- 18 hours ago
Alexander Armstrong in India - Season 1 - Episode 01
Category
📺
TVTranscript
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.
10:06And it's not, it's everyone saying, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, it's coming by you.
10:10Ah, ah, ah, ah, it's driving past you.
10:12Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah.
10:15Although some of Mumbai today looks a bit like Manhattan,
10:19tucked away in the old city are a stack of beautiful old buildings.
10:23and all have a tale to tell the gateway of India was built to commemorate the
10:301911 visit of King George the fifth and Queen Mary but it wasn't actually
10:35completed until 13 years later in fact only a cardboard replica was in place
10:40for the royal visit in 1948 the last British troops departed India from this
10:46very spot ending nearly 200 years of colonial rule nestled by the historic
10:54arch with the best view of the sea is the city's most famous hotel Taj Mahal Palace
11:01Hotel was built as a bold statement Indian design open to everyone and
11:07unapologetically grand legend has it the great industrialist Jamset she Tartar
11:13commissioned this after he'd been refused entry to the exclusive Watson's
11:17Hotel which operated a Europeans only policy well today the Taj Palace stands
11:23proud as a symbol of Indian ambition and elegance meanwhile the once exclusive
11:28Watson's Hotel has faded into obscurity a crumbling relic of the colonial era
11:35awaiting much-needed development some of Mumbai's architectural treasures have
11:42been beautifully restored
11:47this stunning library has elegant floor-to-ceiling bookcases and Grand Bay
11:55windows that open onto a veranda overlooking Calagoda the black horse that
12:01still gives the district its name today
12:05now famously that statue once had a horseman attached and the horseman in
12:10question was Edward VII or the Prince of Wales as he was at the time of the
12:13Commission now as part of the de-britification of Mumbai across the 50s
12:18and 60s the statue of Edward VII was removed and put in by color zoo but the
12:24whole area has been known as Calagoda the black horse so a new statue was
12:29commissioned of the black horse but without the king attached
12:35what's great about Mumbai is that it's 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 Shattrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus or the CSMT to us locals this Gothic
13:05Revival masterpiece
13:06this is a true Mumbai iconic landmark at night it gets lit up casting a beautiful glow over the neighborhood
13:14and by day it positively thrums with the comings and goings of the citizenry
13:19some three million of whom use it every single day this truly is the pulsing heart of this great city
13:30now all this sightseeing is apt to make a man hungry India is of course famous for its thousands of
13:36curry
13:36dishes but I have a date with a young food critic who has promised to introduce me to the Mumbai
13:42culinary classic the vada pav known as the Mumbai burger
13:46you puja
13:49how do you do
13:50namaste how are you
13:51I'm Alexander how nice to meet you what an exciting place
13:55just across from the CSMT Aram Vada Pav is a joyful cacophony of consumption
14:02they've been serving up spicy snacks to hungry commuters here since 1939
14:08what's better than eating vada pav
14:11what indeed I've no idea what it is but I can't wait to find out
14:15people call it Mumbai burger boiled mashed potato yes okay tossed into different spices
14:23salt 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
14:48okay tamarind and sugar this one dry red chutney we call it sprinkle it this is made out of garlic
14:59peanuts red chillies coconut inside it perfect now eat it
15:15how is it
15:18I mean it's delicious it's a festival of starch
15:25yes
15:27it's all very good what's so clever about it is it does have all these lovely flavors
15:31yeah but it's got all this texture so you've got that lovely crispiness and
15:35you've got this soft soft doughy doughy white bread
15:38it'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 grown
16:03layer by layer as people from across rural India pour into the city in search of work and a better
16:09life one such
16:11place has now swelled to staggering proportions
16:16well this is
16:17the robin which is home to over a million people
16:23sometimes referred to as Asia's largest slum
16:27a million people living in an area around the size of 300 football pitches
