BEGINNING TITLES
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Indie Films and the Jan Vrijman Fund present
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manjuben truck driver (subtitle) Miss Manju – truck driver
SUBTITLES
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Empty… empty
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Shall I order it…
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…or send him to pick it up
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Finish fast so I can leave
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Fix the doorstep and the lock
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Give me some…
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Here, throw this out
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Half ‘Shiva’ - half ‘Shakti’
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Just like me, isn’t it?
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We really need the Goddess of Wealth
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Shiva and Shakti!
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Half man, half woman!
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I am ‘Shiva’.. - No way sir!
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Both male and female powers are in me
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I don’t need anyone else‘s power
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All you do is sit around
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Look at the dust – clean it now!
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Hold on…
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I’m holding!
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Okay?
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Miss Manji…
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…here’s your ‘masala’ (betel nut mix)
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Here…
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Pass the tobacco mixture
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There’s too much lime in this mix…
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…it burns my mouth
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Give me another toffee…
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Should I buy you the whole shop?
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Come here, Narsi Bhai!
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Don’t you want some ‘masala’?
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Were you avoiding me?
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No…
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What would you like?
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Make him a plain one
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Oh my god…
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here!
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Don’t throw them…
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Does it cool ok?
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Two hundred and ten thousand
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I’ll have to see the car
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It’s white - white colour?
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Ok final is final – shake on it!
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Now keep your word and take the car
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Don’t disappear!
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We leave at 2 at night…
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… and reach Delhi the next night
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We rarely stop
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Vegetables have to reach in 24 hrs
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2 drivers and a cleaner…
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…with 12 hours duty each
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One drives 12 hours…
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…then the other drives
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It’s a trouble-free ride
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All good drivers…
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…give way without being asked
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Some bastards don’t
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Then I also behave like a bastard…
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…I make sure I get ahead of them
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You with the evil eye…
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…shame on you!
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As a child - I liked danger
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I was always getting into trouble
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The business I chose is also dangerous
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These are known as my ‘danger wheels’
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This is a dangerous business…
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I had 8 trucks…
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… sold them all
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If I had kept them…
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…I would have lost all my hair
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When I got my first truck…
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… I drove it myself…
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…In 10 months I bought another
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I earned so much then
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Go
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At night on the highway
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people hide behind trees…
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…and stone passing trucks
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If you stop to check the damage,
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the gang will jump on you…
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…and loot your money
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I never stop - if the glass breaks…
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…or I get hurt - I keep going
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It’s all for money
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We drive for money…
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…they rob and murder for money
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This business is like that
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You take a beating all the time
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Where’s the beer?
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Get some beer
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There’s too much traffic in the evening
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Yes, it’s bad until 9:30
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I like driving at night…
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…feels like I’m gliding
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Yes, it’s nice and cool at night
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Why have you changed the crown?
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The crown and clutch are broken
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You have to align this…
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Tell us if you need help
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We’re from Mansa - in Gujarat
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I wish it were black
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Are you flattering me?
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Believe me, you look first class
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Face this way…
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Touch her feet
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No, no… with both hands
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Touch her feet
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Smile…
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Smile Bhoomi…
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Look at me
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You’ve been photographed!
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How serious he looks!
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Big daddy, have a ‘papad’
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Mother hated it when I cut my hair
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She wouldn’t talk to me
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She’d taunt me every day
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I had to cover my head in her presence
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My recent photos look the same…
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…as the ones taken 20 years ago
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Just a little fatter now
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I always loved driving trucks…
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…I bought one to fulfill my desire
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Then it became a business
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Wearing a pant and shirt…
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…traveling, driving, making money…
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They’ve come out well
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Good photographs
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I need to lose weight
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You look dangerous like this
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I just look fat
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I’ll have to stitch a new suit
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Like the Taliban in Afghanistan
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These won’t do for my New Year card
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I’ve phoned so many times…
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I haven’t been well for some time
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Did you cast a spell on me?
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Cast a spell… me?
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Who else but you?
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I must see a doctor…
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…I can’t move this wrist
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I’d never cast a spell…
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You’re unlucky for me
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I’m busy sunday and tuesday…
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…shall we meet on monday?
