Shekhar Kapur

In July of 1972, a young professor returned from the US to his native and newly independent Bangaladesh to be part of the building of a new Nation. He joined the Chttitagong University to teach Econmic theory. But in 1974 the great famine hit Bangladesh. Combined with the oil crisis of 1973 all economic structures started to collapse. Hundreds of thousands were dying. Prof Yunus saw no point in teaching antiquated western economic theories that had no relevance the reality around him. So he and his students started to tarvel to the nearby villagers to help. In that period he discovered people that were caught in the economic trap of moneylenders. Taking micro loans to barely survive, but could never pay off. And so became slaves to the money lenders for the rest of their lives. Prof Yunus and his students made a study of of the number of such families in the two villages next to their campus. They found 42. They calculated the total amount these families had borrowed.
The total sum was $27. For want of $27, forty two families were living below the poverty line in conditions of abject slavery. Muhammad Yunus gave the families $ 27 and freed them from a life long bondage to poverty. And the first seeds of the Grameen Bank were sown…

Continue reading “Muhammad Yunus, Grameen Bank and the Nobel Peace prize.” →

Heath is not amongst us, but is in our consciousness. Heath is no longer a physical embodiment, but exists eternally now. His laugh is not audible to my ears any more, but I can hear it in my heart. in my consciousness. And that is what I remember him most for. His laugh. Deep and felt. Like he knew God was laughing with him.
The world is more troubled by his death than I expected. Like a great soul has passed amongst us and we, caught up as we all are, in the the throes of everyday life, did not even recognize it when it was there !
But in that coming to terms with our loss, why do we sensationalize his death ? why are we looking for dramatic escapes away from just a deep acceptance that ancient souls always leave us young ?
Heath Ledger did not commit suicide. Period. He was the most extraordinarily courageous man I have ever known. …….

Continue reading “Heath Ledger did not commit suicide” →

In Heath I have lost a younger brother. He was one the most gentle, the most honest , most caring,and most compassionate persons I had met. And one of the most honest actors I worked with. I often told him that he had the ability to completely bare his soul in front of the camera, and all I needed to do was make sure the camera could look into his eyes, and through his eyes, the audience could clearly look into his soul. I last spoke to him the night before he died. I had just arrived in New York last night, he said he could not see me that night but really wanted to meet me the next day. he made me promise that I would call him in the morning and wake him up. I tried. Little did I know that his soul had already left his body.
Farewell Heath. I always knew you had an ancient soul. I always said you had a wisdom beyond your years. And somehow I always knew that your spirit was too restless. Goodbye, my brother.

Really interesting article. A must read for all those that are looking to be film makers. It’s what I have been saying about the coming democracy of the new media, where large corporations will no longer be the gatekeepers between the film makers and the viewers.
http://blog.pmarca.com/2007/11/rebuilding-holl.html