The journey to platform twelve and a half

My mother being a deeply religious person, wanted to buy some books on the topic. One among the best publishers in India are the Gitapress (originally based in Gorakhpur). Naturally she wanted to buy books of this particular publisher only. On a fine Sunday evening, we decided to get out and buy some Hindu religious books. But first we must find out our destination.

Papa calls their Delhi branch and asks where their outlets are in the city. Strangely, the nearest outlet for us falls on the New Delhi Railway Station, somewhere between the platform 12 and 13. I was amazed that they actually opened an outlet on the railway platform. I wanted to see this shop, but it was hard to get Rajiv out of bed. Rajiv has been breaking all sorts of sleeping records lately (setting a personal high of sleeping for 16 hours continuously). Such is the fear for Delhi winters in his mind. But none of us can ever deny mothers wish, there is a greater fear for her wrath.

We entered the railway station from the back side, since platform 12.5 would be near. Though I had come to the railway station a few times before, it was my first time entering from the rear side. I always wondered why the railway station of nations capital does not look even as impressive the one in timbuktu. But when I visited it from the rear side, I was introduced to the actual magnanimity of it. It was huge, and I wondered whether they built it this way to sustain the inflow of people actually coming to buy books from Gitapress.

After buying the platform tickets we got inside, and started to look for platform 12.5. It kind of felt stupid to come to a railway station for buying books. So I start asking even more stupid questions to papa, “where are we going to?”, “which train are we catching?”, etc. He plays along by replying Gorkhdham express. Suddenly the person in front of us turns around, and now he starts asking questions. “What time will it arrive?”, “How much more late is it?”, “Which platform?”.

Papa now becomes confused, as more and more eyes look at him with hope in their eyes. They felt as if, this man can give them the information, which even the station master couldn’t. The information which will get them off this railway station. The station on which they were stuck, and even they seemed to forget how many days had gone by. Some of them even seemed to have started their alternate career, in order to survive on the station. And then their were some who started living there. Strife for survival had made them forget their purpose, that they wanted to get somewhere. Understanding the gravity of the situation, papa did the best he can under the circumstances. He said an innocent, yet confused (as if he was one among them) sounding “pata nahi bhaisaheb!” (I also don’t know brother!).

We tacitly decide not to do any more stupid talk as we reach platform 12. Now we ask a simple question to the coolie “yeh Gitapress kaha hai” (Where is Gitapress?). The look on the coolie’s face makes us realize the stupidity of our question. Finally we spot the outlet, mummi is fairly excited. She starts to go through the books, and soon realizes she has forgotten her spectacles. Now she begins to hassle the shopkeeper, for what she wants.

It seemed the shopkeeper had attained a meditative state, he was beyond this materialistic world. Nothing seemed to bother him, not even mom hassling him for books. His authority on books published from Gitapress and the trains departing/arriving on platform 12/13 seemed unquestionable. After almost a hour, mom bought almost every book in the shop (Gitapress in extremely cheap). We ended up carrying more luggage (books) than some passengers.

Finally we got back home, and on the way back it occurred to me that Harry Potter must have had a similar feeling when he was going towards platform nine and three-quarters. Only difference being he went through it; and may some day I will also go through it.

Filed under: random thoughts , 12.5, gitapress, gorakhpur, harry potter, new delhi, platform, platform twelve and a half, railway station

The year I once knew as 2009….

Part 4: The End

As September ended, my father was diagnosed with meningioma. His surgery was done on 30th September; after which he showed good recovery. In a month he was up and running (not literally). The best thing to happen was that he did not remember anything about it. 27 September to 1 October, seemed to be erased from his system. He jokingly compares that scar on his head with the one in Ghajini. Now it has healed and there are no signs though.

October was the resting month for my father, loads of medicines, weekly checkups and well wishers coming home. My father enjoyed his month long holiday. His health showed good progress. My break allowed me to shift my whole attention to my fathers care during this period. As October ended, I somewhere saw about half marathon happening in Delhi.

Running did not seem like a very complex task, and since I had covered more than 35 km in a day in my Valley of flowers trip, it seemed doable. I ran the half marathon on November 1. Lots of people asked it must have been fun, I answered it was painful. My father and Uncle, were used to walking daily more than 10-15 KM in there teens. Hence, me finishing the the half marathon at this age, did not create a great impression on them.

We then went to Dehradun as father recovered, so that all of us can have a some peaceful time. Spent about 4-5 days there, met Bhabhiji (Cousins wife); whose marriage we missed on 30th September. In December, we returned to the MC Project, launching it (don’t remember the date). The idea was well received, and most of my time went in garnering feedback. As new year came, I went to lucknow to meet two good friends of mine, with a revelation which I had just days before new years ever. All my friends know about the revelation I had, although I will share it in writing when something tangible happens.

