All language subtitles for Welcome to India 3of3 720p HDTV_Subtitles01.ENG

Don't you think it's astounding
that our planet supports

seven billion of us?

BABY CRIES

And counting.

Learning to survive in a crowded
world is our biggest challenge.

But there's one corner where we're
already well on our way to adapting.

Welcome to India.

Over one in six in the world
live here

and, in a few years, will be
the most populous nation on earth.

We're resourceful.

And we're tactical
at playing the long game.

It's not just the here and now
that matters.

Still I'm waiting for one chance.

It's the future of our family
over generations to come.

The cycle of life might be
one of our spiritual beliefs,

but in a crowded world,
it's also a material opportunity

for a better future.

A WALTZ PLAYS

Meet Swapan, one of the shrewdest
dealers in Kolkata's
main fish market.

Swapan has fish sent up from
the Ganges delta every night.

Amid cut-throat competition,

he employs every tactic to sell
them at the best possible price.

Having started his working day
at 3.00am,

Swapan heads home for a short rest.

He lives with his wife, Ruma, and
his two daughters, Ahana and Anesha.

On top of his all-consuming
fish business,

Swapan's volunteering
the little time he has left

to organise his neighbourhood's
Durga Puja celebration.

But he's not just on his local
committee for the prestige -

he hopes that the Goddess Durga's
blessings will help his business.

All over the city, rich and poor

are building fantastical temporary
structures known as a "pandals"

to show their devotion
and creativity

and, ideally,
to upstage the neighbours.

Swapan's excited about his
contribution to this year's design.

The committee are still considering
his ambitious plan

of a stocked pond
as the star attraction.

The responsibility for supporting
the family is a huge,
all-consuming task.

From the moment our kids
start school,

the expectation of expanding
the family's fortunes is placed
squarely on their shoulders.

Welcome to Cuffe Parade.

This illegal settlement
in the thick of down-town Mumbai

is home to two brothers
facing the full pressure
of their family's ambition.

I...

love...

you.

Prakash is striving to launch
his lifelong dream -

to be a Bollywood actor.

Prakash lives in the family one up,
one down.

He shares it with his parents,
his elder brother and sister,

their partners and their young kids.

MUSIC PLAYS ON MOBILE

HE SINGS ALONG

MUSIC: "Billie Jean"
by Michael Jackson

Prakash has secretly
been putting aside

some of the salary
from his job in the harbour.

After six months, he's finally
got enough to get photos taken
for his portfolio

to send off
to the city's acting agencies.

But while he's busy
chasing the Bollywood dream...

..his younger brother Mangesh
is about to come home
from his first year

studying software engineering
at a Bangalore university.

It's a contrast
not lost on their mother.

Smile.

Our dreams of a better life

must be given the best
possible chance of success.

So focusing a family's combined
resources on our most promising child

is simply a pragmatic strategy.

Once a family has carved out
a lucrative business,

it can be passed down the generations
for as long as it remains profitable.

Clay tea cups are essential for
the serious chai drinkers of Kolkata,

and their demand is guaranteed
by being disposable.

It's an ingenious use of local mud.

Sujit turns this clay from the Ganges
into several thousand cups a day,

working 13 days in every fortnight.

For all their ingenuity, Sujit and
his colleagues need to run a slick
operation to make ends meet.

Sujit's own wife and kids live
in his village, 400 miles away.

Renting space here
is simply too expensive.

Like many who come
to work in the city,

Sujit sleeps where he works
and can only return home
every six months.

He's hoping that the approaching
Durga Puja festival

will boost sales enough
for his family to visit.

But, for now, he tries
not to dwell on the situation.

Drink.

Sujit's workshop is a short stroll
from the Ganges - handy for
bath-time,

not to mention the all-important mud.

For us, the Ganges is a sacred being.

We worship her as a goddess.

She can wash away
the sins of a lifetime,

and when we die,
she bears us up to heaven.

She also performs
more everyday tasks,

satisfying the needs
of the mega-city of Kolkata,

and washing its effluent away
down choked canals
and into large shallow lakes.

These man-made wetlands
are the largest sewage-fed
fisheries in the world.

The decomposing waste from the city

nourishes the ponds' ecosystem,

which feeds the fish
of over 250 fish farms.

It's an unlikely oasis,

but it supplies Kolkata's 15 million
people with 30% of their fish -

a recycling service
care of the mighty Ganges.

Swapan, the fish merchant,
has come down to the river

to mark the final run-up
to the Durga Puja festival.

Swapan and his fellow bathers
are praying that their forefathers

will bestow health
and wealth upon them.

No pilgrimage to Mother Ganga
is complete without devoting
some hard cash.

But we're happy
to make money here, too.

Gondal and his best friend, Rajesh,

use the magnets from old speakers
for their very own form of trawling.

It's the river that provides
19-year-old Gondal and his family
with their main income.

Gondal and his entire extended family

live on unclaimed land
just a couple of hundred metres
down the river bank.

Once Gondal's reeled in enough money
to pay the family's food bill
for the day, he heads home.

We're not ashamed to dream
of being rich.

For us, wealth is, quite
simply, the mark of success.

Prakash is at work, earning the cash
for his brother's education.

Six months ago, he talked his way
into a job as a cleaner on a luxury
yacht, moored close to his home.

Prakash's daily brush with the
high life is a constant reminder

that he's still waiting for
a response from the acting agencies.

One, two, three, four!

Five, six, seven, eight! Stop!

To keep his moves up to scratch,

he runs a free dance class for kids
from his illegal settlement.

MUSIC PLAYS

Four. Five.

Six.

Seven.

Come here.

Shake!

Lovely. Come on! Six...

Dance is huge here,
and not just as escapism.

