We're really not all that different...

So in my attempt to immerse myself in Indian culture, I watched an Indian chick-flick on the nine-hour flight between London and Bangalore. Subtitles and all! It was funny how - halfway around the world - Bollywood and Hollywood themes about love and the challenges of relationships aren't all that different. Despite the additional twist of "arranged marriages" (which my colleagues tell me is no longer the gold standard for finding a partner), the plot was similar to almost every sappy romance I've watched in the last few years. There was even a "beach sing-along" scene with all the major characters doing a solo... only difference was they had traded in surfboards for saris.