The winds of change...and fear
I have received an offer to write a movie script. There are mixed thoughts in my mind. For one, the person who made the offer is one who owes me money from a prior project and has been promising me for the last hundred weeks to pay me for my work.
If I still accept the project, it is not because I am Gandhi like in nature and will always walk into any situation believing that "the other person means absolutely no harm." I am like this in general. However, I also believe in the adage, "Once bitten, twice shy." Don't be a child and love the fire.
I agreed to work, only because the crew is talented and I stand a lot to gain by embarking on this venture. The team includes the bass singer of Gypsy Kings, and what amount of money in a checking account can match the learning gained from her work?
Also today, I stopped by a TV studio, where people were throwing brilliant ideas at each other, as if they were on sale at a particularly cheap flea market. I had a chance to be here, only because I offered to carry heavy loads for this writer/producer, who works for my firm. She offered to let me collaborate on this video they are making for my company.
The winds of change are blowing. I must take these opportunities. Even before starting, I am nervous and scared, of being "found out." What if my work isn't cutting it? Will I never be employed in a creative environment? Worse, how shall I come to terms with coming to know that as a writer (a vision that forms the only crutch to support me in coming years), I wasn't up to the mark?
But Gandhi would say, "Worry Not". I must focus on the task at hand. Not the end result and all. Love every setting. Be every character. Understand every nuance. I must learn to enjoy what I write. So that other people will enjoy what they see. Great works of the past were great. And of the past. I shall treat them like a water fountain and not a cloud. I shall quench my curiosity and learn from them. Their towering presence shall not rain down on my parade of joy.
This time, the winds of change bring about no rain. Only backbreaking labor in the hot sun, which one knows will be there for a long time. Each seed must be planted properly.
I have received an offer to write a movie script. There are mixed thoughts in my mind. For one, the person who made the offer is one who owes me money from a prior project and has been promising me for the last hundred weeks to pay me for my work.
If I still accept the project, it is not because I am Gandhi like in nature and will always walk into any situation believing that "the other person means absolutely no harm." I am like this in general. However, I also believe in the adage, "Once bitten, twice shy." Don't be a child and love the fire.
I agreed to work, only because the crew is talented and I stand a lot to gain by embarking on this venture. The team includes the bass singer of Gypsy Kings, and what amount of money in a checking account can match the learning gained from her work?
Also today, I stopped by a TV studio, where people were throwing brilliant ideas at each other, as if they were on sale at a particularly cheap flea market. I had a chance to be here, only because I offered to carry heavy loads for this writer/producer, who works for my firm. She offered to let me collaborate on this video they are making for my company.
The winds of change are blowing. I must take these opportunities. Even before starting, I am nervous and scared, of being "found out." What if my work isn't cutting it? Will I never be employed in a creative environment? Worse, how shall I come to terms with coming to know that as a writer (a vision that forms the only crutch to support me in coming years), I wasn't up to the mark?
But Gandhi would say, "Worry Not". I must focus on the task at hand. Not the end result and all. Love every setting. Be every character. Understand every nuance. I must learn to enjoy what I write. So that other people will enjoy what they see. Great works of the past were great. And of the past. I shall treat them like a water fountain and not a cloud. I shall quench my curiosity and learn from them. Their towering presence shall not rain down on my parade of joy.
This time, the winds of change bring about no rain. Only backbreaking labor in the hot sun, which one knows will be there for a long time. Each seed must be planted properly.
A momentous day for Tibet
The sun must have risen in the west today. For when I went online to get my daily dosage on Bush, Al-Qaeda, Kashmir and the like, I was pleasantly surprised to see good news. China has softened its stance on Tibet and is agreeable to the Dalai Lama returning to his homeland.
