Writing

An Artist’s Ego

Holding onto the ideas and stories you believe in can be very strenuous at times. You might easily get intimidated by someone’s intelligent remarks or another superior artist’s works. Moreover, every artist is sensitive at the core as they face a mountain of insecurities every passing moment. But, if you are going to get bogged down by these external forces, then you are not really doing justice to that beautiful story which germinated within you.  This story needs to be told and you are the only person who can bring it out in the open, exactly the way it should be. Opinions, suggestions and reviews can be very helpful on many occasions. But, don’t allow these wise words to muddle your stream of thoughts and ideas. Even if they enhance your story and make it bloom the way you had imagined, you might not be truly satisfied. If these suggestions are taking away your identity and ingenuity, then it’s always better to stay insulated. You can call this an artist’s ego. But, I believe no artist can truly exist without possessing this ego.

Distractions and uncertainties

Sometimes it is very difficult to ward off constant distractions that life presents. These distractions may lead you in a good direction, but not necessarily the right direction! Good and right might not be the same always. If you really know what you want out of life, then you will patiently wait for the opportune moment, even if it means that you have to go through third-degree torture in that waiting process. Invest your energies in your dream and keep working towards it, that’s the only breathing space that you get as a dreamer. But, how long should one wait before you fully dive into the sea of uncertainties? That’s a question that only you can answer best.

Lambi Race ka Ghoda

Lambi race ka ghoda kabhi thakta nahi

Qayamat se woh yuhi darta nahi

 

Jeet ka junoon jab uske jee me jal utha

Tab Thandak woh Yakeen ke Jharne se peeta

 

Manzil ko bhulaake jab badhoge

Toh har uunchi chalaang, muskake Jiyoge

 

Uss jeet ka bhi kya vajuud hoga

Jise paane murkar jeena hoga

 

Waqt ka aakda kabhi khatam hota nahi

Lambi race ka ghoda kabhi rukta nahi

Why Artists Need Your Love

When you know you are here to do something more than simply normal things in life, it’s a strange kind of a feeling. And when you are surrounded by people who expect you to do normal things in life, it is even worse.

Depression is a part of every artist’s life I guess. He or she feels lost every once in a while, especially when he or she is forced into a normal situation. This very state of mind then transforms into a driving force for many. It is this very state of mind that urges an artist to take that courageous step to express something special. No matter what the world thinks about his or her form of expression, a true artist will keep on going on. After spending too much time in a stable state of normalcy, an artist starts feeling the pain inside.

Artists are good at heart. Some are pure and naive, timid at times. So, this is a shout out to every Normal Person on earth. Please encourage artists. Talk to them, appreciate their work, even if it is not that great. Tell them how they can get better. They need your motivation, not your strange looks, pre-assumptions and heartless criticism.

Some artists are spearheaded; they know exactly what they want to do and how they want to do it. They don’t care what the world thinks about them or their work. They are basically not at all afraid of failure.

Not all are that way though. Many are confused, trying to find their own path. Some are depressed because of normalcy. Some are going through a rough patch financially; some are trying to find their confidence back. Some are going through a transition phase from being confused to becoming spearheaded again.

Don’t neglect them. They are human beings too. They need your love and positive energy. Because art is beautiful. The world needs it.

The Robot Who Desired to be More Humanly

“So, what brings you here?” questioned Alex, the robot. Ravi replied in a feeble voice, “I need a job, can you help me with one?” “Yes”, replied the robot sternly. “What are you good at?” Alex interrogated further. Ravi said, “I am a software engineer from IIT Kharagpur”

Alex went silent for a moment and then replied, “Well, then you are a threat to me, I fear, I shall not be able to help you!” “But I can build the best robots you want me to”, said Ravi in desperation.  “I am aware of your capabilities and fear that you will not make a robot but will break me instead”, said a worried Alex. Ravi almost had tears in his eyes when he went ahead with his last try to convince, “Trust me; I will always be your slave.”

Alex was not impressed, he said, “You are human; which is why I can’t trust you! You can do anything to make money or succeed in life”. “What should I do to win your trust?” asked a curious Ravi.   Alex was silent and Ravi waited in anticipation. “Can you work on a code that will help me age like a human and love like a human?” Ravi did not have an answer; he responded after a while, “All I can do is, try!” “You don’t seem to be too confident”, stated Alex. Ravi replied, “I may not be confident, but I shall try my level best.” Alex stared at Ravi and then said, “Well, then I guess, I should let you try, come inside my little house and make yourself comfortable. I shall provide all that you need to do your research and coding. In return, I shall give you a three-time meal a day along with shelter, would that be fine?” Ravi couldn’t believe what he just heard. He nodded his head positively and said, “Yes, that is all I need!”

