18 Inches: A Journey from the Head to the Heart
Humans are on an endless journey called ‘life’ and sometimes, we find ourselves directionless. My quest for answers to many questions has taken me far and wide with many amazing human beings crossing my path. Filmmaking has been my biggest tool and teacher in understanding the many frailties of life.
I am extremely grateful for having chosen documentaries as my medium of expression in filmmaking which, incidentally, happened over many years of scouting and narrowing on my options in the world of cinema and television. I spent many years from the beginning of my career from the late 80s toying with mainstream television and despite its lucrative nature, it was far from fulfilling. Something was always amiss. But, as they say, some things are meant to be a ‘means to an end’. Commercial television paved the way for a path that would finally not only give me the answers that I was so desperately searching for but also bring fulfilment beyond comprehension!
I asked and concurrently received, as the wise always say. This is where my journey begins.
The Turning Point
In the middle of commercial cacophony, I was offered to make a short film on the Aghori’s of India . In spite of being an Indian, I hardly knew anything about them beyond a dreaded cult that believed in Lord Shiva and were known to eat the flesh of the dead. Little did I know that this would be the starting point of a new life, a beginning of a journey. By the ghats (banks) of the Ganga in Varanasi, I filmed these Aghori’s with the same skepticism and fear as an uninformed onlooker. Meeting a senior practitioner of the cult changed my entire notions of these phenomenal beings. A perfect interview with him despite the fact that he was known to be a difficult and inaccessible man also made me realize that situations come into your life for a reason, a purpose.
Aghori’s predominantly live near the cremation grounds along the banks of the Ganges as they are believed to eat the flesh of the dead humans. My first night there along with my film crew changed the notion of death in my mind. It opened doors to understanding the cycle of birth and re-birth with death as a transitionary phase in one’s life. This set out a new road for me, which incidentally remains the road I walk on to this day!
The Aghori’s film was a starting point of a beautiful journey that kept opening many doors to spirituality that I never knew existed. Being brought up in an Indian society with a deeply rooted social conditioning rarely gives a young mind a chance to explore possibilities beyond what is available or believed in. My life was much the same! But being an explorer, a rebel of sorts, I broke all boundaries and treaded on paths unknown and unexplored. This film was the light at the end of a tunnel! Following this experience, I was compelled to continue making spiritual films, however much mainstream television was in my way, as opportunities flew in my direction one after another.
On the one hand, each film was answering deep-seated questions but on the other, it was also raising more. I was curious about some of the fundamental aspects of our existence; who are we? Why are we born? What is the purpose of our lives? My entire being for that period went into a self-transformation.
The Start of Something New
2017 was the beginning of another journey. After travelling to many places within India and beyond, I returned to Varanasi but this time for a purpose that would open a pandoras box of many mysteries! Varanasi, one of the oldest cities in the world going back to nearly 3,000 years ago, is also known as one of the holiest cities for Hindus. Varanasi, in the words of Mark Twain, is “older than history, older than tradition, older even than legend and looks twice as old as all of them put together”. Hindus believe that those who die and cremated here get an instant gateway to liberation from the cycle of birth and re-birth.
It was here that I met a Frenchman, Jean-Max Tassel. A successful art dealer who left it all over two decades ago to follow his heart, Jean-Max was compelled into changing his destiny forever and India just… happened to him! Varanasi, more so. His journey began in Haridwar, another holy city by the Ganga that is known for holding one of the largest congregations of spiritual beings from across the world every year known as the Kumbh Mela. He came here in the late 90s and despite the initial cultural shock and disbelief, he continued to stay. He felt like a fish out of water, as many foreigners sometimes do. But it was here that he decided to walk out of his European lifestyle and adopt a life that was far from anything he had ever known or seen. Perhaps there was a bigger plan there?
Jean-Max and I in an intense conversation about childhood experiences, life in France, and what difference is being in Varanasi making to his life.
Image Credits: Michael Stoeger
And Now We’re Three
Meeting him and listening to his story set me thinking. What is the compelling force that takes one on a road totally unknown to them? Call it serendipity, I was on the receiving end of an interesting story that also became responsible for recharging my creative batteries. Jean-Max felt a deep urge to contribute a big part of himself for the cause of helping differently abled children here in Varanasi and was introduced to psychologist Dr. Tulsi Das by his longtime friend, Dr. Jacques Vigne. It was no coincidence that all three had similar goals in life, vision, and spiritual leanings.
Dr. Tulsi Das in deep, meditative thought.
Image Credits: Bharat Kumar
Dr. Jacques Vigne, a physician by nature, found answers to his search for divinity in a small town nestled in India’s hillocks through meditation and solitude and, in turn, adopted the community that accepted him as one of their own. While he spends most of his time in solitude and writing his books in a small hermitage in the Himalayas, he has been instrumental in starting a school in Guptkashi, where earthquakes and other natural disasters have made the place quite inaccessible.
