AHKN - Chats (Shital & Ashish: part 1)

We launched an offshoot to the AHKN series, called Chats, where we speak to disability families, friends and allies about their journeys and lived experiences. Just simple, honest conversations that demystify spectrum conditions. 

Releasing it simultaneously on IG and Youtube. With this addendum to AHKN we hope to spread awareness and sensitise people on conditions they may have no idea about. 

This is part 1 of 8 short sub 5-minute episodes. We're going to do a similar set of videos with Mr and Mrs Tiwari, as well as Gopika Kapoor. 

The Vir Kapoor blog is pending. Might upload it this week, or probably after the episode goes up.

Anyway, here's AHKN - Chats w/ Ashish & Shital (part 1) - 

Vir Kapoor on Alag Hain Kam Nahi

3rd ND meeting this month, 4th episode shoot. 

Met Vir Kapoor, son of Gopika Kapoor. Quite an interesting day. Relatively quiet day also. 

I've read about Vir in Gopika's book Beyond the Blue, so I know a little bit about him already.

IRL, he's shy and prefers to be by himself. But he's also very excited to bring you into his world. First he shows us this big puzzle that he's putting together, it's a wide-angle drone picture of Cinque Terre. Every time I read about Vir doing puzzles I pictured those 20 or 30-piece things that I used to do. But this was a giant, 200-piece puzzle that he was putting together. I ask him how do you do it? He doesn't reply. I tell him you just know where each piece goes, don't you, and he looks at me and said yes. Lol. 

Then he shows us his Meccano creations. A cable car, a windmill, an RC car, a radio... all things he's built from scratch. And things he's excited to show us. With his radio he's just changing channels, with his windmill he's showing us how the blades spin. I pick up a small aircraft model from his shelf and I see him quickly look at me and then look away. So I ask if I'm allowed to touch his things. He wants to be nice, so he quickly says yes. I tell him it's okay to say no, I'll back off. And immediately he changes his answer to no. We all laugh. 

We go down for a bit, and he shows me how well he cycles. We play with Jazz for a bit, until it starts to rain and we have to come back up. Every time I ask him something that's vague, he taps his finger on his chin to show he's thinking. Again, we take ample breaks, and every time Aditi or I pick up on a sensory overload we ask if he wants a break and he always says yes. 

I spot all these board games in his room and ask him which one he wants to play. He chooses snakes & ladders, so we play a game. It's relatively quiet, we're rolling the dice and taking our turns. Vir wins, and we all give him hi-fives. 

It feels like I already know Vir. Not so much because of the book, but because his face seems very familiar. Vir is extremely accommodating with us, and every time I tell him he can be frank and tell us to go away if he's getting irritated, he says no, he's fine and we can be friends. 

Since he's super into gadgets and technology, I spot him looking at my camera rig. I almost want to ask him if he wants to check it out, maybe take a couple shots. But then I realize I wouldn't have anything to shoot that with. Maybe another time we will go back and make him shoot something that we can put up on the channel? If he's into it, sure. 

Vir takes us through his family photo albums. He laughs at times because he's made a face in some pictures, or worn a wig, or someone's doing something funny. He shows us his distant relatives, his whole family, everyone, in a quiet voice... just simply saying, "my nani, my buas, my chachu, my cousins..." 

After lunch we sit and chat with Gopika and Gayatri. She speaks about their relationship and how protective she is of Vir. They like watching movies together, sometimes they do Wordle. 

The nicest part is when it's time for Vir's afternoon nap. Some time between 3 pm and 4 pm Vir comes out and asks if we're done with his portions so he can sleep. Not yet, I tell him, but - not wanting to disrupt his schedule - I say that if he wants to sleep he can. 

He thinks for a split second, then says, no it's okay, he'll wait. 

Vir's world is pretty interesting. At 17 he does Meccano and Lego already. He's learning how to code, he bakes, and has full plans to become a coder-model. He likes to dance, and he's part of a choir too. There's an evident creative spark in him. And funny things make him laugh, like seeing a picture of a snake wearing glasses or Jazz chewing on our tripod. 

Alag Hain Kam Nahi - episode 2

So much is happening, haven't been able to take 5 mins out and post about Risshan's episode. 

We released it last Friday, and it got a pretty good response straight off the bat. Slightly over 500 views, which is quite good for the 2nd video of a new IP on a new channel. 