16:33and there's been a plan for for some years but it seems to be coming to fruition now to redevelop
16:38this whole area
16:39yeah and that obviously has sparked heated debate
16:46redeveloping a vast inner city slum seems like common sense but it's far from straightforward
16:52hi
16:53hi
16:54some in Dharavi believe it could improve their lives while others fear losing everything they've built
17:01and over time they've built a lot
17:03it's a very very
17:05human
17:07knot of things
17:11it's
17:11whilst originally squatters
17:13some of the inhabitants have improved their homes built businesses and workshops
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
17:32you rajesh
17:33yes i'm rajesh rajesh
17:35yeah you can call me raj
17:38you're from here
17:39yeah i grew up in Dharavi
17:41yeah since i was three since i was child through these alleys
17:46playing different games like
17:48i bet i didn't see
17:50cricket and all
17:51so you kind of know everyone as well
17:53yeah i mean
17:56he he he he he just to prove it
17:58there we are
17:59there we are i mean how amazing
18:28this is
18:29this is this is quite a nightmare isn't it somebody's got to work out
18:31some poor electricians got to come along and trace your wiring
18:34yeah for about a kilometer
18:35the local electrician
18:37he knows where
18:38he knows he's like you you know your way around all uh
18:41he knows that which wire goes to which family
18:45rajesh is taking me to see some people who live in a very densely populated part of Dharavi
18:52they've been promised better homes if redevelopment plans move forward
18:58so that's my friend mukesh
19:00namaste sir
19:01he's over here with his family
19:03hi nice to meet you how many of you are there in your family
19:06uh we have total uh five people
19:08there are five of you yeah and how many floors are you on
19:10we have like just one floor ground floor
19:12just this ground floor how many rooms
19:14we have just one room
19:15just the one room yeah goodness me
19:17i imagine at night time i mean you must the whole floor must be covered
19:21everyone sleeps there i was incredibly ordered
19:25how long have you lived here i born here
19:27you were born here yeah i born here
19:29wow it's my third generation
19:31third generation may i have a look
19:33yeah yeah sure sir
19:35that's my house inside
19:36so here are all your family hello
19:38she's my mom he's my brother
19:40nice to meet you how old are you i was two years completed
19:43two years how'd you do that
19:45i mean having a baby
19:47i mean you're amazing
19:48and that's that's extraordinary
19:50this is my kitchen
19:53murkesh's entire family home is around three meters by three meters
19:57all five of them cook eat and sleep here with no window
20:01and no running water
20:02and i guess and your neighbors you all kind of live in each other's house
20:06yes the community is very strong
20:07yes i mean i get that lovely
20:09yes
20:10lovely uh close-knit
20:12so when at night time how do you sort out all your sleeping in here
20:16uh we have like a blanket here
20:17we put the blanket downside
20:19this is all the bank blanket
20:21there's all the blankets
20:21we put here we are total five people we sleep here
20:24goodness me
20:24in the new development
20:25what sort of house have you been promised
20:28uh they are promised they're giving
20:29to us like a nice apartment
20:32yeah it's like 350 square feet
20:34350 280 square meter
20:35this is nice here
20:37that's why we are so happy
20:38i see yeah i can see
20:39so you said yes yes absolutely
20:42this has been so enlightening
20:44looking in at a slum from the outside
20:47it's hard to imagine people's everyday lives
20:50and just how they manage
20:51and rajesh is showing me that dharavi is far more than just a place to live
20:57it's a hive of industry
20:58a tightly packed maze of small workshops and factories
21:02that employs around 250,000 people
21:06and turns over close to a billion dollars a year
21:08it has more than uh
21:1110,000 industries in dharavi
21:14industries like leather
21:15yeah pottery
21:16yeah garments
21:17and much more
21:18so now we are into the potter's community
21:20ah this is this district is is pottery
21:25the potters have built up a thriving business here over four or five generations
21:30their main products are ceremonial bowls and festival lamps
21:36look at that
21:38beautiful
21:39at peak times they can produce tens of thousands every day
21:43and export to germany japan and beyond
