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!
大概七十五年前 我的祖父,仍是一位年青人, 走進一個由帳篷 改裝而成的 電影院 而他馬上瘋狂地愛上 影在銀幕上的女人: 那人是在三十年代的 萬人迷梅·蕙絲 他從此對她無法忘懷 甚至於幾年後 當他有了一個女兒 他想把她改名為梅·蕙絲 但你不可能想像有一個 印度孩子叫梅·蕙絲 印度的家庭都說:不可以
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.
所以當我的孿生兄弟Kaesava出生時 他決定在Keshava的名字的拼寫上 作出一點修改 他說既然梅·蕙絲可以是拼成 M-A-E 為什麼Keshava 不可以是 K-A-E 所以他把Kaeshava 的拼寫改變 而Kaeshava 在幾星期前 有了一個小男孩名叫Rehan 他決定把它拼成或可以說是把它 拼錯為Raehan,有一個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 在我還是很小的時候已經去世 但他對梅·蕙絲的愛 以拼字錯誤的方式 長存在他後代的DNA上 我覺得這是一個成功的遺傳(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 我太太和我有一個 瘋狂的傳奇計劃 我們事實上每幾年都在 爭論,反對,爭執 最終想出 我們的二百年計劃
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?
我們的朋友認為我們瘋掉 我們的父母認為我們瘋掉 因為我們兩個 都是來自一個 謙遜和智慧的家庭 但我們兩個都想生存 得比生命更偉大 我相信一個勝王瑜伽行者的概念 要成為一個苦行者前 你先要成為一個講究生活的人 這是我成為一個搖滾巨星 雖然只是在家裡 你能想像嗎
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?
當我太太Netra和我坐下 在十年前 去制定我們第一個計劃時 我們希望這計劃的重點是 要遠遠超越我們 那麼超越我們是指什麼呢
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,我們計算二百年後 將會是我們對世界 的直接連繫的終結 我所認識的人 沒有人可以生存超過 二百年。所以我們想 這將是把我們的計劃 紮根的好地方 並讓我們的想像起飛
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.
你要知道我從來不相信傳承 我會留下什麼呢 我是一個藝術家 直至我作了有關911的卡通 它帶給我很多的麻煩 我非常的失落 那個卡通本是 本週最佳卡通片 最後維持得更久
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.
現在我正 創作一定可以 比我活得更久的作品 我會想我希望透過那些作品 留下什麼訊息
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.
你要知道911的卡通 令我非常沮喪 使我打算不再作卡通了 我說:我不會再 發表坦誠的公開評論了
But of course I continued creating artwork that was honest and raw, because I forgot about how people reacted to my work.
但當然我會繼續 創作真誠和完創的作品 因為我忘記了別人 對我的作品的反應
You know, sometimes forgetting is so important to remain idealistic. Perhaps loss of memory is so crucial for our survival as human beings.
你要知道有時健忘是 能令人保持理想 可能失去記憶 是對人類生存 是關重要
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 在我們的200年計劃中寫下 其中一件最重要的事情是 如何忘記自己 你知道我們背負著很多包袱 從父母 從社會,從很多人 -- 恐懼,不安感 我們的200年計劃列舉了 我們應該終止的兒時問題 我們甚至乎在我們的兒時問題上 加上一個到期日 最近我加上日期時 我打算對 我左傾和崇尚男女平等主義 的外母的恐懼終止 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?
反正我時常 對我如何能記住自己 而作出決定 而這些是我做的 最重要的決定 而這些直接反映 在我的畫作中 如同我的朋友 我可以在面書, 微博,照相簿,網上短片中做得很好 你能說出的,我都在 我開始把其他人對我的回憶 外判給數碼世界 但你要知道 這帶來一個問題 你很容易以 科技象徵 記憶 但我們的大腦是不像 科技那樣成為一個完美存儲設備 我們只會記著我們想記著的事情 至少我是這樣 我甚至認為我們的大腦 對我們的記憶 產生偏頗的管理 如果科技不是記憶的象徵 那麼是什麼呢
Netra and I use our technology as a tool in our 200-year plan to really curate our digital legacy.
Netra 和我以科技作為 我們的200年計劃的一個工具 用以牧養我們的電子傳承
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)
這是我母親的照片 她最近在臉譜網(Facebook)上創建了一個帳戶 你知道這將會怎樣發展 我原先是非常支持 直至這張照片出現 在我的面書上(笑)
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."
