Hippie Masala - Für immer in Indien (2006) - full transcript

In the 1960s and 1970s
millions of hippies journeyed East.

Indian peasants assumed that a severe drought
in the West was the reason for their migration...

India's holy men saw it, more accurately,
as a search for spirituality.

Most of the freaks moved back to their
home countries after a few months or years.

Some stayed for good.

FOREVER IN INDIA

A film by
Ulrich Grossenbacher & Damaris Liithi

R

R

| ran away from home when | was 14.

One time,



I was brought back by an ambulance,

another time by the police,

and one time...

all kinds of messy things happened.

Drugs were very much frowned upon at that time.

So I ended up in jail.

Then my father helped me.

When I was a bit older...

I started travelling without a passport,

because the Dutch authorities had my passport.

They did not want me to leave the country,

but I desperately wanted to go to Morocco!

So I went without a passport to Morocco.

I was crazy...



and eventually I got in trouble everywhere!

I got as far as Spain,

and then was brought back to jail and deported.

In the old times they all had these small tubes...

and you could put the whole thing in your box.

Now it's not possible any more.

It's such a short moment, actually...

My first quiet times...

for drawing...

were on Ibiza.

That was the place at that time for Dutch people.

It was very free...

already to my eyes,

and there, on a little island Formentera,

already people...

were doing things together...

the way I like,

having long parties...

for days and nights...

with live music and the whole thing...

that was when [...

first experienced that.

And I met it in India.

Especially in Hampi...

we had beautiful get-togethers...

on the bank of the river.

| don't know if you can call it parties,

but we were together...

and got stoned together...

with the most beautiful cream from the Himalayas.

And we had South American musicians,

beautiful girls to dance -

it was all there!

But these were spontaneous happenings...

that can't be recreated in any way.

You can just try to remember it a bit.

Now we are living a more organised life.

I lost any personal identity.

A little bit like the disciples of Jesus Christ,

who left home,

mother and father, wife and children,

to trust in God and follow Him.

It's a little bit a trip like this.

I collected many law cases...

before I came to India,

for grass and things like this.

That's why I wanted to leave Raly,

because I had so many problems there.

| came to live in India...

to be out of Ialy for a long time.

They did not give me my passport,

because there was a case against me,

and I came with a false passport.

Once in India,

with a false passport and expired visa...

Without a passport...

you can't go to any hotel or guesthouse,

you can only...

immerse yourself in the interior of India,

wandering from temple to temple.

That's why I began to be close to temple life,

and learnt to speak Hindi...

with the babas and yogis living there.

Yoga is a type of life,

not a form of exercise,

it's life, 24 hours.

Om Shiva, om Shiva...

And then, when I had a guru,

I sat with him,

for one year, two years,

as long as was needed.

I lived everywhere around here.

I stayed for two years under one tree,

and then under another tree,

and then there,

in the middle of the rocks.

And then I saw...

this place from afar and went closer to see.

It was still thick jungle.

Then we cut the trees,

we sat in there,

we lit a fire, and then we started.

That was more than 15 years ago.

R

Yogis have been smoking for thousands of years.

Because it makes them predisposed...

to meditate and be cool,

to sit for a long time...

to reduce action.

He was a heavy smoker too.

Lord Shiva, Lord Shiva, Lord Shiva!

Come, Ramaiah!

A light cough...

...an overdose...

He is not laughing, he is crying.

He is a yogi of the Kali-Yuga.

Yogis cry too.

Look here!

R

No, not the piece with the skin,

the other one!

Give me a leg of this one too.

Do it right, that was wrong.

He should overtake them.

Here you find an ashram,

quite a big ashram,

with many Europeans.

Close to the ashram there are a few shops...

with goods...

you don't find elsewhere.

I don't eat much Nutella...

of things like that.

I like chocolate.

Here you find huge amounts...

of Swiss chocolate.

Many types I haven't even seen before.

Look at that, that's fantastic!

Of course we can't resist!

Must ask my wife to make some doughnuts.

I love doughnuts.

With this they will taste great.

Look at my hands:

I'm the worker, she is the boss!

Uah, asleep till 10 or 11 o'clock every morning!

Shall I cut the meat?

Shall I start?

Gut it into small pieces!