21:47oh beautiful look at this
21:50the potters are worried about any redevelopment as they clearly have a lot to lose
21:55be careful
21:56yeah
21:57hanif is one of them
21:59that's
21:59oh my friend hanif
22:01hanif
22:01how do you do
22:03yeah
22:03that example i see
22:04so how are you feeling about this development
22:07uh
22:08i'm not agree for developing
22:09no
22:10because
22:11i'm uh
22:12pottery i'm doing seven generations
22:14seven generations
22:16yeah
22:16my community is all here
22:17and uh
22:17the community is destroyed
22:19totally
22:20that is why i'm not agree
22:21do you think it's going to happen
22:22no
22:23no
22:24okay and do you trust the government on this
22:26i can't trust
22:27no
22:27yeah i'm staying
22:29okay
22:30yeah
22:31if the kilns and workshops get knocked down during redevelopment
22:35the potters fear they won't get properly compensated
22:41my visit to daravi has been a real eye-opener
22:44in today's india a country 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
23:07you see doors are always open
23:09so valuable that though
23:10yeah
23:10and the thought of that evaporating is sad
23:14this is one thing but still everyone wants to have a better living condition
23:19so that's why we hope it's gonna have 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 by supporting their livelihoods and
23:36preserving 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
23:55life clearly just goes on in the monsoon
24:04come to mumbai they said
24:07soak up the sun and all the sights
24:24this was the day i'd planned to spend with the legendary dover wallers
24:29okay doesn't get anywhere
24:31this 5 000 strong army has delivered home cooked lunches nearly every day since 1890
24:39on foot bicycle train and trolley they have been unstoppable
24:44and i doubt a bit of rain is gonna deter them
24:46nor me for that matter
24:48now i'm wearing the famous dabawala uniform
24:50i feel i was born for this
24:53well there's a lot going on in mumbai's lunchtime delivery system
24:57now yes there are these modern shiny apps like zamato and swiggy
25:02but there is also an old-school delivery system
25:04and frankly we're much better dressed
25:08for over a century mumbai's dabawalas have delivered home cooked lunches from kitchen to office
25:15in here
25:15a comforting taste of home in the middle of the working day
25:20yes the uh the day i came to join the dabawalas is also the first day of the monsoon here
25:27in mumbai
25:29a dabaw refers specifically to the metal lunchbox
25:33and a wallah is the person who carries it
25:36you're probably not familiar with mr darcy
25:38but that's the that's the general look i'm i'm going for
25:45here we go we're in
25:48aha
25:48over two hundred thousand containers of home cooked food
25:52are delivered across mumbai everyday
25:54my colleague santosh and i are picking up mr kakarni's lunch
25:58just recently made for him by mrs kakarni here
26:04ah
26:04i see right
26:05one two
26:06four
26:09this is where we've taken it to i see this is our delivery right
26:12yum yum
26:13oh it's like a riddle
26:21i was hoping that the rain might have stopped
26:24but clearly not
26:26but it seems i mean life clearly just goes on in the monsoon
26:30and i guess this will just go on for i don't know six to eight weeks
26:34by then i imagine the drains are probably working quite well
26:46that's three times the amount manchester gets in a year
26:50despite the weather we've just got to knuckle down and get on with it
26:53i mean this is such a mumbai
26:56institution
26:57the delivering of lunch
26:59and all this coding system is incredibly sophisticated
27:02apparently richard branson has been out here
27:04because he's wanted to crack how they do it
27:06he's he's just amazed at how look at this
27:09all of us sharing this one canal
27:15in mumbai lunch can travel miles to reach hungry office workers
27:20and from the very start the dabawalas have relied on the city's monsoon proof
27:25british built rail network to deliver it
27:29do i put it here
27:30yeah
27:32there we are right
27:34it's lovely to see this great community of people
27:37of all these double coming together you don't get that with justine
27:41i think they recognize me as one of their own
27:44um
27:46let's see
27:47nice to meet you
27:49the dabawalas daily deliveries are deemed so essential
27:53they're granted their own train carriages
27:55free of charge
27:56is this the right train?
27:58thank you very much
28:05how many stops?
