Jain Spirit 1999 10 No 02

Author(s): Jain Spirit UK
Publisher: UK Young Jains

Page 31

ART
I have a little message for young people. I personally feel that one should distinguish between tradition and convention. I think that in the current century, young people don't follow tradition, and rebel against it. I personally feel that it is not the right thing, whether it is Jainism, Buddhism or Hinduism.
Be responsible to the tradition but at the same time, do not get rooted in convention. When Jainism came onto the scene what happened was that tradition was taken further and the conventions that were in the society led to a new creation. I would not call it a religion. I would call it a new social order, which made mankind more life-oriented and compassionate. Whenever the tradition goes forward new creations take place and whenever they get rooted in conventions everything becomes stale. So young people should be aware of the past - they should look back and decide what the right tradition has been and what are the conventions which do not necessarily need to be followed. Foremost, they should take the tradition further and not rebel simply for the sake of rebelling.
Pink side of youth - Paranjape 1999
I think my art has really raised the quality of my own life. For instance my colour sense and my ideas about colour
Her dearest one - Parajape 1999
definitely are spiritual. I forget my own sorrows or problems when I paint. The main aim of my paintings is to give joy and happiness to others. When I am engrossed in the subject of harmony I do not think of
anything else. I think that the money side comes much later. I do not sell my work through any agent because I would like to meet the buyer personally and not operate through a middleman. There is a wrong notion that the dealer is superior to the artist and that is wrong because the artist is the creator. When I was told to do an illustration I thought of how best I could and never of my salary and, if it meant putting in extra hours of work, then I would do it. And there are many instances where I was not rewarded for my work but I used to do it.
In the modern day, art has been taken over by technology such as computers and photography. Hence it is very difficult to make a career out of art. However, one thing that technology cannot do is to have a creative urge and capture the inner spirit. This is also where everything is fresh; so we must do everything to keep it fresh.
Ravi Paranjape lives in Pune, India. He can be contacted on: vivaswan@pn2.vsnl.net.in His paintings can also be viewed on http://welcome.to/raviparanjape
30 Jain Spirit • October - December 1999