All language subtitles for The Ganges with Sue Perkin Series 1 1of3 720p HDTV MVGroup

This is the Ganges,
a river like no other.

Its waters bring life to hundreds
of millions of people across India.

Turn... Other way.

That's not good - that way.

That's better.

To a billion Hindus,

it's an immortal mother Goddess who
will wash away a lifetime of sins.

I'm going to explore the length of
this beautiful, contradictory and

rather pungent river.

SHE COUGHS

I don't even know what
that smell is.

From its source high in the
Himalayas...

This is why my make-up
is so flawless.

..through some of the most crowded,
chaotic and exciting places on
Earth.

Is this the queue for the toilet?

It is? God, I've got to wait,
haven't I?

Following it 1,500 miles all the
way to the Bay of Bengal.

If you want to know how important
this incredible river is to these

millions upon millions of people,
then you should come here.

I'll be poking my nose into the
lives of its people.

Do you come here with boys?

No! Yes, she does!

And bearing witness to its most
intimate of rituals.

You're struggling to try and make
sense of it, but it is not of this
Earth, this place.

India is changing,

taking its place as one of the
world's great superpowers.

This is Trumpian in its
blingtasticness.

I'm with the big dude.

The heart's going like a shrew.

Literally.

The answer's still no, you rogue.

But as India grows, the Ganges is
under threat like never before.

So this is raw sewage?

Yeah.

So what does the future hold
for the great Ganges in the India

of tomorrow?

I'm so sorry, so sorry.

It feels like I've run a marathon.

I've only done about 20 steps.

I'm in the town of Gangotri,

which is high up in the Indian
stretch of the Himalayas.

And we're on a trek to one of the
most spiritual sites in the entire

world, where I'm hoping to firmly
embrace the Hindu god

for altitude sickness.

My journey down the Ganges begins
at the source,

high up near the border with Tibet
in the highest mountains on Earth.

From there, I'll then follow this
sacred river all the way to the sea

to try and understand the role she
plays in the life of her people.

So, how far up here is the source?

18km from here. 18km.

Well, bearing in mind I'm out of
breath after 100 metres,

you're in for an interesting
couple of days.

This is Deepak,

a local guide who has the difficult
job of getting me up this mountain

over the next two days.

He must have done something awful
in a previous life.

Deepak, I need you to know,

I'm already extremely emotionally
invested in those donkeys.

They're going to have names and back
stories in ten minutes,
I'm telling you.

I'm going to call this one Tamzin.

In my head, she probably had a
successful career in retail but gave

it up because the pressures of the
shop floor were too much.

So she decided to do something
simpler with her life.

To be honest, I'm not just here
for the donkeys.

I know that everyone always says
this on telly,

but this really is an emotional
journey for me.

I've had a horrible year.

A really horrible year.

But it feels weird saying that
because in the west

we sort of swallow down pain
and we swallow down our emotions.

Because we think it's the right
thing to do to keep on going.

And that's the sort of indictment of
the way we live back home, actually.

That you need to come so far,
you know,

5,000 miles and 4,000 metres above
sea level to actually just

properly live through your
experiences.

And properly inhabit and own them
emotionally.

And I'm sure at the end of this,
I will...

..have been changed in some way.

Or I will have had a fluttering of
some new feelings or emotions.

Or experiencing things that I've
repressed and sort of subsumed
for years.

So, that's a complicated ask
for a walk, isn't it?

But if any walk is capable of
working miracles,

then surely it's this one

along the banks of the Ganges.

Legend has it that Lord Shiva,
one of the most important gods in
Hinduism,

absorbed the power of the
Goddess Ganga

when she fell from the heavens
through the locks of his hair.

Namaste.

For devout Hindus, that makes this
river a living Goddess,

with the power to wash away the
sins of a lifetime.

In the words of the 1980s gurus
Eurythmics,

everybody's looking for something,
and you get a sense of that here.

You get a sense that the people that
have trodden this path

are all craving enlightenment of
some kind.

I don't know what enlightenment
I'm craving.

I don't know what I expect.

But I'll take on board anything
that I receive, put it that way.

This sacred landscape is home to
hermits,

wise and wandering holy people who
have forsaken all worldly goods.

Wha-hey! Be careful there.

People like Materji...

Pranam.

..who lives in a cave near
the river, to be as close
as possible to the goddess.

How are you? I am fine.

Shall I take my shoes off?

No problem. Are you sure?

So how long have you been here?
Six years.

So this is your bed? Yes.

Now, I don't see any mattress,
pillows...

It's on this side. Oh, a few.

That's not happiness there. You
can't be happy if you lie on that.

Oh, I used to, but now I got things.

You'd make an osteopath happy, but I
don't think you'd be very happy.

I know it's a hard thing to sum up,
but what does the Ganges mean to
Hindus? What is its significance?

