All language subtitles for A.Nomad.River.2021.1080p.WEB-DL.DD5.1.H.264-CMRG-English

"We never thought
this would happen to us.

We thought we were invincible.

We grew up thinking
that our country

was the best
country in the world.

Venezuela was a paradise.

We took pride in our
borrowed ideology.

One that sounds beautiful

during the adrenaline
rush of a revolution."

The number of
Venezuelan refugees

crossing the Colombian
border has become a daily flood,

triggering a mass exodus.

Fleeing their country hungry,

many are finding Colombia
struggling to feed them all,

causing what the
United Nations calls

a humanitarian crisis.

"The tropical paradise
I once called home

is nothing but a
distant memory...

slowly fading away like
a drawing in the sand...

disappearing with
the rising of the tide."

You should bring
your sister here.

She could stay
with you for a while.

My sister is fine for
now. She is in India.

She is working with
an NGO there, teaching.

But her contract
is about to expire,

and I'm not sure what
we're gonna do after that.

I think I can help.

You said she's a
documentarian, right?

- Yes.
- Okay.

There was a company that
I used to work with in India.

They may be able to put
her in a temporary position,

and then at least she'd have the
visa for the next couple of months.

I think they may be able to
get her on as a foreign reporter.

Hey, I'm sorry I didn't
get back to you earlier.

This past couple of weeks
have been really difficult.

We don't know what's going on

and, you know, things
just keep getting worse.

Mom and Julio are
considering moving to Colombia

to become refugees.

And I don't know how
to tell you this, but...

I think you should stay in
India as long as you can.

This is me, Ravi.

I'm a content producer
at a local news channel.

I have many stories to tell you,

starting with Adriana,

the foreign reporter
from Venezuela,

who was assigned to my
team three months ago.

We traveled
together across India

filming the river water
crisis in the country.

I'm glad for this
opportunity of your channel

giving me a chance to
speak to your audience.

Ravi believed
that it will be nice

if people could have a
outsider's perspective.

But let me stress on this...

I'm not an outsider's
perspective.

I'm an insider's account.

I know what it means when...

not a few people,
but an entire society

is engaged in catering
to its survival needs.

I'm just not
seeing it, I lived it.

When we started our journey,

I hardly knew anything
about Adriana or her past.

She never said much,

saving her thoughts
for her diary.

She reminded me of a river.

A river stopped by
dams and reservoirs.

A river lost in
cities and slums.

Failing to reach the ocean.

A river without a home.

Following river after river,

town after town,

we saw the consequences
of water crisis

and climate change firsthand.

While the state of Assam
faces massive floods down south,

some states are
facing a severe drought.

Estimated one billion Indians

face water scarcity for at
least a month each year.

Flooding from monsoon
rain in Western India

has swept away much
that was in its path.

The western
Maharashtra is facing

floods and drought
at the same time.

India's groundwater
is depleting,

and depleting fast.

For a country that
is heavily dependent

on groundwater resources,
this could be really bad news.

We reached the
city of Coimbatore

in southern India, at
the Isha Yoga Center,

headquarters for the
Rally for Rivers campaign.

In the last 10 years,

over 300,000 farmers have
committed suicide in this country.

This is not a joke.

300,000 people have died.

We keep dismissing it, saying
it's because of the bank loan,

it is because of
the support price,

it is because of this and that.

Yes, all those
factors are there.

But the most fundamental
thing for a farmer

is a rich soil and
abundant water.

When these two
things go missing,

we have thrown
farming out of the door.

Without any
technological support,

without any great
infrastructure,

just with traditional knowledge,

our farmers have provided
food for 1.3 billion people.

This is the greatest
achievement in the country.

In the month of September,

we are planning a river rally.

I'm personally driving,

covering 16 states,

having major events...

to create a very strong
awareness in the country

that the rivers of
this nation are dying.

Among thousands of
viewers of our news station,

there was also a street
cleaner named Suraj.

He worked in the area
around my channel

and lived in a slum nearby.

Your channel give me a
chance to speak to your audience.

I know what it means

when not a few people,
but an entire society,

is engaged in catering
to its survival needs.

There was nothing in common

between the worlds
Suraj saw on TV

and the reality around him.