28:07seven minutes three stops
28:08three stops
28:09three stops
28:09it's a special dabawala carriage
28:11where presumably everyone just hops on and travels for nothing
28:14tell you who'd really love this
28:15Ravi
28:17through breeze
28:21i mean it's a fascinating glimpse of this ancient artery of of mumbai
28:26and even uh even on the first day of monsoon
28:29i think it is working absolutely like flombo
28:38in the morning churchgate station is just one of the city's main commuter hubs for office workers
28:44but as noon strikes legions of dabawalas arrive with lunch
28:54this is one of the central sorting areas for the dabawalas
28:57this is one of the central sorting areas for the dabawalas
28:58and this is where their clever code of colours, numbers and symbols comes into its own
29:04oh yes right
29:06that goes
29:07twenty one number
29:08twenty one
29:08twenty one
29:12twenty one
29:13it's completely brilliant
29:14there's no computer involved
29:16there's no automation
29:16it's all done by code
29:18and everybody knowing what they have to do
29:21these guys really put in a shift
29:23but only get paid between four and ten dollars a day
29:27we've suddenly got the orders to move on there
29:29where am i going?
29:31i'm going out in the road
29:33a little bit of traffic
29:38it's interesting on the monsoon front
29:40once you've
29:42once you've kind of given in to it
29:45it's sort of okay
29:46it's warm
29:48and i've given up pulling this face
29:55okay
29:56where are we going now?
29:58ah
29:59i'm taking this
30:01ah
30:02this is where i get off i think
30:05thank you
30:08that bloke seems to have ditched me
30:10i need somehow to work out where i'm going
30:13well i guess the clue is here
30:14i will look for street 21
30:17i'm looking for a building that begins with r
30:20and er
30:23and then i need to be on the fourth floor
30:27i'll maybe just tag along with these guys
30:29come on i'm part of this team
30:31i don't know i
30:32is this ridiculous
30:34i feel like air crew must feel as they stride through an airport
30:38i feel we're
30:39we should pop our chests out
30:41we are the lunch men
30:45we are fueling mumbai
30:47lunch
30:48consider it done my friend
30:52oh
31:00well here we are
31:01raymond house
31:03that is the r
31:04in the code here
31:06er
31:064
31:074
31:07of course
31:08so simple as that
31:11this has been exciting
31:12and a unique glimpse of the city
31:14and i think the dabberwall has worked just as hard as those whose lunch they serve
31:18essential workers if you like
31:21floor 4
31:23hello mr kirkhani
31:24yes
31:29ah
31:30ah mr kirkhani
31:31oh hi
31:32i bring
31:34there you are
31:35i hope it's still warm
31:37of course it is
31:38it's a little bit wet i'm afraid
31:39every day you have this
31:41do you have the same
31:43dabberwala every day
31:44yes
31:44but this is wonderful so every single day you get something from home
31:47it has happened since last 20 years
31:50it's soothing that every day i get home food
31:52yeah perfect
31:54thank you very much
31:56not at all
31:57actually i hope you enjoy your lunch
32:00sorry about the puddle on the floor
32:05i guess i can take this off now
32:09i'm gonna keep that
32:10in
32:11in honour of this extraordinary
32:14occasion i really
32:17i really enjoy 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
32:26why?
32:27because he wants to eat mrs kirkhani's food
32:29simple as that
32:31or rather lovely
32:32oh 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
32:43but it has arrived 16 days early
32:47global warming i suppose
32:50in some respects it's just added to the drama
32:53it's been hot wet and hectic
32:55so mumbai rich with history
32:59but careering headlong into the future
33:02it's clearly going somewhere terrifyingly fast
33:05i hope it i just hope it keeps its roots
33:10because they're very beautiful roots
33:14i bid farewell to the city of dreams
33:16and head north
33:17to india's capital
33:19new delhi
33:20the government spent 13 billion dollars improving the road between the two cities
33:25but it's not actually finished yet
33:27so i've jumped on a plane
33:34delhi is now home to over 34 million people
33:37making it the second largest city in the world
33:40just behind tokyo
33:43i first came here as a wide-eyed backpacker over 35 years ago
33:49i don't remember much
33:50except the tuk-tuk rides
33:51i thought i'd give it another go
33:54just to see what's changed
33:56i was about to say a piece about how
33:58how interesting it is and pleasing it is that they drive on the left-hand side here in
34:02india
34:03in india
34:04because it turns out where everyone is driving in every direction on this road
34:07but you know such is the uh
34:10such
34:11is the fun
34:13of day
34:14yeah there we are the car coming straight on
34:20and now we are going to cross straight into the port
34:23so
34:24oh here they come
34:26that's it