Ganga is the one who gives
salvation to all our forefathers

and whoever comes in with fate.

So it'll wash your sins away?
Your sins. It will cleanse you.

Yes! Cleanse, right.

It cleanse our sins and, you know,
whatever...

Our sins and whatever.

Whatever else.

As a young woman, Materji lived in
Delhi and was chasing a career as a

ballet dancer before she answered
the call of the divine.

You say you wanted
to be a ballet dancer.

Then you got all your grades,

and you were achieving and achieving
and nothing made you happy.

What was the thing that made you go,
"Stop, I want to be different?"

I want to, you know, like,
serve people, serve people.

Make everybody happy.

I mean, I'm normally a happy person.

But I'm very happy to be with you.

Because it's nice to meet people who
have overridden

the over-thoughtful, over-analytical
mind and can find peace.

And if you can't find peace in this,
then you're in a real mess.

God bless you. God bless you.
And God brings you some gloves,

because these hands are chilly.
I have got them, I have got them.

I have got gloves.
Thank you so much, darling.

Thank you.

Now we're on our travels.

Fred, you never mentioned this bit.

SHE SIGHS

In the high mountains,
the air becomes thin.

Breathing becomes difficult, and
the oxygen levels in my blood crash.

These are the early signs of
altitude sickness.

SHE COUGHS

I might be sick.

SHE COUGHS REPEATEDLY

This is not how I planned it.

You know, it was going to be a
glorious, triumphant hike.

And I would...

CLEARS THROAT
..meet Mother Ganga,

and I would have
this amazing communion.

Instead, I'm retching
over a hillock.

And I am not going to stop.

I'm going to carry on.

Mind over matter.

I shall walk, I shall hurl,
I shall walk then hurl,

and I shall wash my face in the
waters of the Ganges.

Although, I think, let's keep them
pure, actually.

I'll wash my face in some bottled
water and leave the Ganges be.

In the thinning air, every step
leaves me breathless and drained.

But, thank the Lord,
four hours later,

Deepak delivers me safely
to base camp.

Our own boutique spa retreat,
5km from the source of the Ganges.

So this is our very own Taj Mahal.

Let me take you through the palace.

Namaste! Namaste.

Oh, there's wonderful Deepak there.

So this is my vanity unit.

This is why my make-up
is so flawless.

And my hair, like I've just stepped
out of a salon.

Some water,

which is great.

If you touch it, it literally
freezes your hands off.

Out there somewhere,

in that building that looks like
it's part of the Saw film franchise,

is a toilet.

This is my favourite room.

Hey, Namaste!

Namaste. Namaste.

# There were three Sherpas in the
bed, and the little one said... #

Four Sherpas!

It's only when I sit down that I
realise how utterly exhausted I am.

The thing is, pilgrimages aren't
supposed to be easy,

because everyone would do them
and they would be meaningless.

You know, pilgrimages are not
supposed to be a little skip
in green fields

with a parasol and sitting down for
some cucumber sandwiches and would

you mind passing the sun-dried
tomato focaccia?

They're supposed to be hard and
they're supposed to ask
something of yourself and

take you to a different place.

And that's certainly done that.

I mean, for me, the more sort of
physically depleted you become,

weirdly, the calmer you are inside.
The more exhausted you are,

you can't fight the simplicity
of the experience.

And you don't have what I call
chattering chimps, you know,

the sort of endless psychobabble
in your head.

You just have a serenity as your
body just tries desperately to deal

with, you know, being sick or having
a headache

or being very high or far away.

And being very cold.

So, I had...

After a while, I just heard a voice
in my head which said,
"Take it steady."

I think I know who that voice
belonged to,

but that's for another time,
and it was just...

It kept me going

and I made it, and
I'm just dead chuffed now.

It's a very strange sensation,
altitude.

So, I feel sick, I have a headache,
but you're a hero

and you're going to get me there.
We'll go slowly, slowly.

Yeah, we'll take it easy.
It's a beautiful day.

Yeah. It's a beautiful day to find
purification.

It's just a short walk to the
source from here.

It sounds easy, but I'm now over
4,000 metres above sea level.

That's nearly the height
of Mont Blanc.

Every breath and every step is a
massive effort.

We'll see the glacier. The glacier?
Yeah, glacier. That's it?

Yeah, that's it.
Is that where the source is?

The source is. So we can see it.
Yeah.

As we get to the source, we can see
this beautiful Shiva temple.

This is my first Baba.

And first thoughts are,
if we were playing beard cricket,

that's a six and out.

I think a bit of hats off might be
more deferential too.

Beneath the glacier,
a Baba, or holy man,

has built a small temple
where he offers blessings to
pilgrims like me.

Pranam, Baba. Pranam. Pranam.

God bless you.

Sit down.

Here? Yeah. Thank you.

Oh, there.

Are you a good man?
Not full good.

