behind? I'm an artist. Until I made a cartoon about 9/11. It caused so much trouble for me. I was so upset. You know, a cartoon that was meant to be a cartoon of the week ended up staying so much longer.
你知道我从来不相信传承. 我会留下什么呢? 我是一个艺术家, 直至我作了有关911的卡通. 它带给我很多的麻烦, 我非常的失落, 那个卡通本来只想成为 本周最佳卡通片, 结果它持续了很长时间.
Now I'm in the business of creating art that will definitely even outlive me, and I think about what I want to leave behind through those paintings.
现在我所从事的就是 创作一定可以 比我活得更久的作品. 我会想我希望透过那些作品 留下什么.
You know, the 9/11 cartoon upset me so much that I decided I'll never cartoon again. I said, I'm never going to make any honest public commentary again.
你知道911的卡通 令我非常沮丧, 使我打算不再作卡通了. 我说:我不会再 发表坦诚的公开评论了.
But of course I continued creating artwork that was honest and raw, because I forgot about how people reacted to my work.
但当然我还是继续 创作真诚和原创的作品. 因为我忘记了别人 对我的作品的反应.
You know, sometimes forgetting is so important to remain idealistic. Perhaps loss of memory is so crucial for our survival as human beings.
你知道有时健忘 能令人保持理想. 可能失去记忆 对于人类的生存 至关重要.
One of the most important things in my 200-year plan that Netra and I write is what to forget about ourselves. You know, we carry so much baggage, from our parents, from our society, from so many people -- fears, insecurities -- and our 200-year plan really lists all our childhood problems that we have to expire. We actually put an expiry date on all our childhood problems. The latest date I put was, I said, I am going to expire my fear of my leftist, feminist mother-in-law, and this today is the date! (Laughs) She's watching. (Laughter)
Netra和我 在我们的200年计划中 一件最重要的事情就是 如何忘记自己. 你知道我们背负着很多包袱, 从父母 从社会,从很多人 -- 恐惧,不安感. 我们的200年计划列举了 我们应该终止的儿时问题. 我们甚至乎在我们的儿时问题上 加上一个到期日. 最近我加上的日期是, 我打算停止对 我左倾和崇尚男女平等主义 的外祖母的恐惧. 而到期日就是今天(笑) 她正在看(笑)
Anyway, you know, I really make decisions all the time about how I want to remember myself, and that's the most important kind of decisions I make. And this directly translates into my paintings. But like my friends, I can do that really well on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube. Name it, I'm on it. I've started outsourcing my memory to the digital world, you know? But that comes with a problem. It's so easy to think of technology as a metaphor for memory, but our brains are not perfect storage devices like technology. We only remember what we want to. At least I do. And I rather think of our brains as biased curators of our memory, you know? And if technology is not a metaphor for memory, what is it?
总之我时常 对我希望如何能记住自己 而作出决定, 而这些决定是我做出的 所有决定中最重要的部分. 这些直接反映 在我的画作中. 如同我的朋友, 我可以在脸谱网(Facebook) Pinterest, 微博(Twitter),照相簿(Flickr),网上短片(youTube)中做得很好. 你能说出的,我都在. 我开始把我的回忆 外包给数码世界. 但你要知道, 这带来一个问题. 你很容易以 科技象征 记忆, 但我们的大脑是不像 科技那样一个完美存储设备. 我们只会记着我们想记着的事情, 至少我是这样. 我甚至认为我们的大脑 对我们的记忆 进行有偏见的的管理. 那如果科技不是记忆的象征, 那么它是什么呢?
Netra and I use our technology as a tool in our 200-year plan to really curate our digital legacy.
Netra 和我以科技作为 我们的200年计划的一个工具, 用以牧养我们的电子传承.
That is a picture of my mother, and she recently got a Facebook account. You know where this is going. And I've been very supportive until this picture shows up on my Facebook page. (Laughter)
这是我母亲的照片, 她最近在脸谱网(Facebook)上创建了一个帐户, 你知道这将会怎样发展. 我原先是非常支持她的, 直至这张照片出现 在我的Facebook主页上.(笑声)
And I actually untagged myself first, then I picked up the phone. I said, "Mom, you will never put a picture of me in a bikini ever again." And she said, "Why? You look so cute, darling." I said, "You just don't understand."
