“We tried to break him. Oh believe us, we tried. But this mortal was made of steel. And it wasn’t only his skin that we are talking about. His will was unbreakable. His determination to succeed became his fuel. His passion to make his dreams come true was were he found his strength. And as the years turned into decades, we knew that one day this mortal’s time would come and until then he would wait, ‘cause we gods know that the true test of a man is the patience he gains while he sees the world pass by, for even we gods fear The Fury Of The Patient Man.”
-The Book Of Prophecies.
The last blog I wrote was when I was in the states and it was a few days before my birthday. So I guess I should start from where I left off and what better place to start that than my birthday! If you wanna know what I did for my birthday, well, I went to Six Flags Magic Mountain! It was me, my brother rimoh and his friend annalise and the three of us left by 10am in the morning and thanks to anna and her car we reached within 30mins. Rimoh being the sweet heart brother he is got me the platinum flash pass which gave me access to all the rides while cutting the wait in the lines! I couldn't thank him more for that. This was rimoh’s and anna’s 1st time at six flags and by the time they went on their 5th roller coaster, they were gassed out and it was very cute to see them telling me to go to all the other rides without them, like two grand parents letting their grandson go and play. Well, as for me, I went on 10, oh yes, you read it right, 10 roller coasters that day! And these weren’t the child play coasters, I went on the toughest and most challenging ones at the park! And to add to my achievements I only screamed my lungs out on the 1st coaster I went on {X2} and after that I was just blinking away and was all smiles. I realised that day that I am indeed an adrenaline junkie and the ‘rush’ gives me a kick! In the future you never know I would be finally taking that Bungee Jump and Sky dive test after all. But all I can say is that my 32nd birthday was amazing! And I couldn’t have asked for more. I would want to thank all the people who wished me on my birthday but I also want to add that sometimes spending the birthday alone going through crazy roller coasters while your brother sits and recovers {lolz} is truly a very gratifying moment indeed.
"You got to start by doing little things if your quest is to take over the world."
-J. B. Smoove
After a few days, my mom, brother and sis came to La and we were delighted to see them there. For the 1st few days we took them to all the famous tourist spots in La and then My sis started her acting course at NYFA and my youngest brother joined La Fitness and trained regularly over there. For the next one month Dad and Mom did all the cooking. Me and Mom did all the cleaning and I did all the cleaning {since I have OCD}. It was an amazing experience to do everything on your own and watching all the latest movies at Universal City and of course receiving my packages from the United States Post Office. I also had my own P.O. Box key! But the things which I will always remember would be the Dance Classes at IDA, the gruelling Crossfit sessions at Depot Crossfit and my Comedy Improv classes at UCB. The dance classes were very challenging at first. I mean if you came to one of the classes and would had seen these amazing boys and girls and children, I am telling you that you would be in awe! They were absolutely fantastic and for the first few classes I was in the back of the line ‘cause I knew I had a lot to learn. But as the classes proceeded and I started to catch the Hip-Hop groove, I got my confidence and by week 3, I was one of the top leads in the class. I don’t mean to brag but trust me, when you are at par with one of the finest in the world, it is a proud moment to show off about. There was a teacher there and he was the most popular of all of them and he used to teach the monday class. For many mondays I was lagging behind ‘cause I couldn’t match up to his choreography. But I never gave up and one day, I think it was the 4 week of training, the teacher told me to meet him after class. I got nervous as I thought he would tell me to do some other class ‘cause maybe I wasn’t coming up to his expectations. But then, the magic happened. He came up to me and told me this. “I am so happy to see your progress! You are killing it in class! When I first saw you, I thought you wouldn’t catch up but I am so happy to see you transform!” I was left speechless and I could tell him was Thank You Thank You Thank You Sir! I had finally won his acknowledgement and for me that was a huge victory! And when I went to La, it was my top priority to visit the Ufc Gym in Rosemead. I did that and I got to tell you, it was the mecca of all the gyms! It was huge and state of the art and it was a Mma Fan’s dream! Training there was one of the best moments of my life and even though I wanted to go there everyday, I knew I couldn’t as it was nearly 40mins away from where I was staying and taking a 60 dollars uber ride everyday would had costed me a fortune on travelling alone! So for my luck, there was a Crossfit Box right next to my dance classes and even the timings were appropriate for me to train at both the places everyday! {4pm to 5pm Crossfit. 6pm to 7pm Dance.} The trainers at depot were very nice and kind and as the days passed my muscles and mind strength started to get the hang of it. In the weeks to come, I realised that Crossfit is the future of fitness and I am glad I had joined the revolution. There was a coach there called Marcel and he was my favourite coach and I knew I was his favourite student as well. Yes, I do agree I am a sucker for approval by my teachers and maybe I guess that is what pushes me further. There was this one time when I was snapchatting the box and I told coach {marcel} to say a few words. He did that for me without hesitation. But later did I know from his wife that he is very camera shy but he did for me ‘cause he really liked me. That was a huge compliment for me apart from the fact I reached my Max 1 Rep Pr on my Bench Press, Shoulder Press and Back Squat all ‘cause of his amazing guidance. I will never forget Coach Marcel and the lovely people at Depot Crossfit. Didn’t I mention before how the universe works in mysterious ways? Well, not only did I manage to learn Hip-Hop and do Crossfit 5 days a week but I also got the chance to learn Comedy Improv at UCB! I enrolled myself there when there was only one seat left and the level 1 showcase performance was being held one day before we were coming back to India. Talk about perfect timing! My classes were once a week on wednesdays and every class was a delight ‘cause I had the opportunity to do improv with some of the nicest people I have ever met. Our teacher Tim taught us a lot and I know that I am a more relaxed and confident actor now than I was before. My level 1 and level 2 classes in Mumbai were a blessing for me and this classes gave me the confidence to always be the 1st student to do the exercises even though I knew I was making mistakes. By the end of the 8 weeks I realised that as an actor I still have a long way to go and given a chance I would keep on learning the art of improv to get better and also more funnier. The reason I told you all this is because I had promised you all that I would come back and share my experiences with you and to sum it up all I can say is that I am truly blessed to have been in the City Of Angels and I would love to visit it again very very soon.
