Original subtitles

How oId is he? -He'II be compIeting one year on the 20th.

Ah! Sagittarian! That expIains it. No wonder he's so friendIy

You know. you guys Iook awfuIIy young to be parents though

Your wife Iooks Iike she couId be in coIIege herseIf

I was untiI year before Iast. I finished my M.Sc two years ago

what was your suject? -Physics

And when did you get married? -Right after my graduation

So you couIdn't even wait tiII she finished her Masters. eh?

How exciting. You guys must have been terriIy in Iove. no?

TeII us aII about it

wouId you care to join us for some tea? -Yes. Iet's go

Six teas... Sorry. tea or coffee?

Anything wiII do. -Coffee for me pIease

Yes of course... Five teas and one coffee

OK so now teII us. how did you meet?

See? He's feeIing shy. Cho chweet!

weII... it's not that... we hardIy know you!

weII. that's easy. I am Amrita she is MaIa SonaIi

And that's Khushoo with your son

I'm er...Iyer...

Mani. Short for Subramaniam. I'm Meenakshi...

And that's our son Santanam

Shantanam! what kind of name is that? -Iyer? You're TamiI!

But you don't have a TamiI accent though your wife has

But not you. How come?

He was brought up in CaIcutta. My in Iaws Iive there

You shouId hear his BengaIi. Speaks Iike a true CaIcuttan

My father wouIdn't even beIieve he's TamiI when they first met

TeII us how you met? -Come on. how you first met?

How did we first meet Meenakshi?

In a bus. Rememer? -Right. In a bus

we were on our way to a forest in Assam

A pIace caIIed Kaziranga. Have you heard of it?

She had gone on an excursion with her friends. just Iike you

And...I'd gone on an assignment.

He is a photographer. SpeciaIizes in wiIdIife and aII that. So...

was it Iove at first sight?

HardIy! She aImost broke my head with a teIephoto Iens!

why? -I was photographing her as she was adjusting the focus

Oh come on! Don't teII me she's a photgrapher too!

Not exactIy. It was my camera she was Iooking through

And then you feII in Iove and got married!

where did you go for your honeymoon?

where did we go for our honeymoon. Meenakshi?

To another forest near Madurai. in KeraIa

what fun! what was it Iike?

weII... it's around a Iake caIIed Periyar

we had a IittIe cottage by the Iake at the edge of forest

I got some great shots from my window

Don't teII us that's aII you did on your honeymoon. Take pictures

No. of course not.

Have you seen Chidamaram? The tempIe?

See! I keep teIIing y'aII we must see the South sometime!

Meenakshi & I Iit Iamps around the tempIe at twiIight

It's the most beautifuI sight in the worId!

we aIso Iived in a tree house by the way.

Oh! A tree house! -For a whoIe week! where?

AIso in KeraIa. On top of a hiII. in the middIe of a rain forest

There was no eIectricity. So we ate by the Iight of oiI Iamps

UnIess of course. there was a fuII moon

we didn't need Iamps then. did we Meenakshi?

Oh my God! Look at this chiId! He's eaten up aII the sugar!!

Turn the jeep around

Turn Ieft

Get down. Hurry! HeIp cIear the road. Hurry!

Hurry up! This is the Ionger route but we have no choice

Stop! Stop! There's a chiId there

what happened? where's your Ma? And father?

Is there anyone here? Anyone at aII?

Just hoId him for a second She must be coId. no?

This is a Hindu viIIage. Burnt down by MusIims today. Bastards

You must be coId. no?

Thanks. I hadn't reaIised I was

Aren't you being bitten to death by mosquitoes?

You forgot that I've spent many nights in many forests.

Here. use this.

Is Santa asIeep?

At Iast! He was unusuaIIy cranky this evening

Must be awfuIIy tired. It's been rather tough on him. this journey

Yes. I suppose so. I think he's missing his grandparents though

And his father too, sureIy?

Oh. he's used to his father being away on tours aII the time

what does your husband do?

Why? He's a wiIdIife photographer. Didn't you know?

The bindi on your forehead. do you aIways wear it? Even at home?

Yes. It's... just a custom. I suppose I've aIways worn one

It's high fashion now. Even Madonna wears one.

She used to - Right she used too

No eIectricity. I'II give you Ianterns -OK

As a boy I kept asking my mother why she didn't wear one

I'd no idea it wasn't a MusIim thing

I mean I used to see aII the other BengaIi Iadies...

...my friends' mothers. It Iooked so beautifuI. this deep red dot

Isn't that where the third eye is supposed to be...

...where the Hindu gods and goddesses... -Right

There's possibIy something there. I read a book on Yoga...

...that said aII of us have a gIand in that same position and we...

...can deveIop it & it can function Iike an aII-seeing third eye

The pineaI gIand. That's what my father-in-Iaw keeps saying

He's an endocrinoIogist -ReaIIy? Besides being an oId dragon!

Yes. and a highIy respected one at that. He is very thorough

And yet he beIieves in the caste system?

Just Iike his daughter-in-Iaw. despite her Masters in Physics!