Happy New Year 2010.

Filed under: random thoughts

The year I once knew as 2009…..

Part 3: The Venture

It was one of the normally dull evenings in the hostel blocks. I was deeply engrossed in an extremely boring google research for one of my marketing (m-AD-MAN*) projects. It was then that Jai pinged me, to discuss about his project for NID Bangalore. Little did I know, that this discussion would shape a significant amount of time in the coming year. Frustrated with uninspiring assignments, we turned to music, and “the MC Project” broke out of shell. For the next 3 months, Jai and I worked on the idea, as a part of our academic tenure. After which the term ended, and I found lesser time for working on it. So, as I narrowly scraped through my management diploma, I decided to dedicate some time for the MC Project in 2009.

MC actually stands for Music Collaboration, and the name was taken from my project title, which was “Music Collaboration through social networking”. Our basic idea is to create a platform for amateur musicians, where they can easily share their work with others, and even collaborate to finish their/others music piece. And as these musicians will come together, there will be communication, which might lead to learning from each other. So we have three basic concepts: Share, Collaborate and Learn. At this point in time, we have created the basic working model, which provides for the functioning of all these concepts; but it does requires some polishing.

As I finished all the traveling, I turned back to the MC Project. For the 3 days my body rested, my mind started to ideate. The main reason we started the MC Project was we were never able to find a place for us in the social hierarchy, with respect to the fact that we wanted to play music. We were not professionals, neither did we intend to become one. For us music was a means of joy, passing time and not money. As one would say, we are amateurs; and although there is a term that defines us, there isn’t a place that connects us.

I never intend to become a professional musician, I enjoy strumming my guitar now and then, and I intend to keep it that way. Being professional adds a pressure to churn out songs every now and then, as my livelihood will depend on it. Also, I don’t get the rights to my creation, the distribution company does. And if I see the track record, Phooti Kaudi has produced some 4 songs in last 4 years. Which is not at all a bright sign, but it sort of makes me understand why we are seeing so much of copying in the industry. Involving money in the process, changes the equation dramatically; specially when ones livelihood is in question. As for me, I want to make music, not money; I want to make friends, not fans. Money is a means and not the end. A means to joy, to happiness, to music again.

When I actually like a music piece, my subsequent reactions to it is, listen it again and tell everyone about it. I often make others listen to it, and share it, if some one is far. While I feel, I am adding to the fame of the artist, I am actually practicing piracy. Something which I have stopped doing, once I realized what I was doing. First of all, it is against the will of the artist and secondly his livelihood depends on it (well not the insanely famous one’s). But then I ask myself this question, what if the artist doesn’t mind me sharing the music piece. What if he/she (him/her)self wants to distribute it for free. An amateur musician may be, some one who thinks like we do. Or it may be an upcoming/struggling artist who just wants his/her work to be out there, to create a name. Or a seasoned professional may be, who just wants that one song to get out there which he made just for himself and no one else.

And based on all this philosophy we have started the MC Project (which we self proclaim as non profit). I understand, many may feel the idea to be impractical; and we may be the only people who might end up practicing it. But then it is a idea that we float, the acceptance of which is not the question here, it is something we believe in. Plus looking at the current scenario, famous music is today being pirated for free, some doing it intentionally and some unintentionally. Today internet is more efficient and powerful an distribution channel than any when it comes to digital media. And this power should be used in a manner, which should benefit the artist and not hurt him.

I was familiar with the concept that creative commons, were floating and I found it to be applicable here. I like the idea behind creative commons, and I certainly feel it is the way to be for our project. It has its own glitches and has had its share of problems, but then evolution needs time to give birth to perfection. The license which I personally like is the attribution non-commercial. It says that, any one can distribute the piece, if they do not earn anything out of it, until they give the author due credit. Plus, if any one is making money using the work, then they need to pay a fee to the author for it. So I can share my work, and people can share it, as I want; and if it finds a commercial application (for instance, in advertising) I get a slice of the pie.

For 2 months Jai and I worked on materializing our idea, and while we were on the verge of launching it in September, life hit me in a way, I never imagined….

* – m-AD-MAN is actually short for one of our marketing subjects, Advertising Management. While others Called it Ad-Man, I used to call it mAd-Man

Filed under: random thoughts , 2009, amateur, creative commons, piracy, the MC project, venture

The year I once knew as 2009….

