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00:10Some say the best way to understand life is to take it in your hands and live it.
00:19That's exactly what we did on our grand tour of Italy and it changed our lives. I gave Rylan a
00:27crash course in art appreciation. And I showed Rob how to let what's left of his
00:33air down. Our cultural odyssey taught us new things about ourselves and each other.
00:39I have been looking at a painting for half an hour. The experiment is working.
00:45Now we want to take it to the next level. You're stunning. We're getting out of the
00:50galleries and right to the heart of the art. Sort of surreal, don't you think? Crazy.
00:55And culture of one of the oldest civilizations on the planet. Just walk. Just walk.
01:01We're in India. We have no taboo. You know, our gods make love. You know, you can't get to me.
01:07Oh, that's a big one, isn't it? Don't go for me. We're following in the footsteps of E.M. Forster,
01:13who a century ago changed the way the world saw this country in his dazzling novel,
01:18a passage to India. That's here. That's exactly it. That's literally here.
01:27You have a slightly psychiatric problem. Psychiatric problem? Yeah.
01:32Yep. We're on our own passage to India. Oh, no, Rob. Come on. Come on.
01:37Through India. You know, I think I've got diarrhea. And out the other side. To see if the art and
01:45culture
01:45of this amazing country. Look at the detail. Can show us how to live our best lives.
01:51This is incredible. Why am I doing? Do you know what? I'd do anything stupid that... What?
01:58That is the most beautiful art that I've ever seen. Whoa. What a huge clock.
02:04I feel like as the trip's going on, it's getting better and better. I don't know what's coming next.
02:11Don't read it. Do it.
02:20Be quiet, babe, all you want.
02:24We're on the final leg of our Indian adventure.
02:28Oh, Tuk Tuk Ravarshan.
02:31What is this driver doing?
02:35We've left the land of the kings and we're on our way to Varanasi,
02:39where Hindus head to cleanse their souls before they die.
02:44We've just reached the village of Kaja Raho.
02:52We're trying to see what the art and culture of this amazing land can teach us
02:56about life, love and death.
02:58Excuse me, madam. Thank you. Namaskar.
03:02And I don't just mean on the roads.
03:04Round about ahead. Round about ahead.
03:06Where are you going? To the left.
03:07Stay here with me a minute and then we're actually going to cross,
03:11but we're just going to have to wait a minute, Rob.
03:12Yeah, we've got round about.
03:13Yeah. Being in India has gifted me the sense of being alive more.
03:18And that's been beautiful.
03:21Let's go. Let's take your arm out.
03:22I can't imagine anything I wouldn't do if I felt that it would help me find what life's purpose is.
03:29Coming around.
03:29Being in India, I'm starting to realise that all the Western technology I own,
03:35maybe I could live without it.
03:37I'd hope to think in a place like this where everything's so spiritual,
03:41maybe it is the start of a different way of thinking.
03:45We've been following in the footsteps, stroke bike tracks,
03:49of the author of a passage to India, my literary hero, E.M. Forster.
03:54So we had to stop in Kajiraho because something here blew his mind.
04:00I'm taking you to a sex temple.
04:01Oh, really?
04:02Yeah.
04:03A sex pole.
04:07Forster took his inspiration from the sculptures that cover these magnificent temples.
04:13There's loads.
04:14I know. It's not just one.
04:15There's a whole complex.
04:16These temples date back to 950 A.D. when the area was ruled by the Chandela Kings,
04:23a Hindu clan known for their love of art, architecture and sex.
04:31Today, they may sit in manicured gardens.
04:34But after the fall of the Chandela dynasty, these temples were abandoned and lay hidden in the
04:39overgrown jungle, only to be discovered by someone uptight in English.
04:44In this case, a Victorian explorer who called them indecent and offensive.
04:48But this didn't stop the whole area being cleaned up and becoming a major tourist attraction.
04:55There's lots of carvings about sex in these temples.
04:59Oh, is it a bit dirty?
05:00Yeah, there'll be quite a few arousing chiselings, I would have thought.
05:03Oh, I love an arousing chiselings.
05:05In Hinduism, there are four goals that teach you the right way to live.
05:09Before you reach the final step of liberation from an endless cycle of birth and death,
05:14you have to master the other stages.
05:17Righteousness, prosperity and stage three.
05:20Karma, the pursuit of pleasure.
05:23Well, you know you've got very big legs.
05:25Yeah.
05:25Well, I feel like you could at least be gentlemanly and help me out.
05:28Come on.
05:32We've called in an art historian as an expert to help us get to grips with it all.
05:39My name is Alka Pandey.
05:41Alka Pandey.
05:42Yes.
05:42What a beautiful name.
05:43For a beautiful woman.
05:45Really beautiful.
05:46As you grow older, you love compliments.
05:48I'm getting it from a handsome young man and a mature man.
05:52What would be better?
05:55I love you already.
05:57I love you so much.
05:58Yes.
05:59This is beautiful.
06:00Yes.
06:00So I call them the first art installations.
06:04How wonderful.
06:04So this is all dedicated to the god of love, Kamadeva.
06:09Karma would mean love itself, which includes lust.
06:14He looks the image of Kamadeva himself.
06:17He looks the image of lust?
06:18Yes.
06:18I've been touched on it.
06:19Of love and lust.
06:20Love and love.
06:20Love, lust, longing, desire.
06:23That's me.
06:24Yeah.
06:24There I am.
06:25With that lovely transparent show.
06:29These are people indulging in the joy of sexual activity.
06:36And without any sense of shame.
06:38I love that.
06:38No, we have no shame.
06:40Isn't that wonderful?
06:41Good.
06:41We have no taboo.
06:42You know, our gods make love.
06:44Mm.
06:45We enjoy that.
06:47Forrest came here in 1912.
06:48I mean, look.
06:49He's actually saying, have a look at this.
06:51He said it was wonderful, but nightmarish.
06:53Because it was just so prude back then.
06:55Between beginning and finishing of Pasatundia,
06:57he wrote a book, Morris, which was never published in his lifetime
07:01about a gay relationship.
07:03And so he was so full of shame.
07:05It's the stuff, right?
07:06That's informed my life to an extent yours as well.
07:09Yeah.
