A River Between Us

I am watching an incredible movie just now and had to pause it so I could get my ideas down before they flew out of my ears. The Motorcycle Diaries has a scene where the two travelers are taking a boat across a river in Peru (the river separates a leper colony and the doctors who care for the patients) and the student-doctor realizes this. The student had already acknowledged the symbolic distancing enforced by the governing nuns, as a form of cleanliness in wearing plastic gloves which had no purpose in the colony as leoprosy is not spread by physical contact. But, the one comment that really stood out to me was perhaps the simplest one of all. The student doctor remarked, after contemplating the river, watching the wake as they sped by in the boat right along the surface, "The river is deep, no?" There seemed to me to be so much weight in that scene. The river is the body of life, what gives life to life. And these doctors are containing themselves and distancing themselves from humans with gloves, motor boats and professionalism. They are still people, only people, people above all. What would be the worst that would happen if we let ourselves care? We would get hurt emotionally, but we would have lived, there would be moments of happiness, as always, and moments of sorrow, as always, and all those bumps inbetween. This is really a great foreign film.
The woman in the picture was and still is a great serendipitous force in my life. One of those people who seems like they dropped out of the blue because you were supposed to meet them, this trip around. She has been a great friend and support over the summer, but it is strange, how some people you feel like you've known a lifetime even though you've just met. And others, like perhaps you never did know them, or they you. Kudos to you, Prashant. A great housemate and an incredible friend.
Thinking back to the river, I am a great swimmer.