This leads me
to my next story...

one from my own neighborhood...

that of a bonsai-maker,
Mr. Chatterjee,

and his estranged
daughter, Kankana,

who lived far from her
home in Los Angeles.

Hello?

Abhijit Chatterjee.

Hello?

It's all about making
sure that there is a balance

between the leaf
count, the branch count,

and the leaf size.

In the beginning,
it tends to grow

12 to 18 inches every week.

- Every week?
- Every week!

So it has to be chopped
off that regularly.

Now the basic question is
how to keep the trees small.

It's very simple.

We prune it.

The more I prune it regularly,

the shape of the tree will
restore to the shape I want.

You have to enjoy
the process of bonsai.

Start from the seed,

cutting, wiring.

You need to shape your bonsai.

When it came to
his own children,

Mr. Chatterjee didn't realize

that a bonsai could
sometimes outgrow its planter,

seeking freedom at
the cost of its home.

Is that music I hear
in the background?

Is someone singing
or playing the guitar?

It is my nephew, Gaurav.

Just like old times again.

I remember just as
if it was yesterday.

He sounds so much like you,

though you weren't
much of a guitar player.

Times change, you know.

I am much older now.

I called to ask you
for a favor, Krishna.

I know you don't have a
workshop at the moment,

but I have a friend
here in Los Angeles.

She wants to take
classical music lessons.

If you say yes, she
could come to you in India.

Kankana is an amazing
person and a quick learner.

I'll send you the details

of the classes and
accommodation.

You please ask
her to contact me.

Mmm.

In this, one thing
you can try...

try to do a little piece,
another intro, you know?

So don't play, first listen.

God, I miss LA already.

Well, India is as
usual... it's just hot,

crazy traffic, and no Wi-Fi yet.

I'm really nervous, though.

I don't know, I haven't
met the teacher,

but hopefully tomorrow.

I don't think I'll have
the time to go home

because, you know, as
soon as I'm done here,

I'll have to be back in
LA for the film's prep.

Listen, I'm really jet-lagged
and I just got my room,

so I'm just gonna
go in, take a shower,

and rest for a while.

I'll call you later, okay?

Susan, I'm telling
you, this girl is amazing!

And I'm not just saying it
because I'm her manager.

No, I agree.

Her audition tape
was quite remarkable.

That's why I called you.

But this? We gotta
do better than this.

40,000 for Instagram
and 25,000 for Facebook?

You should see some of the
other girls the studio is looking at.

All of them have at
least 150,000 followers.

One girl has 5,000 likes
for eating a piece of cake.

So, 5,000 likes for eating a slice
of cake is what you're going for?

No, but it is good promotion.

Could you get past
Instagram just this one time?

She's already in
India for the role.

What do you mean she's
gone to India for the role?

For the role she's playing...
the Indian classical singer!

She's arranged to work
with a music teacher

and she's going to be working
with him for two months.

That's how bad she wants it.

That's good to know, but I
would have expected that.

I thought you were
expecting Instagram likes.

Isabel, you and I both know

this is a once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity for Kankana.

She could be working with some
of the top actors in the industry.

That's why your social
media is so important.

And that's why she's there.

What's this musician's name.

Krishna Mohan Bhatt.

Hello, namaste.

Welcome, welcome.

- Nice to meet you, finally.
- Same.

Please, right here.

That's nice of you.
Thank you very much.

- How was your journey?
- It was long.

It was long, but
I'm here, finally.

And I'm a bit jet-lagged.

- Yes.
- Yeah.

So, I'm just... I'm
curious to hear you.

Would you sing something for me?

Like a line of something
so I know what to begin

and what we can do together.

Very nice.

Beautiful voice.

So, this song is
composed in Raag Kafi.

Kafi has a flat third

and flat seventh in the scale.

So like...

You know every
scale begins on Sa.

Well, what is your Sa?

So, that means
what is your pitch?

What is your Sa, for instance?

Can you sing your Sa?

Lovely.

Should I keep doing this?

I mean, for how
long should I do this?

This is just the beginning.

I'm sorry, but you
have to keep doing it.

You will find your Sa.

And you will find
it full of surprises.

- So keep doing Sa?
- Yes.

As Kankana started
her music lessons,

Adriana and I traveled with
the Rally for Rivers campaign.

16 states,

180 events,

and 9,000 kilometers.

