0:00:01.086,0:00:02.776
About 75 years ago,

0:00:02.776,0:00:05.335
my grandfather, a young man,

0:00:05.335,0:00:07.246
walked into a tent

0:00:07.246,0:00:08.743
that was converted into a

0:00:08.743,0:00:10.454
movie theater like that,

0:00:10.454,0:00:12.654
and he fell hopelessly in love

0:00:12.654,0:00:13.983
with the woman he saw on the

0:00:13.983,0:00:17.312
silver screen: none other than Mae West,

0:00:17.312,0:00:19.227
the heartthrob of the '30s,

0:00:19.227,0:00:21.267
and he could never forget her.

0:00:21.267,0:00:23.187
In fact, when he had his daughter

0:00:23.187,0:00:25.379
many years later, he wanted to

0:00:25.379,0:00:26.795
name her after Mae West,

0:00:26.795,0:00:28.379
but can you imagine an Indian

0:00:28.379,0:00:29.915
child name Mae West?

0:00:29.915,0:00:31.601
The Indian family said, no way!

0:00:31.601,0:00:34.539
So when my twin brother Kaesava

0:00:34.539,0:00:37.049
was born, he decided to tinker

0:00:37.049,0:00:38.764
with the spelling of Keshava's name.

0:00:38.764,0:00:42.475
He said, if Mae West can be M-A-E,

0:00:42.475,0:00:46.011
why can't Keshava be K-A-E?

0:00:46.011,0:00:48.251
So he changed Kaesava's spelling.

0:00:48.251,0:00:50.322
Now Kaesava had a baby boy

0:00:50.322,0:00:52.522
called Rehan a couple of weeks ago.

0:00:52.522,0:00:54.753
He decided to spell, or, rather,

0:00:54.753,0:00:56.833
misspell Raehan with an A-E.

0:00:56.833,0:00:58.968
You know, my grandfather died

0:00:58.968,0:01:00.328
many years ago when I was

0:01:00.328,0:01:02.169
little, but his love for Mae

0:01:02.169,0:01:04.640
West lives on as a misspelling

0:01:04.640,0:01:06.416
in the DNA of his progeny.

0:01:06.416,0:01:09.560
That for me is successful legacy. (Laughs)

0:01:09.560,0:01:11.202
You know, as for me,

0:01:11.202,0:01:12.429
my wife and I have our own

0:01:12.429,0:01:14.037
crazy legacy project.

0:01:14.037,0:01:16.229
We actually sit every few years,

0:01:16.229,0:01:18.602
argue, disagree, fight,

0:01:18.602,0:01:20.444
and actually come up with our

0:01:20.444,0:01:22.460
very own 200-year plan.

0:01:22.460,0:01:24.420
Our friends think we're mad.

0:01:24.420,0:01:25.908
Our parents think we're cuckoo.

0:01:25.908,0:01:27.244
Because, you know, we both

0:01:27.244,0:01:28.612
come from families that really

0:01:28.612,0:01:31.613
look up to humility and wisdom,

0:01:31.613,0:01:33.244
but we both like to live

0:01:33.244,0:01:34.581
larger than life.

0:01:34.581,0:01:36.091
I believe in the concept of

0:01:36.091,0:01:38.852
a Raja Yogi: Be a dude before

0:01:38.852,0:01:40.165
you can become an ascetic.

0:01:40.165,0:01:41.660
This is me being a rock star,

0:01:41.660,0:01:43.284
even if it's in my own house.

0:01:43.284,0:01:44.548
You know?

0:01:44.548,0:01:46.260
So when Netra and I sat down

0:01:46.260,0:01:47.716
to make our first plan

0:01:47.716,0:01:49.700
10 years ago, we said

0:01:49.700,0:01:51.804
we want the focus of this plan

0:01:51.804,0:01:53.620
to go way beyond ourselves.

0:01:53.620,0:01:56.284
What do we mean by beyond ourselves?

0:01:56.284,0:01:59.309
Well 200 years, we calculated,

0:01:59.309,0:02:01.484
is at the end of our direct

0:02:01.484,0:02:02.652
contact with the world.

