After the meditation course, I flew from Hyderabad to Mumbai instead of taking the train. I wasn't sure how I would feel like after 10 days of silence and decided to play it safe.
In Mumbai, I stayed at Colaba - a touristy neighborhood with lots of restaurants and street vendors. I didn't plan on seeing anything in particular while in Mumbai; my plan was to simply eat well and get a feel of what life is like in a city with a population of 13,662,885. Somewhat surprisingly, I felt that Mumbai was less chaotic than Hyderabad which is a small city with less than 7 million people. ;)
Most of the time in Mumbai I simply walked around the city, did a little bit of shopping, ate fabulous meals and enjoyed the peaceful feeling that was still there as a result of the Vipassana course. I could easily see how my peaceful mind could deal with the buzz of the city much better than the old restless mind would have. In India, all the senses are stimulated to such an extent that it is easy to get overwhelmed: strong smells, bright colors, and loud noises are there all the time. The only place where it was possible to escape from most of these stimuli was the hotel room - or your own mind. In a true Vipassana way, it was surprisingly easy for me to observe the stimuli and the sensations that arose as a result of them - and not react. Not get irritated when someone tried to sell me a huge balloon for the 20th time that day and not get anxious in the crowds. My mind was in peace. I enjoyed being with myself. I didn't feel that I was missing something because I didn't have anyone there to share the experiences with me.
One night, I was heading back to my hotel after a fantastic dinner. As I was walking down the street, an Indian man approached me and asked if I was interested in being an extra in a Bollywood film the next day. I had read about the fact that they often need western extras in Bollywood films and that they recruit people from the street, so the offer didn't sound quite as strange as it might have. After chatting with the guy for a couple of minutes, I decided that he sounded ok and trustworthy enough, so I said yes. At the hotel room, I couldn't stop laughing. After all I'd experienced, the fact that I was going to be in a Bollywood movie sounded too weird to be true.
Weird or not, the next day a bus picked me up and drove me and the other 30 extras to the "studios" about 2 hours from our hotel. As the photos show, the "studio" ended up being a shaky construction in the middle of nowhere with tent-like changing and make-up rooms. After we were done with make-up and dresses, we were shown our positions in the fancy hall where the shooting took place. And then we waited. And waited. And waited some more.
The film was in Hindi, and although they sometimes gave some instructions in English, too, we didn't really understand what was going on. Apparently, there was a princess who was getting married and... that's about it. During the shootings, she walked up the aisle and then she read aloud something for about 30 seconds, then we all cheered. In the final film, I think this scene will be about 1.5 minutes, at max. And it took 14 hours to film it. We were finally back in the hotel at about 4am. And yes, we were paid for our time: we got 500 Rs (~$10), meals and chai tea. It was a great experience - but I don't think I'll consider acting as a future career. It's super boring: about 5% of acting and 95% waiting for others to do their job...
The night after our extra duty, I went out with a bunch of other extras. We had drinks and went to a club to see a French band called Masala Dosa. It was fun to hang out with people for a change. And the next day was my last day in India. After getting tired of shopping, I went to see Slumdog Millionaire, picked up my bags from the hotel and took a cab to the airport. After around 30 hours of traveling, I was home. Tired and happy? Not really. Just happy. :)
So, did I find myself during my month of self-discovery? Maybe. At least I learned more than I have ever learned in just one month. Stay tuned for more about what I learned. :)
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