Being on the other Side

Hello People,

 Hope all has been well with you guys since I attempted a blog last. The very reason I have not done so is I have had a wonderful opportunity to actually be a part of a movie making process and saw quite a bit of it to understand and acknowledge that this indeed is tough to do, so the next time I feel strongly about how entertaining a movie was or wasn’t this knowledge will surely be a very big contributing factor towards reaching a judgement. The experience was an extremely rewarding one, primarily because I met so many personalities who I had seen from the side of the adoring audience and always wondered what these people would be like in person and found that almost all these stars, legends some of them were extremely warm and looked forward to know and learn about cricket and how that information would enhance their roles. There is a cricketing angle to the film that is where I came into it actually even though I would love to say I was there for my acting skills and this will surely shock the most of you but needless to say  I wasn’t. People who have regularly had all of us in splits of all kinds almost quadrupling in laughter are really like the most of us in more ways than many, simple is what comes to mind first. They have similar thoughts on very many issues which is so comforting when you reluctantly take seat besides them , what sets them apart is that they all are so friggin funny ,full of humour so many personalities bring forth so many types of humour and once they start coming they come thick and fast. A few funnies, an actor who is currently at the top of the ladder , known for his rural accents and spur of the moment retorts who was supposed to miss the line of the ball and be bowled , I was in charge of throwing down the stumps from about 10 feet and with a view of all 3 of them I for the love of it couldn’t throw them down in quite a few attempts ,  me with every failed attempt going purple(with my colour and I don’t go red) the star must have seen all this in the pas,t hit the stumps with his bat thus  getting out ‘ hit wicket ‘ not in the script in the ‘take’ walked away magnanimously shooting a smile towards me to put me at ease and end my tremendously embarrassing predicament. To another, before a shot two very different personalities one intense and the other quite funny  , they seem good friends though were standing together getting ready to give a shot, one of them was supposed to do it while flicking a ball as leggies do , as it transpired the ball slipped and landed on the head of the intense guy what followed was fantastic, the shot had gone for a toss but the expletive that followed made the guy  so endearing to me in particular as that is exactly what I would have done er said, simply marvellous we all had a humongous laugh. To the legendary director himself once an actor, what a magnificent person to just be around, always interested in having a chat on the game, remembering and sharing his experiences which were like gold dust to hear and that too from him. He used to explain how a certain event needs to be shot and I used to, very rarely as it was always quite authentic, suggest how we could do it. To the first time I did a shot when I was kindly given a dialogue and mercifully it was always just a single line even a word more would have sent numerous shivers down my already trembling spine , coming back, it was a shot where we were supposed  to be practising as a group of cricketers and I had to say a line after and to a very famous actor. I would keep thinking I am going to fudge it up so very early in the piece I told most of actors that I am not one and that I am a cricketer, as if they wouldn’t have known it on their own but I helped myself and them with this vital information, The actor in question put me at ease immediately by saying  “you just say your line when I look at you ‘’ and look he did and lo I did it, bloody marvellous, supremely confident at that moment I could have done Mr Bachhan’s line from Trishul or not, a long way to go for that son really long, don’t even think of trying to attempt that you , you fruit...!!!

To being a part of a scene with not one, not two but 3 legends, directed by another and actually delivering a line, to having an argument with another legend again a part of the script, never otherwise, to doing a dance sequence with all of them, man it was just class plain and everlasting class, amazing memories and numerous stories. Most of all so many wonderful people know me as I always knew them. I can’t for one thank the powers responsible for this enriching experience enough, believe me I can’t. I cannot ask for more and it doesn’t get better than this.

    One of my very old and close friends said I was a polymath, I think he is just too nice a person and for very obvious reasons has formed this opinion about me on second thought though I feel I have always, in the past considered his judgement to be very astute and valuable to have a change of mind now so after a lot of thought I think I should concede and accept his compliment.

As I have always maintained and will continue to say that these thoughts of mine are .......’ Just Thoughts’.      

 

How literate......

Hi guys,

Hope you all are having a top year till date and if so I have no intentions of changing that with this blog.....
but seriously, having read , heard and expressed my opinion on illiteracy , I have come to a few conclusions which I hope would help in ending the dilemma that I have so often faced.

Let me start by citing a few examples that come to mind , say while watching a sports activity that we, Indians often compare how well the opposition can fall and recover while we rarely match up to the athletic ability. The standard response to such an observation would be Indians are more academically inclined and are highly placed the world over be it in the field of science , finance or medicine, no denying that fact .

How many of us can remember being told that if you want to play a game and that is besides your school work that you should be sticking to one game and if you are not , you are being very fickle. Remember? ring a bell somewhere? the child is fickle but it is so because its brain is learning at the time and wants to absorb more , know more , don't stop this process, its natural , we must abolish early specialisation of any kind.

How about firstly teaching a child to jump , run , hop , skip , fall and get up as part of the kindergarten syllabus?
you might say whats there to learn ?   oh but there is a lot to learn how many of us know the right running technique?I am sure not many of us do. If a child is not taught these basic skills properly they may not execute the slightly advanced skills properly, get laughed at , discouraged even ridiculed in some cases and drop sport altogether. We need to understand that being literate is not being able to read and write but also performing basic skills correctly being 'physically' literate is also a necessity the sooner we realise the better, agree? no? answer me this , do you write more or walk more in your life? do you read more or breathe more ? in times of stress the " I/you need to relax"  phrase is abundant , how many of us know how to relax? well when we breathe , walk and relax more than any other basic activity why aren't we taught the techniques to these enormously important skills ? Children must be taught these skills, at an age when they learn to read and write a foreign language and get very good at it , imagine the range of progress we could achieve by teaching these skills them .
The magnitude of potential is exciting ........yes learning letters, words and sentences is important but breathing , walking , running and relaxing is paramount......again, Just Thoughts.