Voice Over Voice!

V: I have got only one year to live.
VO: Is it Cancer? Blood clot in the brain?Tumor?
V: Does it really matter how I die ? Why am I still wondering if I locked my car in the parking lot?
VO: Can we get back to the larger issue here?
V: Why did I turn off the sound check while locking? It's an annoying sound.I am sorry.
VO: So, what do you plan to do in the remaining one year?
V : Definitely turn the sound check in car lock remote
VO: Anything apart from Car,Parking lot or that friggin remote?
V: Yes. I want to resign my job.
VO: Fair enough.
V: Borrow a million dollars.
VO: Why just a million? Why not 10 million?
V : Well,I won't get approved.Moreover they might suspect I am going to die without paying.
VO: (hysterical laugh) That would be too ironical....okay..what else?
V: Well, I will probably find out where Sujata is.
VO:The second grade mean girl who broke your front two teeth?
V: Yes..her..I want to tell her I love her..She was my first love.
VO: I thought it was Sister Stella who was your first love
V: Well, Sister Stella was my first elderly love.
VO: Whatever that means..
V: Don't interrupt me. I want to see Rajnikanth.
VO: And do what? Make 5 somersault dive in his house?
V: Watch Sachin Tendulkar bat..
VO: You might wanna put a rush order on that one before he retires...who else ?
V: Hmm..Kiss No.6 from Battlestar Gallactica.
VO: You mean Tricia Helfer ?
V: Very much Trish. She appears near me just like she does it with Baltar.
VO: Maybe thats why you have the tumor.
V: Now you're interrupting my flow again
VO: Alrite..What else before the clock stops?
V: I don't know why am remembering toilet seat in my India home.
VO: Do you wanna pee?
V: Actually i do but you know i can't now..damn..now am thinking about the time my brother hid my underwear forcing me to run naked in the front yard.
VO: Ouch..hope you were not a teenager then.
V: Nope..I was 5 but I still watch over my underwear even in closed toilet.
VO: TMI...move on..before you gross me out.
V: Well, I also want to kiss Kajol.
VO: Where...never mind I asked..who else do you wanna kiss?
V: Maniratnam
VO: Ewww!
V: Dude..I meant i want to see Manirathnam..
VO: Thank you Lord..
V: And ofcourse Rahman.
VO: Why don't you add Shahrukh, Aamir and every other celebrity in India?
V: Nada. I have literally "Thousand places to see before I die".No time.
VO: Hmm.What about doing some good to poor people? Charity?
V: Am gonna die..gone forever and you expect me to do charity ? am sure I will see some of those poor people following me soon..I will take care of them then..assuming they paid for the seat next to me in the bus to hell.
V: Why Hell? Are you sure about not going to Heaven?
VO: Well..I will be too bored in Heaven..moreover after working most of my life as corporate coolie, your body is more suited to live in Hell.
VO: Good point..OMG....you arrived finally!!!

V: Hi..can I have a Cafe mocha latte with non fat milk,no sugar please?
Starbucks Kristina: Sure..thanks for your patience waiting in such a long line..you're the only one who was so quiet and kind.
V: Ohh..no worries..it's the holiday weekend..I understand.
VO: Really....?!! understand my ass..you were so pissed off..you had to make plans for your funeral because of this long wait.
V: Shut up..she is super cute..now I don't want you in my head for the next 5minutes while i enjoy this coffee.
VO: You know am not going anywhere right?
V: Don't I ?
VO: May be when I return, instead of this one year death scenario, lets do the plans after winning mega millions..
V: Out now...

Blankkkkkkk Mind!
Coffee!
Silence!
Stillness!
Completely in the "moment"!

VO: R u sure ?

Like Crazy!

Being in bonded Love is a kind of intense addiction that manifests a deep yearning in your core pervading every moment of your existence with a sublime, ethereal bliss when together and an equally painful, breathless imbalance with reality when apart.

