My Mission: Impossible

(First written October 2010) 

Today I stumbled across news that almost made me jump on a plane to India, until I recalled the penniless state I’m in.  In order to understand why such a ridiculous thought occurred in my underworked brain, I shall have to waste a little time filling you in on a bit of background if you’ll forgive me.  In July 2008 I spent a month living in India, as a volunteer teaching English and Maths with the non-profit organisation Global Vision International and their fantastic partner in India,Channel Youth. 

Living in a small village called Bedla, I, alongside around twenty other volunteers from around the world, taught children from tribal communities in the remote rural hills.  Perhaps this will be the source of a different post.  The reason I raise it today is because our nearest town/city was a place called Udaipur, famously known around the world as the City of Lakes with its magnificent Lake Palace and Monsoon Palace, which truly are breathtaking.  James Bond fans may also know Udaipur for its prominence in Octopussy, which most restaurants in the city brag about, many even showing it at 8pm… every night! 

I discovered today that Udaipur is to play host to more film crews with the shooting of Mission Impossible 4 and a film starring Dev Patel, of Slumdog Millionaire fame.  

It is surreal to think a place mere miles from where I was living and teaching the poorest people I have ever met will be descended upon by someone as famous and rich as Tom Cruise and his presumably enormous entourage.  The Lake Palace (below) has played host to Presidents and no doubt other world-famous, wealthy figures in the past.  Having resided in Bedla and being a film fan, I can’t help feeling uneasy that the divide between rich and poor is so extreme there, and in countless other places worldwide, that surely there is something unjust about the place and its people's exploitation for our entertainment on screen.   

Hollywood’s stars will be there for the entirety of October and November by all accounts.  Maybe if I hopped on a plane I could persuade Mr Cruise to pay the children at Channel Youth a visit and see if he has any cash to spare for teaching aids. 

Might just check when my injections wore off…