44. HIPPIE MASALA

india.  the place where many hippies migrated to back in the 60's.  the film focuses on 6 individuals, 4 from europe and 2 sisters from south africa who stayed and made india their home.  one is a yogi; a woman is a meditator; the sisters sell clothing on the beach in goa; one is a farmer in the himalayas; the last is a painter with a wife and several children.  we see a lot of smoking what is assumed to be a drug of some sort.  its a long tube, that looks like a cigar, but hard, with the burning part on the inside.   it's obvious they all live simple lives.   the painter laments that he's an outsider; the wife of the farmer laments that when she went to live with the outsider, she was shunned by her family, friends and culture.  she tells us of her dream--she is single; she travels to europe and then comes back home.  her husband isn't so nice to her and she looks so sad when she talks.  however, the most fascinating part to me wasn't the individual lives of the hippies, but rather all the scenes of life in the culture of india.  there really isn't any geographic context, so it's unclear how close to each other these individuals live.  there are many scenes regarding religion, but no explanation of just what is happening or being celebrated.  being not so flexible myself, i'm amazed at the crouch that these people spend much of their time positioned in.  i think that i could never achieve that.  old stoners getting old; living a life that escapes them from a life they didn't find satisfying.  rebirth in mother india, one says.  i just wished they looked happier.