Chaos! I have been living in and around chaos…basically living in Mumbai for all my life. But the amount of noise, air and life pollution I have been experiencing in last few months has been at its extreme. Every day, not willingly but out of no choice, people behave selfishly, rudely with fellow human beings over a petty fight of hiring an auto or getting a place to sit in a local train.
On the evening of one of such mad days, I saw an email in my inbox with a subject – Tuning Fork Film Workshop in the Himalayas (Deer Park, Bir)
The first thing I told to myself after reading it – Wow man, what a locationJ!
I then checked out the website of the location – Deer Park Institute (http://www.deerpark.in/) and just a look at the picture of the monastery made me feel peaceful and serene.
So, a time for confession - the primary motivation for going for the workshop was the PLACE J and I was ecstatic with just a thought of going far far away from the chaos of the city to the kingdom of tranquility and wisdom.
Deer Park has a beautiful feel to it…a feel which brings you close to Life…a feel which makes you go within to realize how beautiful the world is and how you can contribute to make it a better place…a feel which teaches you that life is to appreciate the sheer miracle you experience by seeing every living being on the earth! The trees, the butterflies, the flowers, the birds, fellow humans, the dogs…it was overwhelming to see every object personify magnificence!
Every person I interacted at Deer Park is so full of love & compassion. You can see it from their eyes; the simplicity with which they live life brings so much happiness and satisfaction to it. The perception and the idea of life is so different and yet so beautiful for it’s not clouded with worldly attachments & desires.
I found myself doubly treated to have met Ankit, Sachi and Sumit – the facilitators for the Tuning Fork Film Workshop and also my co-participants. I thoroughly enjoyed the way Ankit, Sachi and Sumit facilitated the workshop.
I think, the process of taking us through the journey of how our perception as a viewer and film maker matters in conveying our message was very intelligently designed. Loved all the short films, ads shown during the film appreciation sessions.
I especially enjoyed the discussions where Ankit made us realize how important it is for each one of us to know our biases, our likes - dislikes, our opinions and our view of the world at large, for that defines what and how we interpret and use film as media to put across our point.
I was equally impressed with the patience and tolerance displayed by both Sachi and Sumit during the editing sessions. All the participants pester them with the same set of questions but it was amazing to see that not even once did they show that they got annoyed by it. Never in the workshop have I seen the facilitators staying up till 4.30 a.m. to help the participants complete their task…kudos for that! And ~hugs~!
All in all, seven most beautiful days spent amid stunning dhauladhar mountain ranges with lovely people …now doesn't that make life beautiful :-)!
Thank you Deer Park and Tuning Fork for this experience!
:-)
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