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  • The Elephants in My Backyard

  • A Memoir
  • By: Rajiv Surendra
  • Narrated by: Rajiv Surendra
  • Length: 8 hrs and 35 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (39 ratings)
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The Elephants in My Backyard

By: Rajiv Surendra
Narrated by: Rajiv Surendra
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Summary

"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 10 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 Martel's Life of Pi.

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 16-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.

©2016 Rajiv Surendra (P)2017 Audible, Inc.

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What listeners say about The Elephants in My Backyard

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Enjoyable

I have really enjoyed this book. I found it entertaining and somewhat inspiring. Light reading

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So much love for Rajiv Surendra

This book is beautiful narrated. Obviously!
And the story is just great - soul searching, moving and inspiring.
Thank you Rajiv for sharing your story. L

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perfectly read and written

I have listened to a lot of audio books and this has been the best. Ranjiv is a wonderful writer snd fantastic performer. I didn't wsnt it to end.

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lovely

such a lovely understated book beautifully written and read by Rajiv. Poignant and evocative of a young person's life, hopes and dreams

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so good, so relatable, calming, and inspiring

this happened to be just what i needed, i recommend it to anyone who's on a quest to realise their full potential in some way and regretting their situation, opportunities or failures in some way. it made me realise how life really is about the journey- so easy to see in someone else's story.

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Fantastic Memoir

A modern journey of self discovery and alchemy. Written and performed beautifully by the writer. Love, love, LOVE!

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Bright eyes, spirit and a creative imagination.

Enjoyed listening from start to end, beautiful written book, read with gusto by the writer who shares parts of his life and a bunch of talents, artistic and perceptive. Giggled and laughed hard, at times, while taking an afternoon rest on my sofa.

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