Good-bye to India

Our last train ride in India certainly wasn’t our best. We left Jaipur at 2:40 in the afternoon. More than 17 hours later, we arrived in Mumbai. While the long rides are never fun, this one was especially tough. It came at the end of a long two weeks, and the sleepers cars were all sold out. The only available tickets that could get us to Mumbai in time for our flight out were in the chair car. It was all night, in a cramped chair car with the lights on. We arrived at our hotel tired and more than a little grumpy. We were fully prepared to spend the next 36 hours hiding in our room, counting down to our departure. Instead, a little magic happened as we walked through the door.
A scout was waiting outside our hotel. He worked in the pictures, and he was looking for some westerners to stand in as extras for the latest Bollywood film. The scene was to take place in Las Vegas, and he needed some people to look like they were enjoying themselves in a casino. They would pay for transportation, our meals and would pay us 500 rupees for the experience. How could we pass that up? We joined the group of tourists who had agreed to participate, and piled into taxis on our way to super-stardom.
Filmiji Studios isn’t exactly Universal, but the experience was fun. There were 10 westerners total, 5 Americans, 2 Swedes, 1 Canadian, 1 Brit, and a Dutch girl. Upon arrival at the studio, we were shown into a dressing room. We were provided with costumes, hair and make-up, and then sent to the set for our first scene. It was a bar scene, and we were all supposed to stand around with drinks in our hands looking like we were enjoying a night out on the town. It took them about three hours to shoot us from all different angles. Finally, they were satisfied with the shot, and we took a break for lunch.
After lunch we had some down time. It would be a few hours before they would need us again, so we just lounged in our dressing room, and watched as they filmed other scenes for the movie. At about 6 they needed us again. This time we were audience members for a spectacular Vegas show. The show portion of the scene had been filmed earlier, so we had to look at the camera, and pretend we saw something amazing. This time we got it right after only three takes. This acting thing isn’t so hard…
We changed back into our normal clothes, and headed back to the hotel. It was after 11 when we arrived, and we were running on only a few hours sleep. I was done for the day, but somehow Leon and Rachel found the energy to make it out for one drink with our fellow extras. They arrived home late, and we spent our last day in India, sleeping in. Our flight for Bangkok left at 4 am, and it would be another sleepless night. As we rode to the airport I think we were all a little sad. As excited as we were about our trip to Thailand, we all loved India. We weren’t sure what to expect when we arrived, and we weren’t sure how we were ever going to spend three months in such a strange place. Over the course of three months we fell in love; with the beautiful scenery, with the delicious food, and with the people, who open their country and their hearts so willingly to the thousands of travelers who come seeking knowledge, spiritual clarity, or just a good time. I hope that one day I will return to India, but for now it’s good-bye India, hello Thailand.

Movie Magic