You are not happy...

if you cannot cut it small.

Why do you want to mince it?

Sometimes there are worms inside!

Then cut it open and in half!

It's the sort of worms...

that can get into your ears!

That can be rinsed with water!

I have to do all this!

Oh God, all day long...

cook, cook, cook in this household!

Hey, leave them alone!

Slowly!

Last night it fell down.

Put it underneath and press it.

It will soon drop a calf.

That way it won't be entirely flooded.

I said...

that it needs to be...

done properly!

So that the water won't flood...

under their feet.

With the new cow shelter,

everything will soon be different.

I can't exactly...

remember when it was.

I only remember...

that I left Switzerland behind,

heading for Turkey...

with my mind set on Afghanistan,

because in "Stern"...

and in other German magazines...

I had seen photos of a hippie paradise,

drugs without limits,

it was a dream.

After that it was rock'n roll.

| tested all the drugs,

and all sorts of other bullshit.

I was jailed.

With all the heroin and cocaine,

all the drugs...

that I consumed,

I was considered...

a hopeless drug addict.

For some years...

| returned regularly to Switzerland for work.

The rest of the time I spent here.

For 6 years I have been building my house,

and I have always thought...

that we would finish it in a few months.

But now it is still not finished.

Milking my cows is not difficult.

Some of them have small teats.

When you look at the one...

my wife is milking,

you see that it has quite big teats.

But that's nothing...

compared to Swiss cows.

They have champagne bottles!

Move your head back!

Playing with the teats of the cows...

arouses me sometimes.

I don't know why,

and I don't ponder over I,

| can just say,

that it arouses me.

Not daily, poor woman!

Give him milk for 20 rupees.

Ok, for only 20.

I have not been raised...

in an antiauthoritarian way.

Compared to present-day attitudes...

I was brought up very strictly.

I was never allowed to open my mouth.

It was all decided for you.

At school...

A cow has broken away!

That's no good!

I don't live here...

to get rich.

I'm here because here I can do...

what I want.

Here it's easy.

I'm not under pressure,

as is common in Switzerland.

In Switzerland it's just too much.

There is more luxury there...

and other things,

but for this you pay a price...

that I'm not ready to pay.

After all, I'm not used to that any more.

I had trouble earlier,

and it would be even more difficult for me now.

We see to it that we are fine.

Do you chant that mantra daily?

Not the gayatri-mantra.

Since you read in the scriptures...

that women...

are not allowed to chant the gayatri-mantra.

Now I have this Durga sapta shakti.

Do you chant in English or Hindi?

The prayer is written in Sanskrit,

and I can...

read it.

I'm able to recognize the letters.

I have learnt it in an ashram.

But not from one teacher,

and I should really decide to do this...

because my pronunciation is not entirely correct.

So you chant daily?

- In the evening or morning? - Both.

One part of it is sapta shakti,

and the other is this pushpanjali-mantra.

Very powerful mantras!

Slowly very powerful...!

I would like to speak to Sir Ravi S.P.

I would like to speak to Mr. Chandrappa.

I'm the foreigner.

My name you will not understand.

1am known as Meera Bai in this area.

There's a small problem.

I have forgotten to settle something.

The consulate has a photocopy.

Somebody else has...

I have to talk to them, it's better.

Because I have already met them,

they know about me.

Thank you. Sorry to disturb you.

He is not there, they say tomorrow.

He wants this "overstay" copy, as always.

Once they wanted...

to repatriate me by force.

They brought me to the embassy...

who organised a ticket...

and sent me back.

In Europe I met my family,

my mother and father,

and I had already long hair...

and sadhu dress...

and my father said:

"put shoes on, change your clothes,

cut your hair and look for work!

Here you must work!"

And | told them...

that in this phase of life...

I was looking for self-realisation...

My father was a rich guy...

with work in society...

and a house and all that.

That's why I left home...

and ran away to the jungle,

to not keep up this...

money dimension,

to be free of I, of the bazaar.

The bazaar is not a true place,

it's a place of cheating,

a hot place,

full of dangerous people,

robbers, police, they are all there,

Amaya place (illusion.

We don't need everything,

only true things from time to time.

Don't accept anything...

from society any more.

Just stay in the jungle and try...

to be independent like...

human beings from the beginning of the planet.

