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00:00Welcome to India.
00:01If you think you know this incredible country, I urge you to think again.
00:06In this series, I'm going on a journey.
00:09It's the closest I'll ever get to being in the Hell's Angels.
00:12To explore this ancient, vibrant, complex and sometimes bewildering land.
00:17And to experience how old India is rubbing up against the new.
00:21This is a land of staggering contrasts.
00:241.4 billion people.
00:26Extreme poverty, spectacular wealth.
00:29All jostle alongside each other in a full-on riot of colourful chaos.
00:35From the Taj Mahal, the bustling markets, the slums and Bollywood movies.
00:41To million-pound homes and exotic palaces.
00:44And why would it be madness to miss out on all this?
00:48Every step. So impressive.
00:51Oh, and this.
00:55And maybe this.
00:58So join me as I get a glimpse of traditional and modern India.
01:02A journey to feel the pulse of a nation and a people on the verge of something big.
01:17I'm starting my journey in one of India's most famous cities, Mumbai.
01:23When the Portuguese first arrived here in 1508, this was little more than a scatter of swampy islands.
01:29They named it Bombaym and established a safe harbour.
01:33But it was the British and the East India Company who stitched the islands together, drained the marshes and laid
01:39the foundations of a major trading hub.
01:42As their empire grew, the British built spectacular high courts, ornate fountains, clock towers, railway stations.
01:52Oh, and of course, cricket pitches on the lawn.
01:58Bombay became the jewel in the crown of the British Raj.
02:01And all of these glorious buildings are still part of this astonishing city.
02:06But more on that later.
02:10Today, Mumbai is sprawling, busy and bustling with over 20 million inhabitants.
02:16It's now the richest city in India.
02:19The super rich look down from their luxury homes on the millions of people, nearly half the population, who inhabit
02:26its sprawling slums.
02:27You might say, a microcosm of this intriguing country.
02:31All good reasons to start exploring the story of modern India right here.
02:36Waterfront Towers, Colaba.
02:39Well, this is very exciting.
02:40I'm with Ravi, who is a sort of superstar rialtor.
02:43Is that what we call you? A rialtor?
02:45Realtor, real estate agent.
02:47Real estate agent.
02:48Here, you look after the absolute creme de la creme of the property market here in Mumbai.
02:53Is that right?
02:53That is correct.
02:54Ravi Keral Rahmani has made it his business to sell property to Mumbai's elite.
03:00A booming market in a city teeming with millionaires.
03:06I mean, maybe, maybe, Ravi, maybe we'll sell up in the UK.
03:11Maybe we should move here, my wife and my four children.
03:13You're most welcome.
03:14See how it goes.
03:15If you sell it to me.
03:17I don't sell.
03:19People buy.
03:24Space is scarce.
03:25Demand is surging.
03:27To get your hands on a decent Mumbai pad, you've got to be prepared to pay through the nose.
03:32On your books right now, what's your sort of top price?
03:36What's the absolute, the jewel that you have at the moment?
03:39I think 25 million.
03:40Okay.
03:41Right now, we're going to see a property which is in Kolaba, completely sea-facing from all four sides.
03:47It's just around three million pounds.
03:49Right.
03:51I'm hoping Ravi can show me what that kind of money can buy around here.
03:57In the last ten years, we have seen tremendous infrastructure growing.
04:02The ceiling, which was opened back in 2009, the road that we are on right now.
04:06Yeah.
04:06This is all we claim land.
04:08In a bid to tackle its chronic congestion, Mumbai has poured over a billion dollars into building new roads over
04:15the past decade.
04:17So this is extraordinary.
04:19I mean, Mumbai is evolving rapidly on your watch.
04:24Correct.
04:24Quite exciting.
04:25And you're in the right business.
04:26And at the right time.
04:27This entire skyline that you've seen.
04:29Yeah.
04:30They're all in excess of seven and a half million, 10 million, 12 million.
04:36Cracky.
04:37These are eye-watering sums of money, aren't they?
04:40Really.
04:43The richest man of the country and one of the richest man in the world.
04:47They have their home here in Mumbai.
04:50Right.
04:50A billion dollars.
04:51That's the house.
04:51If you've not seen it.
