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Alexander
Souri
Relief comes on horseback!
Photograph
by Preeti Verma Lal
The
Matrix, adventure & charity Alexander
Souri has taken to travel among other things, he hasn't forgotten philosophy.
About his yesterdays and todays Souri reiterates that there are no unfulfilled
dreams, he is still getting over the fact that he is living one right now. For
tomorrows, Souri knows that the future belongs to those who believe in the power
of their dreams. For his own tomorrow, he is open to anything positive that appeals
to him.
He is called
Alexander Souri. He looks interesting. And that merely is the first impression
when he walks in through the door, we haven't even looked at his portfolio yet.
This New York born son of an Indian father and a French mother has worked on the
special effects of The Matrix and X-Men, produced commercials for clients in China,
managed special events at Cannes and Sundance film festivals, piloted his single
engine plane across the Atlantic several times, knows French literature and photography….
Phew! Wait, there's more.
He has lived and studied in India, France
and the US, traveled extensively around the world and is the founder and executive
director of Relief Riders International (www.reliefridersinternational.com), a
unique adventure travel plus charity organization.
.
In October, Souri
picked up 15 riders from various countries, who, for 15 days, would ramble on
horseback through five villages in the Thar desert of Rajasthan. The adventure
travellers would be joined by Red Cross personnel and doctors who would treat
thousands of villagers along the route. For others there would be cheer, the Riders
would distribute medical supplies, food and dozens of goats to the underprivileged.
There is so much that Souri does that it is strenuous
to pick one that he actually does for a living. Ask him that and he would say,
"I have chosen to live in the best ways I know how!" But
it was not always so. Not when he was not even eight and his father packed him
off to Sherwood College in the foothills of the Himalayas. "My father wanted
me to get a deep-seated sense of my roots. The discipline was tough and making
the cultural adjustment at that age played an important part in the growth of
my character", he says. Souri admits that this decision did not sit well
with him at all "but I returned to the school after 20 years, and realized
how positively the school had affected me." Life
took an interesting turn when Souri became the producer for Innovation Arts, the
company that was hired to build the Bullet Time Camera system (the wrap around
signature shots) used predominantly in the first Matrix. film. They built models
for the films in Massachusetts and shipped them to Australia. The work in The
Matrix was followed by X-men, where Souri and his team spent weeks doing onset
special effects installation. Souri loves traveling and
talks passionately about his travels to India, the country that "still affords
me the freedom in simple ways." But travel is not just about passion and
pleasure. "The extensive travel at an early age made me realize how similar
and yet how different cultures are. It gave me a broader understanding of the
world, and has allowed me to be a part of it in so many ways. Relief Riders International
serves as an organization that bridges the cultural divide in a time of war and
geopolitical instability. It is important to keep hope alive, and exhaust every
opportunity for growth and understanding." The idea
of combining relief with adventure "stemmed both from a waking and sleeping
dream. My father's loss set me off on a journey in which I was circumnavigating
my soul. I wanted to be able to live my warrior archetype, while affecting positive
change in very real ways. I wanted to be able to give back without compromising
on my lifestyle. India is my father's country; it is also the country in which
I drew the greatest qualities of my character. The ride is a tribute to my father
and the love that bestowed on me during my life." And
this tribute would soon extend to South America and Africa where Relief Riders
would kick dust and bring cheer to those who need the most. Even
though Souri has taken to travel among other things, he hasn't forgotten philosophy.
About his yesterdays and todays Souri reiterates that there are no unfulfilled
dreams, he is still getting over the fact that he is living one right now. For
tomorrows, Souri knows that the future belongs to those who believe in the power
of their dreams. For his own tomorrow, he is open to anything positive that appeals
to him.
Published in Sun magazine,
November 2004 |