我真的把自己的標記移除 然後我拿起電話 我說: 媽! 你以後不要再 把我穿著比基尼的照片 放上網,以後也不要 而她說:為什麼,親愛的, 你很可愛呀 我說: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.
可能我們是第一代人 真的明白網絡世界 如何塑造我們 可能我們是第一代人 開始記錄我們的生活
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.
你要知道 無論你同意與否 我們是無時無刻都在 留下我們的電子足跡 所以Netra和我真的很想 用我們的200年計劃 來建立我們的電子遺傳 不單單只是電子記憶 我們是相信把 我們的過去與未來 好好的遺傳下去
How, you may ask?
你可能會問,那應怎樣做呢
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?
當我想著未來 我是不可能見著自己隨著時間向前走 而我其實是看見時間 如何在後退 我可以想像 我的將來在向我靠近 我可以躲開我不喜歡的事情 或是走進我喜歡的事情中 這好像電子遊戲中的障礙賽 我做得越來越好 甚至乎當我作畫時 我可以幻想 站在畫作背後 好像它已經存在一棣 其他人在看著它 而我可以見到他們 對它內心的感覺 他們是發自內心 還是只是理性的 這帶給我很多訊息 甚至乎當我在開畫展時 我真的會幻想 人們會帶走哪些作品呢
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.
我記得當我19歲的時候 我想作我第一個畫展 我想全世界 都知道 我當時不認識 TED 但我當時是把 我的眼睛緊閉然後開始幻想 我可以想像人們走進來 盛裝出席, 非常漂亮 我的畫作得到全場的焦點 而在我的幻想裡 我真的見到一位非常 有名的女藝人為我的畫展剪綵 給我讚賞 我從我的幻想中醒來 我問她是誰 我不能分辨 她是謝花阿茲米還是瑞卡 兩位印度當紅的女藝人 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.
最後第二天 我寫了一封信給她們 而謝花阿茲米回覆了 她來了為畫展剪綵 在12年前我的第一個畫展 而這打嚮了 我的事業頭一炮 當我們用這方法想著時間 你不但在建立將來 還有過去 這是我的家庭照 這是Netra, 我的太太 她是我的200年計劃的 同創人
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 是一個中學歷史老師 我愛Netra 但我討厭歷史 我常常說:Nets, 你活在過去 而我在創造未來 當我完成了 你就可以研究它 (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."
她會給我一個寬容 而後作為一個懲罰,她會說 明天我將會教授 有關歷史的課,而你要來上課 而我給你評分
I'm like, "Oh, God." I went.
我會像"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."
我確實有去並上了她的課 她開始給她的學生 來自印度,巴基斯坦 英國的原檔案 而我嘩了一聲 而她叫她的學生把那些檔案 把事實和偏見分開 我會再一次嘩了一聲 她會接著說:揀選你的事實和偏見 而後創造 你故事的 莊嚴幻想
History as an imaging tool? I was so inspired.
歷史作為一個幻想的工具? 造給我很多的靈感
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.
我也創作我 印度歷史的版本 我甚至於加入 來自我祖母的故事 她以往從事 電話轉駁的工作 她會偷聽 尼赫魯和埃德維娜蒙巴頓的對話 她會聽到所有 她不應該聽到的事情 但你知道 我會把它放進去 而這是我印度歷史的版本
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!
你知道如果是這樣 它發生在我身上 可能,僅僅是可能 我們的大腦的主要目標 是為著我們的尊嚴 去面書 理解它
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和我不是為了別人 在150年後來實行 而寫我們的200年計劃 試想像收到一個寫著 來自過去的包裹 而你將要用你的餘生 去把宅實行 不是這樣 我們這樣做只為了 讓我們把能正確的設置我們的態度
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.
我曾經相信 教育是最重要的工具 來留下 有意義的傳奇 教育是很好 它教了我們我們是誰 亦幫助我們 在自己的世界裡定位 但是是我的創意 教曉我 我是能夠比 教育告訴我是誰更多大
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.
我希望作出 創意是我們擁有的 最重要的工具的論據 它可以創造我們是誰 亦塑造我們將怎樣
I like to think -- Thank you.
我喜歡想--謝謝
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.
我會想像自己是一個 講故事的人 而我的過去和將來只是故事 我的故事在等待著被述說和再述說 我希望在座所有人 有一天有機會 分享和創造 你自己的200年故事
Thank you so much.
謝謝
Shukran! (Applause)
謝謝 (掌聲)