Everyday Creativity: Singing Goddesses in the Himalayan Foothills

Abstract

This book shakes creativity loose from its overvalued ties to genius and innovation, focusing instead on everyday creativity- small acts of enthusiasm and pleasure. Whether combining words on a page, trying out ingredients for a recipe, or choosing plants for a garden, we open ourselves up to new possibilities. This is the lesson that Kirin Narayan would learn after she set out to study the vivid stories sung by Kangra women. Visiting the foothills of the Himalayas as a girl, coming home when her American mother settles in Kangra, and returning through the years as an anthropologist, Narayan has learned how singers draw on songs at different life stages. These women show here how a zest fir singing brings feelings of accomplishment, companionship. happiness, renewal and even good health- all benefits of everyday creativity. Combining memoir with ethnography and musical discovery with poetry, Narayan opens up the intimate world of Kangra song, offering unforgettable portraits of imaginative individuals and exploring why we are motivated to create. Finding form -- Tending lives through songs -- The ground that grows songs -- Attaining: the mountain daughter's many forms -- Playing: Krishna's mothers, sister, and lovers -- Going: Saili as plant and goddess -- Bathing: the transformative flows of sound -- Reaching the head.