Original subtitles

TREVOR MCDONALD: 'I'm undertaking a journey across India,

'on one of the most amazing trains in the world.'

Are these gold plates? Yes, sir.

$500 Per plate. MY 900dness!

'The Maharajas' Express celebrates the height of elegance and style.'

I love the ceiling.

'Recreating the feel of the royal trains,

'once used by India's kings.'

He had five wives, legally.

I would suspect that that's probably a little too many.

THEY LAUGH

'Almost half a mile long...'

Can I show you the bathroom? Wow.

'..It's the length of 60 London buses.'

\ Valet service. I

'Though nothing about it feels like a bus.'

In my eight years, we've never said no to any guest for anything.

I knew you were going to say that. Thank you, sir!

'Travelling 1,200 miles from Mumbai

'to the nation's capital, New Delhi...

'...my journey will take me to some of the most

'iconic places in India...'

That's amazing!

'..And to its most hidden surprises.'

So, the rats drink the milk, but you drink the milk too?

Yes, we also drink that. Ah.

'I was last in the Indian subcontinent

'as a news reporter in the 1980s.'

The potentially explosive Tamil issue.

'Today, the traffic is as bad as it always was.'

This is just... mad.

'Poverty is still an issue.'

Miles of slums.

'But so much else has changed.'

I wonder what role mobile phones play in the worship to the Gods?

'But I also have a more personal reason for coming back here.'

I was born in Trinidad.

My mother was pure Afro-Caribbean,

but I'm pretty sure that my father was Indian.

Wow, and you can't see the join.

'It's a chance to discover ancient traditions.'

That's a sign of happiness. Yeah.

'And to see how old and new India

'are co-existing in the 21st century.'

This is the beginning of a great adventure.

HORN BLOWS

'Mumbai...' HORNS BLARE

'Till the 1990s, it was known as Bombay.

'Before boarding my train, I'll be spending a day here.

'There's so much to see.

'With a population of 21 million people,

'it's India's largest city.

'And today, it's booming.'

HORNS BLARE

COW MOOS

'Across the whole of India

'the economy is growing so fast,

'it's now the fifth largest in the world.'

What is endlessly fascinating about this place

is that everywhere you look there's industry.

People are doing things.

Everybody is on the move, there's nobody static.

And that's a good sort of metaphor for what Mumbai is all about.

It's a city on the move. Exploding.

I mean, it's just... mad!

HORN BLARES

At the very heart of everything that happens in this city,

is the battle, the competition, between poverty and riches.

'I'm here to see how this battle is playing out in the new India.

'The skyline has certainly changed.

'Mumbai has the fifth highest number of skyscrapers in the world.

'It's also one of the biggest building sites in the world,

'with nearly 50 towers under construction.

'This is one of the world's largest private houses.

'It's owned by an oil tycoon Mukesh Ambani.

'It's almost as tall as London's Telecom Tower

'and it comes with a ballroom, three swimming pools,

'a private theatre and accommodation for 600 staff.'

The thing to think of when you look at this extraordinary building

is that it was designed for a family of five.

'Today, India has 50 billionaires, like Ambani.

'But not everyone here is so lucky.

'Just a few miles away, is the suburb of Dharavi,

'home to nearly a million people.

'This is one of the biggest shanty towns in all Asia.

'On the surface, this is old India.

'Yet, deep inside, there's an explosion of activity...'

It's very narrow here. Yeah.

'..Which is very much part of the new.'

If you look, there's always the factory inside.

Oh, right. It is working in there.

He's making T-shirts and he's cleaning. It's a garment factory.

Right.

'Vinod Shetty runs a charity

'supporting hundreds of recycling businesses in Dharavi.

'They've sprung up to help process the 10,000 tons of waste

'which Mumbai generates every day.'

This is a plastic recycler

who's sorting plastic inside and glass.

Does he start this on his own initiative?

Yes. Yes, totally.

These are all entrepreneurs who have risen from the ranks

and they've established their small sheds...

Yeah. ..and they are recycling.

Excuse us.

Some of the workers also live inside.

Even the smallest of sheds.

My goodness me! So...

Small entrepreneurs,

he's the owner and this is all his belongings.

He will be far from his family.

