Jai "Slumdog"!

The win last night at the Oscars had us cheering out of our seats. "Slumdog Millionaire" is literally my favorite film of all time. Not because it's filmed in Mumbai where Andrew Prasad lived most of his life, but because it's a rich, multi layered meaningful, multi sensory experience that promotes hope and joy. It's positive and uplifting, and most importantly it's about love.

My Indian guru spent so much of his life talking about the importance of merging East and West. The efficiency and productivity of the West with the wisdom of the East could take us into a higher age. This film is a microcosm of that. The English director, the producer and many who worked to make it seamless were Western, but there was a whole "Indian side" of the equation that collaborated and helped build such a wisdom filled, perfect film. I'm hoping this opens people's minds in our country to the beauty of the East, to Eastern and even Middle-Eastern people and that we can all begin to unite somehow in appreciation for one another. We each have something valuable to contribute, and for me this film is a symbol of the growing East-West connection.

Andrew is so deeply prideful today. He kept saying that Mumbai is the place where he was born, and "it's also the place where they made the very best movie in the whole, whole world." He asked me to write the name of the movie on a slip of paper so he could share the news with his teacher and classmates. Of course, he hasn't seen it (it's not appropriate for 9 year olds), but he has seen many clips online and just loves the soundtrack. It's such a positive part of India for him to embrace, ultimately enabling him to embrace himself :) When I watch those children in the film I know they are my Andrew....they are exactly where he would be if he were to have stayed in India, gone to the government home, and eventually been put out on the streets (or he would have escaped to them.) How we love real life happy endings!