You're not full good? No.
I think you're pretty 99% good.

God blessing them full.
I think you are very high.

I think I'm here and
then Baba's here.

And then God's...

Baba's commitment to his faith in
this wild place

is truly astonishing.

He tells me that he spends 13 hours
a day in silent prayer

communing with the Goddess and the
mountains around him.

Mother Ganga...

What, you think the bird is now
Mother Ganga?

Reincarnation? Yeah. Why not?

Do you know what? I looked at this
bird and saw something different.

But, yes, I agree with you.
Blackbirds are special to me.

I'm not a religious person, but I
can't deny the spiritual impact of

this magnificent landscape.

And the simple act of just walking
here has had a profound effect
on me.

When I hit the wall and I was really
feeling altitude sickness,

I just had this phrase in my head
which was,

"Take it steady,"
which is not very unique phrase.

But it was something my dad always
used to say.

He'd always say, "Take it easy,"
or "Take it steady."

"Take it steady," when he took my
stabilisers off my bike,

or "Take it steady, old girl,"

when I was leaving him and driving
back home.

And, erm...

..my dad died about six months ago
and I found it so hard to even...

..say that out loud.

And because I live in London and
it's always so fast-moving,

it's provided the perfect excuse to
just suppress everything and bury it

so deeply down so that I don't have
to feel that surge of pain, and to

re-identify with the fact
that he's not here.

And what this trip has done that has
been so profound for me is to...

..let me be sad, you know, just to

give me the space and the
breathing room

and the time to be truly,
truly sad.

Because, I tell you,
you don't know my dad but...

..he's really worth grieving over

and I'm really glad
I've started that.

I'm now going to start my journey
south, following the Ganges as she

tumbles over 1,500 miles downstream,

gathering speed across
the Gangetic Plain

through the oldest living city in
the world, Varanasi,

towards charming and chaotic
Calcutta.

And on to the vast delta
on the Bay of Bengal

where she finally meets the sea.

I'm back in Gangotri,
about 20km downstream.

Winter is coming and today is an
important day in the calendar.

Very good. I'm scared of him.

You're powerful, you are handsome,
you are a magnet.

Everybody loves you. Thank you.
You've got it.

Pilgrims from all over India are in
town waiting to see the effigy of

the Goddess Ganga as she leaves her
summer temple

and heads down the mountain.

For many, it'll be a
once-in-a-lifetime opportunity

to get up close to this
very important Goddess.

So I have come 5,000km, maybe.

Yeah, yeah. To see Ganga.

It's like heaven. Exactly.

What does it look like to you?
Very good. Very.

Same like you. Very good.

It's a slightly curious festival,
this, lots of fits and starts.

So, you know, there will be a lot of
activity and shouting,

a guy will go in with a sprig of
something, everyone will go nuts.

Then it's tea break, then the pipes
will start and everyone will
reconvene.

A moment of frenzy.

Drenched with a couple of litres.

Off again for some quiet time.

At the moment, chanting.

And at 12.38 exactly,
Ganga will appear.

A stickler for time.

Apparently, 12.38 is the perfect
time astrologically for her to make

her descent down the valley.

50 years ago, before roads
were built,

only the most devout pilgrims would
make the arduous journey here.

But then India's economy went into
overdrive,

so more and more people could
afford to make the long pilgrimage.

Now, up to 30 million people a year
visit the region.

A whole industry has grown up to
cater for this new flood of pilgrims

and trekkers, with blessings to
Ma Ganga, souvenir stores,

and an endless supply of priests
for hire.

It's quite hard to follow the beat
of that drum, isn't it?

It's quite irregular. Yeah.

Da-dum. You think you know where you
are and then it's all...

She's coming.

Ganga. Ganga.

She's coming.

Bang on 12.38, Ganga makes her
appearance to her adoring fans.

And a sea of mobile phones.

Oh, the bagpipes are a lovely touch.

Love the Scots. Get everywhere.

My name is Sue. Sue.

What is your name?

My name is Ragini. Lagini?

Ragini. Ragini.

What do you feel when you see Ganga?
I feel good.

And do you feel that God is around?

Yes. In the sky?

Yes. In the trees?

Yes. And the brilliant sunshine?

Yes. God is everywhere. Yes.

The Goddess will wind her way down
the valley over the next two days,

along new roads and ancient paths,

collecting villagers and spirits
like a Himalayan Pied Piper.

But this influx of visitors and
their cash to such a remote and

fragile environment is changing
life in the high mountains.

And there's a holy man in town
who's seen it all.

Today, I'm going to meet
the Clicking Baba.

I've got no idea why he's called the
Clicking Baba.

Maybe he has legendarily dry joints,
or speaks fluent dolphin.

SHE CLICKS

I guess I'll find out.

Namaste. Namaskar.

May I come in? Yes, yes, come.