"Like Crazy" is one such story of the emotional journeys of two bonded souls learning to deal with their vulnerable hearts against the roughness of reality. Jacob and Anna are LA University students who meet in a class. There is instant chemistry between Jacob(played by Anton Yelchin,the funny accented Mr.Chekov in Star Trek) and Ana(delightfully potrayed by Felicity Jones) as she submits her paper in his car windowshield with a note that she is not crazy. They meet over coffee where the reticent Jacob and the quirky British born Ana exchange sweet nothings.

Falling in lust is commonplace. Falling in needy love is even more predictable. What's rare is falling into an experience of earthy naturalness that sneaks under your skin like sunlight,spreading all over you,filling your abysmal depths with oneness,imprinting that feeling in your DNA, making you realize that this is Loving like crazy! Ana and Jacob get to that place slowly as Ana shares her first writings, Jacob builds a chair inscripting "Like Crazy" and they spend days in bed over the summer. As Ana's visa expires, the impending seperation scares them. In a moment of fear of seperation, she decides to extend her stay violating her visa terms which proves detrimental. Ana is stopped from entering to US when she returns back from UK and is deported.

Sometimes when you find someone that shakes your being, your initial reaction is to reject it. You do your best to get away from it as you are scared about your ability to handle that loss. As Ana and Jacob realize that it is hard being seperated, they decide to move on with their lives. Jacob finds Sam in his office while Ana dates her neighbour Simon. The bond that exists inside though is hard to rip it out. Both of them realize that out of sight is not out of mind. Drake Doremus brings out that subtle loneliness even though Jacob is surrounded by many people. Jacob gives in and calls Ana in London as they both run out of breaths seeing their inevitableness to be together. Jacob moves to London and they get married hoping their Visa issues will get resolved in six months.

Reality strikes the couple as their visa application goes in limbo. In the emotional battlefield of "together and not together", they succumb to the scars of loss and decide to seperate. Jacob gets back with Sam while Ana gets back with Simon. The compromises they make for convenience covers the wounds of their bonded souls. The movie ends on a whimper than a bang. Ana and Jacob do get together and you hope they can heal together.

Drake Doremus literally followed the characters with his handheld for this movie that gives an intimate uncinematic evolution of these protagonists. There is no set pieces that collide together in a climatic act 1,2 and 3. There is no big manipulating background score trying to accentuate the mood. Instead, it's all real and quiet, very much like the characters. Infact Anton and Felicity wrote most of their dialogues.

I am not too crazy about "Like Crazy" but i like it for it's courage to explore the concept of pain of seperatedness and in that respect, it achieves it's goal more or less.

As Ana says,"the wholeness was rather a luxurious idea. Because it's the halves that halve you in half. I didn't know, don't know, about the in-between bits; the gory bits of you, and the gory bits of me."!

You will find your gory bits somewhere in it's ninety minutes!

Intertwined Interludes!

T'was a hollow wooden heart, strolling alone in Jungle,
Until picked up by a Princess, who poked perforated holes in it;

Arose a mellifluous melody, in his beat and her breath,
Forging an eternal song, swallowing time and distance;

New Rhythms everyday, dictated by her whims and skeptical brows,
Punctuated interludes, raised by her heaves and muted smiles;

As she retreated, to her dutiful Kingdom,
His punctured heart, lost it's freedom;

A World created in their symbiotic exchange,

Now holding their destined gift in silent estrange;

An unacknowledged truth masked in indifference,
Rising his doubt of their spiritual effervescence;

His universal balance exists in a song,
Held in her breath to whisper along!

Alone..Together!

                                 Fears alone,
                                           Stronger together;
                                 Tears alone,
                                           Laugher together,
                                 Thoughts alone,
                                           Silence together,
                                 Desires alone,
                                           Passions together,
                                 Constricted alone,
                                            Liberated together,

                                 Mind alone,

                                           Hearts together,
                                 Fog alone,
                                           Sunshine together,

                                 Cold alone,

                                           Warmth together,
                                 Battles alone,
                                            Peace together,
                                 Past alone,
                                            Futures together,
                                 Never alone,
                                            When we are together!

