The game is afoot!

It has taken more than its fair share of time to get off the ground but, finally, the much-mentioned television series is officially on. Finally, I'm off to Bombay today! And, then, for the recce to Alibaug tomorrow, where we'll be shooting in November. The ball has been set a-rolling!

Obviously, I'm not at liberty to discuss specifics here, except to say that we're working on a non-fiction series in English. While it is a 13-part series, the fate of the other twelve episodes depends on how the channel reacts to the first one, which we hope to complete before the end of the year. So, effectively, what we're working on is a pilot but, as they like to say, an air-able pilot...good enough to be telecast as is.

I think we've got a pretty good deal here, not only in terms of the budget but also the relative ease with which the show has come through. Of course, the waiting period has been killing but everything else has gone by rather smoothly. But, oddly, the show is the last thing on my mind at the moment.

What I'm really preoccupied with right now is The List. Each time I have to go out of town, I make a list of things I need to do before I leave. Nothing unusual about that, right? I'm sure everyone else makes lists too. Except that my lists are the really long, never ending variety. And, sadly, I've never been able to mark all the contents of my list as 'Done'. For some reason, for every item I cross out from the list, I seem to add a new job to do. As a result, the list becomes virtually inexhaustible. So, instead of the show we're supposed to be starting, I've had many other important things on my mind this week. For instance, buy coffee for a friend, buy Fukuoka for the friend's cousin, phone X, send a text message to Y, visit Z, clean the room, switch the phones, shift out the empty flower pots, buy meds...I'm still a long way away from finishing the 47 jobs I have on my list.

Perhaps I contribute to my own misery because, at most times, I start tackling the list too late. And, perhaps, my list is always too damned long!

If The List wasn't bad enough, what is bloody scary is this other thing. Ostensibly, I'm going to Bombay for work. But, even before I've reached there, plans have already been made to indulge in certain pleasurable, extra curricular activities. For instance, watch as many films as possible at the Asian Film Festival, which begins in Bombay today, join Tai Chi classes, visit Pune during the next weekend...hell, when am I going to work!

But, then, I don't care...I'm going to BOMBAY!