documentary -- Pradhan's Permission

(the kings or maybe raj's?)

This weekend, a number of students, Karen and I headed to both Sarab Talla and Khass Kudoan villages. We picked Sanjeev up along the way, and we all headed on our mission of the getting the permission of the villagers to shoot the documentary.

I was so afraid that something would go wrong -- like what if nobody showed up in the village or what if they didn't like the idea of the documentary, or if the Pradhan's said no? The Pradhans are the elected leaders. On Friday night, it snowed a little in Mussoorie, what if the trip was going to be canceled?

We had a minor crisis of translating the film releases too. Students were working overtime, translating the complicated English legal documents, asking teachers to proofread, and then going through the ordeal of trying to type in Hindi. All the students involved were troopers and so awesome. Meenu ran the show on that one, coordinating with the students and asking the middle school office guy eventually to hand write the location release, finishing 10 minutes before we jumped in the taxi.

But Saturday was beautiful. We hopped in the taxi, and the driver Vikram (I think) even took us to his village Perogi for some chai before getting to our destination. Vikram is 26 and owns the jeep with his brother. He owns a restaurant at Kempty Falls and also does government contract work with building/fixing roads. He has a cute toddler. Quite an entreprenuer! (Vikram, not the toddler!)

(Sanjeev in the middle and Vikram on the right. Photo by Karen.)

But...we got to Sarab Talla and we started filming right away. This was good practice, since we were all fumbling a bit with the equipment. The good thing or maybe the bad thing is that one of the old guys who we were interviewing, was apparently lying the whole time. He said he had 2 sons and 1 daughter, but really he has 9 children. What did he think about the future of the village? That everyone is going to do drugs! The spectators were laughing because they knew the truth. It was pretty funny.

(Grandpa's younger son holding the mic)

(the kids on the roof were only 1/3 of the audience)

(checking out the footage)

(Sanjeev the filmmaker)

Here are some fun pics we took with the kids. Maybe you can figure who the Woodstock people are?

The Woodstock students were great! R interviewed and spoke with everyone. K was a natural with the kids. And A was an all around great translator!

(K playing Duck Duck Goose. The kids had to avoid the fire pit on the side while running!)

(R directing Ko Ko -- an Indian game.)

Karen brought her bamboo flute, and became the Pied Piper. She impressed everyone with her improvisational and music skills. I'm putting her in charge of the documentary soundtrack!

Yes, we did complete our mission. The Pradhan at Sarab Talla signed and stamped the film releases, while Sanjeev will get the Pradhan at Khass Kudoan to the do the same. We had a great time with the adults and children at all the villages! And the food was delicious!!!

I will leave you with this picture of the crying baby. Hee hee!