“Drug Addicts in Delhi” – A Poem and Reflection – Guest Blogger Alice Ellis

Drug Addicts in Delhi

Like charred stumps,
They crouch in groups
Postured to hold each other up.
Bundled in blankets, hats pulled down
Whites of flat eyes peek out.
Cut down by drugs and too spent to speak
The waiting is shrouded in silence.
Until warm rotis* are pulled from clay ovens,
Stacked and handed off to the standing one,
Then ripped and pressed into each hand.
Enough to feed the pulse of a soul
And propel these numb humans
Back to the den to light up again.

*tandoor roti: round unleavened whole-wheat bread

__________

The fun and fascination of international travel are the many new opportunities to season our lives with tasty cuisine, new fashion, unusual sounds, challenging transport, historic expressions of faith, and so much more. Traveling may also introduce us to new places and people that challenge our hearts. In Delhi, India, when I saw groups of young men (20 to 30 in a group) waiting for scraps of bread, I was very curious about who they were? When I was told these young men are drug addicts, I was struck with deep compassion and sadness. These men are sons, grandsons, and brothers. I knew right then a prayer was planted in my heart.

May God have mercy on these young men and bring hope and healing. Amen.

__________

Tandoori Roti, originally uploaded by Aleutia.

Photography as Inspiration – Mira Nair – The Namesake

If it weren’t for photography, I wouldn’t be a flimmaker. Every film I make is fueled by photographs. Sometimes it is a particular image of a photographer, sometimes it is what I have learned by seeing the world through his or her eyes. Either way, photographs have always helped me crystallize the visual style of the film I’m about to make. -Mira Nair

I have just finished watching the film The Namesake which always fills me with a complicated set of emotions and leaves me with a sadness and an ache, I am not entirely sure for what. And on another day watching Hoosiers will produce exactly the same combination of feelings, though with a completely different tenor. One day, I will write about all that in more depth, but not today, not aside from reprinting two poems below, which will have to suffice for now.

The quote at the top of this post, though is from a featurette which appears on The Namesake DVD which shows some photographs which supplied inspiration for some scenes in the movie. Though, in truth, I did not need a featurette to tell me of the value Ms. Nair places on visual images and her immense skill in creating them herself. It is as if scene after scene of the movie, both in India and America, snap into stills in my mind and catch my breath. As a photographer, this kissing of the moving image and the still photograph which informs Ms. Nair’s process makes me very happy.

In my opinion such virtuosity would all be of little account if it did not service a great story, with deep themes and symbols. And the movie does not disappoint, though not having read Jhumpa Lahiri’s novel I cannot comment on its effectiveness as an adaptation. With Ashima’s goodbye speech and peaceful final smile at the end of the movie, we understand that home truly can be a many splendored thing.

Watching Hoosiers in the Himalayas

I never thought I would ache for Illinois.
Especially here in this cherished place,
Amidst these swaying pines that whisper joy,
Of windswept hills and cold alpine spaces,
Amidst these pines that wreathed in monsoon mists
Transform the world medieval once again,
That silent stand like monks in sacred trysts.
Yet in this cherished place there comes this pain
For rich, dark, furrowed fields a world away
For harvest leaves that dying golden fall
On silent walks of silent towns that stay
More silent still when winter carpets all
And winter snowdrifts sweep, and families keep
To glowing houses. I watch this screen and weep.

-Image source

return

i stand and breathe
my last few gulps of air duty-free
shuffling up the aisle
of this airlock between atmospheres

soon i will be complete
torn into a duality
that appears unseamed in separate hemispheres
that tears each time they meet
at the touching of my sleeping eastern flesh with east

i walk through door
and I am me
in ways that i have not been for years
as thick warm eastern air enfolds me
and fills my lungs
displacing stale indifference
and leaves me coughing sputtering
amidst these warm embraces
invading my protesting western space
amidst these cluttered streets
breaking life into me
more honest and complete

it may take some time to breathe

Mmm, Jelabi!!

The title of this post is what Homer Simpson might say if he were Indian or Pakistani, with an anticipatory head waggle. That is what I said when I saw jalebis on the buffet of an Indian restaurant I went to the other day. And, my, were they good, crunchy and colorful, hollow at the core, filled with sweet, sweet syrup. Oh, my, oh, my!

I hope it was not too illicit to wrap this little piece up in a napkin and bring it home to photograph. It had such an exotic shape that it led me to commit minor buffet theft for the sake of art. Though, in truth, there was no fear of it not being eaten then or now just a few minutes after its little photo shoot. Dad had had a nice little “mouth sweetening,” which is more or less a transliteration of the Punjabi phrase “mooh mitha kaar,” which is what people say when they are holding out sweets for you to taste.

Jelabis really are a treat. In looking up videos and recipes, I learned that there is variation, as their is with most recipes in all cuisines though perhaps especially in Indian/Pakistani cuisine, as there are so many different regions in the sub-continent. There are two cool videos with slightly different takes here and here. In remembering men making jelabis in Pakistan and in seeing these videos, it occurs to me that jelabis are quite similar to funnel cake, except instead of being thicker and doused in powdered sugar they are more delicate and soaked in sugar water.

For my rupees, the best jabelis are reddish orange, crispy, bursting with sweet syrup, which should have a tiny hint of rose water. Enjoy the pictures and some jelabis the next time you go out for Indian/Pakistani food. And, for the record, I do know that Indian and Pakistani cuisines are not absolutely interchangeable, though north Indian and Pakistani cuisine come closer to being so.

Slumdog Actors Update

Having written this blog post, it is only fair that I mention that the two child actors seem to be getting more useful compensation, even as they head off to the Oscars to make Hollywood celebrities feel better about themselves.

I am not sure if Slumdog should win best picture, even though it seems likely to do so. In matters cinematical, though, I refer you to my friends here and here.

Reviews of Slumdog Millionaire Where it Matters Most

In my review of the movie I did not exactly predict that the reception of Slumdog Millionaire in India would be mixed and problematic, though I had wondered since writing it what the reception in India, indeed, would be.

This article from the BBC informs me that the movie is only just opening in India, and that, yes, the reaction is mixed. I am interested to see how the film fares. One aspect of my review does seem borne out, though, and that is the relative shallowness of the story of love and riches in comparison to the depth of human suffering in Mumbai and India at large, which the movie, to its credit, does touch upon in fairly artful and sensitive ways.

Also, in sharp contrast to the film, the two youngest versions of the protagonists in the film still live in a slum! On some levels this should not be shocking–perhaps it would be false to pluck them out of their lives with a new house, etc. simply for being in the film–and yet if there lives have not been bettered in some way (and they may have been in ways that this article does not allude to), their use does seem a touch exploitive, especially seeing the film has turned out to be such a blockbuster.

Thoughts? For a sample of some more articles, search articles from the Times of India.

A Review of “Slumdog Millionaire”

A new issue of catapult, “Duck, Duck, Goose,” about “our attempts and failures, intentional or otherwise, to fit in” is out. In it, I have a review of a film currently showing in cinemas which is set in India and….well, I will just let the review do the talking.

Here is the website for the film and the trailer alone on Apple’s site.

Also, my author page on catapult was recently fixed and now shows my complete output there.