‘Lavasa Women’s drive’ I was there too..but for a different reason...

Without women, this world wuld be a boring place

When I got an invitation from ‘Lavasa Women’s Drive organized by Lavasa in collaboration with the Times of India’ to celebrate the spirit of modern woman, telling me that my opinion counts, that people care to read what I write, and that there is someone out there listening to me, many random thoughts flooded my mind quizzing my position in cyber arena. I was elated with a false sense of pride for this achievement, thinking that I was filtered out from million of bloggers for some unique reason unknown to me and I happily debated with a bloated mind….thinking.. .. I am a strong woman, I am good blogger, I occupy the popular position in the social world, my writing has weight, bla, bla, bla....duh!.... My ego was in the fourth gear, speeding shamelessly. I wanted to share this news with all the people I knew. I was bragging near everyone who cared to listen, till I discovered the real reason behind this event and the seriousness of this ‘Social Cause’

This event was not about me or my ability to write......

‘Lavasa Women’s drive’ was about the creating awareness for early detection of breast cancer in women….

A message with responsibility……

“OVERTAKE BREAST CANCER”

I was bribed into this event with the perks to cover this event as chroniclers of Lavasa Women’s Drive.  (Which I could easily have blogged for free,) since this is the ‘social cause’ very close to my heart, having lost my 3 aunts in a row and missing them terribly even now. But this bribe was no ordinary one. Besides giving me an opportunity to get free screening for Breast, Cervical and Oral cancers at Tata Memorial Hospital, it would also allow me to enjoy the new city called ‘Lavasa’ free of cost. (a place that I was planning to visit since a long time, and had neatly tucked aside twenty grand for this purpose).

I realized that I had a responsibility of posting my message across that screamed loud and clear that ‘Cancer is curable if detected early’. It was an event to help promote women empowerment.

So, on 27th February 2011, when I reached the venue.....

I discovered that there were very large crowd of women who, like me, cared.

I woke up early at 5:30am (which is quite rare) to be at Bandra reclamation grounds that was bustling with positive energies. There were 350 cars participating in the Rally from Mumbai and (I was told) 150 more from Pune. Every car had a message to share.

It was all about saving the girl child and promoting women empowerment.

Comfortably, we drove for 5 hours, in a specious Inova, following the participating cars, cheering the women drivers and their girl-co-passengers on route whenever we overtook their vehicle (they had a map and certain rules to follow. Later, eavesdropping at the promenade, I heard one woman speak about her fright at speeding at 140) We drove through express highway, some 211 kilometers, via Lonavala, Hinjewadi, Pirangut, driving up through western Ghats, behind the majestic Sahyadri Mountains, along the contours of the Warasgoan Lake to reach a complete new world, a planned city of Lavasa, a city with an European crown.
 

Warasgoan Lake

Once there, the atmosphere was emotive.

Women, women, everywhere.

A carnival of music and dance.

Many of the women enjoyed one day carnival and headed back home but me and five other bloggers (two bloggers went back the same day) along with the members of windchimers, discovered the blogging world as we exchanging our stories of the virtual world in the luxurious service apartments where we spend the night as room-mates. Twenty fours hours ago, we were strangers but forty eight hours later, we were blogger buddies who had exchanged stories worth more than thousands of words.......

On the first day, we walked down the promenade, meeting participants and asking about their experiences

All the women were having fun, dancing and singing.......

And bloggers were communicating in their tweeting world. The virtual world were kept abreast with all the events and happening by live tweets of @shaaqT, @anushankaran, @ideasmithy, @monikamanchanda @kiranmanral and @Cemonde

When they were not tweeting, the enthusiastic bloggers would go yakkiti yakkiti yak yak, making interesting comments, sharing their views of their blogging world, it was the best time ever for me. Thank you girls….you were sooooo very adorable.

Although there was much to see, our one-day-stay limited our tourism. We did drive up to Ekkant retreat which allowed me to commute with nature and we visited a bamboo factory called Bamboosa where I purchased a hand crafted walking stick. But apart from that, we just walked up and down the Dasve town, discovering the European architecture and the scenic natural waterfront. (I was told that there is Nature Trail, Christel House, Xthrill, Boating, plant Nursery, convention hall, and adventure tourism which offer camping grounds, rock-climbing, para-surfing, and other water related sports like jet skis, catamarans, motor and peddle boats, fishing and pool volleyballs.

The city was clean and refreshing, steps and potted plants everywhere, with hundred of steps to climb up and down the hills but unfortunately there were no railings anywhere, (I think they forgot that senior citizens and handicaps need support during climbing up/down the stairs) Being hilly city and easily accessible by road, many would also like to cycle around but there were no lanes for cycling, all the paths lining the driveway were filled with flora and fauna (which looked pretty, no doubt about that) but a thought for a lane for mountain bikers would be appreciated (anybody listening?)

And surprisingly, being an Indian town, there were no beggars! Strange!! But that must be because there were no traffic signals. Not as yet! Hahaa!

It is hard to believe that it’s an Indian city, easily accessible to every Indian, with no visa requirement. All one needs is just a desire to stay with the nature, away from the maddening crowd and screeching horns of busy streets.

Just few hours away by road from Mumbai,

A city of dreams where there is sound of music in the air...

