Life Of Pi Page #2

ADULT PI (V.O.)

Imagine me trying to explain that

name to my schoolmates. I barely

made it to the age of eleven

before...

A boy (BULLY #1) calls up to him from the courtyard below.

5.

BULLY #1

Hey PISCINE!

Pi glances down, all the boys in the courtyard watching him.

BULLY #1 (CONT'D)

Are you Pissing right now?

Pi freezes. The other boys laugh uncontrollably.

ANOTHER BOY:

Look at him he's Pissing!

ADULT PI (VO)

With one word my name went from an

elegant French swimming pool to a

stinking Indian latrine. I was

Pissing everywhere.

11 I/E. SCHOOLYARD, 1972 - DAY 11

BOYS in school uniform kick a ball. Pi attempts to join.

Bully #2 intercepts the pass.

BULLY #2

No Pissing in the schoolyard!

12 INT. SCIENCE CLASS, 1972 - DAY 12

ADULT PI (V.O.)

Even the teachers started doing it -

not deliberately, of course...

SCIENCE TEACHER:

So then - what might occur if we

release gas too quickly? Pissing?

Pi is aghast. Several students splutter and howl, whispering

the slip to others. Laughter ripples around the room, all

eyes on Pi.

BOY:

He said Pissing!

SCIENCE TEACHER:

That's enough - order!

ADULT PI (V.O.)

When we returned the next year for

our first day of school, I was

prepared.

6.

SC. 13 INT. INDIAN HISTORY CLASS, 1973 - DAY 13

Class is held in a large open room. Roll call.

BOY:

Present sir.

HISTORY TEACHER:

Piscine Patel...

PI - AGE 12, rises, crosses to the front.

PI (AT 12)

Good morning. I am Piscine Molitor

Patel, known to all as...

(He writes "PI" on the

board.)

... "Pi," the sixteenth letter of

the Greek alphabet...

Pi writes , then quickly charts out a general notion of the

concept on the chalkboard.

PI (CONT'D)

... 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...

(He writes "3.14.")

3.14. PI.

Pi underlines his name, faces the class.

HISTORY TEACHER:

Very impressive, Pi. Now sit down.

WRITER (V.O.)

And from then on you were Pi?

ADULT PI (V.O.)

Well, no. Not quite ...

As Pi returns to his seat, Bully #2 leans forward,

whispering:

BULLY #2

Nice try, Pissing.

ADULT PI (V.O.)

But I still had the whole day ahead

of me. French Class was next...

7.

14 INT. FRENCH CLASS, 1973 - DAY 14

Pi repeats his act in French, 3.14159265 on the board.

PI (12)

Je m'appelle Piscine Molitor Patel -

dit'Pi'...

ADULT PI (V.O.)

Then Geography...

15 EXT. GEOGRAPHY CLASS, 1973 - DAY 15

Class is held out of doors in a courtyard. Pi, at a portable

chalkboard, writes and says: 3.14159265358979323846.

PI (12)

These are the first twenty decimal

places of Pi.

ADULT PI (V.O.)

My last class of the day was

Mathematics....

16 INT. SCHOOL HALLWAY, 1973 - DAY 16

A LIBRARIAN runs down the hall, a huge book tucked under his

arm, followed by dozens of students. He reaches Pi's class,

pushes his way through the crowd.

LIBRARIAN:

Slowly, Slowly! Slowly, Slowly!

17 INT. MATH CLASS, 1973 - CONTINUOUS 17

Close on Pi writing digits. Pull back - the entire chalkboard

is filled with numbers. All watching are stunned. The

librarian compares Pi's writing to the math book.

LIBRARIAN:

It is right... He's really doing

this!

Students clap and cheer - even the bullies. Several chant

along with him as he writes:

ALL:

1! 4! 9! 3! 1! PI! PI! PI!

8.

ADULT PI (VO)

By the end of that day, I was Pi

Patel, school legend.

18 INT. PI'S KITCHEN - DAY 18

The writer laughs, then ventures onto a new topic.

WRITER:

Mamaji tells me you're a legend

among sailors, too. Out there all

alone -

ADULT PI:

I don't even know how to sail. And

I wasn't alone out there. Richard

Parker was with me.

WRITER:

Richard Parker...? Mamaji didn't

tell me everything. He just said I

should look you up when I got back

to Montreal.

ADULT PI:

So what were you doing in

Pondicherry?

WRITER:

Writing a novel.

ADULT PI:

By the way, I enjoyed your first

book. The new one, is it set in

India?

WRITER:

No, Portugal, actually. But it's

cheaper living in India.

ADULT PI:

Ah. Well, I look forward to reading

it.

WRITER:

You can't. I threw it out. Two

years trying to bring it to life,

and then one day it sputtered,

coughed, and died.

ADULT PI:

I'm sorry.

9.

WRITER:

(Shrugs, making light of

it.)

I was in a coffee house in

Pondicherry one afternoon, mourning

my loss, when this old man at the

next table struck up a

conversation.

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