A few weeks ago I was inside the Ramanasramam archive building, helping a South African film crew find material for a documentary they were making in the ashram, when I spotted a Betacam film tape labelled 'Annamalai Swami'. The ashram does not have equipment to play this format but I made some enquiries and discovered that the film was a master of an interview that Jim Lemkin had had with Annamalai Swami in 1993. At that point Jim was working in Tiruvannamalai on a film about the nature of happiness. Annamalai Swami was one of the people he interviewed while he was collecting material. I remember his making this film, and I also remember that at some point he ran out of funds. I suggested that he go to Lucknow to make a film about Papaji instead. Jim had been there before and been impressed by Papaji. I knew there were people there who would fund his project if Papaji approved.
Jim went to Lucknow, made his pitch to Papaji, and Papaji gave his approval to the project. Papaji then asked me to help him make the film. I ended up doing long filmed interviews with Papaji and shorter ones with many of his devotees. The interview I did with Papaji in the Botanical Gardens in Lucknow appeared in print in Papaji Interviews, and an edited version came out as a film entitled Summa Iru. The film itself, directed by Jim, came out under the title Call Off The Search.
Jim went to Lucknow, made his pitch to Papaji, and Papaji gave his approval to the project. Papaji then asked me to help him make the film. I ended up doing long filmed interviews with Papaji and shorter ones with many of his devotees. The interview I did with Papaji in the Botanical Gardens in Lucknow appeared in print in Papaji Interviews, and an edited version came out as a film entitled Summa Iru. The film itself, directed by Jim, came out under the title Call Off The Search.
The material for the 'happiness' project went into a kind of limbo. So far as I am aware, none of it has ever appeared. A few days ago I contacted Jim about the material he had filmed here in 1993 and asked if he still had a usable copy of it. He did, and he was happy to send me a DVD master from which copies could be made. I watched the Annamalai Swami interview a few days ago and found it to be a wonderfully evocative experience. It brought back many happy memories of sitting in Annamalai Swami's little room, asking him questions about his life and his relationship with Bhagavan.
The interview is seventy-three minutes long, and visually it is superb. The sound is not quite so good. The translations made by Sundaram, Annamalai Swami's interpreter, are sometimes difficult to make out, but with a little concentrated effort, they can all be deciphered. The first ten minutes or so are devoted to a summary of how Annamalai Swami heard about Bhagavan and came to him in 1928. The remainder is Jim asking questions about Self-realisation and practice. Annamalai Swami replies to them in a typical eloquent and forceful way. This interview will be a great treat for anyone who has appreciated Annamalai Swami's Guru bhakti and his simple but practical teachings.
I emailed Jim about the interview and asked if I could distribute it for him. He agreed but said that he didn't want anyone to make any money out of it. That means I will be selling it at cost price and asking buyers not to sell it on to anyone else at a profit. This morning I contacted the business in Mumbai that makes DVDs for Ramanasramam and its manager agreed to make 500 copies for me for around Rs 40 per copy. That's just under one dollar US. That will be the sale price, plus postage. In India that means about Rs 55; elsewhere, probably around $2 US, depending on how much the package weighs. The manager of the copying company promised delivery in 30 days, but I don't take estimates like that very seriously.
So, this is just an announcement that this new product will be available sometime later this year. I have to design a label and a cover, which will add a few days to the process, but I hope to have my 500 copies before the end of next month. I will put a notification on this blog when copies are available for distribution.
The interview is seventy-three minutes long, and visually it is superb. The sound is not quite so good. The translations made by Sundaram, Annamalai Swami's interpreter, are sometimes difficult to make out, but with a little concentrated effort, they can all be deciphered. The first ten minutes or so are devoted to a summary of how Annamalai Swami heard about Bhagavan and came to him in 1928. The remainder is Jim asking questions about Self-realisation and practice. Annamalai Swami replies to them in a typical eloquent and forceful way. This interview will be a great treat for anyone who has appreciated Annamalai Swami's Guru bhakti and his simple but practical teachings.
I emailed Jim about the interview and asked if I could distribute it for him. He agreed but said that he didn't want anyone to make any money out of it. That means I will be selling it at cost price and asking buyers not to sell it on to anyone else at a profit. This morning I contacted the business in Mumbai that makes DVDs for Ramanasramam and its manager agreed to make 500 copies for me for around Rs 40 per copy. That's just under one dollar US. That will be the sale price, plus postage. In India that means about Rs 55; elsewhere, probably around $2 US, depending on how much the package weighs. The manager of the copying company promised delivery in 30 days, but I don't take estimates like that very seriously.
So, this is just an announcement that this new product will be available sometime later this year. I have to design a label and a cover, which will add a few days to the process, but I hope to have my 500 copies before the end of next month. I will put a notification on this blog when copies are available for distribution.
