Bollywood

One of the ways M and I have been educating ourselves about India in recent months has been through film.  We are movie lovers, so this wasn't a hard sell.  We've been faithful Netflix members since 2003, and have watched (at last count) 832 movies since joining.  That's a lot of movies!

We stacked our Netflix queue with as many India related dramas and documentaries as we could find.  Some were fabulous, others, not-so-fabulous.  Here's a list of some of the movie titles, if you'd like to check them out yourself:

• Water
• Born into Brothels
• Office Tigers
• Mother Teresa
• The Namesake
• Ghandi

Of these, my favorite is "Born into Brothels."  It's a documentary which focuses on several children who live in Calcutta's red light district, where their mothers work as prostitutes.  Shunned by their own, these children are given a hope for the future thanks to the dedication of a New York based photographer who teaches them photography.  It's an amazing example how one person can make a difference.  The film won an Academy Award in 2005 for Best Documentary Feature film - for more information visit www.kids-with-cameras.org

Anyone else have any other India-related films that they'd recommend?

A Visual

Here's a map of India, so you can refresh your memory. I had to get acquainted. It's been a while since my 5th grade world geography class. We will be visiting Hyderabad (right in the middle of the country) and Bangalore (near the bottom). Now, can you find Carmen Sandiego?

T minus one week!

Our departure date is approaching quickly, and our team is brimming with excitement. We have reached our fundraising goal and are so thankful for everyone who helped to make that happen!

If you'd like to subscribe to updates from this blog, click on the link at the bottom of this page to "follow this blog" and notifications of any new posts will be emailed to you.