07:10And for him to come here and see all of this sex just out there,
07:14must have been nightmarish.
07:16Well, it's a culture shock, isn't it?
07:17Definitely.
07:17And precisely.
07:19That's time of Edwardian England when he enforced it came here.
07:21When they looked at this with all of their buttoned up shame around sex.
07:25He must have been shocked out of his trousers, if you please.
07:30Imagine seeing naked bodies.
07:32Right.
07:33Where they were clothed in layers of petticoat and buttoned up in India, sweating away.
07:38And here you see women standing, showing their bodies, showing their breasts.
07:43I mean, I can see her vagina.
07:46Do you notice you're whispering?
07:47For us, whether it's the vagina, whether it's the breast, whether it's the phallus,
07:52we talk about it quite openly.
07:55But we're not very demonstrative in public.
07:58Unlike the West where people are touching each other, kissing each other, you won't see that.
08:03We call it the Western way.
08:06But don't forget, the erotic and the spiritual go hand in hand.
08:10Well, a lot of people say sex can be very spiritual.
08:15When you are climaxing, that, it says, is unity with Godhead.
08:19You have to go through these processes to reach the ultimate liberation.
08:23So basically, I have to have sex.
08:24Every day.
08:25Oh, you ain't got to tell me twice.
08:26Come on, let's go.
08:28Every day?
08:29Twice a day, maybe, if you're lucky.
08:31What about once a year?
08:32I mean, what?
08:32Oh my God, you'll turn into an ascetic.
08:39The fact that these depictions are thousand years old,
08:43and they're showing people getting nushed off.
08:46It's like, well, then I'm doing the right thing, clearly.
08:49And actually, as I've gotten older, I've got less worried about feeling the need to hide talking about sex.
08:56I think sex can be casual.
08:58I think sex can be loving.
08:59I think sex can be an activity to do on a Friday night, if you would.
09:05Here, sex and the body are celebrated on the walls.
09:10And not just for reproduction, either.
09:12For pleasure.
09:14And the idea that sex can also elevate you to the divine.
09:18And it's so beautiful to know that that existed a thousand years ago, way before we were taught
09:26that sexual pleasure was something we should be frightened of.
09:30Think about being gay.
09:31It was something we were taught to be dangerous, dirty, furtive, and wrong.
09:36Wrong.
09:38What a load of bollocks.
09:39I guess it teaches me that I can have more fun.
09:42I can be more open, that I can delight in sex.
09:45And most importantly, it validates that sense that all shame is bullshit.
09:55The importance of all this karma business in the Hindu philosophy of life
09:59led to one of the most significant books in Indian literature.
10:03And it's one even I've heard of.
10:05Since when have you been interested in telling me to read books?
10:08Well, I haven't actually read it, but I've seen some of the pictures.
10:12Can I have a look at the Kama Sutra?
10:14Yeah, sure, sir. Thank you so much.
10:15It's on the top shelf.
10:16Thank you, of course it is. Thank you.
10:19The original Kama Sutra is an ancient Sanskrit text,
10:22believed to have been written almost 2,000 years ago.
10:26It made its way to Britain in 1883, after it had been discovered and translated by Richard Burton.
10:32No, not that one.
10:34This one was an explorer.
10:37Burton distributed it secretly because of prudish Victorian attitudes and strict obscenity laws,
10:42and it became the sex bible for the educated elite, particularly when later editions were graphically illustrated.
10:50Oh, perfect, 69.
10:52The last time somebody enjoyed 69 was in 1969.
10:56Oh, no, it weren't.
10:58It's about two days before I come here.
10:59But in fact, the British did the book a disservice, because everyone concentrated on the sex,
11:05and ignored the other 90%, which was actually a guide to living well.
11:10I'm not sure Ryland's found those chapters.
11:12If she stands four-footed with both palms laid flat on the carpet and you mount her like a ball,
11:17it's known as the milch cow. It's also fun to mimic animals like dogs, deer and goats,
11:23copying their movements and their cries, arch your backs like two voluptuous cats.
11:27Yes, I could imagine that.
11:29Grind like a wild boar, mount her proudly like a stallion.
11:34These games teach new tricks, even to experts.
11:38Would you consider yourself to be an expert?
11:40I wouldn't say I'm an expert, but I'd say I'm good at it.
11:44That is sexist poetry.
11:46It's very arty.
11:47Exactly, beautiful drawing.
11:48They've literally wrote the book, worn the t-shirt and carved it in a temple.
11:52There's nothing to feel shame about here.
11:54Yes, we might not see people being touchy-feely on the streets,
11:58but behind closed doors they're freaky in the sheets.
12:02I guess me and Rob can be trusted to master the love part of our life goals in our own
12:07time.
12:08We're heading to the final destination of our cultural odyssey.
12:12And appropriately, it's also the final destination for millions of Hindus seeking the perfect end to their life.
12:22Here on the banks of the Holy Ganges is a sacred city of Varanasi.
12:29Millions of people come here to wash away their sins.
12:33For Hindus, it can help them achieve their ultimate goal of life, moksha, the liberation from reincarnation.
12:39After a life lived so well, you don't have to start again.
12:43Namaste.
12:45Namaste.
12:48People come here to purify their sins and also they believe that if you're cremated here,
12:54and your ashes are spread into the water, you'll achieve enlightenment, the end of the cycle of, um, reincarnation.
13:01So what, everyone can see that?
13:02Oh yeah, they burn them in the open.
13:04That's a lot.
13:05It is a lot.
13:06You're not worried to see that love, are you?
13:08I don't know if I'm worried until I see it.
13:10Do you know what I mean?
13:11Yeah.
13:12I'm more worried about, like, if we're near it.
13:15Yeah.
13:15Like, bits.
13:18What do you mean bits?
13:19Well, I don't want to inhale Sandra.
13:22Yeah, I suppose not.
13:23She wants to go in the Ganges, not down my throat.
13:25Yeah, I suppose so.
13:31Ian Forster came here, you know, love.
13:34Can you see?
13:35Look.
13:37That's that, Rob.
13:38It's exactly the same.
13:40Forster was really confused by it.
13:42It was such a kind of cacophony of stuff.
