Beemapally


Trivandrum's Muslim area, known as Beemapally, is tucked away from the city center right under the flight path of planes landing at the Trivandrum airport. Beemapally is defined by two features--its brilliantly pink (almost bubble gum pink) mosque, and its profusion of shops selling pirated DVDs.

We first learned about Beemapally from Cresley, our Filipina friend, who is quite a clever finder of bargains. She had DVDs of The Chronicles of Narnia and King King, and we could not understand where they came from, being unfamiliar with the world of DVD pirating. I guess what happens is somewhere someone gets access to a DVD of a current release (maybe because they are in the film industry or have connections), and then begins making copies and circulating them. As a consumer, if one were to engage in the illegal practice of purchasing pirated DVDs, the trick is to find the copies that are decent quality. Some shops have DVD players and will put a DVD on before you purchase it so you can see its quality. Cresley managed to strike up a relationship with one shop owner who will take any DVD back that she takes home and finds unplayable or poor quality. She also has arranged a deal, as a frequent purchaser, where she can get DVDs for under a hundred Rupees (around $2) instead of the usual price of 120-180.

Cresley has learned to avoid the DVDs coming from Singapore as they are, according to her, inferior quality. We've seen a few of the DVDs she has purchased, and I don't think any of them are very good quality. Some DVDs contain two or three movies, which means the image quality is even worse. But I guess for people looking for a deal, and/or for kids who don't care about image quality, it beats buying legal DVDs for $10-20. Depending on one's tendency towards conspiracy, another reason one might be disinclined to buy these DVDs is the potential contribution one makes to terrorist networks.

According to Cresley (and I'm still not sure if she was joking or not), Islamic fundamentalists make money for their activities, among other ways, by brokering in pirated DVDs. In theory, then, by purchasing "TransAmerica" in Beemapally, one might be making a small contribution to bin Laden's next plot. I guess if you buy this logic, you probably also quit using heroine because terrorists in Afghanistan make money from growing poppies.

In any case, Cresley is regularly going back to Beemapally to return DVDs that don't work or are poor quality. Sure, the guy she's befriended gladly accepts her returns, but to me the hassle of it all is not worth it, not to mention the frustration of sitting through a movie, only to have it freeze up half way through, not to be finished until you make another run to Beemapally to get another copy.

In general, the quality of the DVDs is reflective of much of what one can buy in India. We were astounded at all the stuff Indians were bringing back from Dubai. Oddly, Radha, of all the things she could have requested, asked us to get a hair clip for her daughter. But I think the reasons for these behaviors are pretty clear--you just can't get very good quality mass-produced goods here (handcrafted, traditional goods are different).

Posted: Fri - February 17, 2006 at 04:04 PM          

©