Like us here.

Just be out...

and try to get the knowledge how to live...

in the jungle by God on trust...

and not managed...

by society.

Refuse all products...

and things from society.

This is the message of the ashram.

What will you do?

Don't panic, it's alright!

Not on my nose,

there's no hair there!

That's it Sindhu,

we're nearly there.

- 80 are you ready, Jaini? - Yes.

There's a baby for you!

Look at your mum!

All nice and beautiful!

The West was just rotten and fucked up.

And I loved these ladies...

in these mirror dresses.

So it was easy...

to tune in there and start painting them.

They loved the attention.

They loved to sit and be painted.

Hampi was as close...

as you can get to my dreams.

Hampi was the jungle...

overgrowing the remains of temples...

and all this romantic stuff.

So I fell in love with Hampi...

and I ran into this lady...

who was wondering what I was doing up there...

without any chapatis sitting all day...

painting that thing up there on the hill.

From that moment on,

Sita just claimed me.

We went to the other side of the river...

and started there where I had my island,

and stayed there for at least twenty years,

and that was a good decision.

For me it was an harmonic world.

Then my wife died...

and it became all dark.

You always feel a bit guilty...

when somebody goes, when you have...

been living with someone for so long...

I didn't feel happy any more...

| married again,

when this Lambani woman came up...

to buy bulls or something,

it was some animal story,

and she asked: "Why are you looking sad?

I still have a daughter left,

I would like to give her a good future,"

and I said:

"Why don't you bring her over one day?"

And she came back with the daughter,

and the daughter made a little dance,

and I thought: That is very charming...

We didn't understand...

each other very well at the start.

Sometimes just over one little thing,

we would have... suddenly...

she was packing her bags...

and going back to her village.

That was all a part of it...

Few times that happened,

but lucky enough she slayed.. bet a use now...

After the birth of Nelleke,

we got very... together.

Happy end!

Oh Goddess Durga! You kill all the demons!

You are all-powerful with your eight hands!

Bestow our men a long life!

You, Goddess, fulfill all our wishes!

Not sleepy at all!

Slowly! Carefully!

Keep the barrel down!

Give it... give it to me! The barrel down!

Slowly!

You must never aim a rifle at someone.

An accident might happen.

There are pheasants up there.

Maybe the dogs will hunt them down.

Here we have the problem...

that hunting is illegal.

I would pay and do anything...

for it to become legal.

But here they confuse...

conservation of nature with religion.

We are not getting anywhere.

Here we are in hundred percent bear territory.

Careful, just be careful!

If my father saw this,

he'd have a good laugh.

This whole show just for a few doves!

My father shoots elks,

ibexes, stags,

always hundreds of kilos.

These are just 200 grams!

My dog is my table:

Vajpayee.

Do we have any more matches?

Because this is...

Ok, driver Baria! Here.

When we came here,

there was absolutely nothing at first.

There were only a few freaks here.

All the others came much later.

They come here,

have these techno parties in the forest...

and first of all spoil the whole forest,

they never clean up!

Then, when they are charged with all these drugs,

with acid or whatever,

they completely misbehave.

The local people see it,

and say: "Look at them!"

They make the image of white people...

based on what they see!

So it is really not the thing!

If you want to have a big party,

please go to Goa...

or go back to Germany or Holland!

We don't need your techno party here!

You can do this in Switzerland!

| must get up!

You see there?

It's not many, but with a bit of luck,

5 or 6 fall down, then we eat them!

It's loaded already, shit!

Let's go one tree closer.

They want to die!

Do you hear them?

Now our position is not bad.

A bit closer,

don't go,

don't fly away! Shit!

R

Lungi?!

We don't like...

anything you are...

selling my friend, keep on walking!

We've been all over the world,

but our favourite place is Goa.

As soon as you get to Goa,

they start serving... The train stops,

and you start getting Kingfisher beer in a bucket...

being sold through the window of the train.

So you know you are in Goa...

It's a party place, basically!

We've always lived where there's parties,

we make party clothes,

that's why we end up...

in beach resorts all the time.

But we can't swim,

it's a big problem...

otherwise we would be in shape...

in better shape...

Where's our dog?

That's not Toffee?!

Dog's gone!

