Monday, October 10, 2022

A Mother Outside the Emergency Room

By Gaurav Parab

From dozens of hospital visits over the years, the most heartbreaking scene that I have witnessed remains an old mother wailing outside the Emergency /Casualty room for a son or daughter wheeled in after a road accident.


Relatives surround the mother, afraid of telling her, avoiding her eyes by looking elsewhere, dealing silently with their own grief - a combination of missing the departed and seeing the plight of the mother who has had the very air taken out of her.


Unfortunately, it is a scene that is invariably played at every visit. Such is the devastating toll road accidents take in India. And unfortunately, most happen because someone is speeding, going the wrong way, or not wearing a helmet or seat belt. Little, trivial things that save a grand total of two or three seconds yet amount to a lifetime of sorrow for the mothers who remain.

Nothing will change by this post as thinking one is bullet proof is part of our upbringing. Most parents themselves teach their kids 'chalta hain' and by demonstrating the same atrocious behavior. Setting them up for a moment in the future that they never imagined possible and was always supposed to be a newspaper story about someone else's kid.

Get into a good college, getting a job, save money are the major problems that occupy the mindspace for majority of our citizens.
Till that screeching of the brakes, the shattering of the windshield, that call from the hospital, and that moment outside a glass door when a doctor approaches shaking her head as relatives embrace you in a meaningless hug.

#india #roadsafety #thatwriterfromindia #gauravparab


Saturday, October 01, 2022

A Writing Update

 Fade In.

The last year or so have been hectic, and my apologies for not staying in touch. This blog has not been updated for a long time, but to those who care for what I have had to share over so many years - It is not that I have not been writing.

I have been writing. More than at any point in my life.

And thanks to whoever is in charge of the writer destiny department up there, there have been a few wins.  So this blog as an update, an apology for not staying in touch, and for showing off. 

A few months back, Rustom and the Last Storyteller of Almora movie rights were acquired. Congratulations to each one of you, who have believed in the book more than I ever have. This has been sometime coming, with multiple false starts with multiple producers but like always I was lucky that I waited, and more importantly I noticed an email from the producer who had been writing to me for a long time - but his email were going to Spam. No thanks to Gmail which lets all the email from Pooja about my Tax returns come in with open arms and blocked the email that can possibly change the direction of my life. 

Long story short, I read the last email that producer (now friend) sent, one thing led to another - and we had a deal. It has found the most lovely home, and more importantly has someone who is championing it and has the same creative vision like I do. Someone who gets IT. Like hopefully, most of you did.

But wait. I did say I have been writing a lot.

3 Webseries and 1 movie.

The good fortune continues. All 3 stories I co-wrote with my buddy - an accomplished novelist- have been optioned by producers - who are guilty of making the most critically acclaimed movies and the biggest blockbusters in India. These folks have come to become our friends, and we all are super excited about the future once they get greenlit. 

Now, not sure if you are aware in real terms this is significant but the journey of a story from a writer's mind to screen is long and often is but a false start. Getting Optioned or rights being sold does not mean that you will see it on a screen anytime soon. There are many hurdles, from getting a OTT on board to getting a showrunner, cast etc. and most projects do get shelved.  But these are kickass stories, and I have no doubt that they will get made at some point. And I hope when they do, I will continue enjoying your love and support and not be abandoned in the manner that I have perhaps abandoned writing to you. 

I will return to my roots. I will blog more often. I will lose weight. 

Thanks so much friends. Do leave a comment, write to me at gauravparab@gmail.com. My biggest fear is out of sight, out of mind like characters tell one another in YA books. I hope this is not an empty hall I am addressing! Would be good to hear from you. Any thing. Any word. 

Warm Regards

Gaurav





Tuesday, January 25, 2022

Birdie in Hand...

By Gaurav Parab

Golfers love to give advice about the game to anyone willing to listen. Or not willing to listen. Or anyone within visual distance. Or anyone who is not even playing Golf.


One of the most common piece of advice that goes around is about Birdie Putts. Everyone tells each other to go for it. Never putt the ball short. Be aggressive on your birdie putt so it atleast reaches the hole. The closest Indian philosophy equivalent of it would be 'Pooch ke toh dekho' loosely translated to ' If you ask, you may get it'


The idea is if the ball - even if hit too hard - reaches the hole at least you give yourself a chance of a birdie. If it is hit with no energy, as most golfers do out of nervousness, then you dont make a birdie. Physics has not chill, you see. Somehow in our minds, a putt that goes 3 feet beyond the Pin is much more radioactive than the one that falls 3 feet short.

We are afraid that a Par in hand, is better than a birdie in the bush.

I often share this piece of advise even on things beyond golf. Go for it. Ask the question. Give yourself a shot.

So I took my own advice, watched the two seasons of Ted Lasso, repeated Pushpa Jhukega Nahin and went to the course with an aggressive mindset. Total toxic masculinity. I went for the birdie putts. I totally went for it.

Worst Round of Golf Ever.

Forget Birdie putts, Forget Pars - I watched my ball go to and fro from the hole like a long tennis rally. I made a goods train of bogeys and double bogeys long enough to reach Jammu Tawi from Pune.

Never ever take such advice. Two putt and stay safe.

@gauravparab