Thich Nhat Hahn is an 83-year-old Vietnamese Zen master, who has lived in exile in France for 44 years, has written over 80 books, and has followers around the world.  In 2008, this revered monk – also known as Thay, or teacher came to spend 40 days in India to walk in the footsteps of the Lord Buddha.  Over the course of his journey – accompanied by monks and nuns from his Plum Village community, he talks to people from all walks of life about living mindfully, with mind and body united.
 
With the stunning landscapes of Bodhgaya – the spot where the Buddha gained enlightenment; Sarnath – where the Buddha founded the Sangha and gave his first discourse to his first few disciples; Rajgir’s Vulture Peak  – one of the Buddha’s favourite meditation places as his backdrops, Thay shares his techniques of breathing, and walking meditation to help us live in the moment and appreciate life’s wonders– from the blue of the sky to the red of the apple. It is a profound yet common sense message, with an increasing resonance to those wrestling with the fast-pace of change in modern India.

The film brings to light the story of a group of elderly Buddhist nuns from Ladakh, who represent the last generation of unordained and uneducated women in robes. They have led quiet lives in isolated high mountains working as domestic helps and road construction labourers. Neglected by religious and social systems for centuries, the new Nyerma nunnery is their last call for dignity, enhancement and purification of their religious status.

 

- Official Selection, International Competition, Kathmandu International Mountain Film Festival, 2008

Atul Bubna, 45, is an heir of a wealthy Marwadi family, hailing from the Shekhawati region of Rajasthan. His grandfather, Ratan, died at his age, after having settled his seven sons in an art deco building on the seaface of picturesque Marine Drive. Atul, the prodigal son, went through every possible vice in his youth to his current renunciation of family responsibilities after the death of his father. Atul, like India, is learning to walk again on the path to modernity with his luggage of traditions. On Marine Drive...