Sri Swamiji & Devotees, Bombay Jen & Paul Meidinger, in India Abroad Today!

[Guest guest]

Jaya Guru Datta!

 

We thought we would share with Sri Swamiji's Datta Family the

following information about today's article (Friday, February 3rd

<http://specials.rediff.com/us/ia.htm> ) in India Abroad

<http://www.indiaabroad.com/> , which features fellow devotees, Paul

Meidinger & Bombay Jen & mentions our guruji, Sri Ganapathi

Sachchidananda Swamiji.

 

As you may know, India Today is reported as one of the largest

circulating (70,000 per week) Indian newspapers outside of India.

 

The 'Bollywood' section, pages M10 & M11, has an article about American

extras in Bollywood films, 'That Little Bit Extra' by writer, Aseem

Chhabra; featuring Bombay Jen's experience meeting Abhishek Bachchan

& giving him Sri Swamiji's CDs & DVDs.

 

Also, you might find another article of interest, The 'People' section,

page A4, has an article about pop singer, Britney Spears, 'Oops, she did

it again' . It is about Britney's recent visit to a Malibu Hindu Temple

with her 4 month old son, Sean Preston.

 

Hope you enjoy the articles if you happen to read them!

 

JAYA GURU DATTA!

 

SRI SWAMIJI!

 

 

 

Bombay Jen www.bombayjen.net <http://www.bombayjen.net/>

 

Paul Meidinger www.metaphysicalarts.net

<http://www.metaphysicalarts.net/>

 

 

 

That little bit extra

 

Some American fans will do anything, even act, to get close to Bollywood

stars, discovers Aseem Chhabra

 

India Abroad, Friday, February, 3rd, 2006

 

Excerpts from the article:

 

"One day last fall, Bombay Jen stood at One Exchange Plaza in Jersey

City, New Jersey, holding an umbrella with a stranger. She had never

seen this man before, but the two were extras in Karan Johar's

Kahbhi Alvida Naa Kehna, pretending to be in love with each other.

Right in front of Jen were Shah Rukh Khan and Rani Mukherjee – also

under the umbrella, trying to avoid getting drenched from the artificial

rain machine."

 

"Here was this person I have never seen before and he didn't

know any of the actors," says Jen, a poet, spiritual healer and

tarot card reader from New Castle, Pennsylvania. "For him they

could have been local actors from a college. And he kept complaining he

was hungry and cold. And I said, `Be quiet; I drove 400 miles to be

here.'"

 

"Jen, 36, is in love with Bollywood films – a love affair that

started when she and her friend Paul Meidinger accidentally stopped into

an Indian store in Virginia and ended up buying a large stock of Hindi

film soundtracks and DVDs. Last fall, when they learned from various

Bollywood film discussion groups that Johar was shooting KANK in and

around New York City, they contacted casting agents through

craigslist.com. They made three 800 miles round-trips, from the western

border of Pennsylvania to New York City, just so that they could see

their favorite movie stars – Shah Rukh, Mukherjee, Preity Zinta, and

the most special for Jen – Abhishek Bachchan."

 

"Jen & Meidinger are a part of growing group of Americans –

professionals, often with families, who discovered Bollywood films in

the recent years and then jumped at the opportunity to act as extras in

a couple of high-profile India films shot in the New York area."

 

"Jen's first day of shoot at KANK was at the crossing of 63rd

and Madison Avenue in Manhattan, followed by one day in Jersey City and

then finally at a restaurant where Johar was shooting a Valentine's

Day scene. Meidinger, 55, who works part-time as electrical engineer, a

psychic and a medium, also accompanied her for the three day's

shoot. They were later paid $180 each."

 

"You are really not busy at all," Jen says. "You spend a

lot of time being patient, waiting for someone to come over and say,

`we are going to do this scene.' It is very difficult to hear

what the actors are saying. And they don't have megaphones and

shout, `Action.' If you go to the bathroom, you might miss

being in a scene."

 

"At the Valentine's Day shoot, the extras pool had more women

than men, and so Jen sat back in the holding area, while Meidinger gto

to be in the scene at a table next to where Bachchan and Mukherjee were

seated. Bachchan wore a white tuxedo shirt, with black buttons and what

appeared to be a velvet jacket, while Mukherjee was dressed in a

colorful sari. Shah Rukh and Zinta were also in the shoot."

 

"At first Jen was upset because she was not included in the shoot,

but then she got to say hello to Bachchan and that made her day."

"You shouldn't cross any celebrity boundaries," Jen says.

"You do not want to impose on them. But I said to myself, `I

have driven all this way, to see these people that I admire and they

live in India. How often would this happen? So I said, "Here's

my chance with destiny. I just approached and gave him a gift of CDs

and DVDs of my guru, Sri Ganapathi Sachchidananda. He (Abhishek) took

them and was very humble."

 

"Meidinger got to shake Shah Rukh's hands. "That was my

high point," he says. "There was this very kindly energy in

his hand shake. He is very considerate. It made the trip

worthwhile."

 

The two found Johar very considerate of the actors. "He is not high

pressure," Meidinger says. "He seems to handle stress and he

seems to be listening to the actors."

 

"They all get along very well," Jen adds. "I saw Karan give

Shah Rukh and Rani a hug the first day. I saw Abhishek massaging Preity

Zinta's shoulders at one time. It was like a family. They really

care about each other."

 

P.S. Aseem Chhabra, Shah Rukh Khan, Farah Khan & Ravi Pillai also

received gifts of Sri Ganapathi Sachchidananda Swamiji's CDs & DVDs.

 

___