Manav Gohil

Ever Shining Future!

Manav — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 08:07:12 +0000

Youth, stand like the lion,

In the dense muck of today.

Youth, soar like an eagle,

In the skies of tomorrow!

The respite of the onset of the monsoon as we bid the heat away, will be cherished a little more specially this year by some tender hearts.

I dedicate this post to the kids of my building – Evershine Grandeur. Honestly, it was an aimless, self-imposed summer project for these kids that turned out to be a truly value creating spectacle.

[Click on the picture to enlarge]

In one unused corner of the building compound, the kids ventured into making a small hut, or a sort of tent from the waste material they found within the premises. Cardboards from the trash, wooden block from the carpenters’ leftovers, borrowed sheets and nails and hammer from homes. It took them a few dedicated hours to erect the structure.

It perhaps looked too bland to the creative colorful minds and so they enhanced it by drawing graffiti on the wooden sheets, making a hanging pull-me-up door & gave their team a name too. Paints and brushes and sketch pen got together and gave more soul to the shanty.

Soon it became a thing to notice. Elders stared dropping by to check this cute hovel as they passed by. The next I knew, there was a board hanging there demanding 5 bucks from anyone who wanted to see it. ‘BY ORDER’ it said.

The kids of the Metro cities today are fortunate with a certain exposure vis-à-vis their counter parts in smaller cities, but it is a concern that they still don’t have the space and grounds that would complete their growth. More kids are obese today than before. Beside the lack of play area, it’s the junk food, the Xboxes and the laptops that have altered their lifestyles to a little dangerous degree of lethargy.

Anyhow, within a week these kids had, in their fancy collection box, over 2,200 Rupees. A quick visit to an orphanage was organized. With the money they brought milk power, fruits & chocolates. Besides they also collected old clothing and other stuff to give away.

It’s a small but a definite step in shaping tomorrow. It is my strong belief that a revolution of individuals is the most vital, especially the direction we are heading in.

Until Next Time…

Love

Manav

Maid in Delhi!!

Manav — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 11:14:24 +0000

Reporting Base: Home
Time: 07.00 hrs
Status Report: One soldier down!

Off goes the alarm and I force myself out of bed with a sense of urgency and rush to the kitchen. Find the kettle, fill water in it and switch on the burner. As I move to draw all the curtains and open the windows of the house I notice a groggy Shweta making the bed. Hardly do I reach half way at the chore at hand and I hear the whistle of the kettle on the stove. I rush back to the kitchen and switch the burner off. As I pour the hot water into the cups and make coffee for the two of us, from the corner of my eye I see Mowgli (my pet) standing at the entrance looking as if trying to communicate something. Oh…yeah, I gather… I need to take him down for a walk. I hand Shweta her coffee, take mine and head for the lift with Mowgli for his morning walk. I suddenly realize I have not taken a paper for Mowgli’s poo, I rush back inside to get it. In the fraction of these five seconds, my pet is missing… damn… perhaps he decided to take the elevator by himself… I take the stairs to chase him and spill some coffee on my pajamas … ouch… it’s still hot!! And this chaos spills from the morning to the noon and way down into the night.

That’s like a regular day in the month that Amma, our house help, takes an off as her annual vacation. She is gone for a month now and as anticipated, Shweta and I are struggling to keep the home and shoots, rehearsals, Mowgli and meals… all of that in order. It’s quite an ordeal. This one month I am 4804758 times more domesticated as compared to the rest of the 11 months. My close friends in the US would be very happy to see this as they always feel that we, in India, enjoy the luxuries of having drivers, house help and the other help we get here….Grrr.

Ha… I feel lighten now that I have vented out. Actually it’s not that bad after all. It’s a trip, Shweta and I love to take together. It’s like taking full responsibility of your own home and it sure is fulfilling. We mostly divide our duties under such crisis and we do pretty well. What Shweta expects out of me on the domestic front is very little, so once in a while I love to surprise her by doing something she would absolutely not expect.

