But Kung-fu panda goes far beyond this lose association. It's just too bizarrely similar to my journey so far as a reporter. So much so that the movie producers can easily accuse me of outright Plagiarism after reading this blog! At least for the first half (cuz my story is still somewhere there) I get a déjà vu, I feel as if it's not Po...it's ME !
I watched the movie on Sunday and the next day read this article in MINT. It was cathartic. As if a gay guy visited the central park in Connaught Place for the first time and suddenly came to know that there's a whole friggin community out there; he's not the only one. And being a writer/blogger comes handy because you can express your feelings boiling inside you rather than getting bogged down by them.
I do realize this is no ordinary blogpost, its a potential pink-slip. But journalists swear by 'freedom of expression' and expressing my personal experiences is the kind of journalism (if at all it is!) I think I am good at. There is no deliberate attempt to defame anyone here but if the worst-case-scenario still happens, it would be a 'poetic Justice' (of sorts) to get fired for the same reason you were probably hired in the first place.
So why does this movie gives me goosebumps and a déjà vu?
It's because...
Po went to the 'Dragon warrior' ceremony only to get a souvenir for himself, least did he know that he would be anointed one. He just appeared out of thin air (quite literally) at the instant when Oogway (the Tortoise) was about to nominate the 'Dragon Warrior'.
Wait a second, before we go any further, lemme clarify that I am in no way alluding that I am or gonna be "dragon warrior" or in this case "Dragon Journalist"!! I would be happy if I am able to justify the tag of a journalist first.
But the similarities, nonetheless are striking. My journalistic stint also started somewhat 'out of the blue'. You don't generally get hired in a seminar after-all.
When the house was thrown open for questions, the moderator of the seminar somehow spotted my hand waving in the air continually for the past 5 minutes for the last question. While two of the panelists gave an idealistic reply, my editor, who was one of the panelists, gave me his email address. few months later, I was hired.
so was it a fluke? was it an accident? maybe or maybe not. As Oogway said, "there are no accidents".
...you are a disgrace to kung fu and if you have any respect for who we are and what we do, you will be gone by morning," said the Tigress to Po. Thankfully none of my colleagues has said something so explicit to me thus far but man I can't explain the vibes I get. I am such an outsider and so not welcome in their coterie...especially my neighbors'.
I really wonder if all my socializing skills simply vanish when I enter the office premises! Barring few exceptions with whom I am good at terms (but sadly they sit far away), the scale of my relationship with my colleagues starts at indifference and goes till hostility.
3) "you have to believe" -
In one of those rare conversations between the two masters, Shifu says to Oogway that Po is not the dragon warrior. He was picked up by accident and a peach tree (referring to Po) can't defeat Ti Lung (the evil tiger) and Oogway replies, "May be it can. if you are willing to guide it, to nurture it, to believe in it."
There is a difference between spoon-feeding and guiding and I know it. In fact, I would voluntarily say no to spoon feeding (which one of my colleague tried to do once, by giving me a dictation of what to write in a story). What I seek is your guidance.
Please don't say that "it's between you and who picked you". Because he may have picked me but now you are my 'Master'.
Please don't say that "I will only be able to give attention if it's a page-1 story" cuz, if I am able to make it to page 1 (hopefully consistently), I would probably not need your mentoring then as much as I need it now.
Shifu figured out food works for Po. What works for me? Somethings i might know, somethings I might not. I would love to help you figure out if you want but certainly, apathy is not one of them.
