We moved back to the snowcapped mountains of Colorado. After seven years of wandering around, it feels great to be back and to finally plant roots. In these nine months I soaked up as much as I could from the dream city. Some dreams were fulfilled, some remain yet to be fulfilled. But what will always remain with me is the magic of working with or meeting people like Shonali Bose who is just like the girl next door. She came out wearing a simple Indian kurti and a shawl and greeted me with a smile as warm as the autumn sun. We chatted in her yard about being a mom of two and a filmmaker. And I plucked fresh green lemons from her tree. Who would ever know that she recently won the National Awards in India for her directorial debut, Amu (read my review). I am working on my script Shonali and hopefully we can meet soon over my script and a nice Bengali meal of Shorshe Ilish and rice.

Bann Roy, we never met, but I hope we can work together one day. You have straddled the two worlds of reality and documentary in a way that’s just incredible! It must be dizzy to see the world from such heights. I’ll wait for the day when I can be a part of one of your projects.

Sylvie, it was fun working with you briefly and taking the 45 minute long interview. You asked me questions that I hadn’t asked myself in a while. Your documentaries are an inspiration to me.

Fernanda Rossi, you’re the funniest person I met in all of LA and that says a lot. Really, good things come in small packages. So petite and unassuming, it’s hard to believe you pack in so much punch.

My stay in LA was short, but hopefully what I learned will stay with me a long time and take me far.