Why the rally?

This is not activist,
alarmist talk.

There is proper science to this.

This must be understood clearly.

People think because
of water, there are trees.

No.

Because of trees,
there is water.

We want to make
sure on the riversides,

at least one kilometer
on both sides,

there are trees.

If it's government land, forest.

If it is farmers' land,

horticulture and other
tree-based farming.

If we have sufficient
number of trees,

we will have sufficient
amount of rain.

If there is sufficient amount
of rain under the trees,

then the water will
sink into the earth

and the rivers will flow.

This effort of wanting to plant

50 crores trees
in three years' time

is a phenomenal commitment.

There are no
immediate results in this.

If we start working today,
if they make a policy today,

it will take 10 to 15 years
to implement the policy.

After that, it'll take
another five to ten years

to actually see 15 to 20%
rise in the river waters.

This means four
to five governments

would have come and gone!

Many of the existing political
leaders may not be alive.

Many of us may not be alive.

So who is going to
invest in a policy like this?

But if we have to do a
sustained policy in that direction,

the people of this nation
have to give one clear, yes!

I beseech all of you
to participate in this

in whatever way you can.

When I say all of you,

I mean, everyone
who consumes water.

We are not
irresponsible citizens

who don't care what
happens to future generations.

We are concerned about it.

To have our rivers flowing,

to leave this
land rich and well,

is the best gift we can offer
to the future generations

of this nation.

I have always lived in a city,

watching the world through
the TV screens of my studio,

judging it to be right
and wrong, good and bad.

But that was until I met her...

Adriana.

She was an enigma.

And yet, I never asked
her what her past was,

for it something beyond
these answers that I wanted.

So Ravi, from your studio,

the filmmaker,

a person with a camera,

one who seeks to
find objective facts

from subjective truths.

A spectator.

He saw disillusionment
when I saw magic.

He saw futility
where I saw purpose.

He concluded to make a
commentary on what he saw.

I concluded to get
involved in what I felt.

It was not long before
his cameras and questions

turned towards me.

What was my motivation?
What did I see?

Why rally for rivers?

As I learned more about
Adriana and her country,

I saw a similarity emerge

between the plight of her people

and the India that I
filmed for three months.

It was a happy little town
back in my home country.

Clean water,
clean air, electricity.

Well...

it used to come on and off.

My mother was a teacher
in a government school

about 50 kilometers from home.

A rickety bus used to come
to pick her up every morning.

It looked as if it was going
to collapse at any moment.

It was run by the
government, you see.

Mother used to say
that people in the villages

were not happy.

That there was a lot of
disappointment everywhere,

"Hay mucha oppression,"
she used to say,

Like, there is a
lot of oppression.

We were not paying
attention to the people

that we should be
paying attention to.

She said that people
were leaving the villages,

heading into the
forest to join the rebels.

She called them the insurgents.

They have a
government on their own,

a parallel system.

Well, a year after the
massive farmer protests

that swept the nation, over 130
farm organizations across the country

are once again back
into their agitation mode.

Starting today, the
farmer agitation...

Law and order
situation was disrupted

in several parts of the state.

We saw a fire brigade vehical,

in fact, being torched
in Aurangabad,

a police jeep set
ablaze in Hingoli.

How many districts
have been impacted?

Could you give us a sense of how
bad is the situation on the ground?

You're in India, right?

Hey, how do you know?

- I saw your Instagram.
- Yeah.

I came here for a workshop.

I'm preparing for a project.

Are you planning to come home?

- It's a very short trip, Soham.
- Okay.

See if you can make it
this weekend or next one.

I don't think it will happen.
I have a hectic schedule.

It's not that difficult.

Yeah, sure.

So...

Dad misses you.

I've heard that before.

At least a call?

You have my number
now. He can call if he wants.

I'll talk to you later, Soham.

I have to go for
the class, okay?

One of the main things in a Raga

is Graha, Nyasa, and Ansha.

Graha is home... the
home note, which is like Sa.

Sa is like your home.

And Nyasa are the
notes that you pause on,

that pausing and wandering
around within the notes.

It becomes melodic,
then, you know...

And Ansh is the end

or the substance or
essence of your journey.

This journey in between,

all the notes that
are like Nyaas,

you're pausing, you're
experiencing, you are knowing,

is such a beautiful
feeling of freedom.