Another one!

We'll be photo'd tomorrow at the fleamarket.

These are our friends,

happy holidays and all that!

Looks like Toffee?!

Do you have another bamboo to keep this up?

Because it's falling down.

No, not that front!

Looks fucking terrible!

Yes, Sid, where's the skirts?

Here, here, down...

Put it here by the umbrella,

then we can still hang some clothes.

Now it's business.

I was in Delhi.

When we were 18...

we did fashion designing in Cape Town.

Then we had a boutique for 9 months,

and then we jumped...

on an Halian liner...

and set sail for Europe.

How was the Vagator market?

They just went to look.

Hopeless? Nobody there?

Two markets a week...

is enough.

We love the Wednesday market,

because it's daytime...

and we can meet our customers.

And everybody doesn't go to the market...

just to drink,

they come and do business, with money.

Mother's very proud of us.

All mothers are proud of their children!

We don't ask mother for money,

that's one bonus!

We've been stitching for 31 years.

Our parents could never find...

two dresses the same size, same colour for us.

So they went out one day...

and came home with an “Elna"!

Since then we've never had another machine.

They travel around the world with us.

If it could stitch by itself it would!

Ok. Cut, cut, cut...

We never use...

tape measures or this or that.

It's just like that... feeling...

I love to work with...

wonderful fabrics like this!

We are doing cowboy outfits over bell bottoms.

This could be a lungi (sarong),

or it could be a cape,

or it could be just an apron over bell bottoms.

Oh! This is rock 'n roll!

It's either the maid that collapses...

or the ironing-board that collapses!

The machine's in a weird mood too...

We knew Goa...

since we were 18 we wanted to come to Goa!

But we didn't have the right passport!

Because of the fabrics!

No, because it was peace and love and hippie!

And this is a Catholic place,

and it was Portuguese,

and all the freaks migrated here from Ibiza!

6 months Ibiza, 6 months Goa!

Look, it's Bali, Ibiza, Goa...

We were horrified, we had to go to London...

- Places for dream holidays. - Chile, Kenya,

where you can live and let live!

All these rubbish places,

because we couldn't come to India...

The Algarve was nothing,

because it was politics and religion...

and the people looking at each other and jealous.

No talks of South Africa...

that means Toffee and us...

Hey Toff, Toff?!

We followed the route, because we said...

If you were South African, Toffee...

Goa is so great...

...you wouldn't be allowed to be with us.

So we went to Punta del ...

to Brazil, to Porto Seguro,

where the Brazilians went,

when they went from Goa,

they went to this island in Bahia.

We went there, to check another Goa!

It was rubbish,

full of lesbians and coke-dealers!

The men were coke-dealers...

and the chicks were all lesbians!

That's it! Disgusting place!

And prostitutes, prostitutes!

We hated every minute in Brazil!

Macumba and all that...

and then I started chanting.

That's when the Buddhism came into my life...

because I had some bad energy...

following me from Brazil.

It's three o'clock.

Let's make coffee.

We have one hour free.

When can you take time off from sleeping?

There are millions of freethinkers in the world.

You are just superfluous!

The office is open,

we are starting work.

They care about it -

for example, if you go to Naples...

and you ask any coffee-shop...

to make you American coffee,

they would beat you!

Because they have to keep a name,

and Napolitan coffee...

is made with two spoons, very strong!

The coffee is so strong...

that you have enough for a month.

Shiva lingam is Brahma

The lingam is pure and beautiful

the lingam saves you from all your pains

A million respects to the lingam.

All angels

And holy people pray to the lingam

The lingam is the source of all compassion

The lingam destroys all evil

A million respects to the lingam.

The lingam liberates you

from all your pains

The lingam is the source of all prosperity

A million respects to the lingam

The lingam is the redeemer of all sins

And giver of all fortune

The lingam frees you from all your pains

A million respects to the lingam

Some in India say it's very unlucky...

that I have no guru...

and I have not officially...

taken a guru.

Even though I have some contact with the sadhus,

in India it is penalized.

You must have a guru.

When the sadhus look at me

and ask for my guru,

and I say: no, no guru,

they are completely upset,

and the reaction is really a disaster!

The old man...

with whom I lived for five years, he was ok,

he treated me relatively ok.

