In
2008, I went through yet another break-up. My girlfriend was cheating on me.
Depressed, I thought I’d never find true love. That I would grow old in a very
lonely house. I started to search for the meaning of true love. Inevitably, I
stumbled upon love stories from South Asia, which struck me as modern day
versions of Romeo and Juliet grounded in the Hindu caste system. Yet, when I
saw that these lovers face violence, ethnic cleansing and death, and that no
one was talking about it, my motivation to tell this story became the hope that
it will increase protection of the rights of those who fall in love with
untouchables.
Within
Nepal, I hope to raise awareness to the rural public about the legal provisions
for inter-caste marriage. Much of the abuse of human rights happens because the
perpetrators think they are acting within the law. At an international level, I
hope to call upon the global community to pressure the government of Nepal to
punish those who practice caste-based discrimination, and to pressure Hindu
leaders to reform the religion.
I am from Africa.
Living in Nepal opened my eyes to the fate of black South Asians. I was so
often mistaken for an untouchable, and denied entry into restaurants and
people’s houses, simply because of my skin color. And yet no one treats it as
racism.
I
hope this documentary can play a part not only in promoting the freedom to
love, but also in stopping racism, and in compelling Hindu leaders to reform
the religion, which is the major source of discrimination.
---
I made this film in a period of two years, while I worked in Nepal
as a volunteer with VSO. Before that, I spent about a whole year researching on
the subject of inter-caste relationships and contentious marriages. When I
started thinking of making a documentary about illicit love, I thought of going
to a fundamentalist Muslim country, where honor killings are common if a woman
marries for love against her father’s wishes. However, I discovered that the plight
of women in Muslim countries already has the attention of the international
community, mostly because of the 9/11 catastrophe. Yet, the more numerous Hindu
women have suffered in silence for thousands of years, and the Western powers
pay a deaf ear to their pleas because they do not view Hinduism as a threat to
their interests.
At
first, I wanted to go to India. I applied to Volunteer Services Overseas, but
rarely do they grant you a request to work in a country of your wish. Since I
had shown interest in South Asia, I was offered a placement in Bangladesh and
Nepal. I chose Nepal, which until 2008 was a Hindu kingdom.
While
in Nepal, I worked with the oldest dalit organization, Nepal National Dalit
Social Welfare Organization, whose aim is to uplift the rights and standards of
living of untouchables. I lived in a rural area in the Far Western district of
Nepal, Kailali, in Danghadi town, and this kind of environment enabled me to
research on the cultures as a participant observer. Most of the crimes against
inter-caste couples happen in the rural areas, where the caste system is
followed strictly, and being in close contact with inter-caste couples gave me
an insider’s view of their experiences. It did help a lot that I managed to
master the Nepali language within two months of arriving in Kailali.
Once
I had my story ready, I faced the problem of funding the project. I had to make
it before my contract with VSO ended and I was forced to leave Nepal. But VSO
had a small grants program, funded by the European Commission, and this then
gave me access to funds to pay for the basic costs of filming the characters.