我真的把我自己移除, 然后我拿起电话, 我说: "妈! 你以后不要再 把我穿着比基尼的照片 放在网上." 而她说: "为什么,亲爱的, 你很可爱呀" 我说: "你真的不明白."
Maybe we are among the first generation that really understands this digital curating of ourselves. Maybe we are the first to even actively record our lives.
可能我们是第一代 真的明白网络世界 如何塑造我们的人. 甚至可能我们是最先 积极记录生活的人.
You know, whether you agree with, you know, legacy or not, we are actually leaving behind digital traces all the time. So Netra and I really wanted to use our 200-year plan to curate this digital legacy, and not only digital legacy but we believe in curating the legacy of my past and future.
无论你同意与否, 你知道 我们是无时无刻都在 留下我们的电子足迹. 所以Netra和我真的很想 用我们的200年计划 来建立我们的电子遗传. 不单单只是电子记忆, 我们是相信把 我们的过去与未来 好好的遗传下去.
How, you may ask?
你可能会问,那应怎样做呢?
Well, when I think of the future, I never see myself moving forward in time. I actually see time moving backward towards me. I can actually visualize my future approaching. I can dodge what I don't want and pull in what I want. It's like a video game obstacle course. And I've gotten better and better at doing this. Even when I make a painting, I actually imagine I'm behind the painting, it already exists, and someone's looking at it, and I see whether they're feeling it from their gut. Are they feeling it from their heart, or is it just a cerebral thing? And it really informs my painting. Even when I do an art show, I really think about, what should people walk away with?
当我想着未来, 我从来不觉得自己是随着时间向前走, 而是时间 倒着走向我. 我可以想像 我的将来在向我靠近. 我可以躲开我不喜欢的事情, 或是走进我喜欢的事情中. 这好像电子游戏中的障碍赛. 我做得越来越好, 甚至乎当我作画时, 我可以幻想 站在画作背后, 好像它已经存在一样. 其他人在看着它, 而我可以见到他们 对它发自内心的感受. 他们是发自内心呢, 还是只是理性的? 这带给我很多讯息. 甚至乎当我在开画展时, 我真的会想象 人们应该带走些什么?
I remember when I was 19, I did, I wanted to do my first art exhibition, and I wanted the whole world to know about it. I didn't know TED then, but what I did was I closed my eyes tight, and I started dreaming. I could imagine people coming in, dressed up, looking beautiful, my paintings with all the light, and in my visualization I actually saw a very famous actress launching my show, giving credibility to me. And I woke up from my visualization and I said, who was that? I couldn't tell if it was Shabana Azmi or Rekha, two very famous Indian actresses, like the Meryl Streeps of India.
我记得当我19岁的时候, 我想开我第一个画展. 我希望全世界 都知道这个画展. 我当时不知道TED, 但我当时是把 我的眼睛紧闭然后开始幻想. 我可以想像人们走进来, 盛装出席, 非常漂亮 我的画作成为全场的焦点. 而在我的幻想里, 我真的见到一位非常 有名的女艺人为我的画展剪采, 给我赞赏. 我从我的幻想中醒来, 我问她是谁, 我不能分辨 她是谢花阿兹米还是瑞卡, 两位印度当红的女艺人, 有如印度的梅莉史翠普.
As it turned out, next morning I wrote a letter to both of them, and Shabana Azmi replied, and came and launched my very first show 12 years ago. And what a bang it started my career with! You know, when we think of time in this way, we can curate not only the future but also the past. This is a picture of my family, and that is Netra, my wife. She's the co-creator of my 200-year plan.
最后第二天, 我写了一封信给她们, 而谢花阿兹米回复了. 她来了为我的画展剪采, 在12年前我的第一个画展. 而这打响了 我的事业第一炮! 当我们用这方法思考时间, 你不但在建立将来, 也在建立过去. 这是我的家庭照, 这是Netra, 我的太太, 她是我的200年计划的 同创人.