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I can’t… I have to be home
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I’m going to Delhi on the weekend
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Why?
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I have work there…
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I’ll be back in a week
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No… don’t go
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Delhi…
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…we’ll live there some day
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There’s been an accident
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It’s skidded…
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…right to the opposite side!
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I was married at 16
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I didn’t know what it meant…
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…I realised later
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I told him I didn’t want to stay with him
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I want to travel…
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…I want fulfill all my desires
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I’m not the kind to stay at home
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I had a great desire to earn money
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So I told him
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I divorced him
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He’s a boy…
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…without a moustache
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So people think
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When I talk to them - they ask…
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…where are you from?
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They whisper - Is this a girl or boy?
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They can’t tell
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I stop to eat - and leave
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After I’ve left, someone might say…
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…that driver was a girl
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‘Really…
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…she spoke to us – we couldn’t tell!’
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I often get in trouble with the police
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They think I’m a beardless boy driving
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They demand a fine
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I say - why should I pay?
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They ask my age…
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…and are furious when I tell them
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Then they see my license and say…
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…this is a woman’s licence
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So I say, did you think I was a man?
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Women pilot planes these days…
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…don't they?
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There are women far ahead of me…
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…pilots, doctors, engineers
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what am I…
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…so what if I drive a truck
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Once a road officer stopped me
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He called me out
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he put his arm around my shoulder…
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…and demanded a 100 rupees
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I said… why?
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My papers are complete
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I have just a few passengers…
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…after all we were just eleven
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My insurance is complete
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Why should I pay?
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When I showed him my license,
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he said, ‘This isn’t yours, It’s a girls!’
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So, do I look like a man to you?
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He looked at me…
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…and threw his arm off my shoulder
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Forget 100, he didn’t even ask for 10!
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There’s always a destination
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We leave home to get to Delhi
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To reach our goal…
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…we drive fast with few stops
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We leave Delhi to get home
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Everyone hurries home…
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… that makes the truck go even faster
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In 4 days,
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We empty the truck in Delhi…
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…reload, and get back to Mansa
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my ambition is to make money…
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…and also to travel
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since I drive, I’m always traveling
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Once a year I take off in my jeep…
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…for a holiday with my girlfriends
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Savita… Amita…
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Jivi… Manjula…
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We go to Abu, Ambaji, Ramdeora…
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If you are a man, you take a wife
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When you are tired…
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…your wife will take care of you
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Who will wait on me?
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When I’m tired, I just go to sleep
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Who will ask how I’m feeling…
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…will anyone care?
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Call the service station
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Tell them to keep a space for my truck
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Go ahead, break it!
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Don’t leave out a single hair
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That was good - I enjoyed that
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We’re running out of time
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Fit this quickly
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Here… don’t waste time
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Won’t this do for now?
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Give it a thorough service
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Hurry! I’m late
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What else to do…
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…nobody can say anything to me
END TITLES
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Grateful thanks to Manjula Prajapati,
her family and friends
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also to everyone at Amee Roadways
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roadside stops
Annapurna Dhaaba, Raj Purohit Hotel,
Chetna Driver Dhaaba, Ganpati Highway Hotel, Sindhi ka Dhaaba
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acknowledgements Sanjay Prasad, Sanjay Solanki, Shalin AJ,
Jagdish Nachnekar
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transport
Chamunda Travels, R C Travels
52:56:12 - 52:59:12
assistance in research
Anupama Chatterjee, Dina Mehta
53:00:12 - 53:03:12
equipment
Setu films, Nand Kumar, Sync Sound,
Madhu Apsara
53:04:12 - 53:07:12
post production
Studio Agnee-taar, Fireflys Post Sound
53:08:12 - 53:11:12
technical assistance
Shan Mohammed
53:12:12 - 53:15:12
producer
Sehjo Singh
53:20:12 - 53:23:12
camera
Mohanan
53:24:12 - 53:27:12
sound recording and sound design
Madhu Apsara
53:28:12 - 53:31:12
editor
Lalitha Krishna
53:32:12 - 53:35:12
director
Sherna Dastur
53:38:12 - 53:41:12
This documentary has been realized with the support of the Jan Vrijman Fund
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