WHAT could make a hardened criminal cry on the shoulder of a prison guard?
The answer, it seems, is Vipassana, a 2,500-year-old form of Buddhist meditation that worked wonders at one of India’s most violent and corrupt prisons, Tihar, in a New Delhi suburb.
As the documentary “Doing Time, Doing Vipassana” reports, the prison is home to 10,000 men, 9,000 of whom have yet to be sentenced. It’s not unusual to spend six years in Tihar, before getting a one-year sentence.
Enter Kiran Bedi, a petite, short-haired woman who, as inspector general of prisons in India, took a guard’s advice and introduced Vipassana to Tihar in the early 1990s.
The program requires volunteers to spend 10 days meditating in complete silence. The first course attracted 100 prisoners. Soon, class sizes numbered 1,000.
Prisoners tell how Vipassana reduced their anger and gave them a more positive outlook on life.
“I’m almost grateful for coming to jail to have the opportunity,” says an Aussie being held for possession of hashish.
Others weep as they emerge from 10 days of prayer.
Made in 1997 but only now getting a theatrical run, “Doing Time, Doing Vipassana” is fine as far as it goes. But a lot has happened since then – including Bedi leaving Tihar – and it would be nice if the documentary had brought us up to date.
You can’t help wondering how prisoners who practiced Vipassana fared as free men.
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DOING TIME, DOING VIPASSANA
[**] (Two stars)
Running time: 58 minutes. Not rated (harsh prison life). At the Cinema Village, 12th Street, east of Fifth Avenue.