21st Edition of Shadow Dancing With Mind

HAPPY NEW YEAR

BLESSINGS FROM BODH GAYA
Enjoy the journey... to the place where Buddha attained
enlightenment...
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Welcome to 21^st Edition of “Shadow Dancing With Mind”. This Edition has the following topics.

TALKING POINT

Some of the things that is happening around me, as I get into the daily grind of my life every day, which has made to stop and then think....

How Many Lives You Can Live - Sarah Kay

As someone who dabbles in various forms of Haiku, Poetry and writing, (but not very good at talking about it or reading it aloud to a group of friends or audience) I was not sure how a poem is performed or what actually is a performing poet. Then I came across this TEDx Talk by Sarah Kay today. Well, it changed the way I look at poetry... It’s an amazing .. Must watch the video...

Click here to read more...

"GOD does not EXIST" says Brilliant scientist Stephen Hawking

Recently, I came across a beautiful documentary by Discovery Channel hosted by Stephen Hawking asking a question that has remain unanswered since the beginning of mankind, “Does a "God" or a "Celestial Dictator" exist? In this documentary, as described in the write up, Stephen Hawking dissects the science of the universe in answering this very fundamental question.

Click here to read more...

UP CLOSE & PERSONAL

The section gives you insights of some of the people I have had a chance to meet, interact or have read about that have made a deep impression on my thoughts and feelings...

Is "Damanhur Temples Of Humankind" 8th wonder of the World?

Recently I came across an interesting and typical new-age commune located in the Alps of Italy, Damanhur. Some consider the Temple structure buried 100 ft under a hill, (constructed in secret by Amateurs over a period of 13 years, without any drawings and plans) 8th Wonder of the world. In exploring further, I realise the beauty of the self made architecture  as well as the guiding philosophy of the commune i.e. The Damanhurians see the temple as a pathway to the divine inside and outside of one's self. (From the book "Damanhur Temples of Humankind"). So here is an introduction... for you to explore further and possibly move in..

Click here to read more...

Wilbur Smith - Five Decades of Writing Books

Yesterday, 10^th Dec, 2011 was an interesting day. It was the day of longest Moon Eclipse as well as the day when I met, for the first time, Mr. Wilbur Smith. He was the one author; I followed and read for the longest period of my life. Wilbur Smith’s books got me to appreciate nature through wild life and savannahs of Africa which later got engraved more firmly in my inner psyche through my spiritual forays into Himalaya’s and grew deeper routes through books like Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra

Click here to read more...

STILL LIFE

A place where I take you with me to a journey through my impressions and pictures that I have had taken...

Where Buddha attained Enlightenment - BODH GAYA

One of the most revered holy sites associated with Buddha - Bodh Gaya, the place where Prince Siddhartha attained enlightenment. Since I have special affinity for the thoughts of Buddha from childhood, (I was born in Kushinagar Distt in Uttar Pradesh INDIA – where Lord Buddha attained Nirvana - click here to journey with me to that place as well...) I enjoyed the powerful spiritual energy that permeates in each and everything in and around the temple.  Specially, sitting under the Boddhi Tree in meditation, was a serene and spiritually uplifting experience. 

Click here to read more...

WHISPERS

A section where I post my poetry, Haiku and verse’s about love, life and living....

Sighs

I believe that sometimes we cherish pain and selfishly hold on to it till it becomes intrinsic part of our soul... Love has that effect in leaving... in emptying...

Click here to read the verse...

Where You Will Go...?

I believe that we are not living in now, as our mind is not capable of perceiving it as it is always busy experiencing, accumulating memories and then translating the present according to it...

Click here to read the verse...

No One Is There In Living & Haiku

Sharing some Haiku about life and living along with a verse about what actually it is that ‘is’... 

Click here to read the verse...

Earth Wings and Haiku Love Songs...