Thank you so much. Thank you.
Please. May I sit? Yes.

After you.

So, how long have you
been living here for?

1948. Many years. Yes.

And what first drew you
to this spot?

I can see, by the way, why you're
called the Clicking Swami,

because around there are photos,
millions of photos.

These yoga poses are extremely
impressive.

That is definitely
the struggling colon.

And I don't even know how you get
your feet to do this.

You know, practice.

I practise every day.

Eight-hour sitting.

But it's very intimidating,
being in the shadow of that.

I will never ever be able
to do that.

The most profound pictures that you
take are not of you doing

these incredible yoga poses,
but they are of the environment.

So you have charted the way that
the environment has changed

since you've been here.

Can I see? Yes, see. Ah!

Family slide show time.

Swami Sundaranand
is now 90 years old.

His life's work has been to
photograph the effects of

climate change on his
beloved mountains and river.

Oh, you've got them all down here.

Oh, brilliant, there's a full list.

Of all the mountains,
how high they are...

Oh! You've written here,
"Oh, sky, I love you."

I love that.
That makes me love you even more.

"Oh, sky, I love you."

His archive records the dramatic
retreat of the glacier,

and a world changed
beyond recognition.

If this is Gomukh, then the glacier
I'm seeing in this picture

in the 1950s doesn't resemble what
I saw a couple of days ago at all.

So the retreat is very,
very marked indeed.

Swami, how far do you think
the glacier has retreated

in the last 50 years?

You think it's retreated
three and a half kilometres?

Yeah. In 50 years? 50 years.

This is like a sort of very, very
beautifully told horror story,

isn't it?
I mean, 3km seems a huge amount.

Three and a half kilometres.
Three and a half, sorry.

You're a real stickler,
and I respect that.

The flood of new pilgrims
has brought new problems.

Trees cut down to make room for
new buildings and guesthouses,

along with raw sewage
pouring into the river.

When you came in the 1940s, what was
this place, what was Gangotri like?

No, not finished. Finished.
You think finished?

That makes me really sad.

Altitude always makes me cry.

But I...

I have to believe it's possible
to change things.

Otherwise, you'd lose your mind.

Swamiji, dhanyabad.

Thank you. Dhanyabad.

For your time and for your passion
and your wisdom. Thank you.

I loved meeting Swami.
He's just a lovely, gentle,

passionate man who doesn't try
and use religion as a way of

obfuscating the issue.

You know? And who's so immersed
in this landscape.

And I don't think I've ever been
anywhere in my life where the notion

of landscape and spirituality are
more interconnected.

And it just seems, to me,
as a passer-by, really,

that if you degrade
one element of that,

then the whole is going to suffer.

So, I...

I can't understand why,

if you believe that this space
right next to where I'm standing

was the space where Ganga came down

and flowed through Lord Shiva's
dreadlocks,

why you would want to put
an open sewage pipe in it.

That, I will never understand.

Oh, good. Another climb.

No wonder so few people live here.

They can't make it up the hill.

This morning, I'm in Mukhba,
20km downriver,

where the Goddess Ganga
will see out the cold of winter.

That's Ganga's new home.

So she's going to come down from the
mountains and that's where

she'll stay until the spring, when
then she'll then process back up

again to Gangotri and she'll stay
and enjoy the summer climes there.

Namaste.

How are you, sir?
When is Ganga coming?

When will Ganga arrive? Ganga is
reaching here at exactly 3.30pm.

Exactly 3.30? Exactly 3.30.

Or, say to quarter to four.

Quarter to four.
Exactly 3.30, quarter to four.

Quarter to four. Yep. Four?

You are from which part of Britain?
London.

The climatic condition of England
and Mukhba is the same.

The climatic conditions of this
village and England?

And London. I bring news -
we have no sun in London.

You have not seen the sun in London?
I think once or twice.

Once or twice? Maybe.

So that's why you are telling,
"Good morning, sir."

I know, because it's so beautiful.

Good morning, good morning,
good morning.

This is such a beautiful village.

Namaste.

Mukhba feels like it belongs to
an older world.

200 years ago, the British arrived
in these forested hills,

chopped down the trees to make
sleepers for India's railways,

and introduced the nomads
to farming.

Now, village life is changing again,
as more and more pilgrims

make the long journey up the valley.

Namaste, namaste.

For Chumli, one of Mukhba's elders,
the changes are welcome.

And what is it you love about it?

So, do you have a lot of Westerners
come to the village?

Oh, mine's gone very weird.

Really weird!

This is for you.
The chapati superhero.

So, do you want to see
the village develop?

Do you want to see more buildings
and roads? Is that what you'd like?

Good. Good. Really good.

The best chapati maker
in the Himalayas.

Delicious.

Tourism is now the main source
of income here.

With most of the village men working
away, I'm joining Chumli and her

merry band of women as they prepare
for the arrival of the Goddess.

