Reaching There

Sucking Big Time (second from right) S hucks, I sucked in this scene! This is the first thought that rushed through my mind when I had just finished an improvisation, playing an old man talking to his friend. I somehow had a great gut feeling that I sucked big time. I can't do this thing they call "acting".  My teacher read my face. He looked at me and said, “If you fail trying, your efforts are appreciated at the least. If you fail because of negligence you are mocked." So the ball was back in my court, and the big lingering question was, “HOW DID I FAIL?" I failed because I tried something which was different than my usual self. I wasn't negligent. Due to my inexperience I couldn't strike the right chords. I tried and I failed. I am happy I tried. So I can't be a good actor if I fail? Nope, acting is the chance to fail. In failures lies the magic recipe of success. The more I hit the wall the more I'll learn about the char...

Hoo...Haa...Hee! These were the sounds that were coming out of my mouth with my arms and legs outstretched. Oh, please don't worry; I wasn't undergoing any medical examination. Rather, these were the sounds I made when I was asked to do a few movements and sound exercises in my first class during a theater workshop organized by The Actor's Studio,Hyderabad . The next exercise was to make these sounds while throwing an invisible object to the person next to you. The next got a bit more interesting; a participant had to start a sentence with an English alphabet and the next person had to create the next sentence starting with the next letter in chain, however keeping a relation to the previous sentence. Then it was just whole lot of walking, sometimes in slow motion and running the other times. I didn't get the meaning of these exercises immediately. Even right now I am not sure. However the core message that seems to be coming from these exercises is “Let go ...

E veryone has gone through times in life when something got stuck in the head like a pin. It just refuses to go away. Arrrrghhh! I can't handle it anymore! I am losing it! #$%& it! Remember these times? I clearly do. This happens to me a lot more times than I expect it should. Well, we're only human, you know. These are the times when you go out for help. Some find help in lonely bars with a lots of glasses of numbness. Of course a huge headache and guilt awaits them the next morning. Some are a bit saner they find another person to help them take through these troubled times. I would any day prefer the later. But sometimes life is cruel and help isn't handy. These are the times when it seems to 'go out' for help, isn't possible. But, is it so? I beg to differ now, especially after hearing what Tom Cruise (yes, the actor) said in an interview which I watched recently. I didn't expect to learn this from a Hollywood actor, but I did! T...

There are so many things going through my mind right at this moment. It's amazing how much stuff flies through my mind every second. How much would my hike be this year? Why the heck can't I copy a movie on my laptop without getting this "cyclic redundancy check" error (btw any ideas..)? I should definitely call this friend of mine today. Now I am suddenly staring at the white blinking light of my external drive. Wow! But do you know what I am really trying to do right now? I am just trying to write a post for my blog but all hell has broken loose in my mind. The task at hand has taken the back seat and everything else is playing musical chair on the front seat. Multi-tasking sucks! Heck, I am not even multi-tasking here. I am just trying to write a post but the mind is just switching between other channels. I guess the mind tries to fit in as many things as possible during a single moment in time. Is that the nature of the beast? Maybe it is, however it doesn...

If you have ever spent hours to prepare a dish you'll immediately know what I am going to talk about next. It's been a while since I cooked but I do remember spending hours trying to perfect a dish and eventually just adding a bit more of 'that' to get 'that' taste (feel free to fill in for the that'). The 'that' that comes to the rescue could be a bit more salt or it could be one of those exquisite Indian spices. Regardless the search for personal perfection is a continuous and tough job. A lot of times people have ended up with bitterness that follows a failure. Some claimed to have found perfection others have just faked it. In any case those who have continued to earnestly pursue the path have lived fulfilling and wonderful lives. For starters, this article is not about food. Someone in a more philosophical mood than I am currently in, compared life to wandering around in darkness. A rather gloomy thought to consider lost under the dar...

Life is all about hits and misses. You win some and you lose some. So what's the difference between those who seem to go through rough times with smile a and those who keep seeking help from outside? I feel there's just one difference, those who like to survive have dug deep into their mind and devised a surviving mechanism. It is their philosophy in life, attitude, and confidence; call it whatever you want to but it is something personal that drives them. Recently I came across two such "philosophies" and this post is simply about sharing these gems without tainting with my opinion. So here are those words by a couple of persons whose name you may not necessarily recognize. John Picarello "If you love something but choose not to do it professionally, it's not a waste. Because, you know, you still have it. You have it forever." Sounds so refreshing and honest, right? To find out who is John Picarello you'll have to go through this...

The Global Recession: A Look Back from an Ex-Non-Immigrant’s Eyes In my second year of undergraduate studies in India I decided to go abroad for further studies. Like thousands of students across India I went through my word lists, brushed up my maths and went to the nearest testing center to give my GRE and TOEFL. At the end of the exams the screen showed me my tentative scores. The minute the number flashed up on the screen I knew my American dreams were on. It was in August of 2006, a week before Indian Independence Day, I landed in the international terminal of JFK Airport. As I scampered with my friends through the busy terminal to catch the connecting flight, we couldn't help but feel a sense of accomplishment. As we flew over Buffalo I noticed the baseball fields underneath. I knew I was in U.S.A.! However this post is not about my studies, life in school or even my first job. But it is a commentary on the Great Recession that shrouded the country and keeps it wrapp...