Directed by Deepa Mehta; Written by Jonathan Hensleigh; Starring Corey Carrier, Lloyd Owen, Ruth de Sosa; Margaret Tyzack
Indy, his parents, and Miss Seymour’s next destination is Benares, or Banaras State. Today it is known as Uttar Pradesh, India. Benares became a state of British India in 1910, the same year of this episode.
Indy is supposed to be studying, but he goes outside and sees a group of boys playing. They invite him to join, but he believes they’re playing baseball and acts accordingly, but they’re actually playing cricket. So in a cultural exchange, they explain the rules of their games to each other and continue playing, and Jiddu Krishnamurti introduces his brother Nitya. Miss Seymour goes in search of her young pupil and lectures him, but she is impressed that Indy did learn something new.
She then tells him he has to attend a reception for an Annie Besant of the Theosophical Society, a religious movement inspired by movements like occultism and religious traditions of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam. On the way there, the adults discuss Annie, who is a “believer in free love and she’s a socialist and an atheist,” and Anna and Miss Seymour are scandalized, but Professor Jones points out she was the first woman to enroll in London University.
At the reception, Annie Besant introduces Hubert Van Hook, a boy with unusual spiritual purity. But Charles Leadbeater introduces his own submission as new World Teacher, Krishnamurti. Indy recognizes his friend from their cricket/baseball game. Leadbeater claims to have investigated the boy’s past lives and documented them in a book. Miss Seymour is skeptical of the whole business, but they give her the book to read, and Annie invites her to tea for the following day.
The next day, Miss Seymour joins Annie for tea, and Indy sees Krishnamurti nearby and asks what he’s doing. Annie explains he’s meditating, emptying his mind of thoughts and replacing them with peacefulness and tranquility. Indy goes to join him.
Then Annie is called away, and Charles Leadbetter continues to show Miss Seymour around. She tries to catch him in lies regarding his book, questioning him about Krishnamurti’s past lives and auras. He counters by asking her if she’s seen God, and if not, how can she believe God is real?
Meanwhile, Krishnamurti and Indy go for a walk. Krishnamurti shows Indy a Buddhist temple; a ghat, or a place where Hindus go to bathe in the river Ganges; and tells him about the Hindu gods. Then they visit an Islam mosque.
Annie rejoins Miss Seymour, and over tea they find common ground, having recognized that the other is intelligent, dignified, and independent. But Miss Seymour realizes it is time to find Indy and goes outside in search of him. She runs into the young boy Hubert and asks him why Annie brought him to India, and he tells her that he thinks Leadbeater’s book is fake, since he added in donors when they were upset they weren’t mentioned. She goes into Leadbeater’s office and takes the original manuscript from his desk. He confronts her but tells her to go ahead and show Annie. She tries, but Annie won’t even look at it. The newly discovered warmth between the two women turns to ice.
However, Miss Seymour is moved to tears as she overhears Indy and Krishnamurti bid farewell. Indy gives his new friend his Ty Cobb baseball card (as he gave Tolstoy some of his baseball cards), and Krishnamurti presents him with a glass bottle with water from the Ganges. We see Indy wave goodbye from the carriage as the group prepares to head to Peking next.
Thoughts
This is a slow-paced episode with the briefest of looks at different religions through the eyes of children and, from a adult’s point of view, skepticism of an unknown and untested belief system. But despite religious (or any other) differences, we can all find some common ground.
Related DVD Documentaries
- Jiddu Krishnamurti – The Reluctant Messiah
- Annie Besant – An Unlikely Rebel
History
Annie Besant (1847–1933) British socialist, theosophist, supporter of women’s rights, writer, and orator.
Charles Leadbeater (1854–1934) before joining the Theosophical Society, he was a priest in the Church of England. Wrote over 60 books and pamphlets.
Jiddu Krishnamurti (1895–1986) raised to be the new World Teacher but later rejected the title and left the Theosophical movement.
Fun Facts
Hemanth Rao’s only credit on IMDB is Young Indy. He later studied in Wales to become a surf lifeguard, and then in 2000 completed his mechanical engineering degree at Georgia Tech (Go Jackets!) and then moved back to India.
John Wood (Charles Leadbeater) appeared in Chocolat, Sabrina (1995), Victoria & Albert, among many other films and TV series.
From the Indy wiki: “When discussing religion and life with Jiddu Krishnamurti, Indy says that he wishes to live forever. This may have been written to foreshadow the events of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, in which Indy drinks from the Holy Grail, which grants anyone who drinks from it eternal life.”