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ACT THREE: CIMRAN'S LEGACY Act three begins with cinema verite
footage of the wedding. The groom arrives on top of a white horse, and Shashi,
dressed in a brilliant red sari, meets him on a dais where the four-hour
ceremony takes places amist a large party. The filmmaker narrates much of
act three, and looks ahead to the youngest generation of Chhabrias, raised
thousands of miles apart both culturally and physically. Specifically, act
three is a message form the filmmaker to Anjali's newborn daughter, Cimran,
named after the rosary beads Hindu's pray with. The filmmaker tells Cimran
that her legacy is to decide what India means to her. Although by blood
she is 100% Indian, she will be raised in New Jersey by an immigrant mother
and an Indian- American father who has never spent any time in India. Like
the filmmaker, India will always be somewhat of a mystery and a pull, although
the world will always identify her with this place. As she grows older,
she will have to decide if her skin color has anything or everything to
do with who she is, and she will have to decide where to draw the dividing
line between being American and being Indian. |