The women are also very keen
to dress me.

I'm not sure the sari goes with
a boiled woollen jumper.

Whatever makes the Goddess happy...

What you've done there is a classic
East-West fusion.

You're the Trinny and Susannah
of the Himalayas.

THEY SPEAK OWN LANGUAGE

She's got a very firm...
Very firm touch, hasn't she?

Yes, I'm getting married?

I'd like to see the man who takes
this on. I really would.

That's bone, that's bone.

Oh!

I came here with love.

Thankfully, the priests have now
arrived, so I have a perfect excuse

to end this agonising makeover.

I can hear them, I can hear them.

You like? Good?

I've had a rebrand.
Yes. It's good? You prefer?

Yes, beautiful.

Thank you. You rogue.

Lovely. The answer's still no,
you rogue.

Hundreds of local villagers have
flocked here to welcome the Goddess.

THEY SING IN OWN LANGUAGE

This scene feels utterly timeless,

with its epic stories from
the dawn of Hinduism.

But modernity is sweeping up this
valley on a tide of tarmac

and mobile phones.

Everyone wants to come
to this region,

pay their respects
to the living Goddess,

and wash away a lifetime of sins.

But in doing so, they are causing
genuine harm to the environment,

and destroying the very Goddess
they're here to honour.

I can only hope that places like
this will survive and prosper

as change rushes in.

At Gomukh, the source of the Ganges,
kilometre zero, if you will,

sort of felt...

..purely at one with the elements.

I connected directly with the sky
and the mountains and the water,

and yet just 20km from there,

I've been immersed in this world
of colour and a riot of sound

and pageantry and madness,

and if we've got so far in
just 20km, it makes me think,

"What on earth is waiting
for me downstream?"

HORNS HONK

After you. After you, sir.

Been here for two and a half hours.

Politeness has no place on this
bridge. No place.

After the peace of the mountains,

Rishikesh comes as something
of a shock.

It's a far cry from Gomukh.

Gomukh, you could touch the hand of
God. Here...

Well, I can touch an awful lot of
strangers, a cow, some monkeys,

some Ghandi pants,
and a Lord Shiva onesie.

After you. After you.

What are you doing?
You're a cow on a bridge!

We need a system. I think it should
be cows first, then bikes,

then monkeys, then humans.

Rishikesh lies in an
auspicious place,

where the Ganges flows
through forested hills.

It's just 160 miles downriver
from Gangotri,

but it feels like a world away.

They're wonderful, aren't they?
I mean, they are wonderful.

I come back. I come back.

Now it's an all-you-can-eat buffet
of Eastern mysticism,

a smorgasbord of spirituality,

a one-stop shop on the backpacker
trail of enlightenment.

I feel as if I'm leaving
a higher place

and crossing back
into the material world.

What is your top-selling God?

Top-selling God?
Yeah, Shiva? Shiva.

Shiva. Ganesh a bit?

Ganesh also. Ganesh also.

Let's have a look.

Lord Shiva. That's what
I'm looking for, perfect.

Do you have any...big pants?
Big... Big pants, for you?

Big pants, massive pants.
Like this...

Ooh, yeah, this is sort of...

What do you think?

Sort of Hillary Clinton at the
weekend, isn't it, this?

I think these ones.
Can I try on? It's OK?

The important thing about going to
a new area is that you blend in.

You know, you have to...

..merge with the crowd, not create
any kind of ruckus visually,

so...I think that does it.

The trousers,
I don't know about the colour,

but the Shiva T-shirt for me
is an absolute...

Oh, hello. He's gone for it.

Yeah. I think you could be right.
You've got an eye, sir,

is what I'm saying.
You've got an eye.

There's an entire family in here
just sitting watching me.

You all right?

Yep, they're coming down again,
I'm afraid. Just, er...
I'd avert your eyes.

I'm heading across the river
to a sacred place,

a site of holy pilgrimage where,
many years ago,

four gods descended from heaven
and real magic happened.

What drew Westerners to Eastern
spirituality in the late '60s wasn't

devotion to Lord Shiva or Ganesh,

it was devotion to four
working-class lads from Liverpool.

It was all less Ganga
and more goo-goo-ga-joo.

This was once
the Mahesh Maharishi Yogi Ashram,

where The Beatles came in search
of divine inspiration.

Namaste. Namaste.

I'm Sue. Nice to meet you.

My guide is Raju, local journalist
and fellow Beatle nut.

This is the place where
The Beatles came in 1968,

and this is the place where
they learned about meditation.

The Fab Four first crossed paths
with Maharishi in London.

He was already a guru to stars like
The Beach Boys, and promised bliss

and enlightenment through
transcendental meditation.

So how many songs did they write
here?

48 songs. 48 songs. Yeah.

It's a hit machine, this bungalow.
Yeah, yeah.

