Shake up your story | Raghava KK

Translator: Liridon Shala Reviewer: Amantia Gjikondi

Hi everyone.

Pershendetje te gjitheve

I'm an artist and a dad -- second time around.

Une jam nje artist dhe jam nje baba - per here te dyte.

Thank you.

Faliminderit.

And I want to share with you my latest art project.

Deshiroj te ndaj me ju projektin tim te fundit.

It's a children's book for the iPad.

Eshte nje liber femijesh per iPad.

It's a little quirky and silly.

Eshte paksa i cuditshem dhe budallik.

It's called "Pop-It,"

Quhet "shfaqu,"

And it's about the things little kids do with their parents.

Dhe eshte per gjerat te cilat femijet i bejne me prinderit e tyre.

(Music)

(Muzike)

So this is about potty training --

Pra ky eshte per trajnimin e vogel --

as most of you, I hope, know.

sic shpresoj qe shumica prej jush e di.

You can tickle the rug.

Mund ta ndryshoni qilimin.

You can make the baby poop.

Mund ta beni beben te dale jashte.

You can do all those fun things.

Ju mund te beni te gjitha keto gjera qesharake.

You can burst bubbles.

Mund te beni te pelcasin fluskat.

You can draw, as everyone should.

Ju mund te vizatoni ashtu si cdokush mundet.

But you know, I have a problem with children's books:

Por ju e dini, Kam nje problem me librin e femijeve:

I think they're full of propaganda.

Mendoj qe jan plot me prapaganda.

At least an Indian trying to get one of these American books in Park Slope, forget it.

Te pakten nje Indian duke provuar te marr njeren nga librat Amerikan ne Park Slope, harrojeni ate.

It's not the way I was brought up.

Nuk eshte kjo arsyeja qe pse erdha ketu.

So I said, "I'm going to counter this with my own propaganda."

Keshtu qe thashe, " Une do te numeroj kete me prapaganden time."

If you notice carefully,

Nese e vini re me kujdes,

it's a homosexual couple bringing up a child.

eshte nje cift homoseksual qe po sjell ne jete nje femi.

You don't like it?

Nuk ju pelqen?

Shake it, and you have a lesbian couple.

Tunde, dhe do te kesh nje cift lezbik.

(Laughter)

(Te qeshura)

Shake it, and you have a heterosexual couple.

Tunde dhe do te kesh nje qift heteroseksual.

You know, I don't even believe in the concept of an ideal family.

E dini cfare, Une madje nuk besoj ne konceptin e nje familjeje ideale.

I have to tell you about my childhood.

Duhet tju tregoj rreth femijerise time.

I went to this very proper Christian school

Kam shkuar ne shkollen e krishtere

taught by nuns, fathers, brothers, sisters.

te drejtuar nga murgeshat, baballaret, vellezerit, motrat.

Basically, I was brought up to be a good Samaritan,

Praktikisht, jam rritur te jem nje njeri i mire,

and I am.

dhe jam.

And I'd go at the end of the day to a traditional Hindu house,

Dhe ne fund te nje dite shkoj tek nje shtepi tradicionale Hindu,

which was probably the only Hindu house

e cila ishte pothuajse shtepia e vetme hindu

in a predominantly Islamic neighborhood.

eshte nje lagje e perhapur islamike.

Basically, I celebrated every religious function.

Thjesht, une kam festuar secilin religjion.

In fact, when there was a wedding in our neighborhood,

Ne fakt kur ishte nje dasem ne lagjen tone,

all of us would paint our houses for the wedding.

te gjithe ne do te vizatonim shtepit tona per dasem.

I remember we cried profusely

E mbaj mend kur ne qame teper

when the little goats we played with in the summer

kur nje ciap i vogel qe luanim veres

became biriani.

u be ushqim i preferuar.

(Laughter)

(Te qeshura)

We all had to fast during Ramadan.

Ne te gjithe duheshim te agjeronim per Ramazan.

It was a very beautiful time.

Ishte kohe shume e bukur.

But I must say,

Por me duhet te them,

I'll never forget, when I was 13 years old, this happened.

kurre nuk do te harroj, qe kur isha 13 vjec, kjo ka ndodhur.