13:44It was like, I genuinely sort of arrived,
13:46and he couldn't quite believe it.
13:47I was like, what's going on, as well?
13:49I mean, he obviously wrote it much more poetically than that.
13:52What?
13:53Oh yeah.
13:56That's somebody's end, my love.
14:03One of the things that I often read is they say,
14:05ah, so-and-so died magnificently.
14:08I'd love to be the type of person who could confront death
14:11with that same cigarette flourish, you know?
14:17Fuck it.
14:18I hope I learned something here in the heart of so much confidence
14:23in reincarnation that helps me deal with my fear of death.
14:29I think in the West, you start talking about death,
14:32people get uncomfortable.
14:33It's like, I'm not going to talk about that.
14:35I'm like that.
14:37You ask me, when do you think you're going to die?
14:39I'm not going to say 90 in case someone's listening,
14:42and they go, right, 40, bang.
14:45But I think it's going to be really eye-opening, actually.
14:48Maybe there is beauty in death.
14:55When E.M. Forster was here,
14:57he said the only way Varanasi could ever be understood
15:00was to go among it.
15:03It's just so surreal seeing these people pray,
15:11bathe, offer offerings to the Ganges,
15:14and then there's just tourist boats just literally meters away
15:19from them while they're praying.
15:20There is a spiritual energy here.
15:22Oh, you can feel it.
15:23Right.
15:23It's pretty special, isn't it?
15:25While bathing in the Ganges is more a spiritual cleansing
15:28than a physical one, physical purity is not overlooked.
15:33Hi.
15:34How are you?
15:35You got treated.
15:37You clean ears?
15:38Oh.
15:39Oh, Rob, I think you should do it.
15:41Why am I doing anything stupid?
15:42What?
15:44Do you think E.M. Forster did this?
15:46I reckon.
15:47I bet, yeah, it is clean as a whistle.
15:49This is a traditional way of cleaning the ears.
15:52You will feel the vibration of the air also.
15:55Oh, yeah, you've got a nice bit of wax there.
15:57Oh, yeah.
15:58This is lovely.
15:59Why are you so into this?
16:00I'll get off on it.
16:01I'll watch ear cleaning videos online.
16:05Oh, whoa!
16:06Look at that!
16:08What will you do with this now?
16:11Oh, just on the floor.
16:13Oh, that was fun.
16:14Come on, Rob.
16:14But you seem to be terribly loud all of a sudden.
16:16There you go.
16:23Varanasi might be a city that's focused on the art of death,
16:26but here, in order to die well, you have to learn to live well.
16:31Oh, I might do it.
16:33All good things come to those who wait, though.
16:36Now, I will admit, neither of us is particularly sporty, but this isn't sport, it's culture.
16:43Oh, my God.
16:46I found a group of semi-naked men who come together every morning to train their bodies and their souls.
16:54Oh, that was a slap.
16:55Oh, my God.
16:56Oh, I love it.
16:57Oh, my God, and he broke his neck.
16:59Come on!
17:00Varanasi's original mud wrestling fight club is thought to have been founded by a famous 16th-century poet,
17:06Goswami Tulsidas.
17:08There are thousands of gods in Hinduism, but Tulsidas was a big fan of Hanuman, the monkey-like god of
17:15strength.
17:16Tulsidas believe wrestling developed physical strength, mental discipline, and spiritual growth,
17:22necessary for a fulfilling life.
17:25Come on.
17:26Come on.
17:26Oh!
17:28Corey.
17:29Corey.
17:31This gym, or akara, has been run by members of Pushka's family since it began, over 500 years ago.
17:38So, for me, in the morning, I like to go and do some exercise for my mind and for my
17:44body.
17:44Is it a similar thing, the wrestling?
17:46Yeah.
17:47We have Lord Hanuman's statue there, which we worship before starting wrestling.
17:53In one of his texts, he says,
17:55Give me strength, power, wisdom, so that I can overcome all my sorrows, all my problems that are happening.
18:02Through physicality.
18:03Through physicality, through workouts.
18:05Yeah.
18:06You should join akara though.
18:07You mean have a go?
18:08Yeah.
18:08I mean, I've never wrestled a man in a proper setting.
18:12Yeah, in a proper setting.
18:14You should try, because if you don't try, you'll never know.
18:16Exactly.
18:17Like, how it feels to wrestle in front of the god of Balbuddi and Vidya.
18:26You've got shorts, Rob.
18:27I've only got my lucky pants.
18:29I always wear red pants.
18:31I don't think you can wrestle in that.
18:33That's a little bit like...
18:34Why don't you see why not?
18:35I'm a bit worried about them being ripped.
18:36I think it might be...
18:37I think we should get you some shorts, because I don't need to see that.
18:40Can you put your willy away?
18:50Let's go.
18:51Our wrestlers are ready.
18:52Okay.
18:52Yeah.
18:53We're ready.
18:53Let's do that.
18:55That's good for the skin.
18:57Also for the grip.
18:58Oh, yeah.
18:58Great.
18:59Oh, good lord.
18:59Oh, wow.
19:00One, two, one, two, one, two, one.
19:04Continue.
19:04Yeah.
19:05Wow.
19:06This is what Jim White for.
19:07Try pinning him.
19:08Shit.
19:09Good.
19:10Very good.
19:10Hello.
19:11Fine, fine.
19:13I think, Brandon, I think you ought to go.
19:16It's wonderful.
19:19Very nice.
19:20Yes.
19:20Yes.
19:21Yes.
19:21Nice.
19:22Nice.
19:22This is so fun.
19:25Listen, I'm not going to lie.
19:26There is not a lot of places you can get me rolling around in mud.
19:30But you've played a blinder by having that bloke.
19:33Nice.
19:34He's taught us more from the spirit.
19:36Hmm.
19:36He's taking them from the spirit.
19:39Yes.
19:40He's saying you have a better speed.
19:42Oh.
19:43Yeah.
19:43Power.
19:43I'm not always quite.
19:45Power.
19:45Yeah.
19:46I'm not always quite.
19:47Okay.
19:47Slowest.
19:48Slowest.
19:49I understand what the wrestling is, and how it's an art, and how it's a form of worship.
19:53But on a personal level, if I get to wrestle with that man every Sunday morning, I'm coming back.
19:59Yeah.
20:00Minimum.
20:00Oh, okay.
20:01Very nice.
20:02Very nice.
20:06Thank you so much.
20:07I think we should try one move, though.
20:09No.
20:09We'll kill each other.
20:10Let's enjoy it.
20:11You know what?
20:11Let's wrestle.
20:11You.
20:12Go and do me.
20:14What are you doing?
20:15That was a bit like a grudge match between you two.
20:17Finally, you get your grips on each other.
20:19Yeah.
20:19See, look.
20:20You can't get to me.
20:20Look.
20:21You can't get to me.
20:22You can't get to me.
20:23You can't get to me.
20:24Puss.
20:25Yeah.
20:26That's it.
20:27All right.
20:27Yeah.
20:29Yeah.
20:30Puss.
20:30Puss.
20:31Puss.
20:31Puss.
20:32Puss.
20:32Puss.
20:33Oh, no.
20:34Oh, no, no, no, no.
20:35Oh, no.
20:36There was definitely a little bit of underlying sexual tension, I would say, between us.
20:41Maybe one sided.
20:53Puss.
20:56Puss.
21:00Puss.
21:01Inside, Prushka says there's an insight into how Hindu culture considers life and death.
21:07This is our temple, Sankat Mochan temple.
21:09Amazing. With my socks on, actually.
21:12Yeah.
21:12I love the fact that there's a tree inside.
21:15Yeah.
21:15Lord Hanumanji was said to be the Bhakt of Lord Ram.
21:19He...
21:26What is he doing?
21:27Yeah.
21:28He's just worshipping his God.
21:30Wow.
21:31Different people have different ways of calling their gods.
21:34Mm.
21:35And then...
21:36The paintings in the temple depict the various incarnations and adventures of the gods.
21:44So these paintings are all painted somewhere around 1850s.
21:50And it has never been repainted.
21:56This is a church in Europe. Somebody might have restored it.
21:58We have a very different idea about restoring old things.
22:02Okay.
22:03It's like you disturb the originality of it.
22:06Mm.
22:06And I feel that we are very small people who have a lifetime of 100 years.
22:11And we don't want to spoil something that has been going on from 14 generations.
22:16To clean it or to paint over it would somehow be rude in some way.
22:22Yeah. It's a way of showing respect to the artist.
22:25That he has done a great job.
22:27Mm-hmm.
22:27And we should never edit it or do any modifications.
22:30It's quite something, isn't it?
22:31There's something about it being very dark.
22:33It almost feels a little bit more holy.
22:35Do you think?
22:36Yeah.
22:37Those paintings are just fading away.
22:40They're dying in a city that's devoted to death.
22:43And I think that's rather wonderful.
22:45People come and they say, actually, the initial hand of this artist might have been here.
22:49But he's not going to be here forever and neither will you be.
22:54What this invites us to do is to remember, actually, we're all going to fade.
22:58We're all going to disappear.
22:59We're all going to die.
23:00So delight in the present.
23:01And there's something poetic about that.
23:13Hanuman's a god of strength.
23:15Yeah.
23:16Do you come here and get strength as well?
23:18It's more about having that motivation to understand that everything in your life should work in a balance.
23:27And in the Western world, a lot of people are not really doing that.
23:31They are just lost in that hustle of making money.
23:35Everyone is just doing that.
23:36So balance.
23:37Yeah.
23:38That balance you'll only get in India.
23:47For many Hindus, the way to achieve balance is through music, as it's both an entertainment and a spiritual pursuit.
23:56Forster called it complicated yet passionate, like Western music reflected in trembling water.
24:02And it's this music that brought the Beatles to India, inspired George Harrison to study with Varanasi local Ravi Shankar,
24:11and turned him Hindu, which led to his ashes being scattered into the Ganges.
24:18Rob's obsessed with classical music, and that's why we're heading to a music school where one of Varanasi's traditional quartets
24:26is rehearsing.
24:28I'm really excited about this.
24:29My great passion, although I'm rubbish at it, is running an orchestra and classical music and conducting.
24:35So to learn about a totally different tradition of classical music and where it comes from and how it's based
24:41and how it's structured is like everything.
24:43And Ryan, if you were at home and you waft on something in you, what would you put on?
24:47Probably Pussycat Dolls, Jai Ho, or Chaka Like a Baby, Punjabi MC.
24:55Who's Punjabi MC?
24:56Hi.
24:57Maybe other boogie…
25:07Hi.
25:09Hi.
25:10Hello.
25:11This is amazing.
25:11Can we sit down?
25:12Please sit there.
25:15This is okay for you.
25:17Yes, this is lovely.
25:18I'd love to hear something, if possible.
25:20So, please.
25:21Let's start.
25:43Indian classical music is arranged around an ancient system of rags, melodic frameworks
25:49of notes with unique moods and energies.
25:53This is unlike Western music, with a beginning, middle and an end.
26:00A bit like how Indians think about life and death, rags are played in cycles and are constantly
26:05reborn.
26:10I know that was like one song, but it felt like a story.
26:15It felt like the story began and it was all like this and then all of a sudden there was
26:18a bit of chaos and then it came back again and then you started getting higher and higher
26:22and higher and higher.
26:41Performances are improvised and can go on for hours.
26:44Can I ask you about the spiritual connection?
26:47There's a component that's not just about the music, there's some other dynamic that comes
26:52from here, right?
26:53Every composition is dedicated to God and Goddess.
26:57So it's a prayer.
26:58Whenever I practice, first I have to connect with my God like we call our musical God Saraswati.
27:05First we feel like we have to eliminate every outside things, all the thinking.
27:19So it's not just singing, you're communing with the Divine.
27:38I know that there are sounds and different influences to be sure I've heard in Western classical music,
27:44but there's a whole universe of sound here, of ideas, of shapes, of colours, of textures, of music that I've
27:54just never heard before.
27:55And you totally get why people like the Beatles come to this part of the world, sit down and go,
28:01fucking hell, let's take it and learn.
28:07And something that he explained was that for him, music is divine.
28:12So this is not inspired by God, it comes from God.
28:21Just like no other musical encounter I've ever had.
28:24You come away feeling energised in ways that you can't possibly express.
28:30Oh, it's so good.
28:34That's...
28:34Oh my goodness, that is so good.
28:37It's beautiful.
28:39Your vocals, your vocals are incredible.
28:41The music is just so incredible and just to sit in that room as well,
28:45you sort of feel the love of it.
28:47And it's storytelling via music as well.
28:50It's not just a three-minute track.
28:52And it seems like there's like four or five different songs in one.
28:56It's a mash-up.
28:57It's like Girls Alive Biology.
28:58Shouldn't work, but it does.
29:06The whole of India is actually a bit of a mash-up.
29:09Take religion.
29:10Even in Varanasi, you'll find a mix of Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists,
29:14Sikhs, Jains, Christians, and loads more.
29:20E.M. Forster actually found it a bit overwhelming.
29:23In search for tranquillity, he escaped five miles up the road to the village of Sanath,
29:29where a simple life had taken hold.
29:31Because this is the birthplace of Buddhism.
29:36There's some lovely bits here.
29:38Oddly, for a philosophy where giving things up is essential, it has an awful lot of gift shops.
29:43Oh, I love all this, Rob.
29:44Jones, what are the sort of images of the Buddha?
29:47Do you think it's a bit tacky?
29:49No, I quite like it.
29:51Yeah.
29:51I've got one of these in my garden.
29:53What have you got in your garden?
29:54I've got that, but it's about that big.
29:56You've got the head of the Buddha in your garden.
29:58Yeah, I've built a meditation garden.
30:02Do you meditate?
30:03No, I've not used it.
30:05So what are you going for?
30:06I just like the fountain.
30:08Two and a half thousand years ago, a young prince called Siddhartha Gautama turned away
30:13from a life pursuing pleasure and invented a brand new way of living.
30:18Later known as the Buddha, he would become one of the most recognisable icons of devotional art.
30:28His first sermon was actually only to five disciples.
30:32Hello.
30:34Hey, Zappi.
30:35But it happened right here.
30:37Oh, gosh, it's beautiful.
30:39This is nice, isn't it?
30:40To mark that momentous event, in the fifth century, they built this, the Dhammec Stupa.
30:47Stupa is Sanskrit for a heap.
30:49I didn't think you'd be that big. That's really quite impressive.
30:52That's really big.
30:53The Stupa is a 43-metre-tall, solid brick and sandstone structure, believed to represent
30:59Buddha or his upturned begging bowl.
31:03As one of the sites where it's believed his ashes may be buried, it's now a place of pilgrimage.
31:12They're doing a foster game here.
31:14These are his photos.
31:17Oh, wow.
31:17Look.
31:17Yeah, yeah, yeah.
31:19Exactly the same.
31:20It's like there.
31:21Right there.
31:22Look, there's the indentation.
31:23Yeah.
31:24Look at the quality of the carving.
31:25Look, it's just so intricate.
31:27The flowers and everything.
31:30It's just so pretty.
31:42So the other thing is we're supposed to walk around it clockwise.
31:44That's a tradition.
31:45It's about thinking and reflecting on living a righteous life.
31:50Well, let's go reflect.
31:52Not everyone can find enlightenment in a 90-odd-metre stroll, but if you're devoted enough and
31:58take Buddhism seriously, there's a different, more extreme option.
32:02It just takes longer.
32:06Ning Ma Pa is a monastery where families send their sons to train as Buddhist monks.
32:12For the first step, they're removed from the world for eight years.
32:16And they start as young as eight.
32:19Look at this.
32:22Hi.
32:23Nice to see you.
32:25Nice to see you.
32:27Where are we going?
32:29Now we do prayer and meditation.
32:31It's for actually cleaning, bad energies.
32:35Getting a bad energy?
32:36Yes.
32:37How long do we have?
32:38It may take 20 to 25 minutes.
32:41I might need a couple of hours.
32:42Yeah.
32:44That idea that you're so passionate about the idea of enlightenment, that you'd sacrifice
32:50the connection with your own child for eight years, that's such devotion.
33:09There's an art in this, from the music to the instruments that are being played, to the sound
33:16and the vibration of the chanting, to the colors that people are wearing in the room.
33:20It's an entire cacophony of art.
33:24It's spiritual dance.
33:29That's why whoever you are, you're immediately trying to find some semblance of dinner peace.
33:34And then I fell asleep.
33:53What would a normal day be for these children?
33:56In the morning, they do prayer, meditation.
33:59Daytime, they have a class.
34:00So, like school?
34:01Yeah.
34:01As I understand it, Buddhism is not a religion.
34:04It's a philosophy, maybe.
34:06Yeah.
34:06It is like science, because if you know everything, then you don't do the wrong thing,
34:12because you understand everything, right?
34:14OK.
34:15To help them reach enlightenment, the monks chant mantras that contain the teachings of Buddha.
34:20Do you have a mantra?
34:21Live, love, love.
34:23OK.
34:24Prosecco made me do it.
34:28Even he got it.
34:32So, if I was to want to become a Buddhist monk, what would I need to do?
34:36An exorcism.
34:38Maybe you need to leave what you are doing now.
34:41What would I need to give up?
34:42Are you allowed to have a partner?
34:46Uh...
34:46Actually...
34:47Like a wife, a husband?
34:49Not in the monks.
34:51They can't do that.
34:52So, is it celibacy?
34:53Celibacy, yeah.
34:54Yeah.
34:56I'd probably be prepared to sacrifice a few things to find enlightenment.
35:00But I'm worried the main one...
35:06Do you know what I mean?
35:08I don't think I can give that up, eh?
35:11Mind you...
35:12The time we've been out here, I'm basically a Buddhist.
35:18Of course, the other thing that Buddhists would make Rylan give up is his ego.
35:23What a vast ego.
35:25You want an ego...
35:26Do you want a mirror?
35:27But why do you have makeup and stuff?
35:28That's ego.
35:29That's not ego.
35:30That's essential.
35:31That's egomania.
35:32It's about wanting to be loved and demanding and expecting certain things to be done at
35:37a certain time.
35:38And if it's not done, that interfering with your emotional chemistry...
35:41Is that me?
35:41Do you think?
35:42I think you're a very exquisitely funny, benign diva, which is ego with jazz hands.
35:48I think you're talking about yourself.
35:50I don't deny it.
35:52I definitely have a huge ego.
35:54I...
35:54Yeah.
35:57The whole point is if they took all that away tomorrow, or your makeup and hair and...
36:03God forbid the tan...
36:06You'd, um...
36:07Perish?
36:08No, it would interfere with your sense of happiness.
36:11You would be really troubled, and that's all about ego.
36:15How you're perceived in the world matters to you in a very deep way.
36:18I mean, I feel the same.
36:20Yours is bigger than mine, though.
36:22What are we talking about?
36:23Ego.
36:27Clearly, Rob and I can't be trusted to find the answers on our own without him annoying me.
36:33We need help.
36:34And Varanasi is full of people offering it.
36:39Even Forster met a fakir here.
36:41A holy man who tried to sort him out with a bed of nails.
36:45Forster refused.
36:48Luckily, I'm not travelling with Forster.
36:50I've got Rob, who found us a Hindu guru called Shailesh.
36:54Hi.
36:55Hello.
36:56Namaste.
36:57First, you have to make a spiritual teacher, what we call guru.
37:01You.
37:02I can be your spiritual teacher.
37:04Take.
37:05So, it is done.
37:07And then, in our tradition, we say we have to develop ten qualities in ourselves.
37:12What are those ten qualities?
37:15Patience.
37:16Patience.
37:17Oh.
37:18Forgiveness.
37:19Okay.
37:20Humbleness.
37:21Yeah.
37:22Honesty.
37:23Honesty.
37:25Honesty.
37:25Purity of thought.
37:27Control over your senses.
37:29Courage.
37:31Knowledge.
37:32Truthfulness.
37:33Defo.
37:34And last, but not least, is control over your anger.
37:40Oh, no.
37:40Look.
37:41I'm out.
37:42Deborah Meaden.
37:43I'm out.
37:44If anyone has all these ten qualities, they can attain the salvation.
37:47But if any of them is missing, then the substitute is Varanasi.
37:52The beauty of Varanasi is that for those who haven't successfully managed to achieve the
37:57ten goals of life, the holy city is a bit of a shortcut to a successful death.
38:02Because bathing in the Ganges helps remove your sins, and dying here guarantees you salvation.
38:14It's very peaceful here.
38:15Yeah.
38:16It is.
38:18Every Hindu have the wish, if they cannot die here, at least they get cremated on this spot.
38:24Can anybody come?
38:26Anyone can go to the cremation place any time of the day.
38:31Wow.
38:32We don't have the concept of funeral directors.
38:35Yeah, yeah, yeah.
38:36Everything is done by the family members.
38:38Oh, wow.
38:39I didn't know that.
38:40It takes about two to three hours to complete cremation.
38:44Nothing remains except very, very tiny bones and ashes.
38:49Where do the ashes go?
38:51All the ashes go to the river.
38:53So, within five minutes, it will be out of the city.
38:56Look at him.
38:57Who is he?
38:58He's a kind of monk who is on the way to become a big monk.
39:04And what is his body covered in this?
39:06It's all ashes of the dead bodies.
39:08You know?
39:08They take the ashes from there, put it on their body.
39:12Oh.
39:12To show the world that one day we are all going to be the ashes.
39:16Death is like a celebration in Varanasi.
39:21It's like a party.
39:22Definitely, it's like a party.
39:23Sometimes, when people carry their dead body, you have music.
39:27They're dancing.
39:28My cousin Karen at my uncle Bob's funeral put on a black bag and did Tina Turner.
39:34Yeah, exactly.
39:35Ultimate aim everywhere, if you will go to the person who is talking about Hinduism,
39:40the one thing he will tell you, no fear of death.
39:45I don't like the thought of my mum not being around.
39:51Like, it's something I don't like talking about.
39:54I'd rather block it out.
39:55I've nearly lost my mum a few times before.
39:56And, yeah, I can't.
40:05I'm fearful of my mother's death.
40:07To the point that I can't even imagine the magnitude of that
40:11and how it will affect me.
40:15Do you believe in an afterlife?
40:17It's something I really struggle with.
40:19You know, as a person of Jewish faith,
40:23there's no concluded view about that.
40:25But I've also been present around dead bodies and you feel a sense of lifelessness
40:33which helps you come to this really solidly concluded view
40:39that there was something inside it in the first place, a soul.
40:43It's the ultimate unanswered question.
40:45When life is so full of stuff, negative, suffering, all of it,
40:51it's the absolute crushing terror of finality, of oblivion.
40:57That's the stuff that our human minds can't possibly grapple with.
41:02How could we achieve that spiritual enlightenment?
41:06The first thing what you have to do,
41:08you have to make a harmony between the mind, heart and soul.
41:12And for that we have an ancient tradition that is called yoga.
41:17Yoga?
41:18Yoga.
41:18I've never been yoga.
41:19You have never?
41:20No.
41:21I'm going to go yoga.
41:22True.
41:23Please.
41:23What about him?
41:26And for you, to achieve a spiritual enlightenment, walk barefoot, without shoes.
41:32You will find millions of people are walking in the street barefoot.
41:36Because the natural vibration of the city will penetrate inside yourself
41:41and your balance between the heart and mind and the soul will come automatically.
41:47Well, what about if I did the yoga and...
41:49No, no, no, I'm going yoga, babe.
41:51Walk somewhere barefoot, that can just but remove your negativity
41:57and give the positive energy more.
42:01Get rid of your neck.
42:03Shaelish is so celebratory of death.
42:06It's almost a release from this bad world to go to a better place.
42:11So, yeah, I mean, it's one way of looking at death,
42:15to not fear it, to actually embrace it.
42:18I'm not ready yet.
42:21I'm not ready yet.
42:38All right.
42:42All of the religious figures in Christianity and Judaism
42:46are depicted either in sandals or in bare feet.
42:50So, there's got to be something in it, right?
42:55There's a pile of rubbish there, there's a cow dung there.
42:58I mean, there's human feces more or less everywhere.
43:00I mean, Rhino's basically spending an afternoon doing fucking yoga.