Lovely, lovely!

It can be a real route
to fame and fortune.

One, two. One, two. Relax.

11...

12...

OK?

HORNS BLARE

Prakash is especially
excited tonight.

His brother is back
from university in Bangalore.

It's the first time Mangesh
has been home in six months.

Very nice!

That's called...

With only days to go
before Durga Puja,

Sujit is up early to tackle
his first task of the day.

HOLLOW CLICKING

Getting just 25 rupees -
or 30 pence - for every 100 cups,

Sujit's lucky if he keeps back
2,000 rupees

or £25 a month.

But he's got a plan
to increase his margins

that might allow him to have
his family stay in the city, too.

He wants to rent a space like this

to stockpile cups when they're easy
to make in the dry season,

and sell them at the top
of the market when drying
is hampered by the monsoon.

Right now, Sujit is missing
his family more than ever.

Teacups are not the only use for
Ganges mud in this part of town.

It's in huge demand
for the upcoming Durga Puja festival

and is being shipped in
by the boat load.

Hundreds of artists apply
the sticky river mud
over a wood and straw structure

to create vibrant idols of Goddess
Durga and her exotic entourage.

Swapan, the fish merchant, and his
daughter are here to collect the idol

commissioned for their
neighbourhood pandal.

Back at the pandal itself,

the cave-like structure
has been progressing fast.

Swapan's keeping a close eye
on his fish pond.

With the opening in just two days,
Swapan's given the go ahead

to source his fish for the pandal.

After a full night's work
at his market, Swapan sets off
to make his purchase.

He goes to the market
that sells the wetlands fish,

farmed in the city's waste water.

Playing the customer
is a new experience for Swapan.

A last-minute splash of colour
with some goldfish,

and the morning's haul
is sped back to the pandal.

GIRL SCREAMS

LAUGHTER

Swapan realises
he's fighting a losing battle.

But he's not one to let a business
opportunity go to waste.

Cheers!

The stress hasn't taken long
to find Swapan's big weakness.

Aaaah!

In Mumbai, Prakash has just received
a call from one of the agencies
he sent his portfolio to.

They want him to come in and audition
for a part in a TV soap opera.

Thanks!

It's the break Prakash
has been waiting so long for.

Mangesh comes along for support.

Prakash!

Ready? OK.

Action!

Oh, God!

Cut!

Thank you so much.

Thank you. Thank you very much.

In Kolkata,
the energy levels are mounting

for the great, four-day Durga Puja
festival starting tomorrow.

Gondal and his friends
on the riverbank
have spotted a new opportunity.

Everyone across the city
will need Ganges mud to place
in front of their Mother Durga idols.

It's a heaven-sent opportunity
to cash in.

Gondal and two friends spend
the night shaping his mud pile

into conveniently sized balls.

At sunrise, representatives from
every pandal pour down to the river

and celebrate the start of the
festival with a dip in the Ganges.

But with so many holy
mud-ball sellers here,

it's a buyers' market and Gondal's
struggling to shift his balls.

Tough market conditions
demand bigger balls.

Gondal's strategy soon pays off.

With 600 rupees fresh in his pocket,
it's a bumper day.

There's not a moment to lose.

The festival is in full swing

and the city's out for a good time.

Sujit's joining the crowds
visiting the 2,000 or more pandals

across Kolkata.

On top of the 15 million-odd
residents,

thousands of visitors have poured
into the city for the celebrations.

At Swapan's, the pandal's being
finished in the nick of time.

And with the pond filled with water,

he can at last deliver
a fresh load of fish.

There's just time for Swapan and
the family to put on the new clothes

they've bought for the occasion.

First, they pay their respects
at their pandal.

Mother Durga, personifying
the triumph of good over evil,

is reborn out of the Ganges mud
for the duration of the festival.

Showing her our devotion is important
for securing future success
and prosperity.

Then it's time to party!

Swapan's daughters
aren't the only thrill seekers.

Swapan decides to take the family
to pay their respects
to the holy Ganges.

But to get there, they pass through
a different kind of ceremony.

Even as the city celebrates,
some of its charges

have come to the end of their stay.

They're closing their own circle
and returning to Mother Ganga.

Next morning,

Sujit's up early again.

With so many extra tea drinkers
in the city for the festival,

he's busier than ever
and has had a run of record sales.

He's decided to send for his wife,
two-year-old daughter and new baby.

They have boarded a train to the city
and are due to arrive any moment.

For the first time
in over eight months,

Sujit sees his wife, Shila,

and meets baby Kajal at last.

Flush with his festival bonus,

Sujit's managed to put down a deposit
on a room close to his work.

But to pay the rent,
the room must earn its keep.

DRUMS BEAT, HORNS BLARE

The festival's at an end.

FRENZIED SHOUTING

The idols must be
taken out of their pandals,

and transported back towards
the river where they came from.

WOMAN ULULATES

DRUMS BEAT

We may be sad to see Mother Durga go,

but we make sure
we send her off in style.

It's carnival time!

Hey-hey!

Hey-hey!

Hey-hey!

The festivities
may have been extravagant,

but the leftovers won't go to waste.

Next morning, Gondal and his
friends are watching the river
more intently than ever.

Once the idols have been stripped
of mud and straw,

Gondal will sell the wooden frames

back to their makers.

And as for Prakash?
He didn't land the part in the soap.

But the casting agency
HAVE put him on their books.

He's spending every spare moment
with his dance class.

He's honing his moves,

ready for his next big break.

# Watcha gonna do

# Ha-ha! With the party? Yeah!

# Ha-ha! With the party? Yeah!

# Ha-ha! With the party? Yeah!

# Ha-ha! With the party? Yeah!

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd