Never Have I Ever Been To India

05.20.2009

Today was awesome.  Our morning started off a little late, and it was great to sleep in.  And by “sleep in,” I mean sleep until 9:00AM.  Hannah started the day by taking pictures of everyone sleeping…which was creepy to say the least, haha.  We’ve been giving her a hard time about it all day.

Since our day started late, we had to take rickshaws to Whistling Woods.  We had to walk down to the end of the road where our apartment building is (“Royal Palms, Emerald 2”), walk outside of the gates, and find a good rickshaw to take us to the institute.  Unlike New York City cabs where the rates are basically all the same, you really have to shop around for the best rickshaw to take you anywhere.  Rickshaws and drivers were all lined up outside the gates, and Lucien went around to the different drivers to ask which ones could take us to Film City.  If the driver did not respond to what he said, he moved on, if they charged too much, he moved on until he found someone who knew where they were going and would take us for the right price (approximately 20 rupees).  When he finally found a good one, Nya, Hannah, and I hopped into a rickshaw and we were off!  I actually found the ride more enjoyable than I thought I would.  When we took the bus to Whistling Woods before, I almost felt like I was looking down on the people walking on the streets below us, just because the bus was so high up.  In the rickshaw, it was cool to be on the same level as the people walking on the streets.  The rickshaw driver went so fast, and the vehicle was like nothing I had ever been in before – really tiny with no windows, just open sides, and three people crammed in the backseat.  It was fun!

When we got to Whistling Woods, we went right upstairs to the music room where we got to see a live performance by Naviin Gandharv.  His father invented this violin-like instrument that looks like a violin, but has a ton of other strings coming off of it that are there so that the tones resonate.  It’s called a belabaharr.

Allison trying out the belabaharr

Belabaharr -- see all the tiny strings??

He played a ton of different songs for us, and they were all so beautiful.  The instrument almost sounds like whatever “marine” instrument is used in movies like Titanic, or played over images of the Ireland coast.  It was really great to just zone out a little and listen to his music.  It had that Indian flavor, but was familiar at the same time.  Another guy was playing tabla, these cool drums that have all different tones depending on where you hit the top.  For a while, the two guys played together and that was really fun to listen to and watch.  We were all inclined to pull out our cameras at the exact same time to take pictures, actually.

Duet!

After they played together for a couple songs, Gandharv played tabla by himself and explained all the different ways that the instrument could be played.  I could hear the difference between some of the stuff, but other things, I wasn’t so sure about.  At one point, the power went out, and he didn’t even miss a beat!  He just kept on playing in the pitch dark, which was pretty cool.  When the lights turned back on, he started playing some REALLY fast stuff on tabla — at one point, I concentrated on only his hands to try to follow what he was doing, and his hands were literally blurs because he was going so fast.  ((0012)) One guy was videotaping the performance, and we all had a great time watching him just because he was so into the music.  He kept finding things to bang along on to the music with, which I always love to see.  When someone else is rocking out, don’t you feel like you should be rocking out too?  It just drove home the point that every single person I have encountered here is SO passionate about whatever it is they are doing.  It is so inspiring to see a ton of people doing what they absolutely love.  After the performance was over, all of the musicians were eager to answer our questions, show us how to play the instruments, and take hundreds of pictures with us.  The guy that videotaped the performance gave us all business cards and told us to e-mail him our pictures.  He also kept speaking to us in Hindi, which was amusing because for the most part, none of us know the language…at ALL.  ((0022)) ((0027))

After the photo shoot, we went downstairs for lunch.  I got chicken fried rice with cold coffee (my new obsession – beat THAT, Starbucks!!).  It was pretty good, but tomorrow I definitely want to get some Indian food.  I was jealous of the veg platters.  In India, most things are either “veg” or “non-veg.”  Just a fun tidbit.

After lunch, we had a lecture with Anjum Rajabali, a screenwriter.  He was definitely one of the most interesting people we had come speak to us.  He was so animated about what he said, and the main point that I took away from him was that a screenwriter should never let a set “structure” limit the way he tells his story, because that only limits his creativity.  He also said that today’s audiences are capable and ready to see films that aren’t all about sex and violence and shock factor – that we all share a universal human experience, which can be conveyed in so many different ways through cinema.  It was really great to hear him talk.  ((0029))

After Rajabali’s talk, a couple of us stopped into the computer labs and I wrote a couple of e-mails.  All of a sudden, we were rushed out into the main lobby of the school because Rishi Kapoor was coming!  Rishi Kapoor is a legendary Bollywood star and someone that Prof. Goenka has been waiting to meet almost her entire life!  She came walking down the hallway with Mr. Kapoor and briefly introduced him to our group before showing him the scrapbook she had made of magazine clippings of him from when she was younger.  We could tell he was embarrassed but totally flattered at the same time – it was really cool to see her meet one of her favorite Bollywood stars.  ((0036)) After the scrapbook, Mr. Kapoor went and planted a tree and then he disappeared on a tour of the school for a while, so we all just sat around and waited for him to come back.  When he did, we all took a photo with him and Prof. Goenka presented him with his honorary SUBollywood2009 t-shirt.  So many people  were taking pictures of us – I don’t know about everyone else, but I felt famous!  Haha.  ((0043))

After the photo-op, Prof. Goenka showed us her Rishi Kapoor scrapbook signed by the man himself, and then we went into the main auditorium, which was packed with students, for a Q&A with Rishi Kapoor.  Prof. Goenka got to sit on stage with him and ask questions, which was pretty cool.  ((0061)) He addressed our group a couple of times as “my American friends,” mostly just to inform us about things we already knew about him.  But it was cool to be acknowledged.  I thought his answers to everyone’s questions were interesting.  Some of his answers were kind of vague and didn’t answer the question, but some of his answers were quite inspiring.  If I had been an acting student and he had given me the advice that he did, I would have certainly been inspired.  He’s just one more Bollywood big shot to check off the list!  Now all that’s left on my personal list is Hrithik Roshan and SRK!  Mmmm wouldn’t that be awesome.

After Rishi Kapoor, some of us went back to the cafeteria for dinner and for some reason were totally overtaken by giggles.  We were being ridiculous, haha.  A bonding experience to say the very least.  Then we hopped on the bus, got home, said hi to Lucien and Aili (the woman from Whistling Woods who is helping to organize a lot of our visit), and asked if Aili would teach us how to order alcohol over the phone.  Here are the rules: 1) Call the number 2) Yell “ORDER” and “DELIVERY” until the person understands 3) Yell whatever kind of liquor you want (in our case “BACARDI”) over and over and over and over and over until the person understands 4) Give the person your address and ask for the price 5) Hope for the best.  Aili must have done a good job, because our Bacardi arrived in no time.  We mixed it up with lychee and guava juices and had ourselves a jolly good evening.  It was really fun.  We turned on the TV and the first thing that came on was a Rishi Kapoor movie.  OMG.  Is that destiny or WHAT??? ((0079))

mGm