But he never really showed me any sadhana,

that means a path to practice.

He was old, he was on retreat,

and these were after all...

the last five years of his life!

He probably knew it.

Maybe at that time he did not think...

that I would be able to live like this...

and try to make...

the sadhu trip.

The end of this association was his death!

And it happened at the right time,

when I needed to be alone...

and to make this trip here.

It's not me...

who is very meritorious,

| did it because he was here and | stayed with him.

The relationship to the people in the village...

If 'had by my own...

chosen a place in a cave somewhere here,

I would maybe not have...

this acceptance by these people.

So in my memory I keep...

a feeling of thankfulness for this sadhu.

Put the lasagne into the fridge, darling!

Such a hot thing in the fridge?

You mean to say into the oven!

Yes, here!

You said fridge,

that's why I didn't understand.

Don't behave stupid!

I repeat: Don't behave stupid!

You can later think about...

what I said!

Fridge!

| said: Put it there!

To handle Hanspeter is not easy.

For 25 years he lived alone.

Since 1am here, the village people...

are more confident about him.

Now they first talk to me,

if they want to say something to him,

they talk to me...

and then | talk to him,

it's like this.

I am a translator...

between Hanspeter and the village people!

They are scared of even talking to him!

It's extremely rare that...

| fight a bit with my wife.

Mostly I become loud, and then I leave.

She is nice and hard-working.

I have absolutely no reason to complain.

I'm the only troublemaker here.

Men are free from everything here,

and the women...

get all the shit!

A woman's life after divorce...

is very hard.

At that time I saw Hanspeter in town,

and I asked him...

| said, | had a very bad life.

He said: ok, we can start and see...

You can live in my house and work for me...

it was like this.

It was a big thing in the valley,

that I began...

to live with a European.

And for me it was a very big step.

It was very difficult for me!

Because I did not get any help.

It still makes me cry when I remember.

Nobody helped me, that was very bad.

Not even my closest friends.

Before they were my friends,

and then they started to hate me...

and said that I was a very bad woman!

I began to live with a European,

and they did not like it at all.

It was a very sad story.

I had lost everything: my 20 years' work,

my kids, and my respect,

and everything.

I've packed it. Give it to Prabhakar!

He is nice; round and firm.

What does he eat?

Is he your brother?

Shiva! Bholenath!

The king of the Kailash (Shiva)...

has come to smoke.

No, Vajpayee, come here!

This dog is well trained.

My dogs are more obedient...

than the boys in the village.

If you call someone, he leaves,

it you call a dog, he comes.

I'm bound to fall.

I'm bound to fall into the water.

You get the candy, it's for you.

We won't make a fuss.

It's for you.

I think altogether 26 years,

my first and second marriage.

So now my dream is to live alone,

as a single,

and I dream of buying a nice car...

and then leave and travel...

to India and Europe,

and from Europe to Africa...

and then come back.

I don't want anybody in my life.

I would like to enjoy my life...

on my own, all alone.

It's my dream,

maybe I will get it, maybe I won't.

Last year two friends died,

who both have children here...

and both left a widow.

There was another friend of mine...

who was one of our team,

he died earlier, something like eight years ago.

So there's not much left now.

Since Roby is gone,

there's just my family left now.

He came very regularly to my place,

and wanted instructions in how to paint...

and so I guided him.

There's still...

Roby's paint on the floor.

Not much has changed.

Do sometimes people come for books here?

No.

What is this?

My mother's fridge.

Do you use it?

No, we don't want it.

Roby must have come...

about twenty years ago, I think?

You were very young then,

when Roby came?

About 14 or something.

Her mother married her out to Roby,

and Roby settled down here in the end.

He had got two children here,

but because of wild drinking sprees in the past,

he died last year.

I know a few widows here,

and as far as I can see,

they are not very much respected.

But | am just an outsider...

But that's what I see.

It's a pity...

that Roby's mother can't come any more.

She is old now and very sick.

But it would be nice,

if they showed a bit more interest.

After all you're part of his family.

It's in India very common...

that a lady belongs...

to her family-in-law once she marries,

and the responsibility lies there, I think.

They don't understand the Indian system.

Roby pity enough had no reserves.

I think that...

Jaini is in a little bit of a better position.