34:27here they come
34:28traffic coming the other way
34:31see this man carrying it at the front of a car
34:33on his head
34:36delhi holds the dubious honour 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
34:52more 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 3000 years ago as a hindu city
35:43and over the intervening centuries it's famously been destroyed and rebuilt seven times
35:48so a city led 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
36:00and this astonishing building
36:03humayun's tomb built in the sixteenth century by humayun's widow
36:08marks the dawn of the grand period of mughal architecture in india
36:13and looking at it it is quite astonishingly intricate
36:17you just can't help but think ah
36:20every step so impressive
36:25after humayun's death his wife empress begar begum
36:29commissioned this remarkable mausoleum
36:32set in vast gardens to represent paradise
36:35and i'd say they get it spot on
36:38i think they were rather phenomenal the moguls
36:41they had an empire from the sixteenth century to the mid-nineteenth century
36:44right across the indian subcontinent
36:47almost to the southern tip
36:49they were muslim
36:50but they were very tolerant of all the different cultures within their empires
37:02these steps leading up to the mausoleum
37:06are meant to be wide enough and deep enough for an elephant to be able to climb them
37:12it's all about access you know
37:23and those moguls knew a thing or two not only is this dome magnificent
37:28but also it's a natural air coolant
37:32because it's actually stifling hot out there and in here lovely and cool
37:48india is racing into the future
37:50yet hindu traditions still shapes nearly every part of life
37:54and death
37:57cremation followed by the scattering of ashes in a holy river
38:01remains a sacred right
38:02unchanged for more than four thousand years
38:05the most revered place for this final journey
38:09is varanasi on the ganges
38:11india's famous holy river
38:13believed to purify the spirit
38:15and free the soul
38:17delhi may not have the ganges
38:19but it does have the yamuna river
38:22and on its banks the city's busiest crematorium
38:28this is the nigambord ghats
38:30this is where people bring their dead
38:33usually within 24 hours of dying
38:36they bring the bodies here and they cremate them
38:43you know everyone stands around and
38:46watches the body burn
38:49and then the ashes are all sent out into the larger river
38:53and swept away to sea
38:55Hindus believe that death isn't the end
38:58the soul is reborn again and again on a journey towards spiritual liberation
39:04cremation helps release the soul from the body
39:08allowing it to move on
39:09and rivers especially the ganges are seen as sacred pathways to the divine
39:14people are standing incredibly close to the
39:18close to the event
39:20and that's quite
39:23that's quite something
39:25you actually witness the
39:28the decomposition
39:29the breaking up of your
39:30of your loved one
39:32I'm quite surprised how
39:34normal it feels
39:38and it's a proper farewell
39:41we're very proud of dealing with old age and death in the west
39:45we don't really like to acknowledge that that's where we're all heading
39:51cremation can be costly
39:53and for the poorest it becomes one final obstacle on the soul's journey to peace
39:58there are 450,000 homeless in Delhi
40:02since it is a huge magnet for all kinds of people who come from districts far and wide
40:07and a lot of them don't have contacts here they don't have any friends
40:11quite 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
40:26every week the Delhi authorities recover around 50 unclaimed bodies
40:31many are homeless people who've died in the night
40:34from hunger dehydration or illness
40:38others are victims of road or rail accidents
40:42the smell here is largely of smoke
40:47suddenly it's not
40:49I think a timely cremation
40:55nothing is known about this newly arrived body
40:58not even a name
41:06I'm helping ensure he receives the most basic last rites
41:09paid for by kind donations
41:35it's a sobering end to a life and the world away from the other send offs I've seen here
41:57next time I follow in the footsteps of over 2 million international travelers to India's most exotic region
42:05there's a kind of majesty that still dazzles
42:09pink cities and glittering palaces await me in Rajasthan
42:13oh and I discover where the A-listers by their bling
42:16I mean it's staggering
42:18before heading south in search of India's elusive big cats
42:22alarm calls
42:23there, there, there
42:25tiger
42:30what happens when these great beasts end up in your front garden
42:34hippo watch with Steve Backshall continues brand new tomorrow at 8
42:39a hotelier on the very edge calls for the hotel inspector
42:42but is the SOS too late to save a sinking ship?
42:45that's new next
Comments