On the way to Delhi, going for one of my projects at Chandigarh (North India) from Chennai, I see the wings of the plane moving and felt like earth moved, though it actually did not. It triggered a thought process in me and I realised that all our life, we try or we move but actually we don’t...

Click here to read the verse...

Dreams

Inspired by some the protagonists of Secessionist Movement from Vienna, namely Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele. To read more of my thoughts on the movement and see some amazing paintings (including the world’s costliest painting sold)...

Click here to read the verse...

Buddha Song...

Sitting under that Boddhi Tree, I had some thoughts about love, life and living. The Haiku below are some of those expressions. The longer verse ‘Buddha Song’ is entwined echoes of two different feelings that played within me... at the time

Click here to read the verse...

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Hope you will enjoy this edition... look forward to your comments and visit to the next Edition... please click on the “Join this Site” button on the right hand side top corner to follow my activities...

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Shashi @ Dec 2011
ॐ नमः शिवाय

Om Namah Shivaya

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20^th Edition

UP, CLOSE & PERSONAL: Wilbur Smith - Five Decades of Writing Books

Yesterday, 10^th Dec, 2011 was an interesting day. It was the day of longest Moon Eclipse as well as the day when I met, for the first time, Mr. Wilbur Smith. He was the one author, I followed and read for the longest period of my life. Wilbur Smith’s books got me to appreciate nature through wild life and savannahs of Africa which later got engraved more firmly in my inner psyche through my spiritual forays into Himalaya’s and grew deeper routes through books like Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra (Click here to read my feature about this book)

Wilbur Smith

Wilbur Smith has written 33 books starting with one of the most interesting fiction that I have ever read “Where Lions Feed” in 1964. About this book he says, “Out of my books, all are loved but then, such as is the case with a mother, the first born is always loved more. So I like my first book more”. And, in fact, so do I, Mr. Wilbur Smith. Yesterday, at the launch of his latest book “Those in Peril” in the famous book store Land Mark - Chennai, the world famous author shared memories from his five decades long journey of writing. 

Those In Peril - The latest Book by Wilbur Smith

He started his talk with interesting quips about things that are bound to get every one’s attention in India i.e. traffic and Cricket. “I enjoyed the traffic in India, just like video game with just a slight difference that you don’t die in video games” and goes on to add, “My driver, who has been taking me around in India, told me that to drive on Indian roads, you just need four things. Good Breaks, Good Eyes, Good nerves and Good luck”. 
At the end, in question and answer session, he responds in an answer to a question by a young reader Aaditya, about how he feels when he sees his words in print. “Well”, says Wilbur Smith, “it’s like scoring a 100 in cricket, specially against Pakistan” to a huge round of applause by the jam packed audience at the store.

But before I go further with his thoughts and his interaction at the book launch, let me give you a brief introduction about him and his books.

BRIEF INTRODUCTION:

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Wilbur Addison Smith (born 9 January 1933 in Broken Hill, Northern Rhodesia, now Kabwe, Zambia) is a best-selling novelist. His writings include 16th and 17th century tales about the founding of the southern territories of Africa and the subsequent adventures and international intrigues relevant to these settlements. His books often fall into one of three series. These works of fiction draw on history and help to explain the rise and historical influence of the Dutch and English whites in southern Africa that eventually claimed this diamond and gold rich and disputed territory as home.

Wilbur Smith in Napa Valley

Later Wilbur attended Rhodes University in Grahamstown, Eastern Cape, South Africa. He became a journalist, writing about social conditions in South Africa, but his father's advice to "Get a real job" prompted him to become a tax accountant (chartered accountant). After he qualified as a Chartered Accountant, he married and had two children. The marriage ended badly and the divorce led to alimony and child support payments that left him penniless at only twenty four years of age.