Warrior's Princess!

His Kingdom lost, in her piercing eyes,

Threatening his sanity, her beguiling smiles!

She sat in her throne , concealing her simmering core,

His Armor bore, the brunt’s of her ornamental adorn!

Her clanking bangles, speak a language of trust,

Far away must he be, to understand their beauty to nest!

Her dangling earrings, filter her wavering fantasies,

His cranky heart creaks, must labor these cascading realities!

An Earthly shiny ring, revolves her lifelong existence,

His fiery Sun ray, evolves as her eternal shadow for sustenance!

Toast to New Chapter!

In our short life history, every New year is a New chapter.

You are the hero/heroine of your life and you play several roles.

Every chapter involves some old characters, some new faces and sometimes new characteristics to old faces.

At the end of every chapter, you reflect on the various colors these surrounding characters bring to your life.

You never know if these characters will come with you in the next chapter, vanish forever or some old ones reappear unexpectedly.

Your journey continues knowing all you have is the present moment with them. All you control is the moment you are creating right now with them.

After all, the final chapter of our life is already predetermined.

Accepting that impermanence, releases us from the burden of "forever" and enables us to be with them "completely forever" in the moment!

The beginning of every new chapter is Hope.

Hope that your favourite characters remain in your life.

Hope that you march into your unknown story with love,patience and deeper understanding!

Hope that you evolve into a fuller, blossoming bundle of awareness for you and others around you!

The beginning of a year is a bookmark of your life that marks your triumphs, failures, disappointments, tender moments, intimate silences and indecisive paths!

Rejoice before you march on!

Remember before you move on!

Revive before you breathe fully!

Here's a toast to your next chapter!

Drink life, feel the spirit and indulge!

Serengeti Cindrella!

The rules of Serengeti have been laid down for centuries for one reason-Survival! It contains the collective intelligence of millions of years.There is a reason why the Tiger hunts down Gazelle and Snakes gobble Rats.If you wonder why doesn't the Elephants stomp on rabbits and eat them instead of starving for months to find a particular tree to chomp on leaves,the answer is a simple process called Evolution!

That's why the story of Layla,the strong hearted, stubborn but tender Lioness from Serengeti and Raja,the intelligent,arrogant but skillful Snow Leopard from Maasai Mara is unique.

They came together for survival in a strange migratory land in the plains of Maasai Mara.It had been fourteen months of drought,the longest ever both had witnessed.Layla had to feed her little precocious cub,Luna, while Raja was looking for a land to call his own. As the drought continued, Raja realized he needed a partner to conquer this land. As he saw the strong lioness migrated from Serengeti walk towards the plain, he decided to do what no other Leopard has ever done before him for millions of years. Make a Lioness as his partner in hunting. He showed Layla the lay of the land.

In the jungle, everyone has to earn their keep. To Raja's surprise, Layla proved to be more than a worthy partner.She surprised him with her moves striking with less energy while Raja would strategize for hours changing positions ten times before a kill. Raja's stealth matched Layla's straightforward kill.Together, bound by survival,they forged an unknown,unusual, unique bond.Their differences vanished under the stars filled sky as they shared stories of plains filed with rivers and beautiful deers. When the survival instinct recedes, when the necessary niceties go away, you peel a layer that's more honest and true. That's where Raja saw Layla's unique way of seeing life in the Jungle and realized how similar they were spiritually. They both 'kill for necessity"and not for the joy of hunting. They shared tid bits of their life that revealed a master canvass of each other that was being painted on each other's psyche. It was a controlled revelation yet contained nuggets of truth that both knew contained precious vulnerability. They shared in trust knowing the other could usurp the land. First hesitantly, then willingly, and on some days when their respective individualistic free animal spirit took over, none whatsoever.