04:53That's not the famous 27 story.
04:56That is it.
04:56That is it.
04:57Yeah.
04:58Home of the Ambani family and one of the most expensive private residences ever built.
05:04And Tilia has a rooftop helipad, internal parking for 168 cars, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, and accommodation for 600
05:13staff.
05:16These are slums here, the feet of these.
05:19Those houses that look like shanties.
05:21Yeah.
05:21They're sitting on premium real estate.
05:23Yeah.
05:26Right next to the luxury homes are the sprawling city slums.
05:30India is clearly going places, but it also has got some issues to address.
05:36We are still a new democracy.
05:3975 years is what we are crossing now.
05:42Yeah.
05:43It's going to take time.
05:44Yeah.
05:44It's going to take time for all of the things to kind of fix up.
05:50So where are we now?
05:52This is, we've emerged from the tunnel.
05:54We're at the hub of the political centre.
05:55Yeah.
05:56You'll see suddenly the roads are cleaner.
05:58They're all old colonial homes.
06:00Yeah.
06:00If you see, they will have dates on them.
06:02Let's say 1920, 1940, 1890, you'll see them all old.
06:08We've arrived at our destination, Kalaba, once a British military and commercial hub.
06:14And it feels like stepping back in time.
06:16The colonial architecture sets this part of Mumbai apart, giving it a character all its own.
06:23Landmarks like the Gateway of India and the famous Taj Palace Hotel are just round the corner.
06:28And arriving at the show flat, it feels strikingly modern for such a historic part of town.
06:34So you also have 24-hour security, therefore, presumably, with the flat.
06:39Well, at this price, you better have 24-hour security.
06:43Ravi explains that the apartment is unfurnished, so I'll have to use my imagination.
06:50Here we are at the apartment.
06:51Thank you very much, Ravi.
06:54We'll start with the living room.
06:56Okay, let's do that.
06:57Okay.
06:57Look at this.
06:58Ravi, heavens above.
07:01This is what luxury living in Mumbai feels like and looks like.
07:09From every room, you have a view of the sea.
07:12This is great.
07:13It's beautiful. Beautifully finished.
07:14I like the tiles.
07:16Washroom?
07:17Washroom, very important.
07:18These are German fittings.
07:19German fittings.
07:20Very good.
07:21This is 3,000 square feet of high-level Mumbai living.
07:25Three gigantic bedrooms, marble and oak flooring, and German fittings.
07:29And, of course, separate accommodation for your live-in staff.
07:32I'm beginning to get the picture.
07:35This should ideally be your bedroom.
07:37I think it should be.
07:38The master bedroom.
07:40You have 270 degrees of sea views.
07:45Then you have your windows opening up.
07:49Come on, baby.
07:50I mean, this is clearly a very, very important thing to have the through breeze.
07:55It's important for me.
07:56If I was to buy a house, I want cross ventilation.
07:59And then you have just wind blowing through all throughout.
08:02You have Mumbai skyline.
08:03You have sea views.
08:05You have green views.
08:06You have boat views.
08:07You have a far-off mountain view.
08:09What else is left to see?
08:11If that's not going to get it sold, you might as well get out of here.
08:16That is fabulous.
08:17I can promise you now, if we ever bought this house and we lived here, I would do exactly that.
08:22I'd open all the windows and my wife would come in and go, what the f*** are you doing?
08:26And I'm going, no, it's important.
08:29You've got to have the air.
08:30It's really important in Mumbai.
08:33And she'd be going, f***.
08:36She'd be picking up all the papers that have just blown all over her.
08:39If we were to live here, I mean, if we were to live in Mumbai, I would absolutely love to
08:45live here.
08:45And I love the fact that we're in old Mumbai.
08:48I think it could be an excellent place to be.
08:51Can we close the view?
08:52Yeah, come on, done.
08:54Absolutely done.
08:54I think he knows I'm joking.
09:02Despite all this high living, Mumbai is bursting at the seams.
09:06The lack of space means that even the slum areas have become prime real estate.
09:12In the past 20 years, Mumbai has bulldozed vast swathes of its slums, replacing these communities with high-end luxury
09:20apartments.
09:21And for many slum dwellers, the promise of rehousing has never materialized.
