The Winner of The Month November,2010.

"IMAGINATION IS MORE POWERFUL THAN KNOWLEDGE."

Is imagination more important than knowledge? A ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ would be too definite an answer. To me, both knowledge and imagination are indispensable aspects and prerequisites for a good piece of work be it in the field of writing, art, science etc. Both complement each other and don’t offer any competition to each other. However, having said that, I must mention here that though imagination and knowledge are inseparable, the scale seems to be tilted more towards imagination compared to knowledge.

Knowledge is something technical in nature and there are zillion of ways of acquiring it. One the other hand, imagination is something you are born with and hence can’t be acquired. Suppose one wants to make a movie on some historical event or personality. He can have all the facts, figures and information about his subject at his doorstep through an array of channels like books, encyclopedias, pictures etc. But only having access to such information won’t serve the purpose. He needs to kindle his imagination and creativity to make it appealing, interesting and engaging. A good knowledge of the subject can only help in rendering authenticity to his work. Oodles of creativity sparkled with imagination is needed otherwise it will become one trite, dull, lifeless work something not many would be willing to take interest in. Acquiring knowledge about the subject isn’t much of a hassle. The real strenuous exercise is to weave a creative story on the backdrop of the knowledge acquired. 

A case in this point could be the iconic and landmark Bollywood movie Lagay Raho Munnabhai made on the theme of Mahatma Gandhi’s ideologies and their relevance in this modern era. A lot of movies have been made on the aforementioned theme and/or with Mahatma Gandhi as the main backdrop. But none of them have been able to achieve the stupendous success and cult status Lagay Raho Munnabhai has enjoyed. This is not saying that the other movies are bad and not worth their salt. But when it comes to movies based on Gandhi ji’s teachings, the one that springs to the mind automatically is none other than Lagay Raho Munnabhai. Ever thought why? The answer lies in the treatment of the subject. The way Mahatma Gandhi’s ideologies were woven with the story was simply awesome and hats off to them for using every ounce of their creativity and imagination to make the Gen X imbibing Gandhi ji and his teaching again without the fear of being labeled antiquated and uncool. Otherwise Gandhi ji’s teaching and ideologies are something we’ve grown up on hearing. But Lagay Raho Munnabhai made us ‘listen’ to it rather than just ‘hear’. Now, Gandhi ji’s teachings are in vogue again and become the ‘in-thing’ today for the makers and shapers of tomorrow’s world. ‘Gandhigiri’ is no longer just a term. It has become a way of living.

Cutting the long story short, the long and short of my views is that imagination has an edge over knowledge and by inference, is definitely more important than knowledge.

Written By:

Rashmi

Patna

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