So you were raised in a zoo?
Born and raised.
In Pondicherry, in what was the French part oflndia.
My father owned the zoo...
and I was delivered on short notice by a herpetologist...
who was there to check on the Bengal monitor Iizard.
Mother and I were both healthy...
but the poor Iizard escaped...
and was trampled by a frightened cassowary.
The way of karma.
The way of God.
That's quite a story.
I had assumed your father was a mathematician because of your name.
Far from it, I was named after a swimming pool.
There is a swimming pool named "Pi"?
You see, my uncle Francis was born with too much water in his lungs.
They say the doctors swung Francis around by the ankles to clear the water out...
and that's what gave him the huge chest and skinny legs...
that made him such a great swimmer.
Is Francis actually your uncle? He said he was friends with your father.
He's my honorary uncle, I call him Mamaji.
My father's best friend, my swimming guru.
I trained with him three times a week at the ashram.
His Iessons would save my Iife in the end.
A mouthful of water will not harm you, but panic will.
Remember to breathe now, don't hold your breath.
Good boy.
I hope you don't mind vegetarian.
No, no. Not at all.
And your name?
You were going to tell me how you got your name, I think.
Oh, yes. I got it from something Mamaji once told my father.
You see, most travelers collect postcards or teacups on their journeys...
but not Mamaji.
Mamaji collects swimming pools.
He swims in every pool he comes upon.
One day, Mamaji said to my father that, ofall the pools in the world...
the most beautiful was a public pool in Paris.
That the water there was so clear,
you could make your morning coffee with it.
That a single swim there changed his Iife.
Before I was born, he said...
"If you want your son to ha ve a clean soul...
"you must take him one day to swim in the Piscine Molitor. "
I never understood why my father took this so much to heart.
But he did, and I was named "Piscine Molitor Patel."
Imagine me trying to explain that name.
I barely made it to the age of 1 1 before...
Hey, Piscine!
Are you pissing right now?
Look at him, he's pissing!
With one word, my name went from an elegant French swimming pool...
to a stinking Indian Iatrine.
I was "Pissing" everywhere.
No Pissing in the schoolyard!
Even the teachers started doing it.
Not deliberately, of course.
So, then, what might occur if we release gas too quickly?
Pissing?
He said "Pissing."
That's enough! Order! Order!
When we returned the next year for our first day ofschool, I was prepared.
Present, sir.
Piscine Patel.
Good morning. I am Piscine Molitor Patel.
Known to all as...
Pi, the sixteenth letter of the Greek alphabet...
which is also used in mathematics to represent the ratio...
of any circle's circumference to its diameter.
An irrational number of infinite length, usually rounded to three digits...
as 3.14.
Pi.
Very impressive, Pi. Now, sit down.
And from then on, you were "Pi"?
Well, no, not quite.
Nice try, Pissing.
But I still had the whole day ahead ofme.
French class was next.
Then, geography.
These are the first 20 decimal places of pi.
My Iast class ofthe day was mathematics.
Slowly, slowly, slowly.
Three. Seven. Five. Eight. Nine.
Eight. Five. Eight. Nine.
It's right. He's really doing this.
Pi! Pi! Pi!
By the end ofthat day, I was Pi Patel, school Iegend.
Mamaji tells me you're a legend among sailors, too.
Out there, all alone.
I don't even know how to sail.
And I wasn't alone out there. Richard Parker was with me.
Richard Parker?
Mamaji didn't tell me everything.
He just said I should look you up when I got back to Montreal.
So, what were you doing in Pondicherry?
Writing a novel.
By the way, I enjoyed your first book.
So, this new one, is it set in lndia?
No, Portugal, actually. But it's cheaper living in lndia.
Well, I look forward to reading it.
You can't.
I threw it out.
Two years trying to bring this thing to life...
and then one day, it sputtered, coughed and died.
I'm sorry.
