A ROAD MOVIE IN 3 DAYS & 7 SCENES
Scene 1 - Thar desert
Shiny white Ambassador. Empty desert road cuts into the distance. A couple sitting on the back seat buffeted by hairdryer air. In car stocky uniformed driver.
Outside: Parched flat landscape punctuated with resilient trees. Camel hauled carts, vibrantly clad women dotting dry fields, fluorescent turbaned moustached men.
Scene 2 - Nawalgar
Bustling market, small town, rich past looming ghostly in the mansions - the havelis - locations raison d'être. Homes gently ruining with each passing monsoon. Separated quarters for men and women. Rich contemporary decoration on every surface. Contemporary to the time- a time however, one hundred years past.
Scene 3 \ 4 \ 5 - Mandawa - Ramgar - Fatehpur
Change of town, but keep a remarkable continuance of the theme. Extra: locally hired guide working for a few rupees. Silent havelis vie for attention through decorative elaboration. Gods, steam trains, bourgeois' portraits, Englishwomen, Englishmen in their flying machine. Echoes of prosperity, of lost trading routes, of displaced businessmen in far away cities.
Scene 6 - Mahansar
Desert fort, Rajput dynasty descendant, cut from sumptuous Arabic bedrooms to a sand storm sunset.
Scene 7 - Road to Jodhpur
Long haul at Ambassador pace. Brief take of temple overrun by holy rats. Heat unrelenting. Observe sand gradually reclaiming the history of more prosperous times, of dreams now realised elsewhere.
