Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Everything I Learned about Switzerland I learned from Bollywood...

Well, from before Bollywood was called Bollywood. When it was just the Hindi film industry. This is what I learned then (and then what the reality is):

1. The skies are always bright blue and the weather always perfect for cavorting (it's been raining almost non-stop this month and the skies are quite grey)

2. If you are female you are impervious to cold as evidenced by your ability to run around in the thinnest chiffon possible. Men--those unlucky bastards--do feel the cold because they need to wear turtlenecks and pea coats (not true, as evidenced by me walking and shivering by the lake...in summer...brrrr)

3. You open your mouth and out pop the lyrics of Gulzar, accompanied by some soulful music (So not true...though I am awakened by braying donkeys outside my window....not Kishore Kumar or Kumar Sanu or whoever)

4. All train stations are picturesque and perfect places for singing and dancing (yeah, well, not unless you want to be stared at and laughed at).

5. It always looks beautiful no matter what (ok...well, that one is true. It is an amazingly beautiful country)

I just have one thing to say to the Indian honeymooners (and assorted Asian tourists) who spent an inordinate amount of time by the flower clock by the lake. WTF? Why are you so fascinated by this thing? There's an actual big mechanical clock and then someone plants flowers over it. Why is it such a big deal? Stop wasting your film and digital space. *Phew*

1 comment:

Beth Loves Bollywood said...

Teehee. Love it. I've never been to Switzerland, and even though I've only been watching Hindi films for 3.5 years, I think I'd have undue expectations too.

I did get to see the Alps from bits of Germany and Austria this year, but my traveling companions were also Indian movie junkies, so they would just point and say "Siddharth filmed a song RIGHT THERE!"