His first successful novel 'When the Lion Feeds' was published in 1964, written while he worked for Salisbury Inland Revenue. It tells the story about a young man, Sean Courtney and his twin brother Garry. The character's name was a tribute to Wilbur Smith's Grandfather Courtney James Smith who had commanded a Maxim gun team during the Zulu Wars. The story wove in facts about Wilbur Smiths own father and mother. He added in early African history and included the perspective of black people and white. He wrote about hunting, gold mining, carousing, women, love, sex, and hate. This time he left out all the philosophies and radical politics and rebellious posturing that had been the backbone of his first attempt a novel. The book gained a film deal and its success encouraged him to become a full-time writer. His publisher and later agent, Charles Pick, gave him advice he never forgot: "Write for yourself, and write about what you know best." Pick also told him ""Don't talk about your books with anybody, even me, until they are written." Smith states that "Until it is written a book is merely smoke on the wind. It can be blown away by a careless word.
He states that Africa is his major inspiration, and currently he has over 34 novels published. Smith now lives in London, but avows an abiding concern for the peoples and wildlife of his native continent. In 2002, Wilbur Smith was granted the Inaugural Sport Shooting Ambassador Award by the World Forum on the Future of Sport Shooting Activities.

Wilbur Smith with his Wife
At Monkey Temple in Rajasthan - India

In a bookstore in London he met a Tadjik girl, Mokhiniso Rakhimova 39 years younger than Mr Smith. Mokhiniso had received her law degree from Moscow University. He fell in love once again and they married in May 2000.

Criticism
Some critics of Wilbur Smith argue that his novels often contain sexist and racist assumptions and that they may have a political agenda. Eye of the tiger (1975) bears many similarities to Hemingway’s "Islands in the Stream"

Text Source

Wikipedia, please click here to read the full article.

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Going on... at the Launch

He continued with his talk by springing a surprise, that his first book never got published. And goes on to add, “That first book was the one where I have made all the mistakes and since then I have not repeated any of them”. Well, I think, this is one big Guru Mantra, from an author, who has sold more than 120 Million books, which every aspiring writer should always remember - To be a great writer, write the first one for yourself and commit all the mistakes there and then never repeat it again in your further books.

In London, for his first book launch, Wilbur Smith recalls, “After many futile attempts to find my first published book in the shops around London, I had lost hope to meet any of my readers. Only on my way back, while waiting in the security area of the airport lounge, I found this fine lady reading the book. That gave me goose pimples and after watching her for sometimes, I approached her to ask about the book, saying “That’s my book you are reading....” And she replied, “Oh I am terribly sorry; I did not know that it’s yours. I found it lying on the ground”

Fishing in Ponoy River in Russia - 19lb Salmon
Wilbur Smith loves fishing

In one of the first book signing events in USA, after signing his pile of books, he went on to find and  write on his good friend Fredrick Forsyth’s book too in the store, as he was told by another author at the event, “In such events, I  sign as many copies as possible so that the store owners could not send them back”

Now below are some of the thoughts from his interaction... at the launch.

His books being made into Films: books and films are different things and my books are hard to film. Many of my books have been made into films, but I find them somehow lacking.”

Hardest part of writing a book: Anything that you do with your heart and soul is never so easy. Writing is a lonely work.

Development of Characters: When the character starts living after 20-30 pages, I feel like running with pack of hunting dogs, the characters take over my writing.

Re-incarnation: I believe that it’s possible that life force carries over into another life form as in re-incarnation which can be animals, human form or anything. I have always been fascinated and drawn towards supernatural.

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In the end, as I was talking to him about his the first book 'which never got published', he said, “it was a still born baby so I could not love it. Probably it will go on with him to his another journey, in another life time...”

Well I am sure, you have long innings ahead, Mr. Wilbur Smith. We all look forward to many more book and personally many more interactions like this. 
Thank you for keeping your writing spirits alive in the Savannah of words...

Image Source : Wilbur Smith Website

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ॐ नमः शिवाय

Om Namah Shivaya

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Thus Spoke Zarathustra - Nietzsche