In the plains of Maasai Mara, they climbed trees, hid low in the grass and counted the star streaks in the open sky together. They left clues in the trail and met at the rendezvous point in the wee hours of winter mornings. It was only a matter of time before one of them did the unthinkable. As always, it turned out to be the impulsive Leopard,Raja. He fell for Layla. He knew about her cubs, her pride but he also knew this was not based on survival probability or prosperity in the plains.This was purely a soul connection that tugged at his heart during lonely hunting nights. There was a need for sensing each other in the core that reassured and replenished each moment together with content and bliss but at same time light and warm in the grassy playground with tender touch.

Life is transient in the plains.It is cruel, unforgiving and hits you hard with reality. Raja knew he was holding on to Layla because his kill had a purpose beyond feeding oneself. When they hunted together, plotting each move, matching each one's step, arriving at same pace,backing away at right moment before plunging on the prey, what got killed was lost in their minds and what mattered most was what got created in their hearts. Raja knew the truth in that moment that Layla makes him alive. With her, it's not surviving the plains but living the plains. He felt sure that Layla felt the same. He knew that their time together was the soul nourishment that fueled the time in between when they were not together and his days were not counted by the Sun but by the intervals between their meetings. It had nothing to do with other members of his species or hers. He felt the bond that he knew was special and wanted to believe Layla felt the same.


Raja decided to let Layla know his feelings. What better way to let her know than by sacrificing his kill for her ? As Layla looked at his elaborate hunt laying infront of her, she withdrew. She wasn't sure what Raja needed. She couldn't believe that this Leopard would be so stupid to pursue someone who was from a different species altogether.The biology, anatomy and physics, all of them denied together in her core. This created a slow rift as Layla felt conflicted. Raja knew he can wait as one day Layla would know he meant the eternal bond that defied everything she knew but Layla began to sense the danger in this relationship.While she was thankful on one hand,she had a hard time categorizing this bond between them. After all, they were two independent cats responsible for their own members of their family with fear of revealing too much as they wanted to protect their identities and the free land.

There is a saying in Serengeti that says "The dreamer is entertaining, inspiring and rejenuvating but in the end, he will get you killed". Layla knew this fact and has always been a realist. She made sure she was a spectator in Raja's dreams as she knew his world revolved around her. It only made her feel more proud but as she returned with the food to feed Luna, she knew where she belonged.She was sure where her loyalties lay.She was sure she would return back to Serengeti from Masaai Mara soon.

Raja would get glimpses of their old times after that day and then suddenly she would turn into the head of pride that is solely responsible for the protection of Luna. He didn't mind the dualities as in his mind, what they had was unique irrespective of the other realities. He was happy as long as they met in the plains to do their dance. Some days, Raja would get frustrated at her lack of acknowledgement of what they have.They began to hunt separately now and share whenever Layla felt sorry for Raja. Every time she indulged out of gratitude,  Raja would build more castles between them.

 Layla did not understand what made Raja to be so enamored with her. She was a Lioness and he was a Leopard. She could not allow herself to be dragged into a dreamer's world that would conflict with her pride family. She knew that was her purpose in life.She liked this crazy Leopard that dives, rolls and hunts just to please her but she knew she can't acknowledge what he wants. She did not believe in his eternal bond as it interfered with her realistic world.She realized he was making it difficult to leave this place without feeling guilty. She sent him on a mission to fetch the finest of water from Nile river in Northern plains.

Layla finally left Maasai Mara to Serengeti as Raja went on his mission. She knew there was no easy way to do this. As Raja returned to find an empty plain, he knew she had left. The winter set in as the trees became bare. Raja sat alone in the middle of open ground and looked at his face in the Northern Nile water. He saw what Layla saw in him and why she left. He is but a Snow Leopard imagining a unique connection with a Lioness that has a different purpose. Layla can never accept Raja and come on his soul journey because she believes in the life on the plains. Not the one beyond it.

As Layla saw her little cub Luna join the big pride in Serengeti, she knew she had come home!

Raja began his long walk out of Maasai Mara, never to be seen again!

Life in the jungle continues unabated!

*Picture taken in Taronga Zoo in Sydney