And it all originated from here.

Oh, it's great.

So there they are.
There's the Fab Four.

What I love about this place is that
there's the sort of layers of

devotion, so some people come here
to venerate Shiva, Ganga,

and then there are people
who come to venerate

the greatest pop icons
of all time.

There's a real sense of sort of
Guru, you know,

kind of Guru eyes bearing
down on you.

For a brief time in the late '60s,

this must have been
the coolest place on the planet.

As well as The Beatles, Mike Love
from The Beach Boys was here,

Donovan and Mia Farrow, too.

Imagine.

Ringo left after just ten days,
in search of proper food.

What he did,
he came here with baked beans.

He brought his own baked bean stash?
Yeah, yeah...

All of The Beatles members
who came here,

they were very annoyed
with monkeys and mosquitoes.

I don't know much about Ringo,

but I do know that he can't abide
a monkey taking his baked beans.

The rest of the band followed soon
after and finally the Yogi himself,

amid claims of sexual impropriety.

But The Beatles and the Maharishi
turned the West onto Indian

spirituality and put Rishikesh
firmly on the world map.

There's an incredible energy
and presence about this place

which is as much to do with
the wonderful natural environment
as anything else.

You can hear the Ganges,
you can smell the flowers,

there's butterflies everywhere.

But there's also a sense of it
being, you know, a spiritual home
to many.

Although, running alongside that,
you do get a sort of sense

of the beginnings
of the branding of Hinduism.

The Maharishi came to London,
he sought out The Beatles,

he made that connection and
brought them back to Rishikesh.

Why? Because he wanted
celebrity endorsement.

Maybe that's what
all major religions need.

50 years after The Beatles
passed through,

Rishikesh is THE place for people
in search of...

..something.

There are dozens of ashrams now.

They're a sort of health spa for the
soul, places where you can meditate,

receive spiritual guidance,
and detox from the modern world.

Oh! You are the cutest
little sausage ever!

More and more Westerners are being
drawn to these quiet places
and Eastern religions.

So I've booked a short stay
at one of the ashrams to try
and understand why.

Every night, down by the river,
hundreds of people gather
for Ganga Aarti,

to give thanks and worship
to the Goddess Ganga.

These are great seats.

SINGING AND MUSIC

How many of these do you see a week?

I come every night.

And always different?
Every night, it's different.

Always moving. Like a theatre show.

Every night, it's a new show.

And when you hear
Pujya Swamiji singing...

Really? ..you can't get enough,
can't get enough of that.

Swamiji is the guru at the ashram.

I'm told that he will sing
108 verses.

HE SINGS

Could be a long night.

But, on the plus side, I've been
promised a buffet the end of it.

Let's get a bit of that dahl
going on.

This is Elise,
originally from the UK

and now a full-time administrator
at the ashram.

She's invited me for supper.

What's your story? How come you came
here? What drew you to this place?

So I had my full-time job.
What was your full-time job?

It was very corporate.
I worked, er, for...

You were in a corporate world?
I was in the corporate world.

Can you imagine this now? Asset
management and venture capital.

You were in asset management?

Yes. You know, I was dealing
with a lot of staff.

I felt I had the capacity to be more
caring, but not necessarily...

In a different environment.

I mean, assets - grabbing,
getting, getting...

This is what I struggled with.
And now you're giving, giving.

This is where I struggled.

You know, I turned around to my
colleagues and I'd say to them,

"You know, we're sort of making
rich people richer."

And so when you come here,
although obviously there's
the Hindu practices,

it's about bringing everyone
together and the answer to
everything does tend to be, like,

love and looking inwards
at yourself.

Will you ever go back, do you think?

Depends if my mum's watching this.

So if your mum wasn't watching this,
you're not coming back.
Is that right?

I don't know. I visit home.
I visit home.

Does she come to visit you?

No. I'd love my parents to
come and visit one day.

Do they get it yet, or not?
Are they a bit bamboozled by you?

At first, they were worried.

You know, what am I doing, and like
you say, what am I giving up?

It's not like I'm bumming around
and I've got my backpack, you know.

I'm here trying to make a difference
and I'm a small cog in a big wheel,

but I'm playing some part.

Let me tell you, you're...you're...

in comparison to asset management,
you are a massive cog.

Congratulations on being now
a massive cog.

Putting the likes of me to shame.

Relax.

Relax your knees.

The ashram is a place
of quiet devotion.

The aim is moksha,

a release from the endless cycle
of death and rebirth.

Raise your arms up forward.

Breathe in.

And out.

Oh, that's how you do
the downward dog.

Relax. Good.

Unfortunately, yoga, meditation,

and veggie curry will not get you
to heaven on their own.

You're expected to do some work.

For every Hindu, it's their duty to
do seva, or service,

to help the smooth running
of the community and the country.