I was sitting in this coffee house in Pondicherry one afternoon,
mourning my loss...
when this old man at the table next to me struck up a conversation.
Yeah, Mamaji, he does that.
When I told him about my abandoned book, he said...
"So, a Canadian who's come to French lndia in search of a story.
"Well, my friend, I know an lndian in French Canada...
"with the most incredible story to tell.
"lt must be fate that the two of you should meet."
I haven't spoken about Richard Parker in so many years.
So, what has Mamaji already told you?
He said you had a story that would make me believe in God.
He would say that about a nice meal.
As for God, I can only tell you my story.
You will decide for yourself what you believe.
Fair enough.
Let's see, then. Where to begin?
Pondicherry is the French Riviera of lndia.
In the streets closest to the ocean,
you might think you were in the south ofFrance.
A few blocks inland, there's a canal.
Just beyond that is Indian Pondicherry.
And the Muslim quarter is just to the west.
When the French handed Pondicherry back to us in 1954...
the town decided that some sort of commemoration was in order.
My father, who was a clever businessman, came up with one.
He ran a hotel, and he got the idea to open a zoo...
in the Iocal botanical gardens instead.
As it also happened, my mother was a botanist in the gardens.
They met, married, and a year Iater my brother Ra vi was born.
I came two years after that.
It sounds magical, growing up in...
Amen.
Yeah, let's eat.
I didn't know Hindus said "amen."
Catholic Hindus do.
Catholic Hindus?
We get to feel guilty before hundreds of gods, instead of just one.
But you're a Hindu first?
None of us knows God until someone introduces us.
I was first introduced to God as a Hindu.
There are 33 million gods in the Hindu religion.
How can I not come to know a few of them?
I met Krishna first.
Yashoda once accused baby Krishna of eating dirt.
"Tut, tut you naughty boy- you shouldn't do that."
But he didn't!
That's what he told her.
"I didn't eat dirt."
Yashoda said, "No? Well then..."
"Open your mouth."
So Krishna opened his mouth.
And what do you think Yashoda saw?
what?
She saw in Krishna's mouth the whole entire universe.
The gods were my superheroes growing up.
Hanuman, the monkey god...
Iifting an entire mountain to save his friend Lakshman.
Ganesh, the elephant-headed...
risking his Iife to defend the honor ofhis mother, Parvati.
Vishnu, the supreme soul, the source of all things.
Vishnu sleeps, floating on the shoreless cosmic ocean...
and we are the stuff ofhis dreaming.
Spectacle.
Don't let these stories and pretty lights fool you, boys.
Religion is darkness.
My dearappa believed himselfpart ofthe new India.
As a child, he had had polio.
He used to Iie in bed racked with pain, wondering where God was.
In the end, God didn 't sa ve him, Western medicine did.
My amma went to college...
and thought her family was part of the new India as well...
until her parents cut her off...
because they thought she was marrying beneath her.
Her religion was the only Iink she had to her past.
I met Christ in the mountains when I was 12.
We were visiting relatives, tea growers in Munnar.
It was our third day there. Ra vi and I were terribly bored.
Challenge. I'll give you two rupees.
Run in to that church and drink the holy water.
You must be thirsty.
Here.
I brought you this.
Why would a god do that?
Why would He send His own son...
to suffer for the sins of ordinary people?
Because He loves us.
God made Himself approachable to us, human, so we could understand Him.
We can't understand God in all His perfection.
But we can understand God's son and His suffering as we would a brother's.
That made no sense.
Sacrificing the innocent to atone for the sins of the guilty...
What kind of love is that?
But this son...
I couldn 't get him out ofmy head.
If God is so perfect and we are not...
why would He want to create all this?
Why does He need us at all?
All you have to know is that He loves us.
God so loved this world that He gave His only son.
The Ionger I Iistened to the priest...
the more I came to Iike this son of God.
Thank you, Vishnu, for introducing me to Christ.
I came to faith through Hinduism and I found God's Iove through Christ.
