Ghibli art, poetry, AI and summer music concerts

The Bengaluru police recently launched a series of social media posts in the format of Studio Ghibli, the viral art trend.

- Shoba Narayan

This has artists protesting about how Chat GPT comes after not just our work but also our art. It seems unfair to see a process painstakingly perfected over decades by Japan's Studio Ghibli now being reproduced in seconds by AI. On the other hand, it democratizes art in a way that seemed out of reach for those who couldn't draw. All of which got me thinking about the arts and how they were going to be transformed by AI. Films are a given. Today, I saw an AI-generated film on Instagram about scuba divers exploring the Rama Sethu or the stone bridge at the ocean floor, perfectly timed for the Sri Rama Navami festival that happens on April 6.

A friend wrote from America recently saying that they had been invited to a Sri Rama Navami function at a New Jersey temple. All of which is fine, except this friend is an observant Jew. He wanted to know what this festival was about. As an answer, I sent him a recipe for panagam, one of my favourite drinks. What makes this cooling drink special is the addition of dried ginger, which provides the kick in my opinion to the jaggery, lemon juice and cardamom powder combination that are the backbone of the drink.