I have never seen a group of people who have been so oppressed, yet so gentle, kind and jovial as the Tibetans. I had the good fortune of spending three weeks in Dharmashala (called little Lhasa), India in the winter of 1996 and was instantly struck by their simplicity and inherent good will towards all human beings, especially for the suffering and those that have put them through suffering. Yes, for all the misery that China has put Tibet through, The Dalai Lama has always prayed for the Chinese, a people that have killed more than a sixth of his country's population. A nation that has destroyed all remnants of Tibetan culture and history. In fact in most regions of Tibet, the number of Chinese outnumber the Tibetans due to a program of systematic settlement. In spite of all this, the Dalai Lama -who incidentally holds Gandhi to be his mentor- has always wished the Chinese well and banks on the fact that they are human, and will ultimately show compassion towards Tibet. The Lama had placed a program before the world, which shows how in his mid, man and the environment are as important as each other. He wishes to make Tibet a zone of Ahimsa, much like that proposed by Gorbachev regarding the Sino-Russian border. According to the proposal:
1) The entire Tibetan plateau would be demilitarised;
2) The manufacture, tasting, and stockpiling of nuclear weapons and other armaments on the Tibetan plateau would be prohibited.
3) The Tibetan plateau would be transformed into the world's largest natural park or biosphere. Strict laws would be enforced to protect wildlife and plant life; the exploitation of natural resources would be carefully regulated so as not to damage relevant ecosystems; and a policy of sustainable development would be adopted in populated areas;
4) The manufacture and use of nuclear power and other technologies which produce hazardous waste would be prohibited;
5) National resources and policy would be directed towards the active promotion of peace and environmental protection. Organizations dedicated to the furtherance of peace and to the protection of all forms of life would find a hospitable home in Tibet;
6) The establishment of international and regional organisations for the promotion and protection of human rights would be encouraged in Tibet.
I pray for the Chinese to let Tibet become this land of peace. It is truly important, especially in these troubled times for one land to be the beacon of hope. Tibet can indeed show the rest of the world the innate benefits of ahimsa and the futility of violence.
But first, there has to be a Tibet. Can George Bush not apply a little diplomatic pressure on China in his holy "war against terror?" Tibet is not even listed as a country in the otherwise excellent CIA World fact book.
Website links:
An excellent website about the Dalai Lama
The sun must have risen in the west today. For when I went online to get my daily dosage on Bush, Al-Qaeda, Kashmir and the like, I was pleasantly surprised to see good news. China has softened its stance on Tibet and is agreeable to the Dalai Lama returning to his homeland.
I have never seen a group of people who have been so oppressed, yet so gentle, kind and jovial as the Tibetans. I had the good fortune of spending three weeks in Dharmashala (called little Lhasa), India in the winter of 1996 and was instantly struck by their simplicity and inherent good will towards all human beings, especially for the suffering and those that have put them through suffering. Yes, for all the misery that China has put Tibet through, The Dalai Lama has always prayed for the Chinese, a people that have killed more than a sixth of his country's population. A nation that has destroyed all remnants of Tibetan culture and history. In fact in most regions of Tibet, the number of Chinese outnumber the Tibetans due to a program of systematic settlement. In spite of all this, the Dalai Lama -who incidentally holds Gandhi to be his mentor- has always wished the Chinese well and banks on the fact that they are human, and will ultimately show compassion towards Tibet. The Lama had placed a program before the world, which shows how in his mid, man and the environment are as important as each other. He wishes to make Tibet a zone of Ahimsa, much like that proposed by Gorbachev regarding the Sino-Russian border. According to the proposal:
1) The entire Tibetan plateau would be demilitarised;
2) The manufacture, tasting, and stockpiling of nuclear weapons and other armaments on the Tibetan plateau would be prohibited.
3) The Tibetan plateau would be transformed into the world's largest natural park or biosphere. Strict laws would be enforced to protect wildlife and plant life; the exploitation of natural resources would be carefully regulated so as not to damage relevant ecosystems; and a policy of sustainable development would be adopted in populated areas;
4) The manufacture and use of nuclear power and other technologies which produce hazardous waste would be prohibited;
5) National resources and policy would be directed towards the active promotion of peace and environmental protection. Organizations dedicated to the furtherance of peace and to the protection of all forms of life would find a hospitable home in Tibet;
6) The establishment of international and regional organisations for the promotion and protection of human rights would be encouraged in Tibet.
I pray for the Chinese to let Tibet become this land of peace. It is truly important, especially in these troubled times for one land to be the beacon of hope. Tibet can indeed show the rest of the world the innate benefits of ahimsa and the futility of violence.
But first, there has to be a Tibet. Can George Bush not apply a little diplomatic pressure on China in his holy "war against terror?" Tibet is not even listed as a country in the otherwise excellent CIA World fact book.
Website links:
An excellent website about the Dalai Lama
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