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Elizabeth Gilbert and her ideas about balance in life and her journey from the much acclaimed Eat, Pray, Love to her latest book, Big Magic.
The books by Elizabeth Gilbert are for all of us who have grown up reading western novels more than Ramayan and Mahabharat, who are the liberal ‘din-e-ilahi’ kind and therefore do not participate in rituals, for whom Sita is Dipika Chikhaliya, Ram – Arun Govil, Bhishma – Mukesh Khanna, who can sing Karmanyavadhikaraste without really understanding it, thanks to B R Chopra... Those of us who believe that life is about living, not just meditating, and yet who believe that, there needs to be a balance in life somewhere.
And then again those of us who realise that such balances probably don’t exist in this world and who therefore dissolve all such passionate but purportedly idiosyncratic, Utopian, radical thoughts into a goblet, a glass or a whole bottle of wine, lest the world would call us imbecile, extremists of a personal nature, here is the modern day saint, just for our kind!
Elizabeth Gilbert, an ex-waitress, a self-proclaimed ex-seduction addict, an ex-vagabond and homeless, an ex-divorcee, a foodie, a voracious reader, a prolific, inveterate writer, a die-hard romantic, a yogi, a spiritualist, is the modern day Mira. Just for the convenience of all, let’s call her the ‘Gopi’ who ended up being Mira.
She can talk about divinity and sainthood with the same fervour, as she talks of Food and of Sex – The three most important ingredients of a happy life. She makes each one of it sound like prayer: eating, meditating and love making. Let’s just call her someone who has balanced her yin and yang. Someone who is walking some sort of middle path, which is not really in the middle, but is like a spiderweb all over the ‘stuff’, that is called life.
And if one was to read ‘Eat Pray Love’, her most popular novel, a unique travelogue, one would begin to feel jealous of this homeless, aimless, disturbed, disheartened, depressed and in many ways deranged (What with all that tree hugging), individual who journeys through her inhibitions and three countries, in two continents, to find a balance, that we mere mortals can only dream of. And in the end of it, if we truly understood the book, we would want to call it, ‘Pray Pray Pray’ rather than ‘Eat Pray Love’, because it is a book of prayers, in three different forms.
But Liz made a mark on me with a totally different book. It is called ‘Big Magic‘.
“Liz Gilbert Ko Salam” for writing a book that is a sort of holy-book-for-the-creative. The, what-you-can-do-to-bring-your-creativity-out book, which resonates with me to the core.
If ever I have known a humble soul, here is one that is the humblest, because she demystifies creativeness and makes it into a form of prayer too. Do it every day, for God and ‘Creative Genius’ comes to those, who worship it every day, with passion and a selfless pursuit to the service of the goal, without pride. She is a saint I tell you…!
“The ideas that come to you are floating out there,” she says, “looking for a suitable medium. And therefore if that idea chose you, you should be thankful to the universe for that!” (Not an exact quote)
How much more spiritual can creativity get? I could almost hear a Sufi song at the background as I read the book.
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I am a Chartered Accountant and a Mother of a 7 year old. Writing is my hobby. Besides I like telling stories to children. I am also a corporate trainer. read more...
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Rajshri Deshpande, who played the fiery protagonist in Trial by Fire along with Abhay Deol speaks of her journey and her social work.
Rajshri Deshpande as the protagonist in ‘Trial by Fire’, the recent Netflix show has received raving reviews along with the show itself for its sensitive portrayal of the Uphaar Cinema Hall fire tragedy, 1997 and its aftermath.
The limited series is based on the book by the same name written by Neelam and Shekhar Krishnamoorthy, who lost both their children in the tragedy. We got an opportunity to interview Rajshri Deshpande who played Neelam Krishnamoorthy, the woman who has been relentlessly crusading in the court for holding the owners responsible for the sheer negligence.
Rajshri Deshpande is more than an actor. She is also a social warrior, the rare celebrity from the film industry who has also gone back to her roots to give to poverty struck farming villages in her native Marathwada, with her NGO Nabhangan Foundation. Of course a chance to speak with her one on one was a must!
“What is a woman’s job, Ramesh? Taking care of parents-in-law, husband, children, home and things at work—all at the same time? She isn’t God or a superhuman."
The arrays of workstations were occupied by people peering into their computer screens. The clicks of keyboard keys were punctuated by the occasional footsteps moving around to brainstorm or collaborate with colleagues in their cubicles. Most employees went about their tasks without looking at the person seated on either side of their workstation. Meenakshi was one of them.
The thirty-one-year-old marketing manager in a leading eCommerce company in India sat straight in her seat, her eyes on the screen, her fingers punching furiously into the keys. She was in a flow and wanted to finish the report while the thoughts and words were coming effortlessly into her mind.
Natu-Natu. The mellifluous ringtone interrupted her thoughts. She frowned at her mobile phone with half a mind to keep it ringing until she noticed the caller’s name on the screen, making her pick up the phone immediately.
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