Ravi had no clue how to go about the code. It was a challenge, which he had already accepted. There wasn’t a choice; he had to do it to continue living. Alex had not given any deadline as such and so Ravi thought he could take all the time in the world for his research. For the first few weeks, Ravi kept wondering. Alex visited Ravi’s room once in a while but never complained. After a month, Ravi could not take it, he told Alex, “What if I am never able to crack this code?” Alex smiled and replied, “You can take your time; it’s okay if you don’t succeed, but you cannot lose your desire to succeed. If I notice that there is no passion left in you, I will fire you that very day!” Ravi felt motivated like never before. “And what if I complete this task? Will you still keep me here?” Ravi sought a clarification. “No”, said Alex firmly.

Ravi was in a shock. He was facing the biggest dilemma of his life. He was not supposed to lose passion, but at the same time, he would also be fired after completing his task. He thought to himself, it is better to get fired after completing the task rather than getting fired for losing his passion.

For the next one year, Ravi dedicatedly worked on his code. He studied the human brain and the kind of hormones it releases when it is feeling loved or is in love. Oxytocin is a hormone that the human brain produces when we feel happy. So he started reading about its properties and thought of ways in which it can be artificially produced. His experiments were a mixture of biochemistry, electronics, and computer science. After seven more years of research, which included thousands of permutations, hypothesis, combinations, and experiments, finally, that day arrived when he managed to recreate Oxytocin. He told Alex about it who was ecstatic after hearing the news. Ravi decided to take a break for some days. He badly needed one as he had worked day in and day out for the last seven years. He had to recoup energy for his next experiments.

The next step was rather easy; he had to write a code as to when Oxytocin needs to be produced. After working on different conditions for the next 4 years, he arrived at a code which he thought was complete. He called Alex to his room and showed him the code. The code had to be programmed into Alex’s body. Alex asked for one final time, “Are you sure this is going to work and it doesn’t have any loopholes?” Ravi was confident this time and said “Yes.” Ravi then went ahead programming the code into Alex. After a few moments, Alex was feeling different. He had experienced happiness and love for the first time ever! He had never felt so human-like before!

Now it was time for Ravi’s second task and so he asked, “How long do you want to live?” Alex was confused. He wanted to experience love and happiness forever. He asked Ravi, “How long do you want me to live?” Ravi was overwhelmed and replied, “I wished you could live forever.” “But, it is against the laws of nature, isn’t it?” said Alex, Ravi was silent. “How long will you take to develop the next code?” Alex continued with his question. Ravi replied in a fearful voice, “It won’t take much time, maybe a day or two.”  Alex wanted a specific answer “One day or two?” “Two”, said Ravi. “Well, then I want to live only for two more days as I won’t have any work for you after that. With so much love that you have coded into my system, I don’t think I would be able to live a day without seeing you.” Ravi could feel the love between them as well. “Why don’t you give me another task then?” he asked.

To be honest, “I had no other purpose in life, I simply wanted to understand the meaning of love. And that I have already achieved.” Ravi was furious this time, he said, “then how do you expect me to live without you after you are gone?”

Alex realized that he was being unfair to Ravi. “In that case, I would prefer to remain immortal in your company, but you would definitely die one day, what would I do after that? Also, what task should I give you next” “Anything that you think would be appropriate”, replied Ravi. After thinking for a while, Alex replied, “You can code love into all robots of the world, I am sure all of us would want that!” Ravi smiled, “That’s a great idea!” “But what after you die?” “Do you want me to work on something that makes humans immortal?” asked Ravi.  “No, definitely not, because that would make them less humanly and more of a robot of some sort” Both of them pondered again for a solution to their problem. “Well then write a code that will make me die in 1 second and teach me how to program it into my own body. The moment you die, I will install it into my body and I will just have to live a second without you.”

Ravi smiled and also had tears in his eyes at the same time. He never thought that a robot who he considered to be his master, would turn out to be his best friend someday!

The Motorman Who Couldn’t Laugh Like He Always Used To!

Anil Singh couldn’t sleep for the last three nights. He was back from the worst trip of his life. Guilt had engulfed him completely like a hungry dinosaur. He thought to himself, “Will I ever be able to ride a train again?” When he shut his eyes, all he could see was the poor man in front of him, staring death without the slightest fear in his eyes. Anil recollected his childhood days when he took pride in declaring his ambition of becoming a train driver when he grows up. It was a well-paid job for which he had put his heart and soul. After being a motorman for 15 years, he couldn’t imagine himself pursuing another profession. Besides that, he was the only source of income for his dear family of his wife and two children.