0:02:02.652,0:02:04.011
There's nobody I'll meet in

0:02:04.011,0:02:06.324
my life will ever live beyond

0:02:06.324,0:02:08.228
200 years, so we thought

0:02:08.228,0:02:09.420
that's a perfect place where

0:02:09.420,0:02:11.332
we should situate our plan and

0:02:11.332,0:02:13.060
let our imagination take flight.

0:02:13.060,0:02:14.604
You know, I never really

0:02:14.604,0:02:16.292
believed in legacy. What am I

0:02:16.292,0:02:18.284
going to leave behind? I'm an artist.

0:02:18.284,0:02:21.570
Until I made a cartoon about 9/11.

0:02:21.570,0:02:24.218
It caused so much trouble for me.

0:02:24.218,0:02:25.634
I was so upset.

0:02:25.634,0:02:28.114
You know, a cartoon that was

0:02:28.114,0:02:29.778
meant to be a cartoon of the week

0:02:29.778,0:02:33.010
ended up staying so much longer.

0:02:33.010,0:02:35.164
Now I'm in the business of

0:02:35.164,0:02:36.841
creating art that will

0:02:36.841,0:02:39.204
definitely even outlive me, and

0:02:39.204,0:02:40.865
I think about what I want to

0:02:40.865,0:02:42.905
leave behind through those paintings.

0:02:42.905,0:02:44.897
You know, the 9/11 cartoon

0:02:44.897,0:02:48.193
upset me so much that I decided

0:02:48.193,0:02:49.729
I'll never cartoon again.

0:02:49.729,0:02:50.945
I said, I'm never going to make any

0:02:50.945,0:02:52.858
honest public commentary again.

0:02:52.858,0:02:55.353
But of course I continued

0:02:55.353,0:02:57.289
creating artwork that was honest

0:02:57.289,0:02:59.466
and raw, because I forgot about

0:02:59.466,0:03:01.684
how people reacted to my work.

0:03:01.684,0:03:03.258
You know, sometimes forgetting

0:03:03.258,0:03:06.249
is so important to remain idealistic.

0:03:06.249,0:03:08.986
Perhaps loss of memory is so

0:03:08.986,0:03:10.929
crucial for our survival

0:03:10.929,0:03:12.298
as human beings.

0:03:12.298,0:03:14.153
One of the most important things

0:03:14.153,0:03:16.057
in my 200-year plan that Netra

0:03:16.057,0:03:18.443
and I write is what to forget

0:03:18.443,0:03:19.756
about ourselves.

0:03:19.756,0:03:21.177
You know, we carry so much

0:03:21.177,0:03:22.586
baggage, from our parents,

0:03:22.586,0:03:24.594
from our society, from so many

0:03:24.594,0:03:28.338
people -- fears, insecurities -- and

0:03:28.338,0:03:30.193
our 200-year plan really lists

0:03:30.193,0:03:33.245
all our childhood problems that we have to expire.

0:03:33.245,0:03:34.746
We actually put an expiry date

0:03:34.746,0:03:37.220
on all our childhood problems.

0:03:37.220,0:03:39.085
The latest date I put was,

0:03:39.085,0:03:41.846
I said, I am going to expire

0:03:41.846,0:03:44.389
my fear of my leftist, feminist

0:03:44.389,0:03:46.798
mother-in-law, and this

0:03:46.798,0:03:49.920
today is the date! (Laughs)

0:03:49.920,0:03:51.511
She's watching. (Laughter)

0:03:51.511,0:03:56.359
Anyway, you know, I really

0:03:56.359,0:03:58.359
make decisions all the time

0:03:58.359,0:03:59.944
about how I want to remember

0:03:59.944,0:04:03.216
myself, and that's the most important

0:04:03.216,0:04:04.735
kind of decisions I make.

0:04:04.735,0:04:06.607
And this directly translates

0:04:06.607,0:04:07.930
into my paintings.

0:04:07.930,0:04:10.072
But like my friends, I can do

0:04:10.072,0:04:11.648
that really well on Facebook,

0:04:11.648,0:04:13.567
Pinterest, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube.

0:04:13.567,0:04:15.000
Name it, I'm on it.

