Diwakar had tagged me ages ago on his blog. I decided to write it out today… These are the things that changed me… Looking back at all these things made me realise that many things touch you and you don’t even realise what a transformation they bring about in your personality.
A Writer and two books: Each book I’ve read made a difference to my life. Be it a book like Single in the city or a novel like The Kite Runner or even The Secret. Each book taught me how to feel, how to understand, how to think…
One book that changed me remarkably was Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist. It made me realise the power of wanting, the power of my heart. Same goes for The Secret by Rhonda Byrnes. It made me realise the power of things that I already knew. It reduced my pessimism, it made me believe.
Khalid Hosseini and Margaret Atwood taught me how to look deep within characters. The Kite Runner and The Blind Assassin are two books that made me realise that I want to write more, and I want to write better.
A Movie:
I eat, sleep and breathe cinema. I enjoy most of it including ultimate dreamy bollywood melodramas, to bollywood classics a la Sholay to Hollywood romances, action. There’s also been a lot of World cinema on my DVD player.
A movie that made me want to contribute in some way to cinema is You’ve Got Mail. The film is brilliantly written and plays forward with the characters. Recently, watching Khuda Kay Liye and The Dark Knight put a lot creative wheels in motion for me.
Having said that, I must say that I have written a novel, which might make a great film someday. Only if Karan Johar would have it! Wishful thinking, but then, I believe in destiny.
A Person:
There have been many people who have made a big difference in my life. But one of the most important among them is Nilu Niranjana Gavankar. She is a woman who’s lived her life on her own terms. She worked in the US with Bechtel, and then she came to Mumbai to make a film! She did it, she made the film. But she also touched my family’s life in that period. She taught me how to look beyond the obvious. She made me believe that I was special. She taught me how to value what I had. She made me believe in the power of stories. She made me.
In my teens, if there was one person who decided where my life would go, it was Nilu. We haven’t been in touch for a long time, but somehow I remember her everyday.
My sister. She came into my life and transformed it. She is the voice of reason in my life. She is someone who I can depend on. I cant imagine life without her.
Its hard to think of just a few people…. Raj Kamble, Shashikant Sawant, Javed Akhtar (through his book and his lyrics), Warsha and Rahul Kale, Avinash Paranjape, Bharat Kaka… I have been blessed with these wonderful people who enrich my life each day…
Events:
My school life. It was extremely dorky, weird and I don’t think I can ecognise the person I used to be back in school.
My college days at KC. I realised that loving someone along with their flaws is the most staifying feeling ever.
My uni days at Sussex. They taught me how to be on my own. They made me love solitude.
My days at Yuva: I met very special people while I was working here. The friendships still exist though I have moved on from Yuva.
Nimmai’s death… Dealing with bereavement was the hardest thing. To deal with the fact that I won’t ever see my grandmother again just took days… Even today if I pass by Poonam Baug, tears well up…
I tag: Vishesh, Yashshri, Sneha, Jugal, Pooja and Mruns
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