So, you were raised in a zoo? Born and raised. In Pondicherry, in what was the French part...

[first lines] Writer: So, you were raised in a zoo? Adult Pi Patel: Born and raised. In Pondicherry, in what was the French part of India. My father owned the zoo, and I was delivered on short notice by a herpetologist, who was there to check on the Bengal monitor lizard. Mother and I were both healthy, but the poor lizard escaped and was trampled by a frightened cassowary. The way of karma, huh? The way of God.

So you were raised in a zoo? Born and raised. In Pondicherry, in what was the French part of lndia. My father owned the zoo... and I was delivered on short notice by a herpetologist... who was there to check on the Bengal monitor lizard. Mother and I were both healthy... but the poor lizard escaped... and was trampled by a frightened cassowary. The way of karma, huh? 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.