0:04:15.000,0:04:17.079
I've started outsourcing my

0:04:17.079,0:04:18.672
memory to the digital world,

0:04:18.672,0:04:20.112
you know? But that comes

0:04:20.112,0:04:21.208
with a problem.

0:04:21.208,0:04:22.839
It's so easy to think of

0:04:22.839,0:04:24.144
technology as a metaphor

0:04:24.144,0:04:26.490
for memory, but our brains

0:04:26.490,0:04:28.437
are not perfect storage devices

0:04:28.437,0:04:29.236
like technology.

0:04:29.236,0:04:30.776
We only remember what we

0:04:30.776,0:04:32.031
want to. At least I do.

0:04:32.031,0:04:34.534
And I rather think of our brains

0:04:34.534,0:04:36.933
as biased curators of our

0:04:36.933,0:04:39.773
memory, you know? And if

0:04:39.773,0:04:41.597
technology is not a metaphor for

0:04:41.597,0:04:43.229
memory, what is it?

0:04:43.229,0:04:46.245
Netra and I use our technology

0:04:46.245,0:04:48.813
as a tool in our 200-year plan

0:04:48.813,0:04:52.332
to really curate our digital legacy.

0:04:52.332,0:04:55.349
That is a picture of my mother,

0:04:55.349,0:04:58.102
and she recently got a Facebook account.

0:04:58.102,0:04:59.868
You know where this is going.

0:04:59.868,0:05:01.702
And I've been very supportive

0:05:01.702,0:05:04.085
until this picture shows up

0:05:04.085,0:05:05.652
on my Facebook page. (Laughter)

0:05:05.652,0:05:08.909
And I actually untagged myself

0:05:08.909,0:05:10.373
first, then I picked up the

0:05:10.373,0:05:11.732
phone. I said, "Mom, you will

0:05:11.732,0:05:12.844
never put a picture of me

0:05:12.844,0:05:14.133
in a bikini ever again."

0:05:14.133,0:05:17.061
And she said, "Why? You look

0:05:17.061,0:05:19.180
so cute, darling." I said,

0:05:19.180,0:05:20.973
"You just don't understand."

0:05:20.973,0:05:22.956
Maybe we are among the first

0:05:22.956,0:05:24.277
generation that really understands

0:05:24.277,0:05:26.468
this digital curating of ourselves.

0:05:26.468,0:05:28.030
Maybe we are the first to even

0:05:28.030,0:05:30.268
actively record our lives.

0:05:30.268,0:05:31.820
You know, whether you

0:05:31.820,0:05:33.973
agree with, you know, legacy

0:05:33.973,0:05:36.116
or not, we are actually leaving

0:05:36.116,0:05:38.469
behind digital traces all the time.

0:05:38.469,0:05:40.524
So Netra and I really wanted

0:05:40.524,0:05:41.884
to use our 200-year plan

0:05:41.884,0:05:44.061
to curate this digital legacy,

0:05:44.061,0:05:45.900
and not only digital legacy

0:05:45.900,0:05:47.060
but we believe in curating

0:05:47.060,0:05:48.948
the legacy of my past

0:05:48.948,0:05:50.132
and future.

0:05:50.132,0:05:51.965
How, you may ask?

0:05:51.965,0:05:55.533
Well, when I think of the future,

0:05:55.533,0:05:57.725
I never see myself moving forward

0:05:57.725,0:05:59.757
in time. I actually see time

0:05:59.757,0:06:01.829
moving backward towards me.

0:06:01.829,0:06:03.229
I can actually visualize

0:06:03.229,0:06:04.580
my future approaching.

0:06:04.580,0:06:06.693
I can dodge what I don't want

0:06:06.693,0:06:08.181
and pull in what I want.

0:06:08.181,0:06:09.492
It's like a video game obstacle

0:06:09.492,0:06:11.978
course. And I've gotten better and better

0:06:11.978,0:06:13.811
at doing this. Even when I make

0:06:13.811,0:06:15.844
a painting, I actually imagine

0:06:15.844,0:06:17.875
I'm behind the painting,

0:06:17.875,0:06:19.058
it already exists, and

0:06:19.058,0:06:20.274
someone's looking at it,

0:06:20.274,0:06:21.364
and I see whether they're

0:06:21.364,0:06:22.985
feeling it from their gut.

