Masala Reported by Jenny Chang

Outline A.Masala B.Text Analysis C.Questions D.Conclusion

Masala Masala is a term used in South Asian cuisines (including Indian, Bangladeshi, and Pakistani cuisines) to describe a mixture of spices. A masala can either be a combination of dried (and usually dry roasted) spices, or a paste (such as vindaloo masala) made from a mixture of spices and other ingredients often garlic, ginger, and onions. It is used extensively in Indian cooking to add spice and flavor.termSouth Asian cuisinesIndianBangladeshiPakistanicuisines mixturespicesdry roastedspices vindalooingredientsgarlic gingeronionsIndian cookingspiceflavor (from Wikipedia)

5 years ago, Krishna s parents suffered wreckage, the mid-air explosion of Flight 241. We don t know whether it was the result of a bomb, human error, or simply the will of God. Krishna:Hindus don t die, we re merely reborn.

Gerald, the minister of multiculturalism: gave lost of money for our (Hindu) temple. Rita s dad: But is the temple for God, or is it for the minister?

Rita s grandma is using a coffee grinder cooks her traditional hindu food. Lallu Bhai told Rita s grandma:What will people think? My own aunt slaving away in the kitchen like this. Grandma: But they don t know what they re doing!

the minister: In 10 days, the Hindu community will open a place of worship in the very heart of our city. It is a testimony of our great country, a home large enough for all faiths, all communities and all individuals. The Rathayatra will be a celebration, not just for the Hindu community, but for all of Canada. A celebration of our differences. To keep Canada a rich and vital home.

Grandma(speaks Hindi) believes Hindu s god: The lord who brings bliss, who is the essence of all wisdom and true feeling, who helps the helpless to cross the ocean of life and reach transcendence. Lord Krishna plays 3 roles(Lord Krishna, Rita s father, Lallu Bhai) in the movie.

Grandma: Bank officer came to Rita s house for repossession. Krishna always brings a knife with him for self-protection and threatening people. Rita is imagining herself to be a heroine flying in the sky like a female pilot in the Hindi screen.

Lallu Bhai tells Krishna to find a job in the post office, but the person tells him that Krishna is an indian, and he can t apply the job. When Rita s father asks Krishna: Krishna s father and Rita s father were very good friend. Krishna s father cared for Krishna very much. It was he who made Rita s father a stamp collector.

Grandma plays a video of Lord Krishna. Grandma wants Lord Krishnato show a miracle to her. Lord Krishna: I am no bloody Christian God. Grandma: Help us. We are outsiders here. Make life the way it was before we came to this land of supply-side economics and no-money- down real estate! Lord Krishna: Sorry, no can do. Jurisdictional conflicts.

Lord Krishna who wears a sport T- shirt (Toronto mape leafs) plays hockey to stop the car of dead letter.

Grandma: What s wrong with this curry? Harry: It s got the perfect masala. Grandma:There s something wrong with it. The spices were ground with a mortar and pestle. Rita: Mortar and pestle s good enough in India. Grandma: My nephew s wife doesn t use a mortar and pestle. Bibi Solanki has a food processor, blender, automatic coffee maker, popcorn maker, grinder, ice-cream maker, juicer. Bitch, illegitimate child, whore. She gets decked up and sits around all day! Does she have anything better to do?

Sashi: Why, at your age, must you cook all the meals? It s simply ridiculous. Rita: What do you want, Sashi? The law of the jungle in the kitchen? Every man for himself?

Sashi:If you were only 16 and your father tried to force you to get married to some foreign student(the son of the Gerald) who only wanted immigration from someplace you couldn t even remember, you d begin to wonder about family politics. Rita: Marriage isn t a political relationship. Sashi: Oh, what s about then, love? Rita: Yes.

Bibi Solanki told Krishna: we made our lives,selling people clothes to make them feel good about themselves. Clothes show a person who you are. Krishna asks Lisa for money because Lisa uses his money to buy shit. Krishna tells Lisa that he is not from Pakistan. He is from India.

Whenever Krishna sees the plane flying overhead, he thinks of his dead parents. Lord Krishna: this boy years to come home. We must provide the way. Lord Krishna s brother: the gate is open. He must decide to walk in. Grandma tells Lord Krishna: A couple of thousand dollars is all I ask.

Mr. Chabra,(the boss of travel business), tells Krishna: air travel is the safest way to go. Most of our customers are Indian, so you ll feel right at home here.

John MacDonald : I claim that letter as a historical artifact of vital importance to the preservation of the cultural heritage of our country. The government of Canada wants the letter.

Indian(Bamadour Singh): When I was born in India, I used to think that in Canada, people wiped their asses with newspaper. I was a professor of modern Indian history in Delhi! And then the temple was raided, riots, innocent people murdered! This country is not my home. My home is where my people can live under the law of God. I don t want vengeance, I want justice! total control of sari trade in Khalistan, if you help us.

That stamp is the property of the government of Canada. John MacDonald : the three-pence beaver stamp is worth five-million dollars. I insist you hand over that stamp immediately!