But God wasn 't finished with me yet.
God works in mysterious ways.
And so it was, He introduced Himself again.
This time by the name of AIIah.
My Arabic was never very good...
but the sound and feel ofthe words brought me closer to God.
In performingSalah...
the ground I touched became holy ground...
and I found a feeling of serenity and brotherhood.
This lamb is exquisite.
It's the best dish on the table.
You're all missing out.
You only need to convert to three more religions, Piscine...
and you will spend your life on holiday.
Are you going to Mecca this year, Swami Jesus?
Or to Rome for your coronation as Pope Pi-us?
You stay out of this, Ravi.
Just as you like cricket, Pi has his own interests.
No, Gita, Ravi has a point.
You cannot follow three different religions at the same time, Piscine.
Why not?
Because believing in everything at the same time...
is the same as not believing in anything at all.
He's young, Santosh. He's still finding his way.
And how can he find his way if he does not choose a path?
Listen, instead of leaping from one religion to the next...
why not start with reason?
In a few hundred years...
science has taken us farther in understanding the universe...
than religion has in 10,000.
That is true.
Your father is right.
Science can teach us more about what is out there...
but not what is in here.
Some eat meat, some eat vegetable.
I do not expect us all to agree about everything...
but I would much rather have you believe in something I don't agree with...
than to accept everything blindly.
And that begins with thinking rationally.
Do you understand?
Good.
I would like to be baptized.
So, you're a Christian and a Muslim?
And a Hindu, of course.
And a Jew, I suppose.
Well, I do teach a course on the Kabbalah at the university.
And why not? Faith is a house with many rooms.
But no room for doubt?
Plenty. On every floor.
Doubt is useful.
It keeps faith a living thing.
After all, you cannot know the strength of your faith until it's been tested.
Where's Selvam? We shouldn't be in here without him.
Stop worrying.
I have seen him do this a thousand times.
I want to meet our new tiger.
Pi!
Hello? Richard Parker?
A tiger? Richard Parker was a tiger?
Yeah, he got his name through a clerical error.
A hunter caught him drinking from a stream when he was a cub...
and named him Thirsty.
When Thirsty got too big, the hunter sold him to our zoo...
but the names got switched on the paperwork.
The hunter was listed as Thirsty, and the tiger was called Richard Parker.
We laughed about it, and the name stuck.
Let's go...
before we get into trouble.
I want to see him close up.
You're not a zookeeper.
Come on!
That's it, Richard Parker.
It's for you.
No!
What are you thinking?
Are you out of your mind?
Who gave you permission to come back here?
You have just ignored everything I've ever taught you.
I just wanted to say hello to him.
You think that tiger is your friend?
He's an animal, not a playmate.
Animals have souls.
I have seen it in their eyes.
Find Selvam.
You're sure, Sir? Pi's just a boy.
Do it Go ahead!
Animals do not think like we do.
People who forget that get themselves killed.
That tiger is not your friend.
When you look into his eyes...
you are seeing your own emotions reflected back at you.
Nothing else.
Don't be stupid. Say you're sorry.
What have you done, Piscine?
You know what your father said about coming back here.
I am sorry. I was...
What are you thinking?
This is between a father and his sons.
He said he's sorry.
You want to scar them for life?
Scar them? That boy almost lost his arm.
But he's still a boy.
He will be a man sooner than you think.
And this is a lesson I do not want them ever to forget.
Selvam!
...and so has placed the country in a state of emergency.
Under the directive, the states of Gujarat and Tamil Nadu...
will be placed under the direct authority of the central government.
Police will be granted powers...
to arrest and indefinitely detain citizens responsible for the uprising.
Things changed after the day ofAppa 's Iesson.
The world had Iost some ofits enchantment.
School was a bore. Nothing but facts, fractions and French.
Words and patterns that went on and on, without end.
Just Iike my irrational nickname.
I grew restless searching for something that might bring meaning back into my Iife.