This morning, we are litter-picking
on an epic scale.

So far, we've just been picking up
a few fag butts,

and you turn a corner
and you can see what

an ineffective waste management
system does.

This is right by a stream that feeds
into Ganga, into the Ganges.

That's pretty shocking, actually.

Ah, thank you. Great.

Cheers. So much nicer to rake
through shit than sweep it.

Got a pair of jeans in here.

Have you? Yeah. There's a couple of
saris I had earlier on.

Got some glitter, some foam,
some sort of belt.

Coffee cup. Tobacco pouch, condom.

That's actually a human beard.

That's somebody's beard.

Anything people don't want,
they bring up here and dump.

And because it's not happening
on the banks of the Ganges,

people think they are maintaining
their respect,

but of course all this waste simply
trickles down eventually and meets

the very waters
that they're taking their bath.

I suppose it's a bit of an own goal,
isn't it, really?

They think they're dumping it
away from the Ganges,

but it comes back to roost.

Swamiji's here. Oh, I'm slightly...
I'm slightly overwhelmed.

Swamiji is a truly impressive man.

Called by God at age eight,

he meditated in the mountains
for nine long years

before gaining a Masters degree
in Sanskrit and philosophy.

He's now a scholar,
religious leader,

and environmental campaigner
to clean up the Ganges.

To me, it is a green crime against
humanity that our air is not clean,

water is not clean,
rivers are not clean.

What we are going to leave
for our coming generation?

What I love about the ashram
is this work.

It's not just a life of the mind.

Now we have gone to the courthouse,
so very soon the order will be there

that no-one will be allowed to
do this any more.

So you're changing the law
as well as...?

We are trying. No-one has a right
to pollute any piece of the river.

The theme is togetherness. Always.
Give me the hand.

Promise. Done. Done. It will happen.
Done!

What an amazing man.

All the way up towards Gomukh,
you meet babas who don't have much

interface with the community,

who prefer to retreat
and commune directly with God.

How much more powerful, though,
when you can put that to work
in a community.

You can clear land together,
whilst pressurising the government
to do something from the top down.

Right...

I have to say, I'm leaving
the ashram just a little bit
ashamed of myself

because in retrospect I've been
guilty of spiritual snobbery.

I arrived in Rishikesh
and immediately dismissed everybody
who went out and,

you know, bought a Lord Shiva
T-shirt, and yet that night,

I looked down and saw this raggedy
old thing which was given to me

three years ago in Laos
and is supposed to unite
my 30-something souls.

These are just signifiers.
All these things we wear.

All they're saying is...

"I've got an open heart,
I've got a questing mind.

"I'm human. I want to connect.

"I want to understand.
I want to love."

So, shame on me.

That's what I've learnt.

I'm heading downriver
to the holy city of Haridwar,

where the Ganges leaves the
mountains and flows into the plains.

Everywhere you look, one bearded
face smiles back at you.

Baba Ramdev - one of India's
most famous figures.

He's a yogi/holy man
turned business guru,

who now runs one of India's
fastest-growing consumer goods
companies.

No wonder he's smiling.

Well, this is a very big day
for a girl from Croydon

because today I'm going to meet
my first ever tycoon -

a holy man who's made
multiple millions

by packaging Hinduism
for the masses.

Think Donald Trump, but with morals.

There's a lot of entourage
going on here.

And sub-automatic machinery.

Pranam, Swami.

I'm really good.
Nice to see you, nice to see you.
Thank you, thank you.

So this is it -
the beginnings of the empire.

So, will you take me on a tour?

Yes, yes. Can I see? Yes, yes.

We'll tour the compound
on an armed golf buggy,

accompanied by his PR team
filming us filming them.

Oh, we're travelling in style.

Life doesn't get any better.

I'm slightly scared by this guy
with a gun here.

Does he follow you around,
the guy with a gun, all the time?

Is there a lot of warfare
in natural products?

HE LAUGHS

Baba Ramdev founded Patanjali
with his business partner,

selling traditional Indian versions
of over 1,000 common household
items,

all made using Ayurvedic techniques,

a traditional holistic form
of Hindu medicine.

So, no additives?

So no big American multinational
influence?

HE LAUGHS

SUE LAUGHS

That was a great laugh.

It was both benign and terrifying
at the same time.

We start in the herb and spice
warehouse.

Oh... Ooh!

It's like an edible Ikea.

You are feeling the
different type of smells?

Beautiful, yeah. So perfumed, spicy.

But these are all natural products.

You are looking here, 20...

20,000kg weight of hops are here.

This is javitri.

Javitri.
What would you use this for?

This is good for lung.

Good for lungs.
Again, you can eat straight?

No, no. But you can eat.
No problem.

HE LAUGHS

I love the way you said, "No,
no," after I'd put it in my mouth.

So you can't...? It is very hot.