09:27Next, I venture into India's biggest slum.
09:31Hi.
09:32And discover another side to the city.
09:34How many rooms?
09:35We have just one room.
09:37Just the one room?
09:38Yeah.
09:38Goodness me.
09:39How do you do that?
09:51I've begun my Indian odyssey in the city of Mumbai.
09:55And I'm discovering just how fast it's changing.
09:59Everyone just beats when they pass another car.
10:02So if you've heard the traffic in Mumbai, you would imagine that there's just chaos.
10:06It is nice because everyone's saying, ah, I'm coming by you, ah, ah, I'm striving past you.
10:12Ah, ah, ah.
10:15Although some of Mumbai today looks a bit like Manhattan, tucked away in the old city are a stack of
10:22beautiful old buildings, and all have a tale to tell.
10:27the gateway of india was built to commemorate the 1911 visit of king george v and queen mary
10:33but it wasn't actually completed until 13 years later in fact only a cardboard replica was in
10:39place for the royal visit in 1948 the last british troops departed india from this very spot ending
10:48nearly 200 years of colonial rule nestled by the historic arch with the best view of the sea
10:56is the city's most famous hotel the taj mahal palace hotel was built as a bold statement
11:03indian designed open to everyone and unapologetically grand legend has it the great industrialist jam
11:12set she tartar commissioned this after he'd been refused entry to the exclusive watson's hotel which
11:18operated a europeans only policy well today the taj palace stands proud as a symbol of indian ambition
11:25and elegance meanwhile the once exclusive watson's hotel has faded into obscurity a crumbling relic
11:34of the colonial era awaiting much needed development
11:40some of mumbai's architectural treasures have been beautifully restored
11:47this stunning library has elegant floor-to-ceiling bookcases
11:53and grand bay windows that open onto a veranda
11:58overlooking kalagoda the black horse that still gives the district its name today
12:05now famously that statue once had a horseman attached and the horseman in question was edward
12:10the seventh or the prince of wales as he was at the time of the commission now as part of
12:15the
12:15de-britification of mumbai across the 50s and 60s the statue of edward the seventh was removed
12:21and put in by color zoo but the whole area has been known as kalagoda the black horse so a
12:28new statue was
12:29commissioned of the black horse but without the king attached
12:36what's great about mumbai is that its old iconic buildings are still very much
12:40part of the modern living city and you'd never guess that this grand facade hides one of india's
12:48busiest railway stations behind me towering over the hustle and bustle of the city is the grand
12:55victoria terminus or as it's known today the shatrapati shavaji maharaj terminus or the csmt to us
13:04locals this gothic revival masterpiece this is a true mumbai iconic landmark at night it gets lit up
13:12casting a beautiful glow over the neighborhood and by day it positively thrums with the comings and
13:18goings of the citizenry some three million of whom use it every single day this truly is the pulsing heart
13:26of this great city now all this sightseeing is apt to make a man hungry india is of course famous
13:35for
13:35its thousands of curry dishes but i have a date with a young food critic who has promised to introduce
13:41me to the mumbai culinary classic the vada pav known as the mumbai burger
13:46you puja how do you do namaste how are you i'm alexander how nice to meet you what an exciting
13:55place
13:56just across from the csmt aram vada pav is a joyful cacophony of consumption
14:03they've been serving up spicy snacks to hungry commuters here since 1939
14:11what indeed i've no idea what it is but i can't wait to find out people call it
14:17mumbai burger boiled mashed potato yes okay tossed into different spices
14:24salt turmeric mustard seeds curry leaves ginger garlic green chilies coriander
14:34it's estimated two million of these are scoffed in mumbai every day but to eat it like a local careful
14:41instruction is required that's the green coconut chutney apply it apply apply some sweet okay
14:50tamarind and sugar this one dry red chutney we call it sprinkle it
14:56this is made out of garlic peanuts red chillies coconut inside it perfect now eat it
15:15how is it i mean it's delicious it's a festival of starch
15:25yes you can call it like that it's all very good what's so clever about it is it does have
15:30all these
15:31lovely flavors yeah but it's got all these textures so you've got that lovely crispiness and you've got
15:36this soft soft doughy doughy white bread it's really good thank you for introducing me to this
15:47beyond the grand colonial buildings and modern luxury developments lies another mumbai
15:55over 40 percent of the city's population live in slums some decades old these ramshackle settlements have
