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Published: November 16th 2010
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Brand new Auto-rickshaw for sale!
How cool would it be to drive one of these round London? Having explored most of the city I decided to take it easy today and go watch at the famous Raj Mandir Cinema.
I left the hotel and had a quick chat with the omnipresent taxi driver, who came over and explained work was so quiet he was promoting and handing out leaflets for a new hotel which pays him commission for guests. I asked him for a leaflet out of interest and as he gave me one he remarked that the hotel was pretty expensive. I hope he doesn't say that to all his potential clients!
I walked down to the cinema and bumped smack into my two new friends from the day before, who were hanging around outside on their motorbike. Damn, these boys must have electronically tagged me yesterday.
They kindly helped me to buy a cinema ticket before pointing out that since the film didn't start for an hour I could go for tea with them. The one who had my phone number said he'd tried to phone me last night for beers but couldn't get through. I told the truth, which was I had it switched off as I'd been sick all night (by
coincidence I'd bought a chicken burger at McDonalds and lived to regret it), and that I'd said I wasn't going out anyway. After they then invited themselves to go to the Monkey Temple with me in the afternoon, and then out for beers in the evening - which I politely declined about five times. Next they decided they wanted me to visit a friend of theirs before the film and asked me to hop on the bike. Being deprived of a valid reason to say no I jumped on and was halfway across Jaipur through the Hindu and then Muslim quarters before one of them explained we had to avoid the Police as you weren't allowed three people to a motorbike, and besides, we should all be wearing helmets. Cheers.
We pulled up outside a large house, which was just in the final stages of construction and I was introduced to the owner, a business man in the export business. I spent the next half an hour chatting over tea, during which he invited me for dinner in the evening several times, and himself to stay with me next time he was in London. I politely declined the offer
of dinner a number of times, and pretended I didn't hear him when he asked where I lived. He was probably a genuine guy but he was asking too many questions about what I did for the government. All I replied was that I was a civil servant and I wasn't allowed to talk about it. He was fine with that although I got the impression he was a little baffled that I'd turned up to his house, declined most of his offers of hospitality, and then asked to leave after half an hour.
At mid day I told him I had to go catch the my film at the cinema and was dropped off back in town. I was really impressed with the Raj Mandir cinema. It had extremely posh art deco layout and a single massive auditorium which can hold 1300 people. It was stylishly decorated, and bathed in soft white lighting which had changed to green by the intermission.
I watched the trailers, noting from these and the films I've seen on TV, at the Boleyn Cinema in London, that Sanjay Dutt seems to be in about 75% of all films. Ever.
The film,
Golmaal 3, started and the audience went nuts American style, cheering frantically when each character made their first appearance in screen. I enjoyed the film. It was a slapstick comedy starring Kareena Kapoor, and I could easily follow the plot even though it was in Hindi.
Bollywood films tend to follow more or less the same plot along the lines of some sort of ill-approved romance which all works out happily ever after in the end. Even if it's not the main part of the story it's always in there somewhere. In this case old childhood sweethearts finally get back together and get married, but it turns out their grown offspring can't stand each other to due an earlier dispute at a holiday camp. However they all pull together to fight the local baddies who have stolen a valuable necklace. I had a really good time.
Pushkar tomorrow.
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