The heart's going like a shrew!
It's literally dr-r-r-r-r-r!

HE LAUGHS

You're a torturer.

HE LAUGHS

I don't think I'm ever going to have
any lung problems again.

Hoh! Hoh-oh-oh-oh!

This is good for lady.
Good for ladies. OK.

For menstruation problem.

So is it curing your menstruation
problems now? Yes, yes, yes.

You can eat.
What are your teeth made of?

They're incredibly strong,
your teeth.

I'm eating Dant Kanti,
our herbal toothpaste.

Oh, OK.

Maybe I need some of that.

Namaste. I'm with the big dude.

THEY LAUGH

The company is growing
at an astonishing rate -

100% a year -

and is expected to hit sales
of three-plus billion dollars

in the next 12 months.

And now they're taking on
the big guys.

Is it? Yes.

This is India's answer to Colgate.

Lovely! I love the fact that a
Swami, a holy man in orange robe,

just saying, "Three to five
years, crush. Kill, crush!"

No, no! Rrrrr!

Ramdev isn't quite what I expected.

He's sort of equal parts mad monk
and Bond villain,

but I absolutely love him.

You're making 2.5 million of these
every day? Yes, every day.

This has all gone a bit Willy Wonka.
I might end my days in
a toothpaste vat.

This is one hell of a thing
you've got going here, it really is.

Like this? Like this.

It's unimaginable.
The scale is unimaginable.

Patanjali employs over 200,000
people and is growing fast.

Profits have doubled this year
already.

It's an odd fit, a holy man
and a multi-billion...

Not yet. Five years.

Crush!

Not for mine. Is this for India?

Because you are Swami,
so you are...? I am Swami.

But is it strange, then,
that you're now a celebrity?

I'm not a celebrity.
You are. I see you everywhere.

Even in the rural parts of India,
I see your wonderful face.

Boom, there. You are.

A Swami, yeah. And everyone else
thinks you're a celebrity.

This is our store.

A whole store with just
your products in?

That's amazing, isn't it? Yes.

Some people say it's hard to
reconcile spirituality, Hinduism,
with business.

But that is how you do it,
by saying, "I give to people."

So you put it into practice.

It's not enough to have a life of
the mind, you must work and give...

Yes, I agree, I agree.

I would like a tiny piece
of your energy,

your ability, your inner peace.

If you could sell that,
I would buy it. Amazing. Thank you.

Namaste. Namaste.

I think what, if I'm being honest,
I expected to find here

was a man cynically exploiting
his position,

bottling spirituality and selling it
to the masses for a fortune.

But instead what I found was
the nicest, sweetest, funniest guy.

So dynamic, and driven not by money
but by a desire to put India

firmly on the map.

A sort of old-fashioned
almost Victorian benefactor
and philanthropist, if you will.

In the mode of Cadbury's and Quaker.

A guy that all he wants to do is to
provide the best foods...

..for his people at the best price.

I'm going to go to a forest
and live with him forever.

My journey along the upper Ganges
is very nearly at an end.

But I have one more place to visit.

The Ganga Aarti ceremony
in this holy city of Haridwar.

He thinks I'm Sue Pollard.

I'm now going to Aarti, which is
the nightly prayer to the Ganges,

which takes place on the banks here.
Thousands of people attend.

It doesn't feel very religious,
though. At the moment, it sort of
feels like Tottenham-Arsenal,

sort of afternoon match, with people
eating, chatting and joking.

That's the sort of religious vibe
I can half get into.

THEY SING AND CHANT

There are no tourists here.

Just everyday folk coming to praise
a sacred river and the Goddess
that lives in her.

It's an Indian wave.

You could never know,
coming into all of the mess
and muddle of this place,

that it would end up being
so utterly beautiful.

The sense of love and devotion here
is overwhelming.

This is how the Ganges is
worshipped.

It's been an exhausting
and emotional few weeks.

I may not believe in gods and
goddesses, but this pilgrimage

along a sacred river
has genuinely touched me.

It's not just the Ganges
that connects this place
to my time at the source.

It's also a feeling,
and you're probably thinking,

"How on earth can the feelings you
have here in amidst all this chaos

"and noise and thrum be the same
as you experienced in the elemental
purity of the mountains?"

But I feel it.

And it's not a feeling that needs to
be mitigated by babas or sadhus
or swamis.

It's pure joy.

Not peace, by the way. Not peace.

Joy.

Next time, I'm in Varanasi...

This one is trouble.

..the ultimate destination
for Hindus.

If you want to know how closely life
and death are linked in this place,

the ashes of a recently cremated
human rubbed all over.

Ooh!

I never thought I'd been sharing
tattoo stories with an 83-year-old!

It's a breathtaking city,
but, I warn you,

it's not for the faint-hearted.

You're struggling to try and make
sense of it, but it is not
of this earth, this place.