There is so much I want to do and so little I actually do.
In moments of sudden inspiration I am reminded of the many artistic goals I have and all the creative endeavors I must take in the only life I will ever life.
But as the moment of sudden inspiration passes, my intellectual goals vanish from my consciousness and all that remains is –“what’s for lunch?”
I have hence decided to create a list of all my excellent goals that are rooted in my love for literature and cinema. Ladies and gentlemen, here goes; The List!
- Learn Bengali
I must learn Bengali. For Mrinal Sen and Satyajit Ray. For Soumitra Chatterjee and Sharmila Tagore. For Sukumar Ray and Ranbindra Nath Tagore.
Pre and early post independence, Bengal was India’s cultural and intellectual capital. For Bengali music, literature and cinema there isn’t a match anywhere. If I were to truly understand, relish and appreciate Bengali art, I simply must learn Bengali.
Back in hostel, I had a Bangladeshi roommate, a junior with whom I developed a genial friendship. I have enough reason and at least one teacher to learn Bengali. Shouldn’t be hard. - Write the story of my dead uncle.
My favorite, and now dead, uncle had quite an interesting life and an even more interesting death. His demise was also the demise of my relationship with my ancestorial home. His story, and that of his dwarf wife and blinded son, often runs in flashes in my mind. I want to knit it into an elaborate depiction of his extraordinary life. My last tribute to my most beloved blood relation. - Start audio recording.
I want to speak in style. With on point enunciations and clever modulations. With husk in my voice when I want to seduce and gentleness when I want to placate. I want to speak animatedly and also seriously. My interest in speech variation comes from my little experience in, and great love for acting. You cannot acquire a certain way of speaking, a certain voice; unless you understand and acquire that personality itself. Like method acting. Not like, this is method acting. I want to do that. I might never endeavor to become an actress, but I can do, at least, this; buy decent audio recording gear, choose a piece from cinema or a novel, practice it methodically and audio record it and share with my friends. This won’t make me an actress or a voice over artist, but it would make me happy because I’ll be closer to the arts and hence to the hearts.
- Learn Salsa
I love dancing. It’s a form of release for me. Salsa is bold, elegant and confident.
I want to be that. Bold, elegant and confident. I’ll learn salsa. I swear, I’ll learn salsa! - Intern at Newslaundry.
I am in awe of the folks at Newslaundry. They are young, intelligent, sincere but also funny. It would be an intellectually uplifting experience to be around those people. I want to become a part of their inner circle. Once my ongoing internship is over, I might think of something. - Publish the correspondence between a particular friend of mine and I.
(Umm… don’t want to give away much at the moment.)
This is all for now. I will keep updating this list as new goals are made and existing ones are completed. If you have some suggestions, let me know in the comments? If you want to collaborate, ping me on Twitter?
And for God’s sake subscribe to this blog. You don’t subscribe and then you ask, “hey, Mahe! Why haven’t you been writing anything lately?” *frowns and rolls eyes*
Numbly Yours 