After Krishna quitting his job of selling plane tickets, Krishna told Lallu Bhai: I don t have a family. Babu: Do you want to buy a house? Krishna: Yeah, I wanna buy a house. A nice one.With a yard, a swimming pool for the kids and no neighbours.

When Krishna came to Babu s house, he broke Granma s old Krishna idol. it simbolizes that Lord Krishna has been destoried. When Anil is having a arrange marriage with a women (Saraswati/Sari), he misunderstands the religion of the woman s parents. The woman s father: Mr. Varma, isn t an indian. The woman s mother, Mrs. Varma, is an indian.

Krishna threatens a group of white young men with his knife. Krishna: My parents never learned to be tough. They were losers. They couldn t take it, so they went back[to India]. Grandma: You( Harry) re willing to ruin your family, even go to jail, so you can keep a five-million-dollar stamp in that useless stamp library of yours?

Bibi Solanki (just like Lady Macbeth): Bamadour Singh wants to store arms in the basement of the shop? Bibi Solanki: We don t control those who live or those who die! My sister died for Khalistan! Lallu Bhai: Perhaps it was the will of God! Bibi Solanki: God died with my sister. The only reason not to do it would be because we may get caught. But then who do you think would suspect us? The sari trade in Khalistan. You could control the sari trade worldwide.

Krishna: 15 years later, I decided I didn t need my family as much as they needed to go back to India. They got on a plane. They vanished. Stupid death. Rita: it s not your fault that your family died. Krishna: I know. It s nobody s fault. Rita: But you still feel guilty that you stood them up at the airport? Krishna: No, People hate people who don t feel guilty. Why can t I feel something? I want to.

Harry: If we sell the stamp, we would simply be rich. With the stamp, people know wh we are. I get beaten up in the street and nobody seems to care! I hold the stamp in my hand and everyone cares.

The differences between Harry and Lallu Bhai Harry doesn t want to submit himself to the rule of Canadian government. Lallu Bhai is willing to follow the rule Canadian government set. Harry s family is a traditional Indian family. Lallu Bhai s family focuses on the western culture, self-profits and converting to Christians.

The Differences between Anil and Krishna Anil is a wimp, and Krishna is a brave man. Krishna tells the truth, and Anil lies to Rita. Krishna can t find a good job, but Anil can study in medical school. Krishna lost his family, but Anil has a happy family.

Rita tells her papa: If you win this case, will you return my money? I don t want to go to med school. I want to learn how to fly. If you lose, I lose with you. But if you win, I want ot win too.

Krishna imagines his family s past. Krishna s papa: I f he [Krishna] wanted to come, then why is this seat empty? Krishna s mom: What are you going to say to your mother? Our eldest son couldn t come because he had hockey practice? Because he s ashamed to be an Indian?

Lord Krishna: What happens to Indians when they go to foreign lands? They lose their grace, their composure. They should be spending more time worshipping me. Babu is sperated from the parade and his family.

Bamadour Singh: Can you, for a moment, cut that goddamn pantheistic Hindu crap? I m a modern man, I have my own god. So scram! Lord Krishna: Do you think our people still need you? Lord Krishna has been destoried in the parade.

The police asks: what does it (the toilet paper) say? A man answers: It s the history of the Sikh people, the history of oppression. Krishna originally wants to give Rita flowers, but he was killed by the white men. Grandma looks at Krishna s body and says: Lord Krishna, you ve abandoned us. The plane flies over Krishna s head again.

Harry will be the curator of the new and valuable heritage centre. New president of the party is Anil Solanki. Gerald: Canadian National Museum of Philately officially open.

Sashi: Are you finally going to take fling lessons now that you have your money? Rita: I doubt it. Sashi: Do you miss Krishna? Rita: No one seems to miss him. And I can t seem to feel anything. I want his death to make sense. Why can t I feel something? Anything.

Grandma: They (Canadian) don t understand anything. (Grandma is making her coffee by her hand) This is the life! Oh, Lord. Hare Krishna.

Questions When Krishna and Rita are making love; there is a Lord Krishna and a plane near the window in Rita s room. What do these mean? What is Krishna s attitude towards his homeland? Why Rita is doubted about her flying lessons in the end? In the opening of Canadian National Museum of Philately, which country wins, Canada or India After seeing the movie, could you share some experiences about the multiculturalism in Taiwan?

Coclusion In Masala, the director let us to see clearly that the multiculturalism of different cultural background, religions and races in Canada. I see different ways of living of Indian immigrants. Some are rich, some are poor; some keep their tradition, some follow the float of modern culture. Indians are minorities in Canada, and the way Canadian Government treat Indian are very ironic. The event of dead letter and stamp is one of an obvious example. I like the role of grandma very much. She was set in a modern era of Canada, though her grand son[Babu] and grand daughter [Rita] can t speak Hindi, she still establishes a good model of traditional Indian culture and religion for her family. Finally, no matter the Lord Krishna or the Krishna, they have been hurt in their mind, but they later can still find a good way to live and understand the life s meaning.