For fans of Slumdog Millionaire: Video

For all of those who (like me) stood up and cheered when Slumdog Millionaire won the best picture Oscar, here's a weirdly compelling little video about life in Mumbai made by three boys, aged 8 and 9. They call themselves The 3 Musketeers, which I suspect is a shout-out to the film.



The video, which focuses on ordinary life in streets and homes, fascinates me in the same way an old after-midnight feature on Toronto's City-TV used to captivate me. The latter was just someone wandering around Toronto late at night with a camera, capturing anything interesting. This has the same unfocused but intriguing vibe.

Horror in Mumbai

I posted an item earlier today about homestays in India; I'd been captivated by a fascinating website describing opportunities to stay in private homes and meet local people throughout the country. That was about an hour before terrorists attacked Mumbai. I'm shocked and saddened, as so many are around the world, by the news coming from the city. And as so many are, I'm hoping that the chaos and devastation can be brought under control very soon, with no further loss of life.