43:05And meanwhile, I have to sort of avoid getting cholera or necrotising fasciitis
43:09in order to find some vibration or humility.
43:11It's absolutely typical.
43:13My name is Ashwani.
43:15Nice to meet you.
43:16Nice to meet you.
43:16Where are we going?
43:17We are going inside.
43:18Let's do it.
43:18Let's do it.
43:20Rob might think he's got it hard, but I've got to lose my yoga virginity.
43:24And this is hatha yoga.
43:27So old, it was practiced by the Hindu gods.
43:30This is the yoga that apparently gets the yogis levitating.
43:35The art is learning to master the slow movements that will transform not just your body, but your mind.
43:41You can take your left heel.
43:43My left foot?
43:44Heel.
43:45Your left heel.
43:46And you place it at the perineum.
43:48Oh, the gooch.
43:50Perineum means that spot which is in between the anal outlet and genital organ.
43:54We say gooch.
43:55Put it in the gooch.
43:58Only in Baranasi.
44:07As it is an art form, as any other art forms,
44:10you need a keenness of attention to do the simple, basic movements.
44:15And it has to be done the perfect way.
44:19First, focus on the point directly in front of you.
44:24Bring the palms together.
44:25Sorry, it's my pants.
44:27That's okay, that's okay.
44:28You take your time.
44:31Slowly, slight tension in the hands.
44:35Axel.
44:35Take the hands back.
44:37I genuinely feel like sometimes when I'm trying to
44:40relax, I actually shake.
44:42Like, my hands physically tremble.
44:44Because my brain is still going...
44:48That's what goes into my head.
44:50It's okay, it's okay.
44:51Yeah, yeah.
44:53Part of me would love to switch the noise off.
44:54Stretch the toes back.
44:56But maybe I'm frightened of silence.
45:00Forehead and the hands to the floor.
45:03Obviously, there's more to my task than just breathing and
45:05lying on a mat.
45:07I don't see why Rylan's the only one with a mentor.
45:11Hello.
45:12Namaste.
45:13Namaste.
45:14You're Lucy, yes?
45:15Yeah, I am.
45:16Lucy used to be a high-flying city trader in London.
45:20But in 1999, she quit and moved to India.
45:23I've got no shoes on.
45:25I met a guru earlier who said it was a wise idea for
45:28Varanasi.
45:29I see you don't as well.
45:31Yeah, it's a great thing to do.
45:32I've done it for maybe like 20 years or so.
45:36I might jump over this wet patch.
45:42You're walking with a stick.
45:43Are you okay?
45:44I had an incident with a motorbike and avoiding a cow,
45:50as these things happen sometimes in Varanasi.
45:53Cow accidents.
45:54Yeah.
45:55So I crushed my spine.
45:58So you were a trader?
46:00Yeah.
46:00I was 28.
46:02And at that time, it was like 200,000 a year.
46:05And you gave it all up?
46:06Yeah.
46:08In the blink of an eye.
46:11From the outside, life seemed to be what everybody
46:13would dream of.
46:15But it was like having everything here in your hands,
46:18but feeling empty inside.
46:20None of these things were enough.
46:24Lucy, help me understand what I should be experiencing
46:29wearing no shoes.
46:31In this modern life, we don't take time to experience
46:35the here and now.
46:36So when we're walking without our shoes, it enables us to be
46:39present in the here and now.
46:42And then we can experience what you are.
46:46What I am?
46:47Yes.
46:48It's not about not having these things, but it's about not
46:50being attached to these things.
46:52It's through meditation and yoga.
46:54Everything in every moment seems perfect as it is.
46:58You do this every day?
46:59Yes.
47:00For how long?
47:01Four to five hours.
47:03Every single day?
47:04Yeah.
47:05It's just my life.
47:07It's how I find fulfillment.
47:11To be able to do yoga next to the Ganges is so special.
47:15It's just the noise sometimes I need to learn to ignore.
47:19Whether that's social media, whether it's friends, anything.
47:25I just sometimes need to be alone in my own self and maybe
47:29think nothing.
47:30Think absolutely nothing.
47:33One of the things is I'm weak.
47:35I need encounters with music and beautiful things.
47:38Do you think there's a way that I could find connection
47:40without any of that stuff?
47:42I have also loved all of these things.
47:45But through this culture, I found the actual art of living
47:49because our life is a living art form.
47:53So your happening or being in Varanasi is almost like a work of art?
47:58Yes.
48:00That's how I experience it.
48:03If somebody had told me about Lucy in London,
48:06I'd probably dismiss her story and shrug my shoulders and go,
48:09oh, another Westerner going to India to find themselves.
48:13But I feel like she's found something here.
48:16I believe her.
48:17And I spent a career weed whacking my way through bullshit.
48:21And what Lucy did was remind me that so much of the stuff
48:25that I think is important really isn't.
48:28All of the commercial success, all of your stuff, ultimately,
48:32when you end up in the Ganges, you're not going to be burnt
48:35or buried with it.
48:41With fires burning 24-7, roughly 30,000 people are cremated
48:46in Varanasi every year.
48:51Every night, there's an arti ceremony.
48:55That's arti spelt with the double A.
48:58In this ceremony of light, the rhythmical waving of flaming lamps
49:02attracts the attention of the gods, meaning darkness can be dispelled,
49:07ego can be eradicated, and peace can be brought to the souls of your ancestors.
49:16It's very different from a finger buffet at the golf club,
49:19listening to a CD of Robbie Williams' Angels,
49:22or if they're a bit older, Frank Sinatra crooning my way.
49:32Oh, my goodness, look at this, Rob.
49:35No, it's the last moment.
49:39It doesn't feel sad.
49:41No, it feels celebratory.
49:43Joyful.
49:45The end of a life and the beginning of something else.
49:52I don't know what happens when we die,
49:53but when I die, I'd like to be able to see my nan again,
49:57or if my mum's not here, see my mum again, and yeah.
50:01I'd like to think that there is some afterlife
50:04where you all meet up and go,
50:06oh, weren't it a laugh?
50:07Didn't you say you were going to bring your mum here?
50:09Oh, no, Linda wouldn't like it.
50:12Why?
50:13She's not a fan of the water.
50:14Oh.