0:06:22.985,0:06:24.218
Are they feeling it from their

0:06:24.218,0:06:26.884
heart, or is it just a cerebral thing?

0:06:26.884,0:06:28.992
And it really informs my painting.

0:06:28.992,0:06:30.183
Even when I do an art show,

0:06:30.183,0:06:31.207
I really think about, what should

0:06:31.207,0:06:32.759
people walk away with?

0:06:32.759,0:06:35.695
I remember when I was 19,

0:06:35.695,0:06:37.832
I did, I wanted to do my first

0:06:37.832,0:06:41.032
art exhibition, and I wanted the

0:06:41.032,0:06:42.439
whole world to know about it.

0:06:42.439,0:06:43.887
I didn't know TED then,

0:06:43.887,0:06:45.888
but what I did was I closed

0:06:45.888,0:06:47.656
my eyes tight, and I started

0:06:47.656,0:06:49.928
dreaming. I could imagine people

0:06:49.928,0:06:51.471
coming in, dressed up, looking

0:06:51.471,0:06:53.504
beautiful, my paintings with all

0:06:53.504,0:06:56.215
the light, and in my visualization

0:06:56.215,0:06:58.071
I actually saw a very famous

0:06:58.071,0:07:00.239
actress launching my show,

0:07:00.239,0:07:01.736
giving credibility to me.

0:07:01.736,0:07:03.799
And I woke up from my

0:07:03.799,0:07:05.056
visualization and I said,

0:07:05.056,0:07:06.792
who was that? I couldn't tell

0:07:06.792,0:07:09.031
if it was Shabana Azmi or Rekha,

0:07:09.031,0:07:11.240
two very famous Indian actresses,

0:07:11.240,0:07:13.087
like the Meryl Streeps of India.

0:07:13.087,0:07:15.447
As it turned out, next morning

0:07:15.447,0:07:17.167
I wrote a letter to both of them,

0:07:17.167,0:07:19.120
and Shabana Azmi replied,

0:07:19.120,0:07:20.887
and came and launched

0:07:20.887,0:07:23.952
my very first show 12 years ago.

0:07:23.952,0:07:26.184
And what a bang it started

0:07:26.184,0:07:27.984
my career with! You know,

0:07:27.984,0:07:30.400
when we think of time in this

0:07:30.400,0:07:32.719
way, we can curate not only the

0:07:32.719,0:07:36.236
future but also the past.

0:07:36.236,0:07:38.440
This is a picture of my family,

0:07:38.440,0:07:41.063
and that is Netra, my wife.

0:07:41.063,0:07:42.695
She's the co-creator of my

0:07:42.695,0:07:44.176
200-year plan.

0:07:44.176,0:07:46.215
Netra's a high school history

0:07:46.215,0:07:48.159
teacher. I love Netra,

0:07:48.159,0:07:49.976
but I hate history.

0:07:49.976,0:07:51.888
I keep saying, "Nets, you live

0:07:51.888,0:07:53.535
in the past while I'll create

0:07:53.535,0:07:55.536
the future, and when I'm done,

0:07:55.536,0:07:57.032
you can study about it."

0:07:57.032,0:07:58.992
(Laughter)

0:07:58.992,0:08:00.991
She gave me an indulgent smile,

0:08:00.991,0:08:03.128
and as punishment, she said,

0:08:03.128,0:08:04.863
"Tomorrow I'm teaching a class

0:08:04.863,0:08:07.024
on Indian history, and you are

0:08:07.024,0:08:08.472
sitting in it, and I'm grading you."

0:08:08.472,0:08:10.815
I'm like, "Oh, God." I went.

0:08:10.815,0:08:12.119
I actually went and sat in

0:08:12.119,0:08:14.312
on her class. She started by

0:08:14.312,0:08:16.607
giving students primary source

0:08:16.607,0:08:19.222
documents from India, Pakistan,

0:08:19.222,0:08:21.471
from Britain, and I said,

0:08:21.471,0:08:23.615
"Wow." Then she asked them to

0:08:23.615,0:08:25.567
separate fact from bias.

