Yasmin Rocks!

I had the pleasure of meeting Yasmin Ahmad recently. Her eyes sparkle with observation, her tongue with inspiration. Something she said stabs me. In describing her favourite film Tora-san, Our Beloved Tramp by Yoji Yamada in her blog http://yasminthestoryteller.blogspot.com/ she states “Notice that there was no real big event occurring in the film. No wars, no murders, no deaths, no alien invasion. Just regular folks with regular problems. But in the end, you care deeply about each person's problem as if it was your own.” She also quotes John Webster, “It's easy to be sensational. Just walk around with your zipper down and you'll be sensational. But genius is when you can be sensational with your zipper up.” I admit I often walk with my zipper down. Most storytellers do. We resort to some kind of drama. Not necessarily anything cataclysmic, but even everybody’s hot topic love is dramatic. How often do we fall in love? As such, how do you tell a compelling tale in the day of a life? Wake up, go to work, come back, kiss the wife and kids and then sleep. Only a master storyteller can pull this off.

So, I have a new goal. To do a tale about nothing. Ideally it’ll be a movie as nothingness is harder to portray with visuals. In spite of our mundane routine, what goes on in our head is always exciting – scandals, murders and super beings – and as such a book does not invigorate me. Novels are the dramas of the mind.

God willing, fingers crossed, I’ll be able to come up with a story. All inspiration exists. Nothing is original. We just reach out to grab it. Meanwhile, I’ll still walk with my zippers down.