An excerpt from
The Water Gods: The Inside Story of a World Bank Project in Nepal
by Anna Paskal
by Anna Paskal
Inside, the scene is unbelievable. There are about fifty or sixty women, squeezed together, entranced by the images on the television in front of them. Many have never seen moving images before and are perceptibly awed. Their eyes are huge, and at least half have hands claped over their open mouths in disbelief. Although most of the women are listening to Tara's translation, it is clear some don't understand Nepali and are making up their own storyline. They ooh and aah in unison. I can't stop thinking about what it must be like for them to see not only moving images, but ones of a distant foreign land.
When the film is over, we try to open the microphone, urging the women to talk with Dianne, the Cree "star" they have just seen on film. The first two comments are about how ramro [good, beautiful] the film was and that they'd like to please see it over and over. Finally, one woman says she thought the wedding scene was especially interesting. Tara and I look at each other with sudden understanding. The film has no weddings in it; she must have meant the New York demonstration scene. It seems funny, catastrophic, and perfectly understandable all at once.