I am motivated to go once again.

Maybe I will,

if travel bug bites……..under my tapping feet.

))))))000000)))))))000000))))))))000000))))))))))0000000)))))))))

Co-bloggers who also travelled with me and then blogged
Anuradha one more and more
Kiran
Nisha, one more
Idea Smith, one more
Shakshi
Monika
Shakti
Lavasa Blog

Script Writing Workshop

I am a late bloomer so there are many things that I am doing for the first time because I missed it when my friends were doing it. Script writing is one thing that I decided to do but had to do in a group of much younger generation but what the heck, if I have to learn then I guess there is no age for learning. I attended 2-days workshop on script writing that was conducted by Rajashree, a National Award-wining filmmaker who has assisted the film personality like Mansoor Khan and Sanjay Leela Bansali. On the first day, we were five of us who were present for this workshop. To break the ice, Rajashree asked us to write an audio-visual script of any scene. The morning session started with the long discussion on process of making a film that included pre-production, production and post production. As a writer, we have to see the trends that are popular before writing a script. During the second half of the session, she discussed the international format of writing the script. We read the audio-visual script that we had written earlier and then were guided in writing our script in a correct format. Films are an audiovisual medium, so a script is basically a description of the visuals and sounds that will be seen and heard in the film. The ideas for the story can be sourced out from our experiences, or from topical news or by research and interviews. For a 2-day intensive workshop, I found the pace on the day one rather slow. The next Saturday, when I went again, I was surprised to see that all had shifted to 7-week course (Sundays only) which costs Rs3000 more and I was alone with one more person who had missed his class on another day. Together, we discussed the character analysis of protagonist and antagonist, the psychological, physical, emotional and social attributes of a character, and the back story of the character. The protagonist must have a goal to reach and there will be hurdles posed by antagonist. In the afternoon after lunch, I was alone attending this workshop. (hilarious!!) anyways, Rajashree reported ill, was having bad cold and requested me to come the next day and do the rest of the course with other up-graded group. So here I was, with a bonus extra-day at no extra cost, attending on Sunday. Normally, Sunday is the day of saints, and it is reserved solely for my family, but sometimes I make exceptions, though unwillingly. Ahem! We were nine in this group, chirpier with excellent ideas. During the morning session, assignments were read out that included sights and sounds of Juhu beach and the mall, character analysis of a protagonist, a scene of an act and the break-up scene-by-scene analysis of the film ‘Sholey’. It is amazing how two people have a different perspective of the same scene at the same time. During the afternoon session, she discussed the structure of the story and how it can be used in the story. A Syd Field’s 3-Act structure story has set-up, confrontation and the resolution. The plot point is when dramatic action takes place and there is climax. In a structure of 120 minutes, 0-25 is the set-up point, 25-30 is the plot point, 30-85 is the confrontation point, 85-90 is the second plot point and 90 to 120 is the resolution point. On the other hand, Shakespeare normally has 5-Act point in which Act 1 is the exposition/establishing, Act 2 is the introductory of a conflict, Act 3 the conflict deepens, Act 4 there is climax and Act 5 is the resolution. During the third session she discussed ‘Bharat’s Natya Sashtra which is actually the flavors of emotions that are seen in every film with which you succeed in creating the emotion in the audience. The nine Ratnas of emotion are Shant (peace), Shringar (love), Hasya (humor), Krodh (anger), Karu (sadness), Bhaye (fear), Ver (courage), Adbhut (wonder) and Bibuksh (disgust). Some film strips were then show to get some insight on the message of the film.. While the rest of the group will be busy for next four week, doing the intensive workshop on script writing, I shall do self-study and improve my skill. Whether I succeed or not in writing a script for a film, I am content that I have explored yet one more field.

Busy Again....

This week-end I went for script writing workshop and learnt the format for writing a film script. We were made to watch the film Philadelphia. Rajeshree, who was conducting the workshop, would read the script for about ten minutes and then show us the film for two minutes, pointing out as to us how the script is translated into a film, it was quite interesting…the problem with me is that I hardly ever watch TV serials, I get bored easily, but she has told me to watch as much TV as I can, to understand how the script is written .and to be able to write…(there are so many TV channels in India, if I can write for some serials, it would be nice but for that I have to understand what works and what are the trends.) .I am thinking of installing TV in my bedroom next to my computer…but, this is extra work for me….sigh! To install TV, I have to change the positions of my furniture, make new lower cabinets, shift wardrobes and give away the extra furniture to anyone who will use it… there is sewing machine that I am not using, have to get rid of it soon…the carpenter will begin work from next week….. Imagine, during my growing up years I have never read PG Wodehouse book! They are so very interesting. I am starting one now (never too late) I bought ‘Aunts aren’t gentlemen’ Gosh! I am loving it. I read in the bus (whenever I m travelling, I normally read or listen to FM) on my way to school. Truthfully, I don’t get enough time at home…. I have also started needlework. Made a small drawing of a cottage and will fill that with embroidery. One of my friends visited me recently and she liked the needlework-frames in my living room and she asked me to make it for her. I told her to take what was hanging on my walls but she insisted that I make new one, specially for her. So, here I am, doing needlework while watching news on TV.