Ashish made a post on LI, which Suresh Menon - among a few others - ended up sharing. Someone from Disney+ Hotstar loved it, and a few other prominent people from the industry. Ashish said he was getting 'universally good' messages about the episode, and before that he said, 'Rula dala bencho' after watching the first cut. 

Again, can't say this enough, quite proud of ourselves for putting this out. For the way the story turned out, and for the record time (4 days) in which we transcoded, edited, made music for, graded and mastered the film. It's a 20-minute film for crying out loud.

Anyway, here it is. Watch and make of it what you will :).

DD apartment of infinite loops edition

I've gone apartment hunting. It's a place in Juhu. Pretty dope interiors. There's no security guard or anyone at the entrance of the building, you can go straight up to the flat. 

I open the front door and walk right in. I start looking around, expecting someone to come greet me. A man enters the room. It's not the hall. This is some kind of holding area or lobby, with a bedroom to the left and a door that probably leads to the hall in the front. On the right there's another door, which I can't figure where it goes. This is easily a 4 or even 5 bhk. 

The man shows me around. He's wearing a necklace of some kind, with big, maroon, rectangular stones. He takes me through the door from which he entered earlier, and it does  turn out to be the way to the living room, which is huge. There's a couch in the center, and next to it a big pillar. Curios lie neatly arranged all over the place, and the room has a very modern and at the same time rustic feel to it. Off to the left is the master bedroom, with a sprawling balcony overlooking a lush green playground. I look down upon the road and figure it's one of those quiet bylanes in Juhu. 

His wife comes by, and there's some kind of a fight (which I don't remember). At the end of the fight, she wins, and leaves with his necklace, while the entire time I'm thinking it's the apartment she's fighting over. Then I realise this entire thing has played out exactly like someone once told me it would. I don't know who, and the harder I think the more the name slips away from my grasp. I walk around the house and it's totally empty now. The husband is dead and the wife has taken the necklace and disappeared. 

I go out through the main door, and enter again, and the whole scenario with the man and his wife coming plays out in the same order all over again. So it turns out to be some kind of recorded virtual sequence that is getting triggered every time someone enters the house.  

Across the lobby there's another apartment in which they're conducting a deal to sell the place, and my mother and father are making an offer. 

Mom and dad come out, and they're laughing with the broker saying the rate they've offered is okay for the place. Dad and I take a tour of the apartment together, and he says very happily that they're willing to let go of it for 3 cr, which is damn cheap for Juhu. And if we haggle a bit more, they might even come down to 2.7 cr. I'm thinking there's something suspect about the place,.if it's going for this cheap, but I can't tell what it is. But I'm getting some strange vibes, I think. 

I'm showing papa around the bedroom, and he loves it too. We see the master bedroom toilet and it's like a long train compartment with the pot on one side and the shower on the other, and I tell papa see how big the bathroom is. 

Only one thing, I wonder. If the sequence with the husband-wife is virtual then no one's actually been living here. So why is the goddamn bathroom floor wet? 

Made a sketch of the floor plan this time:

On a side note, don't know why I see so many random apartments in my dreams. Maybe I'll do one whole thing on the floor plans of my dream houses. Like not dream houses dream houses, but houses from my dreams. Lol. 

Risshan Patil on Alag Hain Kam Nahi

Spent last Sunday with Risshan Patil. What a beautiful day. What a talented soul. 

The day went by like a musical. 

The team spent the last three days editing the cut. There were smiles all round the studio the whole time we were watching the rushes. Good fun. 

We had an offline lock today. Not like there's a client to get approvals from, but still. Tomorrow's grade and sound design day, which is really the fun part. 

I mean, mastering is so fun. Making sure everything's on point, and all the levels are precise, and the right reverb's on the right channel, and the right amount of EQ-ing on tracks and the right colour on the right shot. 

It's just a bunch of things done the right way. 

'Looking forward', as the Delhiites would sign off.

I love my life. And I love my wife. 

1 month to Spectrum

So something decently big happened for us today. A mid-size influencer posted about us on their stories, which drove a decent amount of traction back to our IG profile. That led to someone from YouTube noticing our content and writing a very sweet DM to us saying they loved our content and would be glad to assist with any problems we might ever have on the platform.