16:03grown layer by layer as people from across rural india pour into the city in search of work and a
16:09better
16:09life one such place has now swelled to staggering proportions well this is daravi which is home to over a
16:21million people sometimes referred to as asia's largest slum a million people living in an area around the
16:30size of 300 football pitches and there's been a plan for for some years but it seems to be coming
16:36to
16:36fruition now to redevelop this whole area and that obviously has sparked heated debate
16:46redeveloping a vast inner city slum seems like common sense but it's far from straightforward
16:53hi some in daravi believe it could improve their lives while others fear losing everything they've built
17:00and over time they've built a lot it's a very very human knot of things
17:11whilst originally squatters some of the inhabitants have improved their homes built businesses and
17:17workshops
17:21and many people remain wary of the promises being offered by the developers
17:27i'm here to get a sense of how different communities feel about what's at stake
17:31are you rajesh yes i'm rajesh rajesh yeah you can call me raj okay raj and you're from here you're
17:40yeah i grew up in daravi yeah since i was three since i was child through these alleys playing different
17:47games like i bet i didn't see yeah cricket and all so you kind of know everyone as well yeah
17:53i mean
17:56it's just to prove it there we are i mean how amazing to have this as your playground there is
18:04poverty but also a strong sense of community well exactly that i'm i'm i'm getting that just from
18:09just from the first few minutes i've been here yeah and now just looking at all the wiring i mean
18:14how much of this is electricity obviously electricity phone lines things like that yeah cable i mean cable
18:21tv i suppose yeah everyone has electricity everyone has tv nowadays i mean if something goes wrong with
18:27your electrics this is this is quite a nightmare isn't it somebody's got to work out some poor
18:32electricians got to come along and trace your wiring yeah for about a kilometer the local electrician
18:37he knows where he knows he's like you you know your way around all uh all he knows that which
18:42wire goes
18:43to which family rajesh is taking me to see some people who live in a very densely populated part of
18:50daravi they've been promised better homes if redevelopment plans move forward
18:57so that's my friend mukesh namaste sir he lives over here with his family hi nice to meet you how
19:05many of you are there in your family we have total uh five people there are five of you yeah
19:09and how
19:09many floors are you on we have like just one floor ground floor just this ground floor how many rooms
19:14do you have just one room just the one room yeah goodness me i imagine at night time i mean
19:19you
19:20must the whole floor must be covered everyone sleeps there i was incredibly yeah ordered how long
19:26have you lived here i born here you're born here yeah i born here wow it's my third generation third
19:31generation yeah may i have a look yeah yeah sure sir that's my house inside so here are all your
19:37family
19:38hello she's my mom he's my brother nice to meet you how old are you is two years completed two
19:43years
19:44how'd you do that i mean having a baby manage i mean you're amazing and that's that's extraordinary
19:50and you're my kitchen yeah yeah merkesh's entire family home is around three meters by three meters
19:57all five of them cook eat and sleep here with no window and no running water and i guess and
20:03your
20:04neighbors you all kind of live in each other's yes yeah the community is very strong yes i mean i
20:08get that lovely yes lovely uh close knit so when at night time how do you sort out all your
20:15sleeping
20:15in here uh we have like a blanket here we put the blanket down side this is all the bank
20:20blanket there's
20:21all the blankets we put here we are total five people we sleep here goodness me in the new development
20:25what sort of house have you been promised uh they are promised they're giving to us like a nice
20:31apartment yeah it's like 350 250 280 square meter that's nice here that's why we are so happy i see
20:39yeah i see so you said yes yes absolutely yeah this has been so enlightening looking in at a slum
20:46from
20:46the outside it's hard to imagine people's everyday lives and just how they manage and rajesh is showing
20:54me that dharavi is far more than just a place to live it's a hive of industry a tightly packed
21:00maze of
21:00small workshops and factories that employs around 250 000 people and turns over close to a billion
21:08dollars a year it has more than uh 10 000 industries in dharavi industries like leather pottery garments
21:17and much more so now we are into the potters community ah this is this district is is pottery
