LEADER 00000pam  2200277 i 4500 
005    20161201114943.0 
008    160928s2016    nyua          000 0aeng d 
010    bl2016042743 
020    9781682450505 
040    NjBwBT|beng|erda|cNjBwBT|dNjBwBT|dUtOrBLW 
092    BIO|bSURENDRA 
100 1  Surendra, Rajiv,|eauthor. 
245 14 The elephants in my backyard :|ba memoir /|cRajiv 
       Surendra. 
250    First Regan Arts hardcover edition. 
264  1 New York :|bRegan Arts.,|c2016. 
300    267 pages :|billustrations ;|c24 cm 
336    text|2rdacontent 
337    unmediated|2rdamedia 
338    volume|2rdacarrier 
520    In 2003, Rajiv Surendra was filming Mean Girls, playing 
       the beloved rapping mathlete Kevin Gnapoor, when a 
       cameraman insisted he read Yann Martel’s 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.   
       Mesmerized by all the similarities between Pi and 
       himself—both are five-foot-five with coffee-colored 
       complexions, both share a South Indian culture, both lived
       by a zoo—when 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. 
600 10 Surendra, Rajiv. 
650  0 Motion picture actors and actresses|vBiography.