At such times I am often reminded of my childhood when we were trained to be ’self sufficient’. Don’t have the fondest memories of those days, but today, it sure is coming handy. Everyone can be self sufficient. It’s the way we pamper ourselves and spoil ourselves that makes life so incomplete without a lot of cushion around our backside. While growing up, even when it was 42 degrees I never felt the need of an air conditioner. It’s only now that my endurance and threshold have shrunken, making life more complicated.

Today, I thank Amma profusely for keeping me in check. Reminding me that you could buy all the luxury, but being enslaved by it would be a folly. I feel immense appreciation for all the help I have around. I realize that all the articles of luxury I am surrounded with are only objects and not me, myself! Thanks Amma but that’s it…enough… now get back quickly… need my morning coffee by the bed ;)

Yours Lazily :)

Manav

Getting there!?!

Manav — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 15:09:38 +0000

A revolution, when ignited, is the most potent weapon to transform the society.

: I Cannot see it now…but I know it’s somewhere behind!!

Nonetheless, even when there is no evident upheaval in the name of a movement, I sense there is a revolution – a dormant one.

What Egypt just witnessed is remarkable and historic. A people’s movement! No specific leader involved! The intensely burning hearts of the people who for years have sustained suppression of sorts, when got access to a social platform through networking sites figured the scale of the dormant revolution. The precursor of a huge wave… and BOOM… out wentMubarak!! Sure it was more painful and more dramatic and more drastic, involving more detailing than I am drawing out, but in culmination- it’s a fabulous example of people’s victory!!

Now, the bunch of questions that have been troubling me are – Do we really need to be pushed to the corner to wage a battle?? Are we taking our democratic freedom for an easy ride?? Does it really help to keep blaming the corrupt politicians?? Is lighting candles and shouting anti-govt. slogans really working?? Or maybe this is the beginning of a dormant revolution that might take a concrete shape once we get more aware of how much our hard earned money is stocked outside the country by the biggies.

I am not able to reach anywhere with these thoughts. How about you, my readers, pour in your thoughts on this. Lets make the next blog – your blog!! Please write in to contactmanavgohil@gmail.com and leave your write up so that I could select a couple of them and put it up on my blog.

Now, till I hear from you… take care and lots of love!!

Manav

Happy Diwali!!

Manav — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 11:11:10 +0000

‘Change is the only constant’.

The season’s changing, the climate’s changing… The heat is out – the cool is in!! Soccer’s out – cricket is in! Umbrella’s are out – woolens are in…ummm… or… maybe the Umbrellas are back in [to the closet] and woolens are out ; )… and yes, Daily soap is out – Theatre is in…VOILA!!!

Just started working on a new play as I bid goodbye to the grind of the daily soap for now. It’s great to discover and rediscover the artist within and see him flourish like a child… each day! It’s therapeutic! It’s refreshing!!

Too much noise in the heads. Avoiding the noise outside and the pollution it causes, once again this year I resolve to have a cracker free Diwali and still have a cracker of a Diwali :)

I take this opportunity, on behalf of my entire team and my family, to wish you all a very Happy Diwali.

Love

Manav

PS – So then, Ravan’s out – Ram’s in! Though I personally admire the former.

You wanna guess why?!?

French Frames

Manav — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 14:42:45 +0000

Hi friends,

Sorry for the long gap. Had no idea the ‘busy’ with a daily soap will be SOOOO busy. Too much transpired and too little shared. Will try and pace it up, but for now a quick dehko at the recent trip to Le Mans. 4 days 3 nights with Lalsinh – my cousin. Both bachelors, both with the passion guns- the cameras- and a beautiful, quaint, ancient European town in France. And here’s what we got…

(Click on the picture to enlarge it)

It seemed like an ordeal then walking through the city in the nights, pub hopping, camera kits on shoulders with buzzing heads finding frames intermittently… but in the end, apparently it turned out to be worth the while!! The food, the wines, the bunch of friends-like family- and the French hospitatality – would love to live it again & again & again!!

Catch you soon.

Lots of Love

Manav

P.S. Please please please travel travel travel!

Back in DAILY Action!

Manav — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 14:50:09 +0000

On the sets of a daily soap, yesterday was my first day of shoot. It was actually a promo shoot for a show on Zee that I am entering soon. It’s called ‘Agle Janam Mohey Bitiya Hi Kijo’.