Of course we wrote back almost immediately thanking them and expressing gratitude for taking interest in the world of neurodiversity. Then we capitalized on the traction and did something even bolder that was totally out of our comfort zone. We had recorded a short parody version of the 'Congratulations & celebrations' song by Cliff Richard, changing the lyrics to 'Procrastination & delegation'. Basically turned it into a song about ADHD diagnosis. We shot a very quick video to the 20-second parody track and put it up on IG. 

We had already climbed up by 12 followers since this morning, and I think IG decided that was enough for the day, because the funny reel did not do anything to our profile at all. But Aditi says it picks up with time, so we'll just wait and see. 

I love Aditi's calm demeanour.

Anyway, on the WA group we have been added to, someone mentioned two kickass concepts today:

1. Disabled rest

2. Self-made vs Community-made

1. Disabled rest is a counter-culture movement to negate the ill effects of the hustle culture. I resonate with it 100% given how both Aditi and I need time to recharge after even the smallest bit of overwhelm. 

2. Self-made vs community-made is essentially specifically for the disabled culture. Having a community is so important to thrive, none of us is ever self-made. We're all who we are because of the communities around us. 

That's about it. Good day today, tiring week overall. 

Came across this gem and want to remember it forever

"As Rubin explains it, Murakami works not because he has an idea for a book, but because he feels compelled to write. It’s suggested that he often sits at his desk, writing whatever comes to mind, until the glimmerings of a story appear. Those who are familiar with Murakami’s novels can see this process at work."

I could say I feel a certain compulsion to be making videos all the time. I might not have an idea all the time, but holding up a camera to someone's face and having a conversation with them IS the idea itself. 

"The more I read Murakami, the less his work resembles genius, and the more it comes to resemble a symptom of autism or obsessive compulsion."

Apparently Jay Rubin, Murakami's long-time translator, said something of the sort in his biography Haruki Murakami and the Music of Words.

On another note - Murakami feels detached from his Japanese roots. I'm kind of the same way. Could this be another autistic trait? 

DD arms in Iran edition

Me and Nikhil decide to smuggle bombs and arms out of Iran and into India on a jetliner. Our original plan is not to do this on a commercial carrier but for some reason that doesn't work out, so we have no choice.

We bring all the ammunition to the airport in a taxicab. The taxi guy is nice at first, but when he finds out we've got arms he gets livid. There's three of us (I forget who the third guy is), and the taxi driver makes the third guy kneel and holds one of the rifles up to his face. He squeezes the trigger in anger because we didn't inform him we were carrying arms in his cab. But he says he also wants to ensure the bullet chamber is empty.

Up until the very last moment I'm not sure about this stupid idea of smuggling arms, but somehow it must be done. Inside the airport, third guy leaves us and Nikhil and I are figuring out ways to get the arms on the airplane. Nikhil disappears for a while, and comes back some time later saying he's asked our cab driver to take the arms straight up to the flight along with our passports. 

He asks me to be cool and just walk straight through immigration. If we're cool, we won't get caught. 

I don't know how all this will be done, but I agree anyway. There's this camera type system to which you need to show your passport as you enter the check-in area. Nervously we walk down the pathway lined by Iranian immigration officers suspiciously scanning everyone who's coming in. I'm trying hard to blend in and be cool, but it's very difficult. Just then, out of nowhere, one officer comes and grabs me by the arm. "Where are you going?" he asks me. I start crying almost immediately. Another officer grabs Nikhil and takes him away. 

I say to the officer I'm a journalist, and am in Iran only to do a story. The officer asks if the story is on how we travelled back from Iran to India considering there aren't any direct flights between the two countries (or something)? I'm already repenting getting into this, but also thinking it's too late now. If these guys find out what we've been up to, we're screwed. 

The officer seems to be easing up looking at my face, and I'm hoping he doesn't ask for my passport seeing as I don't have it on me. Just then Nikhil appears out of nowhere with our passports and puts them down on a table in front of the officers who caught us. I'm so relieved but also confused about where the arms might have gone. The officers look at our passports and let us go. We have to exit the airport as soon as possible. I'm super glad we've aborted the mission. 

As we're driving out from the airport, a bunch of kids from a nearby village look at us and run alongside our car with happy faces. I'm thinking we need to get out of here by flight. But I don't know where the arms are, and Nikhil won't tell me. I'm thinking if the authorities find out that the arms are already on the flight, we're screwed. But if the flight (probably a different one) takes off before that, then we're safe. It all depends on what that taxicab driver did with them before he disappeared. 

I'm left wondering.