'Dance was everything for me. I used to fall, get hurt, but never thought it was a struggle.'
'I went to Nagpur for my engineering. I used to model there, those amateur fashion shows. Then you know, I thought why not try my luck in films and all?'
The best analysis of politics does not come out of air conditioned newsrooms, but from the voices on India's streets. Rakesh Kumar Singhal -- once an army jawan, then an ONGC employee, then a tea shopwallah -- reveals why he left the Congress for Modi.
'...changed my image, changed everything.' 'Now I make calls with great confidence.' 'Day before yesterday, I sent a message to a director that I heard you are making a film, is there any role for me?' 'I have confidence now. Earlier, I could never do.'
'There can be no bigger compliment than people walking away, carrying the film in their hearts, and thanking you for it.'
Throughout, Mekhail spoke calmly, with hardly an inflection making even the barest attempt to hijack his tone. His tone was so empty it made his narrative all the more touching. And ugly and grey, as the monsoon sky beyond the window.