Babri Masjid --

Babri Masjid --

one of the most beautiful mosques in India,

njera prej xhamijave me te bukura ne Indi,

built by King Babur, I think, in the 16th century --

e ndertuar nga mbreti Babur, mendoj qe ne shekullin e 16 --

was demolished by Hindu activists.

ishte demoluar nga aktivistet Hindu.

This caused major riots in my city.

Kjo shkaktoi shume dhune ne qytetin tim.

And for the first time,

Dhe per here te pare,

I was affected

Isha prekur

by this communal unrest.

nga mungesa e qetesis.

My little five-year-old kid neighbor

Komshiu im i vogel 5 vjecar

comes running in,

vjen brenda duke vrapuar,

and he says, "Rags, Rags.

dhe ai thot, "Lecka, Lecka.

You know the Hindus are killing us Muslims. Be careful."

E dini qe Hindut jane duke na vrare neve Muslimanve. Beni kujdes."

I'm like, "Dude, I'm Hindu."

dhe une them, "njeri, une jam Hindu."

(Laughter)

(Te qeshura)

He's like, "Huh!"

Dhe ai reagon, "Huh!"

You know, my work is inspired

Ju e dini qe puna ime eshte e inspiruar

by events such as this.

nga ngjarje sikurse dhe keto.

Even in my gallery shows,

Madje edhe ne galerin time,

I try and revisit historic events

mundohem ti kthej aktet historike

like Babri Masjid,

sikurse Babri Masjid,

distill only its emotional residue

te gjesh vetem emocionet e mbetjeve

and image my own life.

dhe te imagjonoj jeten time.

Imagine history being taught differently.

Imagjinon sikunder historia te jete treguar ndryshe.

Remember that children's book

Kujtoni ate librin e femijeve

where you shake and the sexuality of the parents change?

kur e tundni dhe seksualiteti i prinderve tuaj ndryshon?

I have another idea.

Une kam nje ide tjeter.

It's a children's book about Indian independence --

Eshte nje libee per femij rreth pavaresis se Indis --

very patriotic.

shum patrotik.

But when you shake it, you get Pakistan's perspective.

Mirepo kur e tundni ate, ju fitoni nje prespektiv Pakistaneze.

Shake it again, and you get the British perspective.

Tundeni prap dhe ju do te merrni nje prespektiv tjeter Britaneze.

(Applause)

(Duartrokitje)

You have to separate fact from bias, right.

Ju keni nje fakt te ndar te paanshmeris.

Even my books on children

Madje edhe librat e mi per femijet

have cute, fuzzy animals.

kane kafshe terheqes e te pushezuara.

But they're playing geopolitics.

Mirepo ato po luajne gjeopolitiken.

They're playing out Israel-Palestine,

Ato jane duke luajtur nga Izraeli - Palestine,

India-Pakistan.

India -Pakistani.

You know, I'm making a very important argument.

Po e bej nje argument shume te rendesishem.

And my argument [is]

Dhe argumenti im eshte

that the only way for us to teach creativity

se menyra e vetme per ne per te mesuar kreativitetin

is by teaching children perspectives

eshte duke i mesuar femijeve prespektiven

at the earliest stage.

ne moshen me te re.

After all, children's books are manuals on parenting,

Pas se gjithash, librat e femijeve jane manuale mbi prinderit,

so you better give them children's books that teach them perspectives.

pra me mire ti japesh libra femijeve qe i mesojne per prespektive e tyre.

And conversely,

Dhe ne te kundert,

only when you teach perspectives

vetem kur i mesoni prespektiven

will a child be able to imagine

nje femije do te jet ne gjendje te imagjinoj

and put themselves in the shoes

dhe te vendos vetveten ne kepucen

of someone who is different from them.

e dikujt tjeter i cili eshte ndryshe nga ata.

I'm making an argument that art and creativity

Jam duke bere nje argument qe arti dhe kreativiteti

are very essential tools in empathy.

jane vegla shume esenciale ne mirekuptim.

You know, I can't promise my child

e dini, qe une smundem ti premtoj femijes tim

a life without bias --

nje jete pa anshmeri --

we're all biased --

ne te gjithe jemi te paanshum.

but I promise to bias my child with multiple perspectives.

po i premtoj femijes tim paanshmeri me disa prespektiva.

Thank you very much.

Faliminderit shume.

(Applause)

(Duartrokitje)