Documentary -- Sanjeev's family at Khass Kudoan

(Karen took this picture above)

(AR look this last picture)

This weekend, we started our real filming. After battling a dirty lens and scratches that I caused, we boarded a jeep and headed to Khass Kudoan -- Sanjeev's village. We arrived on Friday night and stayed until Sunday morning. This weekend was particularly auspicious according to hindu astrology and so many villages were preparing for weddings, including Khass Kudoan.

We spent Saturday loafing around and filming our main interview with Sanjeev, who if you've been following, has been our co-producer and liason with the villages. He's probably going to be our main character since he has bridged the gap between village and city life and has lots of ideas about how the village should adapt to the changing world.

I didn't get any pictures of our interview with him, but here are pictures about all the other time! My favorite quote from the weekend was "Woodstock hide!", which meant we had to escape into alleys, under ledges, and down paths in order to not appear in the footage. We made nicknames for people.

(student A aka "Bumblebee" was our main cinematographer.

J aka "Iron Stomach" was our audio guy!)

(Above, we are filming the children on the roof. Karen aka "Pied Piper" is teaching them yoga.)

Saturday night, the women ground the dahl into paste. This is the ritual they do at the groom's village while they are still awaiting the bride to arrive the next day. They made fried pakoras, which are like salty donuts and are so tasty!!!

On Sunday morning, there were more ceremonies with the groom who lives at Khass Kudoan. This particular story was sad because his mom was widowed early, and they had had a hard life. The village pitched in even more than usual, on wedding responsibilities, organization, and resources. Here are some pictures we took:

(Sanjeev's uncle's wife and AR aka "Bubble")

(women unite!)

We gave our gift during the gift giving part. (See, I don't really know all the exact ceremonies, sorry!)

(AR giving gift to groom. His mom is next to him.)

(That's Yu aka "Me" looking like a tourist)

(Groom riding on someone's shoulder's out of his village to bride's village to get her)

So anyway, we met a lot of Sanjeev's family this weekend. It was awesome to get this family photo. This is a joint family, so often the line between how closely related one is, gets blurred. I think everyone here was related by blood. They called everyone brothers and sisters even though some were cousins, second cousins, etc. It was confusing.

(Sanjeev's joint/extended family)

(Sanjeev and nephew)

(She lives in the house, so she is closely related. She is cool, but I don't know her name.)

(Sanjeev's oldest sister who lives in another village with her own family.)

(Head of the household, Sanjeev's father)

We were so sad to leave Khass Kudoan. We didn't want to go back to Woodstock and we wanted to keep eating the village food! It had taken a day for us and the villagers to warm up to each other, and we didn't want to say goodbye to our friends.

(Karen carrying a heavy load)
(Sanjeev aka "360" because he likes 360 degree shots)

(Khass Kudoan and Woodstock folks!)

This picture was taken after the procession had left for the bride's village. Some of these people came from very far away places, but I have a feeling they are all blood related somehow. So the people on this trip were: me, Karen, A aka "Bumblebee", J aka "Iron Stomach", and AR aka "Bubble". Ok, I will stop using nicknames now! This weekend totally ROCKED!!!