The village, Los Lomas, we lived in for a short while in the northern part of the island was basically populated by descendents from India and were Hindu. One weekend we were startled by a loud speaker so loud it was almost painful, blasting music from India. This music was continuous throughout most of the weekend. It turned out to be a band playing around the clock for a Hindu wedding. There was continuous food available and many guests across the way from the little house I was staying in with another Baha’i and her two children. The clothes worn by the guests were the lovely saris worn by the women and the white tunic and pants of the gentlemen. It was very reminiscent of the movies we had seen at the movie house in Port of Spain. This movie house was a frame building with wooden benches and a huge screen. These movies were of love stories, beautiful music and traditional dancing of India. One of the ongoing themes in the movies was the sacrificial love of the mothers for their children. The combination of sensual dance and innocent love before marriage was so very different from the cynicism and promiscuity of American movies. I wasn’t foolish enough to believe that all of India was represented in these movies because poverty and the bartering of daughters in marriage was not only present in India but in Trinidad as well. But still, the beautiful stories were hopeful and touching.
(Slum Dog Millionaire, the movie, has music and dancing very similar to the above.)
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