By Remigius de Souza
"Srishti – Mother Nature – has Plenty to share; Nothing for sell; Nothing to buy. That is 'Reunion with Mother Nature' – Srishtiyoga." (SRISHTIYOGA July 7, 2011)
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| ‘Tentacles’ | Remigius de Souza| 1987 | water colour or paper |
Octopus Paul the Predictor one day suddenly came in limelight.
What was the cause? It predicted results of the World Cup 2010. That took the First World Nations by storm.
Twitter was crowded by twits that blocked the site for few hours! Such a craze... blind faith! That too from so-called advance societies! Amazing!
A European nation was even ready to buy that animal.
'Tentacles', Remigius de Souza's self-portrait, was published on Net but none was moved. Not even his friends!
Remi generally doesn't look into mirror. Because he notices 'octopus' in the mirror! What then could be his misery while wandering the streets of Mumbai metropolis?
He notices millions of people (his aborigine and peasant kinfolks) in the glass-clad multi-storied buildings mushrooming in the concrete jungle. But that never stops Mumbai!
Octopus Paul was a baby, lost to its community and natural habitat. After a few months it died. Relieved!
Did anyone ask Octopus Paul the predictor before it died, "When will this modern Industrial Civilization, which has become powerful within few centuries, vanish?" We have not heard.
Oh, what do you ask! The very strength of the powerful is their weakest point. There is a mythological Indian story of Bhasmasur that repeats again and again.
In reality the mighty industrial society has gone — if not dead, decayed — with the octopus.
In this self-portrait, 'Tentacles', Remi notices himself swallowing Natural Environment by his tentacles spreading and reaching across regions far and wide.
Call it his misfortune or his fate of unwanted share, or call it a ruthless criticism on Industrial Civilization. Words, images, movies, myths, scriptures, prophets, avatars... all tools to earn (power and profit) and/or entertainment! Does it make any difference?
Remi, however, laughs at himself at his cost.
NOTE: 1. As we write this post, there comes news about, Shuttle Atlantis docks with space station for last time! What a relief for the hungry masses of the world!! Better late than never!!!
2. Remi doesn’t watch cricket, hokey, football or such events as well as Olympics, World Cup etc. for he believes that any game must be played for leisure, and such mass events consolidate the centralized powers.
3. I have corrected some errors and edited this post. I request the subscribers to please bear with me. Thanks!
Mumbai Metropolis on Google Map
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