21:25the potters have built up a thriving business here over four or five generations their main products
21:32are ceremonial bowls and festival lamps look at that beautiful at peak times they can produce tens of
21:42thousands every day and export to germany japan and beyond oh beautiful look at this
21:50the potters are worried about any redevelopment as they clearly have a lot to lose be careful
21:57yeah hanif is one of them that's oh my friend hanif hanif how do you do yeah i see so
22:05how are you feeling
22:06about this development uh i'm not angry for developing no because i'm uh pottery i'm doing seven generations
22:14seven generations my community is all here and the committee is destroyed totally that is why i'm not
22:21angry do you think it's going to happen no no okay do you trust the government on this i can't
22:27trust no
22:27yeah okay yeah if the kilns and workshops get knocked down during redevelopment the potters fear
22:36they won't get properly compensated my visit to daravi has been a real eye-opener in today's india a
22:46country of enormous wealth everyone deserves clean dignified housing
22:53but any redevelopment also risks destroying the very thing that gives this place its soul
22:59do you worry about the community though i've only been here an hour and already i just have sense of
23:04every single person you pass you know you see doors are always open so valuable that yeah and the
23:11thought of that evaporating is this is one thing but still everyone wants to have a better living
23:19condition so that's why we hope it's gonna it's gonna give us something better and beautiful
23:28if the redevelopment does go ahead let's hope it truly benefits the people of daravi
23:34by supporting their livelihoods and preserving the spirit of their community
23:39and doesn't simply enrich mumbai's property developers
23:46next for something very different
23:50i get put to work just as the mumbai heavens open life clearly just goes on in the monsoon
24:04come to mumbai they said soak up the sun and all the sights
24:24this was the day i'd planned to spend with the legendary dubber wallers
24:29okay doesn't get any worse this 5000 strong army has delivered home-cooked lunches nearly every day
24:37since 1890 on foot bicycle train and trolley they have been unstoppable and i doubt a bit of rain is
24:46going to deter them nor me for that matter now i'm wearing the famous dabber waller uniform i feel i
24:51was
24:52born for this well there's a lot going on in mumbai's lunchtime delivery system now yes there are
24:59these modern shiny apps like zamato and swiggy but there is also an old-school delivery system and
25:05frankly we're much better dressed for over a century mumbai's dabber wallers have delivered home-cooked
25:13lunches from kitchen to office in here ah a comforting taste of home in the middle of the working day
25:20yes the uh the day i came to join the double well this is also the first day of the
25:25monsoon here in
25:27mumbai a dabber refers specifically to the metal lunchbox and a waller is the person who carries it
25:36you're probably not familiar with mr darcy but that's the that's the general look i'm i'm going for
25:45here we go we're in aha over 200 000 containers of home-cooked food are delivered across mumbai
25:54every day my colleague santosh and i are picking up mr kakani's lunch just recently made for him by
26:00mrs kakani here yeah checking it i see it right one two r four this is where we've taking it
26:10to i see
26:11yes this is our delivery right yum yum oh it's like a riddle
26:21i was hoping that the rain might have stopped but clearly not but it seems i mean life clearly
26:28just goes on in the monsoon and i guess this will just go on for i don't know six to
26:34eight weeks by
26:34then i imagine the drains are probably working quite well
26:40on the monsoon which lasts from june to september that's three times the amount manchester gets in a
26:49year despite the weather we've just got to knuckle down and get on with it i mean this is such
26:54a mumbai
26:56institution the delivering of lunch and all this coding system is incredibly sophisticated apparently
27:02richard branson has been out here because he's wanted to crack how they do it he's he's just
27:07amazed at how look at this all of us sharing this one canal in mumbai lunch can travel miles to
27:18reach
27:18hungry office workers and from the very start the dabawalas have relied on the city's monsoon proof
27:24british built rail network to deliver it do i put it here yeah
27:32there we are right it's lovely to see this great community of people of all these double coming
27:38together you don't get that with justine i think they recognize me as one of their own um boy
27:49the dabawalas daily deliveries are deemed so essential they granted their own train carriages
27:55free of charge is this the right train oh thank you very much
28:04how many stops seven minutes three stops three steps this is a special double waller carriage
