How do you feel when something great happens to someone else? Happy? Jealous? Motivated? Discouraged? Let me start from the beginning.

I have a friend who has always wanted to be an actor. Much more than I wanted to. He's a couple of years younger than me, but he knows so much more about it than I do; he spent years training in theatre, dance, language... you name it. He moved to Bombay a little over a year ago to start his career, and I've seen him through it all. The countless meetings and auditions, photos sent to producers and directors. The hope before each meeting that this will be the one; this is going to be the day that we'll all talk about years from now when people ask, “So how did you get started in the business?”

Things were looking good six months ago. A good production house was starting a project and they wanted newcomers for it. My friend was the hot favourite, the director told him personally. There were some script issues to be worked out, so the film was going to be
delayed but nothing to worry about. “You're my guy, no two ways about it,” he told my friend.

My friend didn't get the role. I remember the day he told me he wasn't going to be in the movie. Our gang got together, spent the evening talking, but I don't think anyone will really know how much he must have hurt. Time passed, and I started to feel increasingly scared. For him. What if nothing happened? What if he never even got his chance? It would gut him, I knew, and it would gut me. I know what it's like when you love the movies. You can't think of anything else, and there is truly nothing else that makes the cut.

Last week, he walked into my house and told me he'd signed his first film. I jumped up and hugged him, and tears came into my eyes. They're coming into my eyes now as I think about that moment, and that's why I asked that question in the beginning; How do you feel when something great happens to someone else? If you can feel truly happy, truly ecstatic watching another person's victory... you're damn lucky. Because you have someone who means that much to you in your life. It doesn't get much better than that. And if you should happen to have more than one... Well. That's something.

Congratulations AO. You'll make us proud one day. Love, Beep, Gen, Deva. And me.