Friday, Nov 26, 2004
Friday, Nov 26, 2004 |
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Madurai
By Our Special Correspondent
MADURAI, NOV. 25. The efficacy of therapeutic application of drama and arts for the restoration of peace and harmony in society was highlighted at a national seminar on `Drama/arts therapy,' inaugurated in the Madurai-Kamaraj University here today. In his inaugural address, the Vice-Chancellor, P. K. Ponnuswamy, said for long arts had been used for mere entertainment and theatre remained a ritual. But in modern times, the concept of `art for art sake' had been challenged on several fronts and was being used in areas other than entertainment. It was now realised that applied arts could be harnessed for alleviating strains and pains of human mind and body. Prof. Ponnuswamy said a human being's fantasies came true in art, which served as a kind of wish fulfilment. Art forms gave an opportunity to exorcise the ghosts in the mind. Without artistic intervention, they remained buried. ``But for arts, the world will be full of perverts and terrorists.'' Art had a cathartic experience on the viewer. It purged one's mind of pity and fear and provided an opportunity to release the suppressed laughter, the Vice-Chancellor said. A. Venkoba Rao, Emeritus psychiatry professor, said the fusion of science and humanities to provide a healing touch to humanity was a welcome sign. He said there was a long history of association of art therapy and psychiatry. Reading ``high class literature'' such as the Bible, works of Shakespeare, the Panchatantra Tales, the Ramayana and the Mahabharatha was prescribed as `bibliotherapy' for cure of certain forms of mental illness. Prof. Rao expressed concern at the prevalence of mental illness on large scale and recalled how depression, a common illness, used to be a rarity 40 years back. According to World Health Organisation estimates, 450 million people suffered from mental illness throughout the world and a million committed suicide every year. Parasuram Ramamoorthi of the School of Performing Arts, said the present education system was trying to create ``intellectual morons'' and information technology professionals faced this threat more than anybody else. Unnatural working hours and total lack of contact with the outside world made them vulnerable to mental illness after 35 years. A high divorce rate among them was also a matter of concern. Art and art therapy could save them to a large extent, he said.
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