My storytelling in three formats

Writing

During my engineering college exams whenever I wasn't prepared well, I used to write some imaginary stories on answer sheets. Sometimes professors announced and shamed me in the class but that resulted in something unexpected. My room-mates and friends who saw an 'untapped potential' in me wanted my help in writing love-letters for their girls. That was an era when internet wasn't accessible to general public and cellphones were out of question. Handwritten love-letters meant bunch of papers tied up with a thread (just like exam answer sheets).

I grew so comfortable and prolific in writing those letters, that I was soon made a to-go person for 'love-letter consulting'. My boys sometimes even suspected that I was trying to woo their girls with my own feelings than writing on their behalf but little did they know that my love was more for the words, metaphors and expressions than the girls or the boys themselves.

My interest in writing then turned into passion and since then there's no turning back. What started as love-letters continued through project reports, publications, work-related documents, websites content to blogs. Today my main business revolves around writing documents, templates for small and medium sized companies. While they call it management consulting, for me it's all about understanding their business and converting that into words.....sometimes technical but mostly it's word-game.

When I don't have much to write for work, I open my blog and scribble my heart out. And I did that 137 times precisely. But writing is not something which helped me discover my inner passion. It's teaching.

Speaking / Teaching

The year I arrived to Canada, I was asked by my then employer to handle training division of his business in his absence as he had more important things to take care of. Prior to that, public speaking was only about seminars in MBA and later some amateur training to interns. But the day I took up to training, I kind of discovered myself.

When I stood before the crowd and started explaining them things, words started flowing incessantly and organically without me putting much preparation or effort. Explaining complex concepts in storytelling format became fun, then an addiction and then way of life. And my audiences listened in rapt attention (at least I felt so).

My love affair with teaching crossed many thresholds across businesses, subjects, topics, forums to corporate training to guest lectures at my alma-maters. Now teaching isn't a big money-spinner for me and after management consulting began picking up to be my major business, I've been contemplating to put an end to training but it's pure respect and love of my alumni and my own passion of teaching, I couldn't do that as yet. All I could do now is to limit it to weekends and some evenings.

Be it writing or teaching, I love presenting my thoughts in a tangible form for others to understand and devour. And this is the exact feeling I get when I make any music video.

Film-making

While I don't make films per se, I use this term loosely to represent motion art (music videos, short films that I engage in).

It all started with my wife and sister-in-law asking me on gunpoint to film them groove for some remix song at their backyard. I reluctantly started but enjoyed the process and felt it was rather fun. After that there's no looking back. 9 music video covers, 1 short film, 13 snippets for marketing - all happened in a 2 year period.

There are many who admired my videos and I will always be grateful. I took all the criticism and brickbats too into my stride because they took time to watch and express their opinion on my work.

Some well-wishers who noticed that I made all those videos with the same skill-sets, time and resources (like a cellphone) which they all have, wondered why didn't I get formal training and try for an opportunity to make a commercial movie. I wasn't (am not) interested in that for multiple reasons.

I'm in that stage of life when career change, paradigm shift don't entice me anymore and I'm quite satisfied with the money or recognition I currently get by doing what I do.

Question: Then why film-making ?

Answer: Being a perennial daydreamer, I thrive in many random thoughts, dreams and imaginations. When some thoughts persist and get etched in my mind strongly, I try to translate those into some medium. If a thought is beautiful with photogenic faces and appealing locations, I can't do justice to that in a blog-post. I get a strong urge to make a video and make that thought immortal. I love giving life to my imagination.

Then I try finding somebody who could bring my imagination to life. Many who collaborated with me on music videos were (are) my friends or those who I know. Most obliged my request and even those who weren't interested to collab were polite enough and I respected their choice. Once I find actors who I think could do justice, I arrange logistics, plan their outfits, film (mostly with my phone), edit the footage and publish. Then I juxtapose my vision / imagination with the output and if it's on par, I'd sleep peacefully, and if not I use the discrepancy as motivation for my next project.

Question: Is it worth wasting so much time, effort and energy on this ? 

Answer: Yes. Because I refuse to work 9 am-5 pm, pay bills and die. I want to create a legacy of my own which outlasts my physical existence, which defines my vision, my way of thinking and my craft that my kids and to-be grand kids could live with long after I cease to exist.

I hope my friends who worked with me on those videos too have a story to tell their kids later that a crazy guy forced them into some crazy project that helped them tick off their bucket-list item or something they always fantasized but didn't know how to pursue.

Conclusion:

Both my Blog and CutMirchi Media are thus extensions to my personality that could potentially carry my mind, my breath, my words and my legacy. And through both these media, I get to do what I do at my own leisure, terms and resources.

120,000 blog views, 240,000 YouTube channel views,7000 FB page likes only strengthen my resolve.

When I write a blog or a work related document, I tell a story; when I speak in a lecture hall, I tell a story too. During film-making, of course I try to tell a story. Writing, speaking and film-making are hence three modes of story-telling which liberate my artistic expression and keep my creative pangs floating. I always want to live a story-teller and die as one. That defines me.

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PS: Somebody asked me what do I like the most in film-making (or any creative video-making) since I was involved in end to end lifecycle and beyond. Here they are:

• Most interesting phase - writing story / screenplay - because that involves a lot of dreaming
• Most boring task - production design (arranging logistics and scheduling) - meh
• Most overrated task - camera work and filming - that's a craft anybody can master with time
• Most satisfying task - directing the performance to align with the vision. 
• Most difficult task - editing. It's the most creative part
• Most rewarding task - acting. It's most recognized and an everlasting memory for actors
• Easiest task - reviews and judgement :)