Slumdog Millionaire

You've probably heard about the movie Slumdog Millionaire by now but in case you've been in a cave somewhere I'll give you a brief rundown...
Slumdog Millionaire is a movie based in Mumbai, India and it follows the life of a boy who grows up in the slums...he is a slumdog. I won't give away the rest of the story but it is amazing. This movie has won multiple awards including movie of the year.

My husband and I finally got an opportunity to see it on Valentine's Day and I am so glad we did. This movie is very well done and very realistic. The only thing missing for me was the smells of India. Everything else was included in the movie.

It was difficult for me to watch because it immediately brought me back to Calcutta and made my heart ache for the people I left behind there and for the little kids that I encountered. One scene in the movie is of kids getting their eyes burned with a hot liquid. This particular scene was difficult for me to watch as I encountered kids who had damaged eyes. This happens so that the children can become "better beggars". Often times parents will break the bones of their babies so that they will grow deformed and they too can be better beggars. It is a tough movie to watch but one that I think everyone should see so that we can gain awareness of what goes on in other countries.

One little girl who we encountered in the market was trying to sell us these bead looking things that grow into gel balls when put in water (they were really strange). She followed us all around the market begging us to purchase her product, which of course none of us had a use or a desire for. We began to pay extra attention to our surroundings and noticed that as she was following us a man was following her. We asked her who he was but she said he was no one and then he started staying further back. Basically he was her pimp...not in a sexual way necessarily but in the fact that he gets the money that she earns from selling her bead-to-gel-ball product. This became a real struggle for us as we had to decide whether or not to purchase one of these items. On the one hand, if you purchase the item the money goes to the pimp and supports him and supports the problem but on the other hand, there is a good chance that if she does not bring in enough money (whatever that is)she will probably be beaten. What's the answer? I'm not sure but we did purchase one packet and had to haggle with her because she wanted to charge us 4 times what she should have. What do you think? What would you have done?



Another thing we encountered over and over was street kids holding crying babies while begging for food and money. Now, sometimes they really are siblings but sometimes they are "borrowed" for purposes of begging. Older children will take crying babies with them so that they get more sympathy and hopefully more money.

It's easy to get frustrated and annoyed that these kids are shoving a crying baby in your face and it can be frustrating when you think about how they are playing with your emotions for money but when I really sat down and thought about it I could not even imagine what I might be willing to do if I was in their situation. I have no idea how I would react and could not get mad when our hotel staff would ask for a bigger tip or a teenage boy would see us coming and go pick up a crying child to show us.


Go see Slumdog Millionaire! It is totally worth the $10.75 or whatever it costs to see a movie now! Go see it so you too can fall in love and then you can go back to Calcutta with me in a few years. I go to a new place and this happens...I always fall in love and can't wait to go back!