If you have freedom,
freedom, freedom only,

but didn't know where to go
back, you would be restless.

So the importance of
Sa is like having a home.

You know where you
have to go back, you know?

Home is a peculiar thing.

It can be made of walls...

or it can be a feeling.

I know what it feels
like to leave and...

to come back to one.

And sometimes
having no home to go to.

Have you ever felt like this?

In a rush to conform
with the rest of the world,

have you ever left someone?

Has your pursuit for freedom

become the very captivity
you were running from?

I called Susan and
she was kinda cold.

She didn't even remember
about my India's trip.

It was as if she heard
about it for the very first time.

You know how much
this project means to me.

And I'm going all the
way for the preparation,

but knowing my luck, I just hope
that things don't mess up this time.

Listen, you concentrate on your
classes and let me worry about Susan.

I had set out to document
the rivers of India.

But across all the
diverse stories that I filmed,

I saw a common
underlying reality.

That in spite of abundant
natural resources

and complex economic policies,

the basic needs
of food, shelter,

and water went unfulfilled.

And here, a new river was born,

a dark river,

flowing with millions
of displaced people

from villages to mega cities.

Cities that were
unjust and unequal.

This past couple of weeks
have been really difficult.

Mom and Julio are
considering going to Colombia

to become refugees.

I don't know how
to tell you this,

but I think you should stay
in India as long as you can.

Let me tell you a story.

I was walking in
the desert one day

and it was very hot,

and I was carrying
with me a bottle of water

that it would last a day,

when I saw a beggar,

a very broken man
crawl towards me.

He was saying,

"Water, water.

Give me a little bit of water."

And I saw him with pity,
like, pondering my choice.

"What is your
name?" I asked him.

Like, "Where are
you coming from?"

But he didn't answer.

He probably didn't even
understand what I was saying.

"Just give me some
water," he said.

"I'm thirsty."

And I suddenly realize

that in that day I was
not talking to a man,

I was talking to a thirst,

a thirst that has
grown legs and arms,

and... and he had
a mouth to speak.

A year after the massive farmer
protests that swept the nation,

over 130 farm organizations
across the country...

The number of
Venezuelan refugees

crossing the Colombian
border has become a daily flood,

triggering a mass exodus.

You have to enjoy
the process of bonsai.

Start from the
seed, cutting, wiring.

You need to shape your bonsai.

Before leaving South India,

Adriana took me to the rural
school where she used to teach.

What do you want to become?

I want to become
Superman and go up

and watch the sun.

- And what's your name?
- Advait.

- And what does it mean?
- Hmm?

- What does it mean?
- Non-dual.

Non-dual?

And could you explain
that to me a little bit?

Non-dual means only one.

Nobody's like them.

Only one... person.

That's me.

Is there anything
that you want to learn?

Learn?

I want to learn everything.

Everything!

What's everything?

Everything, whatever!

Everything, everything,
everything, everything.

On the outskirts of
the city was the ocean.

Across the shore
was an ancient island.

The forefathers of this land

had to build a temple
and a university there.

They were not as statues
carved out of the rock.

It was empty space
taken out of the mountain

to leave behind these
magnificent structures.

A society who could carve
this definitely knew something.

There was more consciousness
in those stone faces

than in the living ones that
are walking these halls now.

"What do you see," I asked Ravi,

"between the liberty of a child

and a bonded mind of a grown-up?

What do you see?"

I saw a loss in translation...

a river that never
meets the ocean...

a bonsai that never
becomes a large tree...

a society that doesn't
reach its fullest potential.

Ravi asked me, "What
was my motivation?

What did I seek?

Why rally for rivers?"

I showed him.

Enough has been
said about the rivers

and its current status,
which is not good at all.

But the real problem is

everybody knows
what's the problem.

And all the concerned people
even know what is the solution,

but it just doesn't happen.

This is the real problem.

Hey, Kankana, it's Isabel.

I tried calling
your India number,

but I couldn't reach
you and, unfortunately,

I... I'm sorry I have...

bad news.

The film that
you're preparing for,

I'm sorry, again,

it's... it's just not
gonna happen.

I know how much
you wanted this role

and how hard you're working.

The thing is,

the production decided
to go with someone else.