0:08:25.567,0:08:28.359
I said, "Wow," again.

0:08:28.359,0:08:31.319
Then she said, "Choose your

0:08:31.319,0:08:34.623
facts and biases and create an

0:08:34.623,0:08:36.902
image of your own story

0:08:36.902,0:08:38.311
of dignity."

0:08:38.311,0:08:41.566
History as an imaging tool?

0:08:41.566,0:08:43.199
I was so inspired.

0:08:43.199,0:08:44.559
I went and created my own

0:08:44.559,0:08:46.136
version of Indian history.

0:08:46.136,0:08:48.023
I actually included stories from

0:08:48.023,0:08:49.045
my grandmother.

0:08:49.045,0:08:50.204
She used to work for the

0:08:50.204,0:08:51.772
telephone exchange, and she used

0:08:51.772,0:08:52.899
to actually overhear conversations

0:08:52.899,0:08:55.068
between Nehru and Edwina Mountbatten.

0:08:55.068,0:08:56.644
And she used to hear all

0:08:56.644,0:08:57.779
kinds of things she shouldn't

0:08:57.779,0:09:00.285
have heard. But, you know,

0:09:00.285,0:09:01.451
I include things like that.

0:09:01.451,0:09:04.245
This is my version of Indian history.

0:09:04.245,0:09:08.531
You know, if this

0:09:08.531,0:09:10.645
is so, it occurred to me that

0:09:10.645,0:09:12.868
maybe, just maybe, the primary

0:09:12.868,0:09:14.307
objective of our brains

0:09:14.307,0:09:17.347
is to serve our dignity.

0:09:17.347,0:09:19.355
Go tell Facebook to

0:09:19.355,0:09:20.664
figure that out!

0:09:20.664,0:09:23.284
Netra and I don't write our

0:09:23.284,0:09:25.097
200-year plan for someone else

0:09:25.097,0:09:26.121
to come and execute it

0:09:26.121,0:09:28.264
in 150 years. Imagine receiving

0:09:28.264,0:09:30.161
a parcel saying, from the past,

0:09:30.161,0:09:31.524
okay now you're supposed to

0:09:31.524,0:09:32.489
spend the rest of your life

0:09:32.489,0:09:33.947
doing all of this. No.

0:09:33.947,0:09:35.594
We actually write it only

0:09:35.594,0:09:38.084
to set our attitudes right.

0:09:38.084,0:09:41.924
You know, I used to believe

0:09:41.924,0:09:43.324
that education is the most

0:09:43.324,0:09:44.805
important tool to leave

0:09:44.805,0:09:46.262
a meaningful legacy.

0:09:46.262,0:09:47.786
Education is great.

0:09:47.786,0:09:49.435
It really teaches us who

0:09:49.435,0:09:50.771
we are, and helps us

0:09:50.771,0:09:52.090
contextualize ourselves

0:09:52.090,0:09:54.056
in the world, but it's really

0:09:54.056,0:09:56.115
my creativity that's taught me

0:09:56.115,0:09:57.892
that I can be much more

0:09:57.892,0:10:00.083
than what my education told me I am.

0:10:00.083,0:10:01.537
I'd like to make

0:10:01.537,0:10:03.867
the argument that creativity is

0:10:03.867,0:10:06.298
the most important tool we have.

0:10:06.298,0:10:08.484
It lets us create who we are,

0:10:08.484,0:10:10.395
and curate what is to come.

0:10:10.395,0:10:13.635
I like to think -- Thank you.

0:10:13.635,0:10:15.210
I like to think of myself

0:10:15.210,0:10:17.546
as a storyteller, where my past

0:10:17.546,0:10:20.610
and my future are only stories,

0:10:20.610,0:10:22.899
my stories, waiting to be told

0:10:22.899,0:10:25.514
and retold. I hope all of you

0:10:25.514,0:10:27.458
one day get a chance to

0:10:27.458,0:10:29.285
share and write your own

0:10:29.285,0:10:30.650
200-year story.

0:10:30.650,0:10:31.715
Thank you so much.

0:10:31.715,0:10:33.898
Shukran! (Applause)