This is called the digital era with the electronic wonder machine, computer taking the centre stage. Long before it another such electronic gadget, television, came to radically change the lifestyle of people. The introduction of cable TV in particular has left a lasting effect on people's spare time. With the drastic fall in its price, the cell phone, popularly called mobile phone, has then revolutionised social interactions. Except a few, people no longer visit their relatives, friends and acquaintances much too often. Near and dear ones are just a phone call away no matter if they stay across the Pacific or the Atlantic. People can contact other people over the cell phone easily and they have no problem spending their spare times, either by surfing the TV channels, browsing websites or even posting comments or chatting on a blog site. It is a whole new world where the dividing line between acquiring knowledge and getting entertained is very subtle.
Yet man had a long journey before coming to this stage. People are now thinking in terms of extra-terrestrial journey and colony. But they simply had a humble beginning. They had to cross several stages of progress of human civilisation. And although the trajectory of development and achievements by the human species has not been a steady one, the overall progress has remained from the lower to the higher curve. Isolated, an individual's life does not count much. But as part of a civilisation, he has immense possibilities. In reality, man is a world within himself only if he considers himself a legacy of the great civilisation. But then some individuals are capable of extraordinary feats -ones that enrich the pool of human knowledge and the repository of human civilisation.
Notwithstanding all this, there is a common complaint that people are becoming robotic to the extent where one's lacking in the warmth of heart is compensated by a mechanical brain. That a child is capable of making good use of the many apps in a mobile phone or computer gives credence to this idea particularly when the little one's response to a human crisis leaves much to be desired. Those nurturing the old school of thought cannot help feeling uncomfortable at such developments. Scientific and technological progress at the cost of love, affection, sympathy or empathy is hardly desirable to them. Values upholding human welfare and common good have so long been prized highly. Now all that seems to have changed. Even the Nobel Prize winners are no longer iconic figures. Rather, entertainment has been redefined with the visual getting the better of the audio. A cursory analysis of several stages of the present civilisation may be illuminating.
Hippocrates, father of medical science, observes, 'Life is short, the art long, opportunity fleeting, experiment treacherous, judgment difficult'. A shorter version of this quotation is however what really has been more popular. This abridged version, 'Art is long, life is short' is to the point and yet not specific to any particular art. Precise and easy to comprehend, it generalises life and art at large. And art does not refer to painting alone. It rather relates to attaining excellence, some feat that makes one immortal. Human achievements have no limit. Yet not all people end up performing something larger than life but a handful of them set benchmarks for the entire human race to raise the expectation even further.
In the early days, adventurers and explorers curved a niche in human history for their discovery. Then came the inventors who through research and experiments started inventing wonder machines, antidote to physical ailments and so on and so forth. During the European Renaissance, human energy burst forth in all directions and creativity in painting, architecture and sculpture left the all-round marks of geniuses. From the physical image in the form or art there was then a transition to mental images, thanks to spread of literacy and production of books with the invention of the printing press. Starting with religious books, they now started coming in all forms of novel, drama, short stories, poems etcetera.
The life-like statues, paintings and frescos in churches and temples started to give way to abstract art and sculptures, on the one hand and, poems, dramas and novels drew the attention of the educated class, on the other. Tales and fables still had their appeal for children but it is the novels and dramas that captured the attention of the grown-up educated class. The door to a cognitive, imaginative, reflective, passionate and emotive world opened before people who learnt the art of reading and writing. For the past three to four hundred centuries, reading and hearing materials, therefore, enjoyed a kind of unrivalled monopoly over other forms of art. Particularly the mass people could master the knowledge for appreciation of books and access to those was now easier.
Now the shift is in favour of the visual once again like it was during the Roman empire. Gladiators fought lions or each other then, today wrestlers do almost the same, although the entire game is a sham. Heavy metals and light music have replaced classical music like symphony and Dhrupad. An actor or actress of commercial films is an icon whereas a more powerful one from the art film is seldom held in so high esteem. A player is a sought-after personality whereas a scientist of outstanding calibre remains oblivious. There is a general decline in taste whether it concerns attire or fine art. The challenge therefore is to get the collective acts right and together.
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