Working from home obviously has its limitations in fields like mine. Some pre-production aspects of moviemaking can be done, working from home and collaborating online, but very little of the actual production and post-production work. So the pandemic has played havoc with the plans for my next movie. We’ve got to accept what we cannot change; so I have been spending part of the lockdown time with my children chatting, discussing different things, and doing stuff like drawing up my family tree, detailing the inter-relationships between various members of the family. I have narrated our life journey showing them the relevant photos - I must say I am enjoying every one of these moments with my children! What to do with the rest of the time on my hands? Since childhood, I have been one of those guys who are always up to something - doing this, learning this, doing that, learning that, picking up some skills, some certificates along the way. No, I’m not against those who like relaxing, doing nothing, idling happily whenever they have free time. It’s just my wiring, my genes - I’m happy being up to something or the other.
So, I wondered, “Why don’t I use this free time to create an online record of my life’s journey, including sharing what all I have learned, what all I know?” I don’t maintain a diary but I do collect photos, notes, raw movie footage, edited footage, newspaper clippings and so on, and also keep adding stuff to the ever-growing store of memories in my mind!! But they are all not in one place, are they? Discussing these plans with some dear friends led to the conclusion that a website would be one of the best ways to create the kind of digital record I want. So off and on, I have been working with a friend putting my website together.
Being a movie director, I am trained to present a finished product to you. So, all these months, I’ve been hesitating to make a public announcement of my website as it really is still a work-in-progress. My friend (the one helping me with the website) has been saying that a website will always be a work-in-progress; it will never be a finished product like a movie. So, why don't you share it with everybody in whatever condition it is in? Trained as I am, I couldn’t help asking myself, “Is it 60% complete, 70% complete? What if people find mistakes in it? What about all the things that are still not in it the way I want them?...”
“Let’s have a deadline for the public announcement,” my friend insisted. So with some effort, I untrained my compulsion for presenting complete works, convincing myself I would invite you all to my work-in-progress website and be open to your comments, your criticisms, your ideas to make it better. So do explore directorharinath.com, do keep coming back to it as I work on it, giving me your bouquets, your brickbats - I’m making the website a part of my life’s journey, especially the online journey that many of us are on through Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, WhatsApp and so on. Do connect with me, online or offline, anywhere you feel comfortable.
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