New York University

Then Dad found a job that would prove to be his greatest calling — Professor of Film at New York University's brand new Faculty of Film. It was 1968. Once again we packed ourselves into the VW Van and drove off to New York. Actually, we moved to Westport, Connecticut, which is a short train ride from Grand Central Station. Dad became a weekend commuter. He had a 'pad' in the city where he stayed with a friend.

We all went off to school, which was pretty jarring after rural Quebec. The schools there were excellent but the other kids were really preppie and very rich. My big brother Alex had a hard time there. He did not fit in. His clothes were different and he couldn't play football very well. I think Westport really hurt Alex. Nick became a 'jock' so he made friends pretty quickly. I was athletic so I could choose my friends too. Alex wasn't so lucky.

During this time the Vietnam War was raging. Mom encouraged Alex to go to Washington and participate in the war moratoriums. NYU was in the thick of the Sixties Revolution. Dad grew long sideburns. In the summers he went regularly to India and Europe. The staff at NYU called him the "Groovy Professor". We didn't see much of him. While making this film I learned that Dad was hired as a Chief Consultant for the Indian Films Division for three years. He also acted as consultant to UNESCO to create a film institute in Poona focused on documentary production, and he taught a 6 week scriptwriting course there.

In 1970, my parents independently produced four very well known Indian music films on Classical Musicians of North India: Amjad Ali Khan, Pandit Jasraj, Bhimsen Joshi, and Vijay Raghav Rao, as well as a film about the Dalai Lama.