It was Sunday afternoon, so we should have guessed the movie theatre would be full up, and it was: full up with senior citizens. Canes, walkers, unsteady gaits: we saw them all. Because this is a movie starring their people. Judi Dench. Maggie Smith. Tom Wilkinson. Who were great in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. Better than great. Terrific.

You know how you don’t want some movies to come to an end? You want to step into the screen and meet the characters and spend time with them? That what Marigold was like for me.

Love Judi Dench

Marigold also starred India, in all its glory. Its color. Cacophony. Heat. Food, architecture and its culture. 

 India’s on our list for 2013, so our eyes were riveted to the screen.
 What kind of experiences might we have there?

I want to lie on cushions in an open-air cart and be driven around town.

A tuk-tuk is India’s version of a rickshaw. Do you choose a tuk-tuk by the leg muscles of its driver, I wonder?

I want to sit on a balcony in India drinking gin. Actually, I hate gin. So maybe I can enjoy chai tea, or fragrant curries and naan.

I want to enjoy the people to the fullest, even the call center workers who gave this movie some of its most authentic moments, at least from an American point of view.

Why does this remind me of Comcast?

Be prepared to laugh and to cry. And to be delighted. Mostly, though, be sure to see this movie, especially if you are of a certain age. We loved every minute of it.

And lucky us: this week, one of our Morocco traveling companions, a new friend is in California visiting her children. (Yes, we showed her our garden.) As luck would have it, she went to India last year. This week, over lunch, we talked….India. 

India.  Can’t wait.