| Description | Interview with Vaidy Nathan, a student in Madras. He continues to talk about the development of his Socialist political views following contacts with students from other parts of India, participating in demonstrations against the war in Vietnam, and identifying as a 'Scientific Socialist'. He goes on to talk about the different views of people of his generation and those of his parents generation. He talks about being agnostic and believing that individuals should follow their own beliefs. He discusses being brought up as a Brahmin but no longer visiting temples. He says that he does not try to influence other people's beliefs. Another student joins the conversation to talk about a friend from a Brahmin family who has a Christian mother and the two students discuss changing attitudes towards religion in India and to Brahmin ceremonies. Vaidy Nathan goes on to express his opposition to the tradition of arranged marriage and his hope that he will be able to renew contacts he had made with a Bengali girl. He considers the chances of young men of his economic and social background, with a university education, meeting girls who have similar views, and the successful relationships some of his friends have had. He thinks that it is more difficult for women to make a romantic marriage and that 70% of marriages in India are arranged. He talks about the influence of astrology on negotiations to arrange marriages. He thinks that he has been influenced in his views about relationships between men and women by watching films, and goes on to discuss the formula and typical plot lines of Hindi and Tamil films that create romantic worlds of heroes, villians and love triangles to make people forget their living conditions, the exploitation of social dilemmas by the film industry, and the censorship of scenes where the hero and heroine kiss each other (tracks 1-12).
Total: 34.49 mins
Dubber's reference number: PLA Kf549C0134380 |