On the set, it was a strange mix of feelings. Happy that I will be on the sets (I love being on a shooting set with all the buzz) shooting, and at the same time anxious about losing the freedom I have been lately enjoying while balancing ads, anchoring and travel shows.

Daily soaps are a different ordeal. A daily demands a lot of time in the day and a lot of days in a month. Its challenging… like the complex math problem. At first you might hesitate attempting it, but once you do – you like it. No, you love it!! The story, the characters, the silence between shots with over a hundred people in the same room, the cutting chai, the makeup room, the lights, the camera… the energy on the set is so amazingly peculiar. It’s simply addictive!! The unit literally becomes your family for that duration.

So finally after resisting for a while, I have accepted this one offer. Embarking on another journey with a new set of people to embrace. Am looking forward!!

You stay well while I get back to some action and see you soon with another leaf from the future to arrive!!

Lots of love,

Manav

PS- My new avatar ;)

Dreams Rekindled!

Manav — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 13:54:01 +0000

As life meanders through the beautiful streets of achievements at times and at times through the rough patches on the highway… I ask myself…
Do I still have it in me? The fighter, the dreamer. Or has the little success made me complacent?

How desperately I wanted to win once!! Just ten years back when I was new to Mumbai… with all the directionless passion and the reality fraught with uncertainties, I still had an assurance of achieving my dreams.

As I was in the process of pondering through these thoughts, a dear friend shared this with me. It urged me to rekindle the fire, only this time with more equilibrium.

“Our Deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our Light, not out Darkness, that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, talented, fabulous?
Actually, who are you NOT to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone.
And as we let our own Light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

Nelson Mandela, Inaugural Speech,South Africa,1994.

I want to dream… and dream big!! My dreams, my aspirations cannot belong to me alone. My undefeated presence & my success have a lofty purpose. It transcends the realm of ‘I ME MYSELF’. I owe it to the mystic power that once assured me of my dreams, ten years back.

Thought will share it with you.

Love,
Manav

Wild Saurashtra

Manav — Mon, 24 May 2010 15:11:30 +0000

I guess it doesn’t just suit me, my name or my personality…the ’sinh’(lion) factor that generally the Rajputs of Saurashtra affix after their names, like the couple of cousins I recently travelled with. The one from Paris, an artist, is called Lalsinh and the one from UK is Siddhrajsinh Gohil. Both adorable souls though… but this ’sinh’ thing just does not set in with me!!

I could have easily been called Divyapratapsinh Gohil or Bhagiratsinh Gohil…and look like this -

Not bad maybe… but I think Manav works fine for me ;) .

The lack of ‘Sinh’ in the name though does not make me feel any less attached to the land I belong to. Sure Lalsinh and Siddhrajsinh will agree :)

Two days- Reunion with cousins-Wild GIR forest- 44 degree C- Had a blast!

My heart clearly belongs to that land. It was a beautiful feeling to have travelled all the miles & the years back, where it all began for me.

A photographic memoir of the trip -

Travel. Explore…There is nothing more enriching!

Love

ManavSINH (Yeah Baby) Gohil

Just in good faith…

Manav — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 09:47:29 +0000

“Humor is mankind’s greatest blessing!” said a wise man.

The stressful age that we live in today, I believe, can tone down a couple of shades with a pinch of practical humor added to it….provided well received. Lol :)

By my chosen profession, I am a media baby. And that’s what makes it even more clear to me that a slight faux pas or misrepresentation of information by the media can cause severe sores on the precious bottom of the baby!! I almost got them :)

Recently, Shweta and I shot for a reality show called “GharGharMein“. And as usual, with the crew, we ended up sharing a beautiful camaraderie & got back some goodies and lots of sweet memories. To break the ice and lighten up the mood at the shoot, we sometimes involve in horse play or pranks… which further strengthen our relations. I do have a little reputation of being a prankster with certain units in the industry, but, the sensibilities and sensitivities of the recipients is always considered first.

On this shoot too, with the help of the channel’s executive producer, we engineered a prank to play up with the hosts – Manish &Vipul. We played it, and it was a success… we all had a hearty laughter and a great sporting end to it.

