Yesterday, D'Souza and I stumbled into the theater across from Bloomingdale's on Third Avenue to view The Darjeeling Limited. A film we were drawn to given the inevitable Indian landscape sure to inform the cinematography and my misguided belief that it starred Brad Pitt.
To our delight, it was a wanton romp via train through the Indian countryside in a manner that can best be expressed as the union of The Aquatic Life of Steven Zissou and The Royal Tennenbaums--not just because these films share many cast members but also because they possess a certain cinematic quality that I have no better method of describing (seeing as how I failed at my dream of being a premier film critic given my sheer laziness in noting details or getting past the enjoyment of the film to critique its merit cinematically!). I digress.
The movie began with a short film set at the Hotel Chevalier in Paris starring Natalie Portman and Jason Schwartzmann and a song that went on to haunt the actual movie: Strangers by The Kinks~ I've downloaded it and listened to it a 100x already!
This film reminded me of my month-long journey via trains through Eastern Europe and a childhood in India spent avoiding any sort of train journey given the teeming masses and malodorous conditions. It made me miss the color and hospitality of a country I long to belong in--a country which will never truly be home again--
Indians are quick to welcome tourists as long as they don't overstay that welcome.
Indians aren't so kind with their own prodigal sons and daughters--NRI's (non-resident Indians)--we are not shown the respect or courtesty extended to visitors with our shared history and intimate knowledge of native culture and place--seems unfair, I know! That's India--an unfair Mother who you spurn but yearn to return to, you hope that she will be glad to see you; that she will welcome you home. All she will do is chide you for your delay and distrust the motives at play, yet you return be it out of obligation or fear or hope--if your upbringing was truly Indian, always return to your Mother be it triumphant and glorious or downtrodden and burned--you always go home.
2 comments:
what did you do for halloween?
Absolutely nothing. Well, that's a lie. I went to The Gingerman in Murray Hill to have drinks with a friend from college who is now a medical resident and Summer--Taurean's fiancee! Then I joined Jo at 71 Irving for a cupcake. Our walk through Union Square provided a great set for determining who was and wasn't "in costume"! I didn't dress up this year or go boozing. The liver doesn't need it.
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