Remember as kids we would laugh and sometimes imitate the wacky voices of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Sylvester? It was because of a grown man behind the bunny, the duck, the cat and thousands of other characters which he enhanced with his voice. It all came out of one legendary person, Mel Blanc aka “The Man of 1000 Voices”.

He practically became one of them. Bugs’ voice, Blanc said, grew out of his impression of the character as a smart, endlessly resourceful maverick, a very urban rabbit despite his residency in rural holes. His inputs made a huge impact on what Bugs eventually turned out to be. Mel said “I thought, when we were working on how Bugs would talk, which accent sounds the toughest – Brooklyn or the Bronx? I couldn’t make up my mind, so I made his voice a combination of both.” Blanc would instantly embody the facial expressions of whatever character he was voicing. He actually lived these characters. And the characters lived him. One of them also saved him. It was our hero, Bugs Bunny.

When one night at Sunset Boulevard’s Deadman Curve, Mel Blanc met with an accident that crushed his Aston Martin and himself inside it. The chances of him surviving were a million to one. That’s when the address “Bugs Bunny, Hollywood, USA” received fifteen thousand cards and letters, gifts of pennies, nickels, sticks of gum and carrots. Thousands of people praying for Bugs Bunny to get well soon. It’s weird, isn’t it? People don’t even love humans as much as they loved a cartoon character. Maybe that’s the magic of animation and creating new characters. The voice of Bugs Bunny was heard, and it was heard well alright!

After about 3 weeks of Mel being in a coma, his neurosurgeon got an idea. He knew the affection Mel had for Bugs, he said “How are you feeling today, Bugs Bunny?”. It was like a miracle waiting to happen, that’s when a bleak but extremely familiar voice said “Eh, just fine, Doc, How are you?”. A human who was suffering, close to his death and there’s a fictitious character who was being his hero was trying to save him. Bugs eventually won, Mel survived.

Mel Blanc was the voice to Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Bugs Bunny, Woody Woodpecker, Pepe Le Pew, Yosemite Sam, Mr. Spacely, Tweety Bird, Sylvester the Cat, Foghorn Leghorn, Marvin the Martian, Speedy Gonzalez,The Tasmanian Devil, Barney Rubble, Dino the Dinosaur, Heathcliff and so many more but the love for one saved him and it was our dear Bugs. This is the power of animation. Mel Blanc is said to be one of the first voice actors and he is also the first voice actor to get screen credit which he funnily enough received after being denied a raise by his studio boss Leon Schlesinger.

Out of his glorious work history, his career at Warner Bro’s was the longest and memorable. When we think of Bugs, we hear his voice along with the chomping of carrots. We could never thank Mel Blanc enough for the iconic legend that his voice created.

As human beings, we live in a story all of the time. Story is as natural and essential to us as breathing. We all have stories to tell, but telling our personal stories on a daily basis and constructing a story from scratch are two very different things. Usually when we tell stories on a daily basis, we are relating events to one or two other people. On the other hand, when constructing story, we are trying to communicate with a mass audience. When we tell stories to a friend it is because it’s important to us or to them. We are connected and moved emotionally because it is personal. When we construct story, we are moving not just an individual, but an audience. The goal then becomes to make the personal universal.

But what is a Story?
As Karl Iglesias put it “A story has someone who wants something badly and is having trouble getting it”.
The above determines three elements: character, character goal, and conflict. Without these elements, any story cannot exist.
1. Character: The Hero, whom the story is about and through whose eyes the story is told.
2. Goal: This is the physical object the hero wants to obtain: the princess, the
treasure, the girl, the recognition, and so on.
3. Conflict: Conflict is what is between the character and his goal. There are three forms
of conflict:
• Character vs. Character
• Character vs. Environment
• Character vs. Self
Conflicts create problems, obstacles, and dilemmas that place the hero in some form of danger, either physically, mentally or spiritually. This means that there will be something at stake for the hero if they do not overcome the conflict.

Then there are Linear and Non Linear Stories.

An artist of great significance and impeccable integrity.

An artist of the 1950s Progressive movement, who veered away to find his own expression of abstraction. An artist so deeply distrustful of labels that he refused to title his artworks. An artist who said he thought of paintings in terms of music….”i hear colors.”

A son who snapped ties with his family and never looked back. Piecing together the life of India’s foremost abstract artist….and now the most expensive, after his jewel-like painting, an abstract landscape sold for Rs. 23.7 crore (USD 3.7 million) at Christie’s first auction in India last month. the highest price an Indian painting has fetched….brings one up against many walls of silences and accounts of connections lost. long before the art market began to realise his worth, Gaitonde had shut out the world, preferring the life of a recluse.

Much like his art, the life of Vasudeo Gaitonde, India’s foremost abstract artist, is an Enigma to those unable to see beyond the obvious.