{"product_id":"the-elephants-in-my-backyard-a-memoir","title":"The Elephants in My Backyard: A Memoir","description":"\u003cp\u003eRajiv Surendra was filming Mean Girls  playing the beloved rapping mathlete Kevin Gnapoor  when a cameraman insisted he read Yann Martels Life of Pi. So begins his \"lovely and human\" (Jenny Lawson  author of Furiously Happy) tale of obsessively pursuing a dream  overcoming failure  and finding meaning in life.  This was a once-in-a-lifetime chance. I found myself standing dangerously close to the edge of a cliff. Far below me was an incredible abyss with no end in sight. I could turn back and safely return to where I had come from  or I could throw caution to the wind  lift my arms up into the air . . . and jump. From The Elephants in My Backyard  What happens when you spend ten years obsessively pursuing a dream  and then  in the blink of an eye  you learn that you have failed  that the dream will not come true?  In 2003  Rajiv Surendra was filming Mean Girls  playing the beloved rapping mathlete Kevin Gnapoor  when a cameraman insisted he read Yann Martels Life of Pi.  Mesmerized by all the similarities between Pi and himselfboth are five-foot-five with coffee-colored complexions  both share a South Indian culture  both lived by a zoowhen Rajiv learns that Life of Pi will be made into a major motion picture he is convinced that playing the title role is his destiny.  In a great leap of faith Rajiv embarks on a quest to embody the sixteen-year-old Tamil schoolboy. He quits university and buys a one-way ticket from Toronto to South India. He visits the sacred stone temples of Pondicherry  he travels to the frigid waters off the coast of rural Maine  and explores the cobbled streets of Munich. He befriends Yann Martel  a priest  a castaway  an eccentric old woman  and a pack of Tamil schoolboys. He learns how to swim  to spin wool  to keep bees  and to look a tiger in the eye. All the while he is really learning how to dream big  to fail  to survive  to love  and to become who he truly is.  Rajiv Surendra captures the uncertainty  heartache  and joy of finding ones place in the world with sly humor and refreshing honesty. The Elephants in My Backyard is not a journey of goals and victories  but a story of process and determination. It is a spellbinding and profound book for anyone who has ever failed at something and had to find a new path through life.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44946252562485,"sku":"ByrdShop_1682450503","price":41.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9781682450505.jpg?v=1769933536","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-elephants-in-my-backyard-a-memoir","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}