At least she has her own money when I die.

The doctor...

has written a prescription...

| must talk seriously with you! Here you should...

put clothes on!

You can now put on your trousers,

they will dry fast.

I like this, but the context here...

when you go to the village and...

temple it is very important,

because she will have so much trouble.

Come in. You have your water.

| need to drink.

It's a great place.

It's not too badly made, actually.

The huts in the village...

have only a layer of grass like this.

I am a jungle resident.

| am not a city person, | am not a married person,

| am a praying person. | took the right to do this.

I would not advise people to do that...

Not to do what?

To have such a hairstyle in Europe.

It's particular and belongs to Indian sadhus.

You mustn't do that.

What is it then? It is only a fashion!

What does this mean? You have to consider that.

Find something else to do.

But it gives them a nice feeling.

It gives them a feeling of freedom,

something subjective, it makes them different.

Your freedom is a big thing...

on which you should meditate for an hour.

What is the real freedom:

to do what I want, to wear what I want...

No, I think you are free,

and I am free also.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I think so.

We believe in another freedom,

where we can be just observers,

without always being...

influenced by the world.

So we slowly achieve...

inner freedom,

and if you establish that freedom,

you won't meet any obstacle any more,

you will do your things,

even if they are not always funny,

or maybe not joyful for some.

You will do things without...

emotionally breaking down...

of jumping up!

Freedom is a big thing...

These monkeys are free...

and they are sometimes really disturbing...

We don't have monkeys in Israel.

Give me the plate!

They can be very dangerous!

I never really asked people...

to give me things.

It's by...

meeting people, by luck, by chance.

You don't have any income or any reserves,

it's a day by day life.

Many foreigners have helped me.

| feel more comfortable taking from foreigners,

because the villagers have very little.

It wouldn't be right...

to accept things from them.

Now I should gradually start...

to work on the house again.

Recently I haven't shown...

too much commitment.

Then we'll start cheese production.

But no hurry!

At the end of the corridor | have,

made a small room.

This will be my smoking room,

my workshop, for smoking,

just for me,

where I can do my things...

My father is impressed:

I have 400m2 of marble in the house.

The position of the guest room...

allows them to go to the toilet,

to the kitchen and to the shower...

without disturbing me.

I love my water taps.

They would cost a fortune...

in Switzerland.

Here we have the hay room.

Next is my bedroom...

with a window,

so that I can tell my wife:

get up and feed the cows.

I'll also get up quickly, half naked,

throw down a bunch of hay...

and get back into bed.

My wife can then feed the cows downstairs.

| am generously sponsored...

by my father.

I would be happy ...

some family members came to see me.

But | am not sure...

whether they would enjoy it here.

This is not Switzerland...

of Ganada, but the Himalayas.

The booze here...

is disgusting,

and people could get bored.

Dating, come and check!

Yes, there's still some left.

I may cut you!

To someone...

who comes here only for holidays...

everything looks wonderful.

The locals are nice.

Not hospitable, but kind.

But if you live here it's different!

Yet | guess it wouldn't be much better...

in a Swiss village.

But here you can stay for 50 years...

and you will never be accepted 100%.

But I don't care.

At the end of my life...

I'm on good terms with my father.

Many years of my life...

| spent running away from him,

trying to get as far away as possible...

to start my own life,

because he was such a prominent person.

He started to respect me when I was in India...

and built up my own life.

He respected that I went for the painting...

and chose to live my own life.

That was good in a way.

India was for me a sort of rebirth.

It really was.

That's why they say "Mother India".

Tomorrow morning this should be cut.

Yes, it's getting too wild,

it shouldn't get too jungly.

I'll get it trimmed.

Little has changed
since this movie was finished.

Cesare continues to strive for spiritual liberation as a yogi
and intends to connect his cave to the internet.

Robert has had two exhibitions in Holland.
After three daughters, his wife Jaini still hopes for a son.

Meera spent half a year back in Belgium
and worked as a model in an art school.

With the salary she paid the fines that had accrued over the
last twenty years while she had been living illegally in India,

and then returned to seclusion in India.

Hanspeter has moved into his new house.
His wife Babali has applied for Swiss citizenship.

We haven't heard anything more from the twins and hope:
"No news is good news',