Highs and Lows

The days are long and this environment is so fast-paced and chaotic that it makes New York City seem like a retirement home in Florida.  I'm completely exhausted every night and with only one computer it's really hard to keep up with the blog because we're dumping footage, synching sound, etc. every night.  I'm a few days behind on the blog and by now the days have all blurred together.  So here are some highlights and lowlights that stick out in my mind.


A few days ago we went into the field for the first time.  We were lead by two students into the slum Shivaji Nagar.  Our plan that day was not really to shoot, but to just scope out our environment so we'd be prepared for the next day.  We shot.  We shot everything we could.  Bakes had the camera speeding most of the time we were there, I was rolling sound, and Andrew kept his eyes open for shots we needed to grab.  I know I'm not going to be able to explain what it was like shooting in this environment so hopefully our footage will speak for me.  The alley is so narrow, the seven of us could not stand next to each other.  There are kids, some fully clothed, some completely naked, none with shoes, running around and sneaking up to investigate us.  As word spread that Brittany was a dentist, people began gathering around and opening their mouths.  In the mean time we were trying to force our camera and microphone into the circle in a crowded alley.  Eventually the translator said there are too many people, and it is becoming too dangerous.  So we left, planning to go to a medical clinic in the slum that afternoon.  The clinic was one of the lows for me.


We arrived at the clinic and were immediately told if we didn't put our camera away, it would be confiscated.  We agreed, hung tight for a few minutes, then pulled out the flipcam. Brittany was screening children ages 0-5 at the clinic that afternoon which is very important for her work and our doc.  There was no way we weren't going to shoot it.  So bakes held the flipcam, wrapped in a bandana, right behind a notebook he was scribbling in.  I stuck the tip of the microphone out of the bag and began rolling.  Hopefully we got some usable footage, but it was disheartening not to be able to shoot such an important moment. 


High:  Mornings in Mumbai.  Perfect temperature, a mild breeze, less noise, cleaner sky than in the evening after a day of city hustle. 


Low:  Traveler's Diarrhea.  Oh it happened.  To me.  Not the best night of my life, but I was over it half way through the next day.


Low:  Tata Institute.  We have been less than impressed with the institute Brittany and her team are working out of.  They give little to no information to the girls and they have still not provided a translator, or access to a school in the slum. 


High:  Meeting with the girls and deciding it's time to go out on our own, leave the institution behind and hit the slums.  Andrew, Bakes and I went out and found a translator the very next day.  A couple nights before, Bakes and I had met a priest at a local fish market while buying some fish for the hotel room (great pets so far by the way).  We went to his church and after the long, beautiful tour, and of course tea and biscuits, we asked him if he could help with a translator.  He left the room, and five minutes later Ida Fernandes walked in.  She came to the church looking for work.  She’s a Marathi teacher, which is the language they speak in the slum.  Considering there are thousands of current languages spoken in India, it’s a miracle that she teaches the Marathi to children, and that she came to the church to find work at the same time we were there looking to employ someone.  And Father Frankie’s beautiful church was a great setting for that little miracle.

We spent two days shooting B-roll in South Mumbai.  It’s a wealthier and more touristy part of town.  We took a train and once again, I’ve never seen anything like it.  People are packed in so tightly that they hang out the doors on both sides.  They hold on to metal rings hanging from the ceiling, and each stop is a mosh pit of people forcing their way on and off the train.  But just like driving here, there is no hostility with the extreme aggression, it’s just the only way to get anywhere in a country with the population density of India. 

We got great B-roll, but the exhaustion has hit us.  We’ve been working non-stop, and although we love it, we’ve had a few moments here and there where we’re at each other’s throats.  But five or ten minutes later we’re laughing again.  Not a day goes by where I don’t say, “I love it here.”

The hospitality is beyond words.  Everywhere we go people stop us, “You are a guest here in India,” they say.  “Welcome to my country.”  “You have any problems, call me.”  As you can see by the last video we posted it is often that we are surrounded by locals, curious to see what the white people are doing.  On the flip side, everyone wants something from you here.  Andrew already got had once, and we’ve definitely had trouble finding the line between hospitability, and falling in to debt with someone.

I know I’ve forgotten so much, but the next blog will be a slew of photos and pictures.  They tell a better story anyway.  As for now, it’s another perfect morning in India, and we have work to do.  We’re meeting with the translator in 20 minutes and it’s our first real day of shooting the meat of our story.  More adventures to come....


Oh I almost forgot.  We went to get a cup of coffee yesterday and ended up riding an elephant down the street in our neighborhood.  No tourist stuff, just a kid on an elephant collecting bananas and other “elephant gifts,” taking us on a ride down the streets of Chembur.  I told you I love it here.

- Brennan