Freedom of Speech and Expressions

Freedom of Speech and Expressions : How Just it is and How People Justify?

Photo Courtesy : clker.com

OK let us understand with a simple story of two friend A &B. Two friends A & B belonging to different religion/community were best friends. They shared their moments with one another.  B was a famous artist and had a status in the society. While A belonged to humble background with traditional style of living and thinking. But they were litmus tested friends. One day B invited A to his Art Gallery to show him some latest Creation which he felt to unveil first to him.  When A reached the Art Gallery he was very excited in the anticipation that he is a special person today. B sensing his friend's curiosity made it more interesting by putting a satin curtain on them and asked his friend A to remove them himself. When A removed the curtain he was speechless, appalled and stunned! What he couldn't imagine was a nude painting of Ma Saraswati of whom he venerated daily. Sensing the bewilder look on his friend's face instead of appreciation B asked A. What happened? Why so shocked? This is Art my friend. See the Mrs Z wife of famous industrialist has offered me $ 1 million for this single painting for her Art Gallery. And the Y group admired it very well. B asked - 'Didn't u like it?' A replied - "My dear friend, I praise your Art, your intentions and your expressions. But as I belong to the humble background, in my house and in my religion this is the God whom we venerate daily. My elders told me this Goddess of Knowledge and that is the entire picture i have in my mind. B interrupted - 'but some of your religious texts depict them nude. Don’t you know about that?' A replied - 'I know only one thing that this is the goddess of knowledge and sanity and with her blessings a human can rise to the top and without her one can lick the dirt of failures. So my mind imagine her in that form only. And am sure majority of my community imagine this goddess in that context only. This is our faith, which regulates our life, which keeps a check on our moral character and its degeneration and guide us from darkness to the light of knowledge. Your creation might have gained you publicity, money and few claps. But deep inside you have hurt your friend's heart and his faith' and with that A left. So, what went wrong here? It is the misuse of Creativity and Freedom of Expressions. Creativity and Freedom of Expressions is as good as long it keeps the society bounded in harmony. No matter how bitter the Truth is, the prerogative of a Creative thinker should be to reflect a positive and constructive conclusion, where Society can work upon or at least think upon. Freedom has certain must moral regulations and one should not fret or feel suffocated with it. Because a Cultured Society is a very complex structure. It can't afford to keep herself engaged in chaos, in forms of riots, agitation, Dharna protests on daily basis. So let us understand this simple fact and if our above similar Creative Instincts is dying to make a mark then we can go the Jungles and write some Aranyakas (texts written in jungle by sages during Vedic Period). - Harish Benjwal