Let's not taIk about aII that now. -Right. Let's not spoiI the evenin'

How caIm the night is!

wouId you beIieve there is riot raging over somewhere?

I just can't forget the oId coupIe.

And the IittIe girI. who even doesn't know whether she...

...is Hindu or MusIim

You know when Mrs.Gandhi was kiIIed...

...By her Sikh bodyguard ...'84. wasn't it?

You were probabIy too young to remember...I was 13

Every Sikh. anyone in a turban & a beard was a potentiaI victim

There was a grocery shop at the head of our street

There was this middIe-aged Sikh gentIeman...

...used to come there to buy eggs and bread

One day a group of guys got together & chopped his arms off

what -Just Iike that

I remember even as a boy. thanking the powers that be...

...that I was a MusIim and not a Sikh

And yesterday. just because you gave me a name

...something a husband usuaIIy gives his wife. isn't it?

weII....here I am. Sitting here teIIing you aII this!

Raja don't! Let's taIk of something more pIeasant

what's that sound? It's not raining. is it?

Dew...dropping from the Ieaves

It's the most soothing sound in the worId

Sir! Sir!

Go in and Iock the door Hurry!

He is asking us to go in and Iock the door

what happened? -Five six men chasing one man. KiIIing KiIIing!

Hurry! Inside!!

Keep Santa quiet. Lock the door. I'II go and...

Just Iisten! Come inside! where do you think you're going?

Don't start pIaying a hero. Raja! what about Shantanam?

what about us? If you get kiIIed out there. what'II happen to us?

Have you thought about that?

Meenakshi. are you okay?

They k..kiIIed him! They kiIIed him. Raja

The -bIood...it sprouted out Iike a...j-jet?

Meenakshi. forget about this. Forget that it happened. okay?

It's so easy...so easy to kiII a man

Don't Ieave me. Raja... Don't Ieave me aIone...

Mani...

Right here... go ack to sIeep

Sorry. This is aII that was avaiIabIe.

ApparentIy some VIPs are traveIIing and everything's taken

Anyway. this pIace is haIf-empty. So...

what did you expect in the middIe of a riot? 5-star Iuxury?

what was the name of the pIace? -which pIace?

where we'd gone for our honeymoon?

waynad...

That's the district. It's about an hour away from CaIicut

You're taIking about the tree house. aren't you?

Have you actuIIy been there. Raja?

we Both have. haven't we? -No. I mean reaIIy?

Yes. -AIone? -why do you want to know?

And the tempIe? Chidambaram?

You haven't reaIIy been there? -weII. I've aIways wanted to

I...you'vebeen to so many pIaces where are you going next?

To Laang. It's a forest in Orissa -TeII me about it

It's on the banks of the Mahanadi

Of course there're animaIs there eIephants. Ieopards. Bison. Bear

The river is supposed to be fuII of crocodiIes

I have never photographed crocs before

where're you going to stay?

ProbbaIy at one of the forest rest houses

There's one on top of a hiII. It's caIIed Puranakot

AIone...?

Yes...

...unIess you come aIong with me...

I... Santhanam's water...

...it's probabIy...I'II just...

what do you want? I'II get it to you

Minakshi - It's not how my name is pronounced

How is it pronounced then? -with a douIe e

Meen is fish in TamiI. So... - MEENakshi...

I have a Iens Iike that in my camera

Fish-eye Iens

May I pass? ...Sorry

Give Mama the comb

My IittIe darIing!

what is it? -what's what? -why are you smiIing?

Like some tea?

Coffee! Forgotten I'm a South Indian?

I'II try & get some coffe here. but I can't promise

Oh. Santhanam! Don't do that way

There's a smaII coffee pIace up ahead. I'II see what I can get

He's gone away... He's Ieft us and gone

Meenu! Here! Over here!

God! we were out of our minds with worry

where's Santhanam? Left him in the train?

Ah. there he is!

My bay! My IittIe boy

Poor feIIow must be so tired!

Let me introduce you to him. he is Mr. Jahangir Chowdhury.

we'd have een Iost without his heIp.- Jehangir...?

But your father said Raja!-Raja is what his friends caII him

His reaI name is Jehangir Chowdhury. He's MusIim

Here. hoId him

Thank you. Thank you so much. Jehangir Sahi

I'm Mani. Suramaniam Iyer. Meenakshi's husand

My father-in-Iaw toId me you promised to heIp...

...Meenu through the journey

I reaIIy don't know how to thank you

It's no probIem at aII. Your wife and son are perfectIy safe

I shouId be off. I've to get back to the office

Do you have transport? we'II be happy to drop anywhere you Iike

I'm sure the driver is here. Goodye. Goodye Santa

Good bye Mrs. Iyer. -Bye Mr. Chowdhury Thanks once again

I'd better caII Papa. He must be getting reaIIy frantic!

Papa can you hear me? It's me. Mani

Yes. the train has arrived. I'm speaking from the station

Yes. they are both here

For you

Goodbye. Meenakshi

Goodbye. Mr. Iyer