28:11where presumably everyone just hops on and travels for nothing tell you who'd really love this rabbi
28:17through breeze i mean it's a fascinating glimpse of this ancient artery of mumbai
28:26and even uh even on the first day of monsoon i think it is working absolutely like
28:31it's going to be in the morning churchgate station is just one of the city's main commuter hubs for
28:44office workers but as noon strikes legions of dabawalas arrive with lunch
28:53this is one of the central sorting areas for the dabawalas and this is where their clever code of colors
29:00numbers and symbols comes into its own oh yes right that goes 21 21 yes look 21 21 21. it's
29:14completely
29:14brilliant there's no computer involved there's no automation it's all done by code and everybody
29:19knowing what they have to do these guys really put in a shift but only get paid between four and
29:25ten
29:26dollars a day um we suddenly got the orders to move on there where am i going i'm going out
29:32in the road
29:33a little bit of traffic
29:38it's interesting on the monsoon front once you've once you've kind of given into it it's it's sort of
29:46okay it's warm um and i've given up pulling this face
29:55okay where are we going now ah i'm taking this ah this is where i get off i think
30:05thank you
30:08that bloke seems to have ditched me i need somehow to work out where i'm going
30:13well i guess the clue is here i will look for street 21
30:17i'm looking for a building that begins with r and uh
30:23then i need to be on the fourth floor
30:27i'll maybe just tag along with these guys come on i'm part of this team
30:31i don't know is this ridiculous i feel like i feel like air crew must feel as they stride through
30:37an airport i feel we're we should pop our chests out we are the we are the lunch men
30:45we are fueling mumbai lunch consider it done my friend
31:00well here we are raymond house that is the r in the code here uh four fourth floor so simple
31:09as that
31:11it's been exciting and a unique glimpse of the city and i think the dabawal has worked just as
31:16hard as those whose lunch they serve essential workers if you like
31:20for the floor for hello mr kirkhani
31:25ah
31:30ah mr kirkhani oh hi
31:32ah i bring there you are thank you i hope it's still warm of course it is it's a little
31:38bit wet
31:39i'm afraid every day you have this do you have the same uh double waller every day yes but this
31:45is wonderful so every single day you get something it has happened since last 20 years it's soothing
31:50that every day i get home food yeah perfect thank you very much very nice to meet you not at
31:57all
31:57thanks i hope you enjoy your lunch sorry about the puddle on the floor
32:06i guess i can take this off now i'm gonna keep that in in honor of this extraordinary occasion i've
32:15really i've really enjoyed that i feel like i've sort of been through the entire intestine of mumbai
32:22and then finally delivering the food here to mr kirkhani why because he wants to eat mrs kirkhani's food
32:29simple as that or rather lovely oh yeah i'll be keeping that
32:36it's already time to leave this mind-boggling city
32:40by starting in mumbai we hope to avoid the monsoon but it has arrived 16 days early
32:47global warming i suppose in some respects it's just added to the drama it's been hot
32:54wet and hectic so mumbai rich with history but careering headlong into the future
33:02it's clearly going somewhere terrifyingly fast i hope it i just hope it keeps its roots
33:10because they're very beautiful i bid farewell to the city of dreams and head north to india's capital
33:19new delhi the government spent 13 billion dollars improving the road between the two cities
33:25but it's not actually finished yet so i've jumped on a plane
33:34delhi is now home to over 34 million people making it the second largest city in the world just behind
33:41tokyo i first came here as a wide-eyed backpacker over 35 years ago i don't remember much except
33:50the tuk-tuk rides i thought i'd give it another go just to see what's changed i was about to
33:57say a
33:57piece about how how interesting it is and pleasing it is that they drive on the left-hand side here
34:02in
34:03in ending because it turns out where everyone is driving in every direction on this road but you know
34:08such is the uh such is the fun of day yeah there we are the car coming straight on
34:20so now we're going to cross straight into the port
34:23oh here they come that's it there they come traffic coming the other way
34:31see this man carrying at the front of a car on his head
34:36delhi holds the dubious honor of being the world's most polluted capital city
34:43it's crammed with two million cars and over five million two-wheelers
34:48there are around 220 000 tuk-tuks on the road more than half of which are now electric
34:56when i first came to delhi like many others i made the 200 kilometer pilgrimage to the taj mahal