And then, I met Anandi.
Mother made me study music.
And one day, my teacher came down with the flu.
He asked ifl could take his place, playing rhythms for a dance class.
No.
If you do not concentrate...
you cannot express your love of God through dance.
Feel the ground beneath your feet.
Open your gaze out onto the horizon.
Let that spiritual energy pulse through you and out into the world.
Through abhinaya.
Anandi, come to the front. Lead them.
Why are you following me?
What?
You were following me.
What does this mean?
In the dance, you went from pataka...
which means the forest.
And then you did...
samputa...
which means something that is hidden.
And after that, you did this.
And then you did chatura.
But at the very end, you did this.
None of the other dancers did that.
What did you mean? The god of love is hiding in the forest?
No, that also means the lotus flower.
Lotus flower is hiding in the forest?
Why would a lotus flower hide in the forest?
And this is Richard Parker.
He is the most magnificent creature we've ever had here.
Look at the way he's turning his head.
Showing off. Like a dancer.
No, he heard something.
He's listening, you see?
We have talked about it for some time.
Do you understand what I'm saying?
Pi?
Sorry, you've been...
Worried.
For my family.
Our animals are worth far more abroad than here in lndia.
And if the town council stops supporting us...
I don't know where we will be.
So, it is what we have to do.
Do you understand?
I'm sorry, what are we talking about?
We are leaving lndia.
What?
We are selling the zoo.
The zoo was never ours to sell. The land belongs to the town.
But the animals are ours and if we sell them...
we will have enough to start a new life.
But where would we go? Our life is here, Appa.
Canada.
I have some opportunities for work in Winnipeg.
I'll be shipping most of the animals for sale in North America.
We can get freighter passage for the whole family.
So...
It is settled.
We will sail like Columbus.
But Columbus was looking for lndia.
It takes a Iot ofwork to sell a zoo.
Before we Ieft...
Anandi and I had time enough to break each other's hearts.
Of course, I promised I would come back one day.
It's funny.
I remember everything else about our Iast day.
But I don 't remember saying goodbye.
Pi? They're serving dinner below.
Piscine...
you have a whole life ahead of you.
We are doing this for you and Ravi.
Come inside and have some dinner.
Vegetarian, please.
My sons and I are vegetarians. Do you have anything--
No, no, no. Not more gravy.
You don't want gravy?
No, I Want something vegetarian.
She Asked if you have something vegetarian.
The cow that produced this liver was vegetarian,
the pigs that went in to these sausages were vegetarian.
Very funny.
But my wife doesn't eat liver.
Then she can eat the sausage, the rice, and the gravy.
Or you can cook your own food.
How dare you talk to my wife like that?
Here's your rice.
I cook for sailors...
not curry-eaters.
What did you say?!
Let go of me!
Who do you think you are? You're nothing but a servant!
I feed people! You feed monkeys!
Hello.
I am happy Buddhist.
So, I eat rice next to gravy.
On ship, gravy is not meat.
Is taste.
You try?
Don't worry.
We will have plenty of fresh supplies after we stop in Manila.
Why give Orange Juice tranquilizers?
She's not going to cause any trouble.
The stress of traveling is not good for the animals...
and it helps with the seasickness.
We don't want to be cleaning up after a seasick orangutan...
do we?
My father was a businessman. He had never tended the animals himself.
I realized...
Ieaving lndia must have been harder for him than it was for me.
So...
Have I forgotten anything?
I think you've set the stage.
So far, we have an lndian boy named after a French swimming pool...
on a Japanese ship full of animals, heading to Canada.
Yes.
Now, we have to send our boy into the middle of the Pacific and--
And make me believe in God.
Yeah.
We'll get there.
It was four days out of Manila...
above the Mariana Trench, the deepest spot on Earth.
Our ship, The Tsimtsum, pushed on, bullishly indifferent to its surroundings.
It moved with the slow, massive confidence ofa continent.
Ravi?