Part 2: The Journey

In the last week of June, 2009 I went to Gamshali, a place deep into the Himalayas in the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand; a place where once my ancestors used to live. It is the second last village of India towards Tibet (now China); and until 2003 one had to walk about 14 km to reach there. As a child I had only heard stories about the place, my ancestors, the festivals; Gamshali was a place from fantasy land for me. When I visited the place in 1996, I was captivated by its beauty; I was in one of my bed time stories, it was magical, I was living my fantasy and it was way better than watching Avatar in 3D.

13 years later, while I was returning to the place again, my only concern was if the child inside will be able to relive the magic again. And one of the reason for my worry was that my perspective had changed over the years. Physically, it is now at least a foot and a half taller with an additional myopic vision; and mentally, <umm ….> well, I have gained a lot more information. And when I reached the place, the same feelings gushed back; although the village seemed a bit smaller now.

I had coincided my trip with the biggest of all events in my community, “HOM”. Hom is a 12-yearly event, a series of rituals which lasts for 7 days. Although I didn’t know the purpose of it and couldn’t understand the meaning of the rituals, I selected this duration of time for two reasons: a) Gamshali was one of the place where Hom occurs, b) all of my relatives would come. The reason I why I only heard stories about Gamshali and not live there is that my father had a transferable job. We hopped from one place to another; so I never truly belonged to one particular place. And to the one place I had the sense of belongingness to, I had never lived there. Hence I had never met most of my relatives; and I thought Hom to be a good platform to start.

For once in my life I was not the only Fonia to be around; there was a whole army of us back there, available in every shape, size and age possible. My biggest problem were my aunts and uncles, they were so many that I lost count, and it didn’t stop there. Our ancestors had to create a whole classification of them, assigning them a code name based what relation they have to which of my parents. In a day, I had been introduced to hundreds of them, each with her own unique code. I was confused to my core, and to top it of, some of them were younger than me.

Apart from this confusion, I had a very pleasant time; and my plan one became clear to me. I wanted to make a movie, and I had done some candid camera work during Hom; so I decided I would make a documentary out of “Hom of Gamshali”. Although the research is still going on, and I might have to go back, in order to get more video clips; the movie has taken a direction.

Some photos from the Gamshali trip

During my Gamshali trip I traveled to most of the places around it, within a radius of 9 KM; with my relatives. The place was distinguished with an unimaginable beauty; the reason being minimal human intervention. After Hom was over, I came down to Joshimath along with my aunt and few cousins. I had a week long stay in Joshimath, and utilized that time to visit Valley of flowers and Hemkund Saheb.

Valley of Flowers

Hemkund Saheb

There was a gap of few months between the time I graduated from college and the time Hom had to start. During that period, I first visited Bhutan with my parents. We had a week long stay, and went to Thimpu and Paro. I was so mesmerized by the place, that I wanted to stay there for at least a year, but alas financial plus time constraints. After which we went to the Nathula Pass and shook hands with the Chinese soldiers. Finally when Hom was over, I had to go back to Bangalore, as some of my friends called for me. During all this travelling, I forgot to get a shave and a haircut; and while I was telling this to Bhotia, he said you can get one in Hospet, I have a very good shop right next to my home. Thus Jai and I traveled to Hospet, in order to get our haircut; and also meet Bhotia, Priyank and visit Hampi in the process.

Bhutan+Nathula Trip

And before my journey had started, before I was even thinking about it; I once talked to Sutikshina Pratap Kaushik, who is in Joshimath. He told me that it was his birthday the day after; which prompted me, Sharad and Jai to leave for Joshimath that very day. It was a trip where whatever wrong could ever happen with us happened; and that is what made that trip so memorable. I will only share one photo from that trip which summarizes how the trip rocked.

As I spent time close to nature, I felt humbled by the mountains, cherished by the flowers, energized by the river, loved unconditionally by mother Earth. And while I enjoyed the nature around me, it occurred to me that mother Earth is doing pretty well. She will never be in any kind of trouble, it is foolish of us to think so. She is not the one in trouble, infact it is us who are in trouble and we could use a different perspective.

After spending almost 3 months in continuous traveling, I was now exhausted. And I headed back home as my last trip of the year was over (the Hospet/Hampi one). As I reached home, and found my beloved bed, I could only wake up after three days completely fresh again. My fresh mind started to think about something I started back in college, something I am passionate about, something for which I took the year off. And it is then that I and Jai started the process to implement what we once ideated….

Filed under: random thoughts , 2009, travel

The year I once knew as 2009….

Part-1: The Beginning

(Breaking this post into parts, as it has become annoyingly long)

As I write this post, my dabba (laptop) tells me that it is January 6, 2010; it was only a few days back when I knew this year as 2009. In a matter of one second it changed, and yet I felt no change in it*. I started it as a very confused person, and as it ended I was more clear headed than I ever have been. As the transition was about to be made, I was hit with a sudden realization; and I felt extremely excited about it. I almost spent the next whole day telling everybody about it.

