Train Chaar Baje Ki Hai
Train Chaar Baje Ki Hai is an observational, experimental documentary that follows one day in the life of a Baiga tribe family living in the remote forests of Central India. It observes three brothers standing at different crossroads, between their traditional lives in the village and the lure of the city. The eldest, Lamu, is preparing to leave for the city in search of work. With his belongings packed into a sack, he waits for a train that will take him away with a labour contractor. His aging mother watches him prepare to leave, grieving silently. There is little she can do to stop him, even as the contractor's condescending behaviour and stinginess begin to reveal the precariousness of the path Lamu has chosen. By the time the train is due, it is already too late to turn back. His younger brother, meanwhile, sets out early in the morning with a different hope: to find work near his home. He approaches local government offices, attempting to navigate paperwork and schemes that are largely incomprehensible to him. What begins as an effort to remain close to home ends in frustration and disillusionment, leaving him overwhelmed by the crowds, the officers and a system distant from the world he knows. The youngest brother prefers to remain on the family field, content with the work and rhythms of their life. Later, he takes his young son into the forest on a hunting trip, passing down practices and memories of how their ancestors once lived and hunted. Yet even this connection to tradition is threatened by a changing world. The pull of the city may not have reached him, but will it come for his son? As the day unfolds, the family gradually drifts apart. The mother remains at the centre of it all, quietly witnessing the paths taken by her sons. By evening, Lamu waits for his train, committed to a journey whose dangers are becoming increasingly apparent. Influenced by his brother's departure and disheartened by his own failed attempt to find work, the youngest son too confronts his mother over dinner and says something she is loath to hear. Over the course of a single day, Train Chaar Baje Ki Hai becomes a portrait of an indigenous family caught between a vanishing way of life and an uncertain future.
- 2015
- 0 Hrs 57 Mins
- Documentary
Train Chaar Baje Ki Hai is an observational, experimental documentary that follows one day in the life of a Baiga tribe family living in the remote forests of Central India. It observes three brothers standing at different crossroads, between their traditional lives in the village and the lure of the city. The eldest, Lamu, is preparing to leave for the city in search of work. With his belongings packed into a sack, he waits for a train that will take him away with a labour contractor. His aging mother watches him prepare to leave, grieving silently. There is little she can do to stop him, even as the contractor's condescending behaviour and stinginess begin to reveal the precariousness of the path Lamu has chosen. By the time the train is due, it is already too late to turn back. His younger brother, meanwhile, sets out early in the morning with a different hope: to find work near his home. He approaches local government offices, attempting to navigate paperwork and schemes that are largely incomprehensible to him. What begins as an effort to remain close to home ends in frustration and disillusionment, leaving him overwhelmed by the crowds, the officers and a system distant from the world he knows. The youngest brother prefers to remain on the family field, content with the work and rhythms of their life. Later, he takes his young son into the forest on a hunting trip, passing down practices and memories of how their ancestors once lived and hunted. Yet even this connection to tradition is threatened by a changing world. The pull of the city may not have reached him, but will it come for his son? As the day unfolds, the family gradually drifts apart. The mother remains at the centre of it all, quietly witnessing the paths taken by her sons. By evening, Lamu waits for his train, committed to a journey whose dangers are becoming increasingly apparent. Influenced by his brother's departure and disheartened by his own failed attempt to find work, the youngest son too confronts his mother over dinner and says something she is loath to hear. Over the course of a single day, Train Chaar Baje Ki Hai becomes a portrait of an indigenous family caught between a vanishing way of life and an uncertain future.