Sudarshan Gaikaiwari

Watched this one yesterday with Misha and Samat. I short while ago I had posted on Yelp talk “What is the difference between movies and films?”. I guess most people would classify Transformers as a movie. Is there anything I would remember about this movie? No. Does this movie in any way change how I think about this world? No. But I must admit I did enjoy watching it. My mom worked in the US in the 80s and when she came back to India she got me some toys. My favorite was the Optimus Prime truck. It is really fascinating how this movie brought back some old memories. Although I was not a fan on the Transformer series nor did I get any other Transformer toy other than that truck I could still relate to the movie. Most of the audience consisted of thirty year old fathers with their kids. I am not sure if the kids dragged the fathers to the movie or was it the other way around

Recently someone asked me how frequently do I go home. It took me a long time to understand that he meant India. Then today another person pointed me to this song from Metallica. Sometimes people ask me if I want to go back to India or stay on in the US. What is home for me? Who am I? I guess every immigrant has faced these questions. For me there are lots of concerns such work authorization and visa status that often prevent me from doing things that I really want to do. At the same time I am worried if after being here for 5 years can I head back and adjust to the daily realities in India such as regular power cuts, intermittent water supply and rampant corruption.

You have to be very diligent. You have to check every little detail. You have to be so careful that you haven’t left something out. You have to think harder and deeper that you normally would. It’s hard with today’s large huge programs.