I was fortunate to find a book that was pretty life changing for me many years ago. This is not the picture book version, but the ‘Penguin Popular Classic’ which is entirely a text based version!

I didn’t get all that far through the book the first time around, as I was distracted by the pages referring to a the ’64 Arts’ which apparently should be studied in conjunction with the rest of the book (the traditional Hindu Arts).

Although these original arts are a bit different to the culture I was growing up in, I figured that the an equivalent I could work out, would probably be good to try and develop for myself over the subsequent years.

So the original arts (with what I see as many of their modern equivalents where appropriate) are as follows (I can’t do all of these yet, but they were a base for me to look out from and head towards):

1. Singing
2. Playing musical instruments
3. Dancing – Salsa, ballroom, pole
4. Performance combining the above
5. Writing and drawing
6. Tattooing
7. Adorning an idol with rice and flowers – Floristry and flower arranging ?
8. Spreading and arranging of bed of flowers, or flowers upon the ground
9. Colouring the teeth, clothing, hair, nails and bodies – body painting and hair styling
10. Fixed stained glass into the floor – mosaics
11. The art of making beds – hotel housekeeping
12. Playing musical glasses partially filled with water
13. Storing and accumulating water, aqueducts, etc. – household plumbing
14. Picture making – modern day photography
15. Stringing of necklaces and garlands –
16. Binding of turbans and chaplets –
17. Scenic representation /stage play – Amateur Dramatics?
18. Art of making ear ornaments –
19. Preparing perfumes –
20. Proper disposition of jewels and decorations in dress – fashion accessories
21. Magic or sorcery – stage magic and slight of hand
22. Quickness and dexterity in manual skill – computer typing speed.
23. Culinary art – cooking and baking
24. Making lemonades, acidulated drinks – smoothies, cocktails and fruit drinks
25. Tailors work and sewing – same today (including curtain making)
26. Making parrots and other decorative items out of yarn or thread – cross stitching
27. Solutions of riddles and verbal puzzles – same today (+ debating contests)
28. Connected stories game – Modern day politics or sales
29. Mimicry or imitation – acting and imitation
30. Reading, including chanting and intoning – public speaking / corporate training
31. Tongue twisters
32. Sword, quarterstaff, bow and arrow – martial arts
33. Drawing inferences, reasoning and inferring – psychotherapy and counselling
34. Carpentry – carpentry and furniture building (both flat pack and from scratch)
35. Architecture or the art of building – build your own home and/or house extension
36. Knowledge about gold silver and gems – same
37. Chemistry and mineralogy – same
38. Colouring jewels, gems and beads
39. Knowledge of mines and quarries
40. Gardening – gardening and tree surgery
41. Cockfighting, quail fighting and ram fighting – boxing or martial art tournaments
42. Teaching parrots or starlings to speak – dog and horse whispering
43. Applying perfumes to the body
44. Writing of cipher – code writing and code breaking / computer programming
45. Modifying speech in abstract ways
46. Knowledge of languages – speaking foreign languages
47. Making flower carriages
48. Spells and charms – Spells and witchcraft
49. Memory and mental exercises – brain challenges and IQ tests
50. Composing poems
51. Knowledge of dictionaries and vocabularies – well read and well spoken
52. Knowledge of disguising people
53. The ability to change cheaper items to appear as of a higher value (ie cotton to silk, etc.)
54. Gambling – gambling and stock market share dealing
55. Art of mantras or incarnations to gaining possession of others’ property – positive thinking and witchcraft
56. Skill in youthful sports – sports and athletics
57. Knowledge of the rules of society, and paying respects and compliments to others – well mannered, respectful to all, and ability to give genuine compliments
58. Knowledge of the art of war, armies, etc – military service (paid, part time, or voluntary)
59. Knowledge of gymnastics – modern day gymnastics
60. Knowing someone’s character by their features – personology, face reading and body language
61. Knowledge of scanning and constructing verses – speed reading and writing
62. Arithmetical recreations – maths challenges / chess
63. Making artificial flowers
64. Making figures and images in clay – pottery and sculpture

Particularly where I couldn’t work out a modern UK equivalent, I also felt there was a few modern day skills not included in the above list, but useful in the UK society I lived and grew up:

1. Sailing and navigating on water
2. Ship building
3. Plastering a wall
4. Painting and Decorating
5. Household rewiring
6. Massage therapies
7. Hypnotherapy & Hypnosis
8. Meditation
9. Anatomy and physiology
10. Website design and development
11. IT software skills (ie Windows, Linux, Mac)
12. IT hardware skills (repairing / rebuilding your computer hardware)
13. Sales skills
14. Presentation skills / after dinner speeches
15. Voluntary work with children
16. Movie making / directing
17. Advanced driver training
18. Skills in piloting a plane  (ie private pilots licence, or gliding certificate)
19. Sustainable living / renewable energies
20. Growing your own fruit and veg
21. Survival skills (remote living)
22. Surfing
23. Rock Climbing / Urban Free Running
24. Car mechanics and repair
25. Swimming
26. Scuba diving
27. High Board / Cliff Diving

Your thoughts?