While one (Dr. Vignes) was a conduit in bringing the other two (Jean-Max and Dr. Das) together, all three are doing incredible work. Their testimonies are a living proof of events in our lives being anything but mere coincidences. In the case of all three people, I realized that they found their peace from the chaos that their respective cities represented. Haridwar, for instance, the ‘city of Kumbh’, considered the holiest of pilgrimage centers in India, became Jean-Max’s initiation into a ‘new life’! Meeting the three of them gave me a new perspective on life. Why, for example, do we choose to do or to be in a place alien to our knowledge? Are we responsible for choosing at all?
Perhaps they all sought happiness and followed their hearts’ calling? Call it serendipity!
My journey was no different.
Onwards and Upwards!
Further exploration led me to Nepal, a country I had been to several times before. Kathmandu, known to be a base camp for trekking enthusiasts, was second home to Marianne Großpeitsch, a German woman who came here over 40 years ago with her husband to enjoy the snow-clad mountains that the country had to offer. Her trekking instructor apparently noticed a streak of compassion, and posed an unusual request.
Would she be ready to sponsor a child of parents affected by leprosy and were unable to raise their child?
As one thing led to another, Marianne and her husband legally adopted this little boy and brought him up as their third child. But this decision had a bigger and larger purpose. Marianne’s frequent trips to Nepal and being a witness to the deplorable condition of leprosy-stricken people led to fully immersing herself in their cause and supporting them.
Today, 26 years to the day (and counting), not only has she managed to stop the spread of the infection among the patients who are with her, but she has given them a “home”. Shanti Sewa Griha” is a home to hundreds of homeless, abandoned, below-poverty-line leprosy patients who live together in joy.
A previously disenfranchised community, Marianne managed to provide them with vocational training to tap into their creative potential as a way of falling back on their history and culture. Today Shanti Sewa Griha with its colourful walls and domes looks nothing less than a palace!
Marianne showed me yet another aspect of true happiness. What did it really take for her to be so fulfilled, content, and in bliss? It helped me realise that our lives are not meant to be just within the confines of our homes, offices, and families. Real joy lies in the concept of service!
From the ‘Other Side’
I had a similar experience when travelling through Brazil towards the end of 2017 to meet and learn from so many people I had heard about, including shamans, who could connect with the ‘other side’. As I was ready to leave, I was asked to accompany someone to Brasilia to meet ‘an interesting man’, as she put it. While Brasilia turned out to be a fascinating place, we travelled further to meet the gentleman who turned out was indeed quite fascinating!
Rex Thomas, a gentleman of African descent, followed signs of the universe and travelled through Peru to Brazil and finally found his calling in Alto Paraiso – known literally as a ‘Mountain of Paradise’, and is a practitioner of Shamanism, of love, light, is a healer, a therapist, a coach and above all, a lover of life. Brazil is a country with lush green forests, huge waterfalls, and lovely beaches but Alto Paraiso, tucked away in one corner of the country is known as a ‘Mecca’ for spiritual seekers. Meeting him was a breath of fresh air! He led an almost effortless life, allowing the universe and God to chart out his path. That, in his words, was happiness! I was on my way back home with a lot of food for thought and inspiration to draw from.
But the adventure didn’t end here.
As a regular practice, I usually pick up a book at airports to read, especially on long flights. One book in particular caught my eye. Titled “If Truth be Told” by Om Swami, it took all of one flight from Rio to Delhi to finish the book cover to cover. I was desperate to meet the author, so I wrote to the publisher asking for his contact details and before I could blink, I was travelling to his secluded hermitage.
From the Commercial to the Spiritual
All it took was spending one day in his presence and I knew I had found the perfect conclusion, fitting for a documentary on the concept of happiness! Om Swami used to be a successful businessman in Australia having a multi-million dollar monthly turnover but left it all at 30 years old to become a Hindu monk. His spiritual search brought him to a place of total renunciation and in his words, “he became richer than he ever was”.
His hermitage today lies in Solan, Himachal Pradesh. Surrounded by villages, he leads a simple life. His strong command over English, vast knowledge of the various scriptures of different world religions, and an aura of wisdom, leaves one spellbound! Clearly, he found happiness in simplicity and solitude.
Compiling Answers
After visiting three countries and thousands of kilometres, I found my answers – showing me different perspectives to achieving happiness – the key to one’s life. Hence answers to the often-asked question on happiness is an undeniable, resounding yes, as my own interactions have led me to believe. These individuals went through long spells in their life to find what made them happy but sometimes, the journey is only 18 inches long… switching from listening to ramblings of one’s mind to trusting in one’s instinct, one’s heart.
In the world of strife and pain today, I feel this film showing varying shades of happiness, in their most simplistic form, will go a long way in creating empathy, relatability, and moving hearts. A small shift in each human being can go a long way in creating a movement of peace and love! As they say, every drop in the ocean counts!
The film is under production and will be made available on YouTube soon.