They've gone with
a girl from New York

who apparently has a
strong social media following

and that they believe would
help promote the movie better.

Ugh, you know how this bus...

Kankana...

how are you?

I didn't see you for two days.

Yes, Pandit Ji, I'm... I'm fine.

But you're packing.

Are you going somewhere?

Pandit Ji, I didn't come here
to become a classical singer.

I booked a lead role in a film

and my character
was a classical singer.

I wanted to do some research

and I found out
about your workshop,

so I decided to come over.

But I don't have
the job anymore.

I don't see the point of
staying here anymore.

Pandit Ji, I'm really sorry.

Thank you for teaching me
and thank you for letting me stay.

I'm really sorry.

I should have told you before.

Please come tomorrow,
5:00 a.m., for the class.

Pandit Ji, I'm leaving.

I don't see the point of
coming for any more classes.

Leaving for where?

Are you going back
to Los Angeles?

5:00 a.m. tomorrow.

When there's no
urge left in you,

hence, no fear and no anxiety,

you will see that your breathing

is in tune with the
rotation of the Earth.

When you see the tip of the sun

over the mountain,

count 30 breaths.

On the 31st breath,

start singing...

"Bhor Bhayi Bandish."

In 30 breaths,

the Earth will rotate

by 30 arc minutes

and the sun will
rise completely.

You will see that your breathing

is the rotation of the Earth.

Stay forever in that moment

if you can.

Call it your home.

♪ Come home, beloved
For the dawn is here ♪

♪ Come home, beloved
For the dawn is here ♪

♪ The night is over And I
am waiting at the door ♪

♪ The night is over And I
am waiting at the door ♪

♪ Put my longing to rest ♪

♪ Come home, beloved
For the dawn is here ♪

♪ It has been lifetimes
Since you left ♪

♪ Eons and lifetimes ♪

♪ It has been lifetimes
Since I lost you ♪

♪ And I am anxious
And restless ♪

♪ My heart, my home My reality ♪

♪ My heart, my home My reality ♪

♪ Calls you out
Across the ages ♪

♪ Come home, beloved
For the dawn is here ♪

♪ Come home, beloved
For the dawn is here ♪

Following the farmers' protest,

daily life is likely
to be affected.

Scarcity of farm and
dairy products in particular

is expected to also
affect the common man.

Prices of essential
commodities could also rise

in the wake of the
farmers' protest.

The protest is supported...

Sir...

I purchased this
plant few months back.

It has stopped growing.

You know what this is?

This is a forest.

Or something that
could have been one.

But...

you keep pruning your
trees to keep them a dwarf.

But this was not
meant to be a dwarf.

It is dying.

It needs to be placed
back into the earth.

Take this back.

And plant it
directly in the earth.

Look after it for a
couple of months.

Once the roots take hold of
the soil, it will become a big tree.

Can I speak to...

Abhijit Chatterjee, please?

This is Krishna Mohan
Bhatt calling from Jodhpur.

This is Abhijit Chatterjee.

Miss, your father is
waiting downstairs.

- Who?
- Your father.

This is fantastic to see
that across the country,

from school
children to celebrities,

from simple farmers
to tall leaders,

everybody is standing
up for one cause,

beyond religion, beyond
caste, beyond gender,

beyond political affiliations,

everybody standing
up for this cause.

This is truly fantastic
to witness this.

So, the nation is safe...

because when real issues come,

if we're able to
stand up together,

that's all that really matters.

I knew now what I had to do.

I headed to that
one place where...

unformed minds
are fertile enough

to become the most
potent human beings.

I went back to school,

not only as a teacher,

but also as a student.

♪ I bow down to you, Time ♪

♪ And to all your musings ♪

♪ I bow down to you, Time ♪

♪ And to all your musings ♪

♪ I stop when you ask me to ♪

♪ Seems like we think alike ♪

♪ I stop when you ask me to ♪

♪ Seems like we think alike ♪

♪ My nomad dreams
Living in distant lands ♪

♪ So restless, so free ♪

♪ My ship sails On
the sleepless sea ♪

♪ Oh, wind, hold
them But carefully ♪

♪ Oh, wind, hold
them But carefully ♪

In all the stories
that I told you,

there was a river,

one that flows within all of us.

This river can
always find the ocean

when unhindered and free.