35:08after the madness of delhi's busy streets i've come in search of something altogether quieter
35:19and i think i may have found it right here
35:32i've been told it's the place to sense the soul of this great city
35:39delhi was established over 3 000 years ago as a hindu
35:42city and over the intervening centuries it's famously been destroyed and rebuilt seven times
35:48so a city layered by different empires right from the early hindu kingdoms through the mighty moguls
35:55right up to the british raj and now modern delhi each period has left its mark and this astonishing
36:02building humayun's tomb built in the 16th century by humayun's widow marks the dawn of the grand period
36:11of mughal architecture in india and looking at it it is quite astonishingly intricate you just
36:18can't help but think ah every step so impressive
36:25after humayun's death his wife empress begar begum commissioned this remarkable mausoleum
36:32set in vast gardens to represent paradise and i'd say they get it spot on i think they were rather
36:39phenomenal the moguls they had an empire from the 16th century to the mid 19th century
36:44right across the indian subcontinent almost to the southern tip they were muslim but they were very
36:51tolerant of all the different cultures within their empires
37:02these steps leading up to the mausoleum are meant to be wide enough and deep enough for an elephant to
37:10be
37:10able to climb them it's all about access you know
37:23now those moguls knew a thing or two not only is this dome magnificent but also it's a natural air
37:31coolant because it's actually stifling hot out there and in here lovely and cool
37:48india is racing into the future yet hindu traditions still shapes nearly every part of life
37:55and death cremation followed by the scattering of ashes in a holy river remains a sacred rite
38:03unchanged for more than four thousand years the most revered place for this final journey is varanasi
38:10on the ganges india's famous holy river believed to purify the spirit and free the soul
38:17delhi may not have the ganges but it does have the yamuna river and on its banks the city's busiest
38:25crematorium
38:28this is the nigambord ghats this is where people bring their dead usually within 24 hours of dying they
38:36they bring the bodies here and they cremate them
38:43you know everyone stands around and watches the body burn and then the ashes are all sent out into
38:51the into the larger river swept away to sea hindus believe that death isn't the end the soul is reborn
38:59again and again on a journey towards spiritual liberation cremation helps release the soul from
39:07the body allowing it to move on and rivers especially the ganges are seen as sacred pathways to the divine
39:15people are standing incredibly close to the close to the event and that's quite
39:23that's quite something you actually witness the the decomposition the breaking up of your
39:30of your loved one i'm quite surprised how normal it feels oh it's a proper farewell
39:41we're very proud of dealing with old age and death in the west we don't really like to acknowledge
39:47that that's where we're all heading cremation can be costly and for the poorest it becomes one
39:55final obstacle on the soul's journey to peace there are 450 000 homeless in delhi since it is a huge
40:03magnet for all kinds of people who come from districts far and wide and a lot of them don't have
40:09contacts
40:09here they don't have any friends quite a lot of people die unconnected as it were unclaimed you might say
40:23they can stack up all this wood i mean all of this costs money every week the delhi authorities
40:28recover around 50 unclaimed bodies many are homeless people who've died in the night from hunger
40:36dehydration or illness others are victims of road or rail accidents the smell here is largely of smoke
40:47sudden it's not i think a timely cremation
40:55nothing is known about this newly arrived body not even a name
41:06i'm helping ensure he receives the most basic last rights paid for by kind donations
41:35it's a sobering end to a life and a world away from the other send offs i've seen here
41:50this is
41:57next time i follow in the footsteps of over two million international travelers to india's most exotic
42:04region there's a kind of majesty that still dazzles pink cities and glittering palaces await me in rajas
42:13oh and i discover where the a-listers by their bling i mean it's staggering before heading south in search
42:20of india's elusive big cats alarm calls they're they're this tiger
42:30what happens when these great beasts end up in your front garden hippo watch with steve backshall
42:36continues brand new tomorrow at eight a hotelier on the very edge calls for the hotel inspector but
42:42is the sos too late to save a sinking ship that's new next
42:47you
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