The year has been an eventful one, most of which I have spent sleeping and eating. It was for the first time in my life I had the free time to whenever do whatever and go wherever. This year can be characterized by short patches of boredom distanced by longer spurts of enthusiasm. Traditionally it used to be the other way around, and most of my enthusiastic moments used to be either my term exams or assignment submissions.

2010 started in Lucknow with my two very good friends Prakhar and Sharad. It was an auspicious start, as I spent the first two days eating, and the day after sleeping (as the stomach went out of order). I was very happy to meet my friends after a long time, and I sincerely hope that the new year brings joy to all of my friends. Unlike 2010, which has started with me carelessly eating, sleeping, drinking and farting; 2009 started with me eating, sleeping, drinking and farting. I had to care if it was the class room (eat + sleep), a group meeting (eat + drink), company presentation (fart only), mess (eat, drink & eat with an occasional fart) except for my room. That was the only place which provided me a carefree and unconditional environment.

But the biggest question I faced was not whether a place is right to eat/sleep/drink/fart, but whether to finish my plans (click to read it) first or to simultaneously work and try to finish my plans. But in order to finish them I had to be clear about them, and this needed time. I told friends, I was considering dropping out of placements; as I needed some time to control the eat/sleep/drink/fart routine and I felt working simultaneously would not do any good to my purpose. Plus I would always have thought what if I actually had taken the year off? Some thought it took courage, and some thought confidence, but in reality it just took a hangover of stupidity and ignorance.

As the college days were getting over, I had to pay off all my debts before leaving. And although I had none on the college, but I had some on the 3 Idiots team. I had agreed to audition college students for them, and received an advance payment for that. But due to my routine and an occasional Thailand trip (alas! it didn’t happen) I could not do the auditions. I cleared my debts with the team, and then I was ready to go to the one place I always wanted to….

* – As I was deep asleep at that instant (I know, PJ, but this is what inspired that line).

Filed under: random thoughts , 2009

Chapter 2: The Realization

Funnu tumbles out of the shell and is exposed to a myriad of new conditions. The darkness phases away into a dull orange (as light struck his closed eyes); the cramped room inside the shell broke into a comfortable nest; the initial chill blocked by his parents warm feathers. All these new conditions made him fairly excited.

He is feeling excited for the first time in his life (finally something new other than the mundane shell life), and he knows not what to do of it. It is a new and strange feeling to him, he is in so much space for the first time; he starts to move all his limbs, which seems to vent some of his excitement. And now he starts to shout out of excitement, as if to mark his arrival into the world. It feels good and he keeps on shouting.

Moments later Funnu sleeps off all the shouting and moving around. This was indeed the most arduous physical activity he had ever done. While all the excitement has exhausted Funnu into a sleep, I feel reasonably excited as well. By now I have figured out that Funnu is a bird, of what kind can only be found when the eyes are open.

Birds are impulsive creature’s driven by their conscious. Although only time will tell if Funnu will listen to me as well, but it will be better than being with a human. The most horrible part with humans being that grown ups actually teach the young ones to trust some norms humans have devised more than their conscious. Leaving that behind me, I look forward to flying with Funnu.

While I look into my hindsight, Funnu wakes up to some music. For him everything is new and this continues to excite him as well. And as he enjoys the music in his own way, I too enjoy listening to one of my favorites after a long time….

P.S. : Original photograph by Kamal Kishore Rana, published here by his permission (click here to see the original image)

Song which wakes Funnu: Free Bird by Lynyrd Skynyrd (Youtube search)

Filed under: novel , birth, chapter 2, free bird, lynyrd skynyrd, novel

Chapter 1: The Birth

It is dark, it has always been dark. But it is not this darkness that bother’s him; no, it has never been the darkness. It is the surface, which strangle’s him…. for space…. for freedom. On this surface he once sat, stood, jumped and no matter what he did, it never seemed to run out. But gradually over time, he felt that a shell was encroaching upon him; encapsulating him within. Nevertheless, the truth could not have been more different.

In reality this shell has always existed, it is only now he senses the presence; when he has grown into the space only to collide against the walls of the shell that contained him. These walls covered him from every side, and now he has grown into every angstrom of the space provided within. But the walls were only doing what they know how to do, protect him. And they knew only one way of doing it, don’t let anything inside.