Netra's a high school history teacher. I love Netra, but I hate history. I keep saying, "Nets, you live in the past while I'll create the future, and when I'm done, you can study about it." (Laughter)
Netra是一个中学历史老师, 我爱Netra, 但我讨厌历史. 我常常说: "Nets, 你活在过去, 而我在创造未来, 当我完成了, 你就可以研究它了." (笑)
She gave me an indulgent smile, and as punishment, she said, "Tomorrow I'm teaching a class on Indian history, and you are sitting in it, and I'm grading you."
她会给我一个宽容的微笑, 而后作为一个惩罚,她会说: "明天我将会教授 有关印度历史的课, 你要来上课, 而我给你评分"
I'm like, "Oh, God." I went.
我会像"噢,我的天呀".
I actually went and sat in on her class. She started by giving students primary source documents from India, Pakistan, from Britain, and I said, "Wow." Then she asked them to separate fact from bias. I said, "Wow," again. Then she said, "Choose your facts and biases and create an image of your own story of dignity."
我确实有去上她的课, 她开始给她的学生 来自印度,巴基斯坦和英国 的原档案. 当时我就说"哇". 而她叫她的学生 把事实和偏见分开. 我再一次说"哇". 她会接着说: "拣选你的事实和偏见, 而后创造出 你自己幻想的 一个故事.
History as an imaging tool? I was so inspired.
历史作为一个幻想的工具? 那堂课给我很多灵感
I went and created my own version of Indian history. I actually included stories from my grandmother. She used to work for the telephone exchange, and she used to actually overhear conversations between Nehru and Edwina Mountbatten. And she used to hear all kinds of things she shouldn't have heard. But, you know, I include things like that. This is my version of Indian history.
我也创作了我自己的 印度历史的版本. 我甚至于加入了 来自我祖母的故事. 她以往从事 电话转接的工作. 有时她会听到 尼赫鲁和埃德维娜蒙巴顿的对话, 她会听到各种各样 她不应该听到的事情. 但你知道, 我会把它放进去, 而这成为我的印度历史的版本.
You know, if this is so, it occurred to me that maybe, just maybe, the primary objective of our brains is to serve our dignity. Go tell Facebook to figure that out!
你知道, 我突然想到, 如果是这样, 可能,仅仅是可能, 我们的大脑的主要目标 是服务我们的尊严. 告诉面谱网(Facebook) 去弄清楚怎么回事吧!
Netra and I don't write our 200-year plan for someone else to come and execute it in 150 years. Imagine receiving a parcel saying, from the past, okay now you're supposed to spend the rest of your life doing all of this. No. We actually write it only to set our attitudes right.
Netra和我不是為了别人 在150年后来实现 我们写的200年计划, 试想你收到一个写着 来自过去的包裹, 而你将要用你的餘生 去把它实现, 不是这样的. 我们这样做只为了 让我们能正确的端正我们的态度.
You know, I used to believe that education is the most important tool to leave a meaningful legacy. Education is great. It really teaches us who we are, and helps us contextualize ourselves in the world, but it's really my creativity that's taught me that I can be much more than what my education told me I am.
我曾经相信, 教育是能够留下 一段传奇的 最重要的工具. 教育是很棒, 它的确教会我们是谁, 而且帮助我们 认识自己在这个世界的位置. 不过真正教我 使我能成为教育教会 的我更强的, 是我的创造力.
I'd like to make the argument that creativity is the most important tool we have. It lets us create who we are, and curate what is to come.
我想说, 创造力 是我们拥有的最重要的工具, 它让我们创造了现在的我们, 并培养着未来的我们.
I like to think -- Thank you.
我喜欢想象--谢谢.
I like to think of myself as a storyteller, where my past and my future are only stories, my stories, waiting to be told and retold. I hope all of you one day get a chance to share and write your own 200-year story.
我喜欢把我自己当成一个讲故事的人, 我的过去和未来 都成为故事, 而这些故事等待着被讲述和再讲述. 我希望你们所有人 有一天能有这个机会, 去分享并且写下你自己 的200年的故事
Thank you so much.
谢谢你.
Shukran! (Applause)
谢谢.(鼓掌)