pragmatically optimistic…

it’s official, monsoon season is here in full force.  the hindu, muslim, christian, and (insert any other gods that may or may not exist) spirits have been crying their eyes out.  mumbai grows increasingly drunk with each teardrop and, as it does, asks, pleads, even commands that we stay indoors.  but yesterday was saturday and even mumbai can’t keep good peoples down.

what to do?  maybe go to an internet cafe, grab a bite to eat, maybe go see a movie.  this we eventually did.  but before i could get my superman returns fix, i had to take care of a more important and consequential task – finding old bollywood records.  yes, i’ll admit it, i’m addicted and have periodic lapses of vinyl blackout. when i awake, stacks of useless records rest at my side. 

finding vinyl in mumbai isn’t as easy as it might at first seem, especially if you’re not from here and everyone you ask thinks you’re looking for dvds, cds, or cassettes.   after a bit of searching on-line, i found a blog (mad props to Akshay Mahajan at metroblogging mumbai) with great information about a street vendor (abdul razzak, cell: 9820933365) on dr. dn road in fort.  just click on the link below for good directions and price information:

http://mumbai.metblogs.com/archives/2006/02/rare_music_cheap_mumbai.phtml

knowing practically nothing about bollywood films, much less their soundtracks, i asked abdul to pull all sixties and seventies tracks from his few stacks.  he mixed a few eighties and nineties albums in there too.  when we concluded this initial sort, seventy-five records had been pulled.  i then asked him to select the 10, 5, and 5 best sixties, seventies, and eighties albums, respectively.  that he did.  i walked away with 20 records for 2200 roops (as dennis would say). 

it may seem strange that i bought 20 records about which i really know nothing.  but, that’s part of the game.  you gotta put yourself out there if you want to learn something new.  trust is involved… 

after the record search, i made my way to the movies.  watching superman returns in india failed to improve its dramatic or otherwise filmic qualities.  however, i must say it was slightly amusing standing up at the beginning of the film to hear the indian national anthem and watch a huge picture of the indian flag for a few minutes.  by the way, does anyone know why the flag has to wave, as if blowing in the wind?  why not just use a static image of the flag?  these are important questions in any search for meaning in life… 

also slightly less amusing were the kids making noise throughout the film and the periodic “shut ups” yelled from young movie-going adults.  i couldn’t help but think back to the internet cafe, where indian teens play video games against one another and scream “shits, i’m dead” or “i am mario puzo. i shot you.”  ah, to be a teenager again…