50:17This feels like such a beautiful expression
50:20of why it's important to give someone you love,
50:23even though they're not aware of it, a happy ending.
50:26I know.
50:30One thing I've always known about my dad,
50:31he's always been totally proud of me,
50:33but we had absolutely nothing in common.
50:36And he has dementia, Louisville,
50:39and he's reached the stage now where he's in a home.
50:45And he knows me and remembers me and all the family,
50:47but there are days when it's a sort of jumble sale
50:51of disappearing into another place
50:57where he's not necessarily present.
51:00And bearing in mind the gradual descent
51:03of the quality of his life,
51:06actually, there's a sense in which when you love somebody
51:10and you watch their demise in that way
51:13with such cruelty,
51:16yeah, I'm not afraid.
51:17Quite the opposite.
51:19I think it's time.
51:25God, it's so peaceful.
51:27Really.
51:29The final journey of someone is a public spectacle,
51:34but in a really respectful way.
51:38You know, some places, when they have festivals,
51:41they're quite sombre,
51:42and this is full of life and energy and colour.
51:45That's really strange
51:47that you've said a place of death is full of life.
51:51That's something to take away from here.
51:54That the final resting place of so many
51:57is full of life is full of so much life.
51:59Yeah.
52:00It really is.
52:06Thanks.
52:10E.M. Forster's Indian adventures lasted almost two years.
52:15His novel, A Passage to India, was controversial for its time.
52:20It radically changed the way Westerners saw Indian culture
52:23and presented a new perspective of what really matters in life.
52:28He died in 1970.
52:31In one of his last interviews,
52:32he said that it was his heart, not his head,
52:35that had taken him to India.
52:37And that was where his heart remained.
52:43My heart is coming home with me.
52:45But I also want to take something back of India.
52:49Oh, wow.
52:50Welcome, sir.
52:51This is beautiful.
52:51Look at these.
52:53What are these?
52:53This is Murthy.
52:55Murthy.
52:55Murthy.
52:56Do you carve it yourself?
52:57I do myself.
52:58Come inside.
52:59Can we have a look?
53:00Yes, please.
53:01Wow.
53:01Murthy are not just souvenirs,
53:03and they're not just sculptures.
53:05They're seen as an embodiment of the divine
53:08and are made in memory of not just gods,
53:10but also departed loved ones.
53:13Ganesha is a very special god.
53:15I make a big one.
53:17No, it's very big.
53:18It's the real sandstone.
53:20Varanasi stone.
53:21The Varanasi stone.
53:22Could you make one of me?
53:23I do.
53:24What about that?
53:26You give a good price?
53:27Good price.
53:28Yeah.
53:30I do it.
53:31Where's your workshop?
53:32I have next buildings.
53:34I'll show you.
53:35After you.
53:36Sure.
53:36It's like a legacy thing.
53:37When people die at home,
53:39you have like a little photo on your grave
53:40or something like that.
53:42Whereas here, they have them.
53:44And I just think it would be like just a nice thing
53:46to have.
53:46And I'm going to have it as you go in my entrance hall.
53:49I've got a nice table.
53:51I'm just going to have it there.
53:52And it's like I'm guarding my own house.
53:55Look at this.
53:56Look at this.
53:56You see the moment of the faces are here.
53:58How do I make like the live faces?
54:01Can I touch?
54:02Yes.
54:02You touch in the sandstone.
54:03This work is about people remembering people
54:06who have passed.
54:07Well, why wait till then?
54:08Well, why would you want to worship yourself?
54:10You're telling me, right?
54:11Yeah.
54:11Couple of up lighters.
54:13A little bit of LED backlighting.
54:15Might be lovely with me.
54:16That would be lovely too.
54:17See, he agrees.
54:18Sold.
54:19You're actually going to do it?
54:20Why not?
54:21How are you doing?
54:23How are you doing?
54:23Good one.
54:24I know you will.
54:25And with that, our own passage to India
54:28reaches its final chapter.
54:30I really wanted to see if I could experience a culture
54:35that I really didn't know that much about.
54:39And I didn't know if I'd be able to handle it.
54:42Oh, my God, we are in the middle of the road, Robert.
54:45But...
54:46Oh, hello.
54:47I think I'm going to miss it.
54:49Don't be a prick.
54:50You're such a dickhead.
54:54I feel you've changed.
54:56Oh, look at that.
54:57You've definitely become more relaxed
54:59about the world around you.
55:00I have never, ever been more embarrassed.
55:05It's India.
55:06It's a land of excess.
55:09There we are.
55:10Just cast off things that maybe would matter a lot more
55:13in Essex.
55:15I mean, you can't see my hands, but I've definitely found myself.
55:19What about you?
55:20You know, what I take from the art and the people here and the devotion...
55:25Oh!
55:26You know, human life is exactly this.
55:29It's about what you make of it.
55:31And that when you find yourself in too much dark, remember that there's always hope.
55:35There's always a little bit of light.
55:37Precisely.
55:38You know, I think I've got diarrhea.
55:40This isn't the place, Robert.
55:43Everything here is a walking, breathing piece of art.
55:47And I love that.
55:49There's actually something quite...
55:50I can't even say this, but gorgeous about the chaos of it all.
55:55Am I working?
55:56Yes!
55:56I'm working!
55:57Gorgeous because, like you, despite all of the outward vestiges,
56:02underneath it all, it's all real.
56:04I love it so much.
56:06Where we live, there's order, there's rules, so much of it is artifice.
56:10Cow!
56:11Here in India, no one bloody pretends.
56:14And there's shit on the street.
56:16They die on the Ganges, they tell you the truth.
56:19It feels like a place where the chaos represents something true.
56:24And if life is about looking for truth, then you can find it here, you know?
56:31We're about to go home, but wait there one minute.
56:37I...
56:38Yeah?
56:38I've got these made.
56:40That's you, and that's me.
56:43Got my teeth spot on.
56:45I'm going to be sick.
56:49And I thought we could leave these here,
56:53so we can say this is our offering to the city for everything it's done for us.
56:57I'm lost for words.
56:59We've got a flight to catch, come on.
57:03That is our legacy in Baranasi.
57:06Yes.
57:08That is what I hope, Dave.
57:13I'm the same.
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