Did you hear that, Ravi?
I'm sleeping.
It's a thunderstorm. Let's go watch.
Are you crazy?
We will get hit by lightning.
No, we won't. It will hit the bridge first.
Don't tempt a storm, Pi.
More rain! More rain!
Lord of Storms!
Lightning!
Amma!
Appa!
Ravi! Get out! Get out!
Help me!
Help!
Get in the boat!
Please! Save my family!
Don't scare, okay? Wait, stay here!
You have to help them! Please!
Put this on.
No, no, my family! Please!
We have to help them!
-We don't have time. -My family's back there!
We help! You must go!
Who let all the animals out?
You have to go now!
No, wait, my father! He can't swim!
Go!
Hang on to the boat! Hold, hold!
Bring it down!
Hey! You! What are you doing?
Jump!
Hey, hey!
Hey! Over here! Over here!
Richard Parker?
No! No!
No! Go away! Go away!
Amma!
Appa!Ravi.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry!
Hari?
Looks as though your drugs haven't worn off yet.
Orange Juice! Orange Juice!
Welcome to Pi's Ark.
Where is your boy, Orange Juice?
Don't worry, I bet mother and father found him.
They'll all be here soon.
Hello!
Anybody!
No!
Stop it! No! Stop it! Stop it!
No! No!
I'm sorry, Orange Juice.
I don't have any seasickness medicine for you.
Supplies. Supplies!
Yes! Yes!
No! No!
Come on! Come on!
My name is Pi Patel.
I have been in a shipwreck.
I am on a Iifeboat alone...
with a tiger.
PIease send help.
God, I give myself to you.
I am your vessel.
Whatever comes, I want to know.
Show me.
There are no lines.
Set your house in order and dig in for the battle to survive.
Establish a strict schedule for eating, keeping watch and getting rest.
Do not drink urine or sea water.
Keep busy but a void unnecessary exertion.
The mind can be kept occupied by playing card games...
Twenty Questions, or I Spy.
Community singing is another surefire way to Iift the spirits.
Telling stories is highly recommended.
Above all, don 't Iose hope.
Few things can sap the spirit faster than seasickness.
Wa ves are most strongly felt when a boat turns sideways to the current.
A sea anchor is used as a drag to keep the boat's head to the wind.
Proper use ofthem can increase control and reduce seasickness during rough seas.
For castaways who must share their Iifeboats with Iarge,
dangerous carnivores...
it's advisable to establish a territory as your own.
Try this method.
Step one.
Choose a day when wa ves are moderate, but regular.
Step two. With the Iifeboat facing into the wa ves...
making the ride as comfortable as possible, blow your whistle soothingly.
Step three. Turn the Iifeboat sideways to the wa ves...
accompanied by harsh, aggressive use of the whistle.
With sufficient repetition...
the animal will associate the sound ofthe whistle...
with the discomfort of seasickness.
Similar methods ha ve Iong been used by circus trainers...
though they generally Iack access to rough seas.
Let the trumpets blare!
Let the drum rolls begin!
Prepare to be amazed!
Here it is, for your enjoyment and instruction!
The show you've been waiting for all your life...
will soon begin!
Are you ready for the miracle of it?
Well, then, I give to you...
the astounding Bengal tiger!
Hello, Richard Parker. Sorry about the choppy ride.
Mine! You understand? Yours, mine!
You understand?
Step four.
Disregard steps one through three.
Here, Richard Parker. I got some water for you.
In the zoo, we fed our tigers an average offive kilos ofmeat a day.
Richard Parker will be getting hungry soon.
Tigers are powerful swimmers, and ifhe gets hungry enough...
I'm afraid the Iittle bit of water between us won 't be any protection.
I need to find a way to feed him.
I can eat the biscuits but God made tigers carnivores...
so I must Iearn to catch fish.
Ifl don 't, I'm afraid his Iast meal will be a skinny, vegetarian boy.
Patience!