INTERNATIONAL ART PROJECT




AN INTERNATIONAL ART PROJECT

Compared with the infinite size of the known universe and the distance between galaxies, the distance between person to person on planet Earth begins to seem microscopic! We are all closer than we realize! Even so, with six billion people and even billions more species, coupled with the exponential growth of technologies that increase our separation, it is easy to feel disconnected and alone...

This project, stemming from individual community art projects and growing into an International art project, is about sharing the moments when you felt connected to something greater than yourself... maybe to another person, an animal, the environment or to any possible interpretation of God. Someone on the other side of the planet wants to feel what you felt when you could have sworn the universe was closing in on you and maybe all you could do was squeeze the hand of the person next to you because there were no words to describe, or the moment when you wanted to scream, "Did anybody else just see that?!" Someone out there wants to know about the time when you caught a stranger's eye and you both just smiled.

This worldwide collection of moments of human connectivity are encouraged from ALL walks of life with no discrimination whatsoever. This project is an extension of myself and without knowing it is an extension of you too. The principle point is that I can't do it alone.

Saturday, April 2, 2011

APRIL- "I saw him walking barefoot in the dirt on the road..."




About a decade back I was a young man doing a small job in Allahabad. Since I always go to a temple of Lord Shiva on Mondays I started hunting for a Shiva temple in Allahabad since I was new to the city. I finally found Mankameshwar temple in Allahabad on Saraswati ghat.
As is common practice for Hindus they put off their footwear before going inside the temple, so I took off my one day old shoes and went inside. When I returned someone had stolen them! This was a secluded place and there was no possibility of finding a shoe shop. So I went to the Mahant or the head of the temple. He understood the whole thing and lovingly said to me that there were no spare footwear so he is giving me his own slippers but I must remember to return them as soon as possible as he had just that one pair and until I returned them he would have to walk barefoot.
I do not remember what happened but there was some delay before I returned to him with new slippers. I saw him walking barefoot in the dirt on the road. When he saw me I touched his feet and put slippers on them. They were a size too small for him since he was a very big man. He laughed and said God is punishing him because he allows himself the luxury of wearing shoes when he should be austere and should go barefoot. Now what do you say of this?
Later I learnt that he was a policeman but renounced the world to serve God. I later tried many times to meet him to take his blessings but somehow never managed to meet him again. Perhaps this is how holy men teach us to make sacrifices for our fellow man. I guess if I myself made sacrifices like he did for me he would be happiest.


Akumar- Allahabad, India
Artist- J Rodman, San Francisco, California J's flickr

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