When he was conceived, he was infinitesimally smaller than what he is now. It seemed improbable that one day, he will grow into this space. And yet the conceiver’s hoped for that day, and I knew that it would come. And now, when the moment has arrived, the purpose of this shell is fulfilled. They have done what they were meant to do with all the sincerity and must now give way to life. He must now break them, in order to fulfill his destiny, to live. And it is now that he will learn his first lesson in life.

When the time comes, we know what we are supposed to do, but do we do it? The only person standing in his way is that person himself. The time has come, when he has to break this shell. It has gotten extremely uncomfortable now; now when there is no space. I tell him, go on, this is what you are destined for; and he listens to me for the first time. He summons all his energy, and pushes with all what he has got. Nothing much happens, but he keeps trying when finally a crack appears; for the first time in his life light appears in front of him. But he cannot see it, for his eyes are closed. He can only feel it. Now, encouraged he pushes harder when he comes out of the shell. And it is now that Funnu is born….

P.S. :Original photo by Kamal Kishore Rana, published here by his permission (Click to see the original image)

Filed under: novel , bird, egg, novel

The inspiration

Clay Sculpture by 2008-10 batch NID Bangalore

It has been 6 long minutes since I have been staring at the screen of my Lenovo R61 thinkpad, in the hope of finding a start for this post. And finally I get bored out of thinking and staring. This is a real issue with me, the ideas don’t come when they are supposed to come but they pop up in my head at random instances. And when they pop up, the time has flown by and I can only console myself with the thought that this will be used at a similar future situation if it happens.

Sometimes, some ideas pop up without a reason behind it. They pops up ahead of their time, they are so excited to get into the world that they force their way into reality, and the least I can do is to admire their enthusiasm. But that idea does not want no admiration, it just wants to be materialized. But many of the times I am not the medium for the materialization of some of these ideas, but other people are (may be friend, family or even unknown people). The idea is too excited to be bound to any one person, race or country. It somehow finds it way into this world.

And when one sees the idea in its true form, one spreads it across to the world. And I saw one of the ideas I had in mind for a long time, being executed at NID Bangalore by their 2008-10 batch, when I went there to meet my friend. He was also excited about what they had made, and wanted to show it me. May be he (the idea) wanted to tell me, that he is not dependent on me for his becoming the action. Their execution finally inspired me to complete the thought, that became the idea and the idea that should have become the action. Although, I had a different execution in mind, I am staying true to their creation and not making changes, in order to respect the action.

P.S. => Special thanks to Jai Beban, Sohini Dey, Parul Aggarwal, Dinoop D.

Filed under: random thoughts , action, Clay sculpture, idea, NID Bangalore, philosophy

9 Clips 16 Seconds

9 clips 16 seconds (please click HQ)

This is a video I helped Jai make for the V-day. This video is also one step towards learning to take multiple angles, multi-screen and using premiere pro. The name of the video is such because while editing the video I had divided it into 9 parts and our first successful run of the domino effect took 16 seconds.

Look carefully at the chain reaction; there is a story being told through it.

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Filed under: movie , art, movie, movie making, Valentine day

Prologue

Everything is dark, everything surrounding me, as far as I can perceive. Nothing is to be seen, felt, touched, smelt, heard or tasted in this darkness. My senses have defeated me; they cannot even tell me my own presence. Yet there is a sense beyond these five senses that is telling me the presence of this darkness. It tells me of darkness with never ending boundaries; which is darker than dark, blacker than black. This darkness does not make me worry; it does not torment me, neither does it give me a sense of pleasure or happiness, it does nothing but just be present all around me. I feel no pain, irritation, pleasure, worry or tension; I feel nothing, no emotion at all.

As few moments pass by, I sense the presence of a light in front of me. The light is brighter than any light I have ever seen or felt, it is brighter than sunlight when looked directly into and yet I am looking directly into it with no pain. Instead I feel comforted by it. I have never felt more happy or loved. The light has an unparalleled beauty, nothing in this world can compare to the beauty of this light. And the presence of this unparalleled beauty comforts me, gives me a sense of unconditional love and extreme happiness.

As I enjoy in the bliss that the light showers on me, I sense that the light is telling me something. I do not hear anything or see any motions trying to tell me something. I just know that the light is calling me. As I go closer I feel like a river flowing towards the ocean; but the light tells me that it is not time yet. In a timeless moment I relive my entire life; I experience the same emotions again, the same events again. And as the recapturing of my life finishes, I have the most exhilarating experience, I see myself flying. Suddenly I begin to lose all senses; I try to resist, but then the light tells me that it is ok, that my purpose is yet not served and I have to be somewhere. Slowly I begin to lose sight of the light; it starts to become dimmer and dimmer and dimmer ….

Filed under: novel , prologue