Farmer suicides have been on a rise in the recent years, especially when the rain Gods haven’t been too merciful. Shiva had lost all hopes as well and thought that death would be better than bearing the burden of a 2-lakh debt which he wouldn’t be able to repay in his entire lifetime. Two years back, times were much better when his groundnut yields sufficed for his daughter’s education. It was now time to marry her off but all the aspiring grooms were demanding dowry that he couldn’t have accumulated even if he lived two more lives as a farmer. His barren fields and torching sunrays mirrored his very existence.

Tired of living a dead man’s life, he decided to take that bold step. His hands shivered when he mixed pesticides into glasses of milk that the entire family had survived on for the last two weeks. There wasn’t an option for dinner. They had to drink it. Shiva watched on as his wife and children shivered to death after they had emptied their glasses of milk into their hungry stomachs. Why didn’t Shiva kill himself in the same way then? Well, Presence of mind and logic takes a back seat when your brain is taken over by depression. After his wife and daughter stopped wriggling and shivering, Shiva realized what he had just done. He quickly peeped into the glasses of milk, to find out if anything was left behind. Nothing! The glasses were as empty as his soul now. He cried like never before hugging on his dearest ones who were mere dead bodies now. He had to die and that was when he heard the distant hooting sound of a train. After taking a deep breath, he got up probably from his last ever sitting position.

Anil was expecting a hike after a month and had applied for his pending 1-week leave. His goodbye sounded more exciting for he was expecting to enjoy his family-vacation in Manali after he was back from his duty. But fate took a different route for Anil, unlike his destined train routes. Like always, Anil boarded the engine of Netravati Express and the train nudged ahead on its journey as per its scheduled departure time.

Shiva walked towards the track which was 5 kilometers away with a strong motive. His walk turned into bursts of jogs which finally turned into a 100-meter sprint. He practically had no energy left but his motive was strong enough to push him harder. He could see the train approaching from a distance. He had to make it now because he knew he would have to wait for hours for the next train to arrive while he did not desire to live even a moment longer.

Anil received a complete green signal after he had crossed the longest tunnel of his route or probably the entire country. He never thought that after emerging out of the darkest tunnels, his life is going to hit pitch black.

Shiva reached there when the train was only 20 meters away. He stood there staring at Anil who knew that pulling the breaks at that moment would not save the man. For some reason, Anil did not look away. And that sight was engraved on his heart forever. The train eventually stopped and some officials we asked to gather Shiva’s body parts that were torn into pieces.

Another farmer suicide; another news report that was it for the world! But for Anil, life would never be the same. He even thought of canceling his vacation to visit the same spot once again, but he never had the courage to do it. So he tried to distract himself as much as he could by spending some good time with his family. But even his heartiest laughs had lost its charm, might as well forever!

The Malayalee Boy Who Breathed Fire!

There was once this boy named Sanil. Just like everyone else, he had two eyes, a nose, and two ears. What made him different was his mouth which could breathe fire whenever he felt like. He discovered his ability when he blew his first birthday candle off!

The celebration was grand as he was turning one year old and was the only child of his 40-year-old Malayalee parents. The Nambiars had lost hope completely and thought that only a miracle could have conspired Sanil’s existence. Guests including closest family friends and relatives were astonished to see something that they had only heard of in fairy tales.

Sanil’s parents were anxious and worried, probably more anxious than the moment when Sanil cried for the first time! They lived in a small 1-room-kitchen flat in Dombivili, outside Mumbai where the guests panicked after the unexpected event. Within few minutes, the celebrations came to a standstill. The balloons inflated by Sani’s Father with a lot of love dangled without any real motive now. They decided to take Sanil to the nearest hospital to examine his curious medical condition.

No other doctor would have been as amused as Dr. Shakti, an MD and Dombivili’s most renowned child specialist! After listening carefully to Sanil’s parents, he exclaimed: “I have never come across a case like this in my entire 15-year career”. Nevertheless, he recommended a few tests immediately.

MRI scans were very new back then in the 1900s, which is why Sanil’s father had to spend a good 10,000 rupees for it. He had to because he was not sure if another miracle like Sanil’s birth could occur again! Sanil’s mother was in disbelief and complete trauma. She had nightmares witnessing that strange moment when her beloved son breathed fire in her dreams. She was a housewife and had nothing else in life to look forward to, other than Sanil.

Mr. and Ms. Nambiar visited Dr. Shakti after a week’s time along with the MRI reports. Dr. Sahkti sighed, “due to a minor hormonal imbalance, Sanil’s pancreas is producing more sulfur than it should ideally. You will have to observe Sanil closely and find out the triggering points that cause him to breathe fire.”

