Shekhar Kapur tries to figure out the difference between solitude & loneliness

Mumbai, Aug 29 (IANS) Filmmaker Shekhar Kapur, who is known for films like ‘Bandit Queen’, ‘Elizabeth’, ‘Masoom’, is pondering over solitude and loneliness, and what separates the two.

He recently took to his Instagram, and shared a picture of the famous sculpture ‘The Thinker’ by Auguste Rodin. The sculpture depicts a nude male figure sitting on a rock in deep thought.

The filmmaker penned a long note in the caption, as he looked for answers. He wrote, “Inspired by the famous sculpture ‘The Thinker’ by Rodin .. how many ways can you interpret it? Solitude or loneliness? Where’s the line that divides the two?”

He shared that all creative people seek solitude to explore the true meanings of their experiences .. so they could express those in words, in poetry, in stories, paintings and in movies. He wondered at what point does solitude turn to loneliness? And, went on to say that in current times, loneliness within a crowd is endemic.

He further mentioned, “The greater the crowd, the more lonely you are, the more of a stranger you feel. Is feeling a stranger the same as feeling lonely? Is social media leading to loneliness ? And as we learn more about the relationship between loneliness and disease. We begin to understand how lonely our urban areas have become. How do you feel ? Personally I look for solitude as a gateway to chaos, for in chaos I find creativity, in the great churning .. in the constant chaos of creation of destruction , creation and then destruction again”.

The filmmaker shared that he actually never knows when he gets lonely except when he suddenly feels intense pangs of loneliness. For him to get out of that which he assumed was solitude and go back to where chaos and noise is overwhelming.

He continued, “I find my most intense creative feelings in the noise of the streets of Mumbai. Oh yes, I can already see lots of comments coming back saying ‘you should meditate’, trust me, I’ve been through that. My greatest form of meditation is to give into the chaos of life, in the waves of the angriest seas, in the storms that sweep you away, to give into them, and find an intensity of calmness in them.. become part of them”.

“There I’ve said it again, an intensity of calmness . Words that completely contradict each other. Ahhh the limitations of language yet how would poetry be possible if language was not limited? How would painting be possible if colours were unlimited? For limitation is the essence of Art and to allow the reader to interpret beyond the limitation? So which state am I in? solitude , loneliness , chaos , creativity ? Or is it all the same?”, he added.

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