It was the TV
humming in the background.
droning on with a bit of this or a bit of that
a song came on – that suddenly pierced my consciousness,
By the time I focussed on the screen it was a commercial for a butterspread.

But the tune continued to play on in my mind.
I waited for the ad to be repeated.
And yesterday.

It was again the TV humming away in the background.
The same droning of a bit of this a bit of that
and then that song started.
I could not have focused
any quicker.

I got the opening lines of the lyrics before the tub of butter hit the screen,
next hour, tiptapping through Google and the Wikipedia,
I learnt of this song that I did not know,
until now.

I also learnt about Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical.
It had challenged many of the norms held by Western society in 1968.

Growing up in the 70-80s in middle-class India –
becoming a ‘hippie’ was near impossible.
I realise now I was a flower child at heart,
fate planted me where I was considered more as a weed.
(there’s no pun in it – honest)

In my own way, I have rebelled against the
unquestioned norms and traditions
illogical and unfair establishments
My first act of rebellion was
to let my hair grow long.
To the disgust of my dad and
the school’s Prefect of discipline – yes, got sent home too.

So I share it with you from the musical, “Hair” –

“I Got Life:

by James Rado and Gerome Ragni

I got life, mother – I got laughs, sister – I got freedom, brother
I got good times, man
I got crazy ways, daughter – I got million-dollar charm, cousin
I got headaches and toothaches And bad times too
Like you

I got my hair – I got my head – I got my brains – I got my ears
I got my eyes – I got my nose – I got my mouth
I got my teeth

I got my tongue – I got my chin – I got my neck – I got my tits
I got my heart – I got my soul – I got my back
I got my ass

I got my arms – I got my hands – I got my fingers – Got my legs
I got my feet – I got my toes – I got my liver
Got my blood

I got my guts – I got my muscles – I got life
Life – Life
LIFE!

So why did I not know of this for so long?

I find it has never been staged in
“China, India, Vietnam, the Arctic and Antarctic continents and most African countries.”

Those catch-my-breath moments when I see or hear for the first time
things that makes me stop, step back and simply go into a
wow-filled silence.

This is a painting I have always held in awe.
I have looked at it many times, feeling there was more to it,
with the feeling that I was on the verge of an elusive understanding…

Crucifixion (Corpus Hypercubus) was painted in 1954 by Salvador Dalí,
and depicts the crucified Jesus upon the net of a hypercube.
Gala (Dalí’s wife), is the figure in the bottom left, who stands looking up to the crucified Jesus. The scene is depicted in front of the Bay of Port Lligat

Till I had spent an entire weekend
struggling to think laterally, literally in right angles
or as learned mathematicians would call it, along orthogonals.

With the knowledge of how a hypercube opens up into a tesseract
in the fourth spatial dimension, I think I understand why –
the crucifix is a structure floating in 4D
while everything else on the painting is in the 3D
and there is no physical point of contact between the body of Jesus and the cross.

Dali, with his genius, in his painting has opened out the scene of the crucifiction
into the fourth dimension
and maybe beyond.

Salvador DaliCrucifixionfourth dimensionpaintingslittleindian