The next 5 years we spent by the Nambiars, observing Sanil closely. He was never left alone even for a moment. The story of his first birthday had spread like wildfire. Though adorable Sanil borrowed his lovely eyes from his mother and a rounded nose from his father, nobody dared to even come close to him, except his parents.

There were quite a few occasions in five years that Sanil had breathed fire. Once Ms. Nambiar was feeding him a Tapioca dish (popularly known as kappa in Malayalam) when Sanil blew fire from his mouth. Ms. Nambiar was too close to Sanil and her cheeks were burnt. On another occasion, when Sanil was three years old and was riding on his father’s back, he blew fire once again which blackened the walls of his small apartment. For once, the Nambiars also thought of disowning Sanil, but they changed their mind after looking at his innocent smile.

They kept meeting Mr. Shakti every six months but they were unable to find out the exact cause or triggering point. But there was a positive change in Sanil – he could talk now. They were waiting for Sanil to talk about any kind of uneasiness before he breathes fire again.

Another 20 years went by and finally, that day arrived! Sanil was with his girlfriend Anita, whom he was going to officially propose on a secluded mountaintop in Gangtok. Anita was gazing at the valleys and golden rays from the setting sun made her look even more gorgeous, probably only in Sanil’s eyes at that very moment. Sanil couldn’t find a more opportune moment to declare his love for Anita. He went up to her and said, “I love you and want to marry you!” Anita was not expecting this but was blown off her feet. Sanil bravely continued, “But I want to confess something”. Anita wondered. “I breathe fire sometimes”. Anita started laughing because she thought Sanil was joking like always. Sanil tried convincing her that he was not lying. Anita slowly controlled her laughter and said, “I don’t care, I don’t mind burning to death in your fire”. Sanil kissed for the first time but breathed fire once again, the biggest one he had ever breathed till date! Anita was burning. Sanil couldn’t do much as there was nobody in sight who could help at the mountaintop. All he could do is scream and glare away from that horrendous sight! That was when Sanil realized that he breathed fire when he was overwhelmed with love.

Sanil’s life was a dilemma after that day’s discovery. It meant that Sanil was forbidden to love anybody from his heart. Unlike those dreadful dragons from fairy tales, poor Sanil only sought love but was never allowed to love back equally! He feared that he would burn all his dearest ones to death one day.

The Discipline of Art

Looking for inspiration? Then stop whiling away your time, reading this post and start doing that one thing you love doing the most but have been procrastinating about for a while. What I have realised with whatever little experience I have had in script writing or writing in general or personally talking to inspiring creators, is that they don’t wait for an inspiration, but simply go ahead doing it. What comes out without an inspiration could be absolutely shitty, but that shit too will have some sort of form. I know it’s getting a bit smelly at this point hehe. The point I am trying to make is that, if you as a creator, devote some part of your day for your passion, it could be just an hour or so, you will at least have moved a fraction of a millimetre ahead in your pursuit to realising that creation. What could be the worst consequence? You would fail miserably maybe at the moment, but you might develop a skill or two, try resolving a few problems and become better at what you love doing the most. Also, don’t forget to enjoy what you are doing. Don’t think of the end result, just keep doing it for the fun of it without keeping any high expectations.

After writing and Directing 7 to 8 short films, I decided to take the next big leap into feature length films since almost 4 years now. I have completed writing first drafts of 7 feature length scripts namely:

10 Mistakes of a Pizza Boy

Jaan

Tenzin

Tripping Secrets

Bum hai ki manta nahi

Boriyat

What’s Up Dikra

Another one that I don’t want to reveal at the moment

And I have at least 6 to 7 more concepts for feature length films in mind, some of which I have abandoned in between, but still have a potential to be completed. With so many concepts that need to be developed and made into films, I have decided to work on them every single day, completing one feature length script after the other. You never know when you will find that one opportunity to pounce on. I would at least not worry about the next film that I will make after my first one! What if I don’t get that one opportunity? Well, I am positive, that question never occurs to me.

DO YOU KNOW ANY FILM PRODUCER or FINANCER? DO LET ME KNOW, I HAVE SOME REALLY COOL UNIVERSAL FEATURE LENGTH FILM CONCEPTS THAT I WOULD LIKE TO DIRECT MYSELF. Email: tibetian.flags@gmail.com

It looks like I have been boasting about what I have done till now as a writer in this blog post, but at this moment I am seriously looking for collaborations and producers who can help me make these films. What’s the point if nobody knows that what I have been upto for so many years! So please don’t mind 🙂

Cheers!