But when the media shared this story, we received some really strong reactions from viewers and some well wishers were left a bit hurt too perhaps.

To them, I apologize if it is not conveyed properly in the episode. But you can have my word that the entire crew, Vipul, Manish , Shweta and I had a great time. There were no ugly U turns there. Only laughters, applauds and a happy ending!

I am uploading a video of the entire episode for you to view it again. This is not a disclaimer, just my humble effort to clarify my stance for the benefit of the viewers, media, blog-readers and my dear upset well-wishers :)

It is absolutely okay to have an opinion about everything in this world, but make sure it is properly examined, belongs to you and not borrowed.

Click on the video to view (PART -1)

Click on the video to view (PART -2)

Click on the video to view (PART -3)

Click on the video to view (PART -4)

Keep smiling.

Lots of Love

Manav

Majestic Mayo

Manav — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 11:49:30 +0000

Among my myriad explorations as a traveler, I would, for the longest period, dig on this one trip I took; The Mayo College, Ajmer. The reason for my visit added even more thrill to the experience. C-R-I-C-K-E-T!!

Yup… a couple of games at the Mayo College ground…. It sounded like such a dream being there. I have never been an “A” student or very brilliant at academics. In fact, I never liked going to school or gain what they call a “formal education”. i mostly grew up outside the classroom. (not that i feel boastfully proud about it today). As a matter of fact i used to find it difficult relating to those top rankers. I wondered what is it that they do? How can they manage to finish their exam papers in time? How can someone be so occupied ’studying’??

This was the premature feeling.

The mature feeling was, “Oh so this guy is gonna be the corporate kinda guy earning a good package with a SETTLED life with an English speaking wife!!” And then at Mayo, I was exposed to these completely different ‘type’ of students. Who were not just rankers, but were confident, groomed, classy students and wore the blue/maroon blazers and belonged to individual houses in their schools.

I flew down from Mumbai to Jaipur and from Jaipur we drove down to Ajmer, a distance of two and a half hours. Noteworthy was ‘The Jaipur airport’ that turned out to be very contemporary and international in its architecture.

I reached there on Friday evening and was taken to a cozy guest house-Oman house. Complete with two balconies, the accommodation was extremely pleasant but the courtesy and service made you feel like a Maharaja of yester years. There were neem trees half hanging into my balcony shooting a whiff of fresh air when I opened the doors to the balcony early in the morning, reminding me of the authentic small town early mornings. Fresh and Oxygenated! I missed Shweta then, she loves balconies and the open spaces and the lovely view only made me miss her even more.

As the dawn broke and matured into a day, the sunlight added an extra glow to the heritage structures and highlighted the clean courtyards and landscapes surroundings this beautiful campus. These structures and monument dated back to the 19^thcentury and it defines the beauty and the class of mayo.

The Grand Mayo University spans over 350 acres and flaunts 22 huge green grounds for sports and outdoor activities for the students. The activities ranged from horse riding, polo, golf course, swimming, hockey, shooting, cricket, football.

The highlight however, was the warm hospitality I received. The staff and students made me feel extremely comfortable and at home. The morning tea was dot on time. The breakfast Poushtic, the lunch lavish and a hearty cocktail followed by a grand dinner. It was truly a table set for a king.

Over my stay, I interacted with a lot of students and tried to relate my childhood to theirs. I gained a lot in terms of different perspectives and got some very valuable insights of the youth. I have always loved bright students, and these students were among the most disciplined and obedient I have seen.

We played three cricket matches in all; one with students, one with staff and one with Mayo’s sister concer. The matchers were one tougher than the other, we ended up winning all the three matches…. Yes, we did win the matches but it was these students, the teachers and the staff who finally won our hearts with their warm hospitality;

While driving back to Jaipur I reflected over my stay and my life. I wished I could have been part of an educational institute like Mayo – of such an exquisite campus. The discipline and regimented environment hones a boy into a definite youth of substance. My awe of those typical [type] of students transformed into immense respect for the ‘School’. Dreams are dreams, wishes are wishes…as the driver pulled up at the airport entrance I did a quick reality check.

As for my journey from a boy to man..

I think I pretty much got by…

Love

Manav