CHERISH with HARISH

Chapter-2 The space 4 th May 2010, Kharaghoda After a long walk, we reached our location. It was blank. Absoutely bank! The only thing which I could see cleary was the horizon An infinite, wide horizon which had stories to tell, stories which it had seen. The strong sound of the breeze constantly made me realise that there’s no one here- no people, no vehicles, no city, no village… just the salty sand, the wide horizon and the strong breeze. We stood there watching it for sometime. Achint and me looked so small in front of the huge Rann. Or may be, the whole humanity looked so small in front of it. It was powerful. I could sense why people in the older days were scared of travelling too far. They thought that the earth is not round but flat. May be sights like these scared them to travel beyond a certain point. Like them, I could feel that fear again. I asked myself, “Is the earth actually round?” We started looking for space for our sets. Achint was guiding

A nice semester this was. Too much of thinking...too much of work... and lots of fun. I directed two plays...directed a film to which I gave everything (almost), a bit of random travelling (love it!) and some plans for the near future. One thing which this sem taught me was to be 'random'...to live in the present, and live to the fullest. The future would follow in the same colour scheme. 'Kuch toh dekho' ( VC street play), 'Dustbin' (khel), 'Kuch toh dekho' (for MBICEM) , 'Growth' (a short film) and 'Shwet-shyam' (fiction film @ NID) ... Sometimes we think too much about the future, and spoil the present. I think it's good to be random. You see the unseen, you hear the unheard. So when you work hard then, you are honest to yourself, as you chose to get into the situation! 'Good things happen to good people.'  Plans for 'Jantar'  and 'Gum-Naam' (plays)...a short film ('Asleep') and the documentary proje

That early morning breeze which reminds me of all the childhood memories, that glass of cold water which I hold after spending a hot afternoon, that's where I see God. That fire I touch on a chilly winter night, that deep breath I take after a tensed moment, that 2-minute nap I take after hours of hard work, that brilliant idea I get sometimes get, out of no where, that is where, I see God. That chair I get to sit, after standing for long, that peace I get once I close my eyes, that appreciation I get from a stranger, when I need it the most, those accidents which take place, where I never get hurt, that is where, I see God. Those moments when an unknown stray dog showers love on me, when my lips make a circle to say 'Om', those people I meet whom I wasn't supposed to meet, that love with which a mother looks at her new-born, that is where, I see God. That sound of the serene flowing river, tha sight of that beautiful mountain, that wet smell of the rains, the sun rays

Sometimes I get these wierd questions, whose answers I know, but I still don't know. Who am I? I know my name, my existence but what more than that? Am I the body, the soul, the thoughts or am I just a collection os fome energy? Is it when I breathe that I live, or is it when I think that I exist? Would I still be called 'me' once I leave the body, or will I stop thinking after I die? Where am I? Is this world really huge? or is it just a minute layer, a small part of that HUGE structure that we can't see? Does our world end where we stop seeing, hearing or feeling? Or are there more layers, deeper and invisible, unheard and unexplored? Do the stars I see in the sky are a part of the same layer? or is it some distant layer? They say they don't know where the universe ends, but do they know where does it begin? Am I a part of the universe, or is the other way round? Is the universe a part of me? What do I do? When I live life, do I plan it? Or is it already a part o

इन तेज़ चलती गाड़ियों के बीच , न दिखे सड़क के उस पार कि गलियां । भूल गया हूँ , इन अंधेरी गलियों में, आँखों पर पट्टी बाँध आँख-मिचौनी खेलना। अब आम बहुत मीठे मिले हैं, पर भूल गया हूँ, उस आम के पेड़ पर चढ़, खट्टे, अध-पके आमों को तोडना। अब ज़िन्दगी चले हैं सीधी सड़कों पर, भूल गया हूँ,उन छोटी-छोटी पग-डंडियों पर खो जाना। अब जब भी पग नीचे जाएँ, चप्पल ही संभाले हैं, भूल गया हूँ, नंगे पैर उस ठंडी माती पर चलना। अब दूर-दूर तक सब दिखे हैं, पर भूल गया हूँ, उस करीबी धुंधली परछाई को देखना , जो शायद मेरी ही थी ।

The beginning Achint wanted to shoot his diploma film in the Rann of Kutch in the first and second week of May. Many believe that May is the worst time to be in the Rann. May be that was the adventure of the whole shoot. We packed our bags. Our journey started on the morning of 1st May, in a van which carried the entire luggage, the driver, Achint and me. The journey was long. I have seen the Thar, but this was my first visit to the Rann, a desert of some other type. After around two hours of traveling we stopped at a dhaba to have some chai and faafda! As we moved further it got hotter and boring as there was very little variety in the visuals that could be seen. So, I dozed off. The hot breeze woke me again after a short while. I saw trucks, some villagers working on huge heaps of sand. As our van got closer to the heaps I noticed that it was not sand. It was salt! They were white salt crystals which were brought from the Rann and now would be sent to factories for refining. I had he