"I feel the older I get, the more I'm learning to handle life. Being on this quest for a long time, it's all about finding yourself."
-Ringo Starr
But now I am home and even though it took me nearly 2 weeks to get used to the mumbai traffic again, I can now say I am back home and back to the grind in full swing. You see, this is who I am and this is who I will always be. A man on his personal quest to find his greatness. For many these talks are beyond spiritual and even border line boring. But for me it is a part of me and what better way to express them than through my blogs. I have come a long way from my 1st blog entry. For crying out loud I am 32 already! And sometimes I can’t believe myself that I have reached my 30’s. {although people say I look like 27 or something! Lolz!} But I am glad I am getting older ‘cause in this process I am also getting wiser. I know what my priorities are, I know what I like and I don’t like and what I can stand for and the things that still make me weak. I have come to terms with myself and facing and embracing my realities has only made me a much more stronger person. If you go to my Facebook page or my twitter page, you will see fans and haters asking me about my next venture. And the reason I don’t answer them about it is because I am waiting for the right time to come. Over the years I have become a very private person and some things I know I will never share under any circumstances. Now whether I am liked or hated for it is not my concern. This is my choice and I stand by it. I see the world go by in front of me. I see how some are favoured while many still are waiting for their moment to come. And for a very long time, I know I was running away from my own reality ‘cause I was too scared to accept it. But now, I think since a year, I sense a deep calm within me. A calmness I never felt before. A knowing I never sensed before. A belief I never knew I had. And this feeling has freed me in a way. And do you know why I don’t worry? It’s because I have many things to be grateful for. I feel those blessings with immense love and joy within my heart and I see how the world is so beautiful in front of me. I am no longer a figment of my past but the architect of my grand future. I know, I just know with the utmost belief that one day very soon my time will come. And no matter how many right now get their chance to shine in the sun I know I will get that opportunity also and until that day comes I will grind and I will give and I will be patient and I will train and give my heart and soul to my purpose ‘cause when that time will come I will make the most of it. So I do Mma. I do Crossfit and read my novels and take online courses on Greek and Roman Mythology and do my Voice Practice and improve my diction and take more Improv Classes ‘cause only when I will give it my all will I be worthy of the greatness that is coming to me.
"The eternal quest of the individual human being is to shatter his loneliness."
-Norman Cousins
But I also do other things too. I have other passions also. Passions and feelings which drive me and give me more motivation everyday. Did I tell you that I am competed hooked to american television? Whether it is Supernatural or the latest Designated Survivor, my Tv Schedule is filled throughout the week and I still have over 60 shows to watch! And now thanks to Netflix, Hotstar and very soon Amazing Prime and of course fast-speed internet, streaming has become a lot easier and also a whole lot fun! And speaking of new shows I highly recommend Designated survivor and Lethal weapon. Both are binge worthy shows. In one you see a common man take the responsibility of the leader of the free world and in the other you see the friendship of two people who are poles apart! And besides television this is now gaming season which means many great games are on the horizon with Gears Of War and Call Of Duty to name a few. But the game which I am waiting for with awaited breath is Sniper Ghost Warrior 3! Can you imagine being a special forces navy seal sniper deep in the heart of enemy territory where you are all alone and where you have to stock your target {or prey} for days, do proper recon and then under the cover of mother nature give that bastard that bullet with his name written on it! It is like a dream come true and very soon I will have the opportunity to play that game! So you see, there are many things in life a person can be happy and excited and grateful about. All we have to do is open our hearts and not just our eyes to the beauty of life.
"Clarity and consistency are not enough: the quest for truth requires humility and effort."
-Tariq Ramadan
I write these blogs because I like expressing. Well, I like expressing things which I can with all of you. There are still parts of my life which are unknown to the world and I would like to keep it that way. There should always be some mystery left you see. But the reason this blog entry was a long one was because I wanted it that way. If you remember there was a time when I had a new entry every week but now they are only once in every 2 months and even though I agree that is a long gap between entries I feel this has been my own evolution in a way. To only say things when it is the most important to do so. But just because I don’t write that much doesn’t mean I don’t feel. In fact I feel more deeply now. I feel my mind opening to knowledge when I see the lectures on the origins of the myths of the greeks and romans. I feel a rush of excitement when I annihilate demons on mars in the game Doom. I feel like laughing my ass off whenever I see an episode of South Park and I feel this dark joy whenever I read a chapter in American Psycho. Yes, I do feel but I guess with age, comes evolution. Evolution I am accepting with open arms and with each passing day I become more calmer and I observe more and life becomes more clearer. I know how to edit people who don’t support my growth and to smile when needed. I know when to be in charge and behave as the eldest in the family and also be alone at times when I need to think. I hope that whatever journey you are going through, you go through it with an open heart. Learn to forgive. Become wiser. Embrace the hurt that comes your way and always and I mean always have the faith in the universe and believe that you are taken care off. :-)
"The longest journey is the journey inwards. Of him who has chosen his destiny, Who has started upon his quest for the source of his being."
-Dag Hammarskjold
This is Me, Mahaakshay Chakraborty and this is My Story.
With All My Might,
Your No.1 Fan,
Mahaakshay Chakraborty.
********************************************************************************************************