Gosh, this is claustrophobic in there. Yes.

It must be difficult to work in there all day.

So, like, you'll see this gentleman here...

Jesus.

'The work done by these entrepreneurs

'helps the city to recycle twice as much of its waste

'as we do in Britain.'

Extraordinary.

HAMMERING

There's a lot of work going up there. Yeah.

Rajindra specialises in electrical goods.

You been working here since the age of 16?

Yes, yes. Doing just this?

SPEAKS IN OWN DIALECT

He's basically specialised in separating the electronic waste.

All this can be reused? Yeah.

No machine can do this.

Very impressive.

'For young men like Rajindra,

'the work pays 40 pence a day.'

Every young person here

wants to be an owner of a shed like this

or a factory or a small business.

Their entire lives, revolve around this dream

that they will send their children to school... Yes.

...they will send money back home to the family.

It's exactly like how the industrial revolution happened in the West.

Just... just the size of it all is quite extraordinary to me.

I think this is one of the most amazing things I've ever seen.

POIGNANT MUSIC

For me, they are my heroes.

And I think a society where people work hard

is going to be one of the biggest powers in the world.

It's just that I never thought I would find it,

and see so many examples of it,

in a place like this. Yes, sir.

'The community here is inspiring.

'Despite living in one of the most overcrowded places on earth...'

CHILD: Hello. Hello, how are you?

'..The urge to succeed appears to be all that matters.'

Hello, nice to meet you.

Are you from in England?

It's a long, long way away.

'It's a reminder that nothing defines the new India...'

Nice to see you. Nice to see you.

'..More than its people.' Bye!

Bye! Bye! Bye!

Bye! Bye! Bye!

HORNS BLARE

'After a day in Mumbai, it's time to move on.'

'Mumbai's Central Railway Station is the busiest in the world.

'Every day, three million commuters pass through,

'almost as many as those who travel

'on the entire British railway system.

'The people are the powerhouse of the new Indian economy.'

WOMAN SPEAKS OVER TANNOY

'But in a far corner of the station,

'there's a little piece of old India which still survives.'

BRASS BAND PLAYS

'The Maharajas' Express...'

Thank you. '..Is inspired by Royal trains

'built over a century ago for India's kings, the Maharajas.

BRASS BAND CONTINUES

'I'm one of 67 travellers on a tour of old India.

'The entire staff is lined up to greet us.

'It's my first meeting with executive chef John Stone.'

Good evening, welcome on board. Thank you. Sir, please.

Er, this is your valet up here, he's going to take your bag.

Oh, thank you. Please.

Welcome on board, sir.

Thank you. Thank you.

I hope you have a wonderful, wonderful time.

I'm looking forward to it, enormously. Great! Great.

BAND PLAYS AULD LANG SYNE

'This is worlds apart from where I was 24 hours ago.'

Thank you very much. Cheers.

I've always had a, sort of, great affection for little bars like this,

so I'm... I already feel at home.

Thank you, sir. Thank you.

'I'm now anxious to see my room.'

Gosh, this is glorious. Yes, sir.

'Almost half a mile long,

'the train has 23 carriages and 40 suites.'

Welcome to your room, sir.

Thank you, very much.

Sir, this is your suite room.

I've heard a lot about these,

but it looks even more splendid than I... Thank you, sir.

...than I've been told. There is a mini bar and magazines.

Yes, thank you. And sofa sitting arrangement.

You welcome to the bedroom.

I say!

There is the telephone and the TV is there.

Yeah... wow.

It all looks absolutely splendid.

Can I show you the bathroom as well? Yes, thank you.

This is the cubicle area. Yes.

And there is the amenities,

hand rolls and the body lotion, everything is there.

'This suite takes up half a carriage.'

This is better than anything I've ever stayed on.

Especially on a train!

Thank you, sir. And there is a mini bar also.

Two mini bars! Yes.

I think I might have a party in here tonight (!)

HORN TOOTS

'Bang on time, we're off.

'From Mumbai, we'll snake

'1,200 miles across this great nation...

'..ending up in India's capital, New Delhi.'

OVER TANNOY: Welcome on board to the delightful Maharajas' Express.

'I'm keen to learn more about the maharajas

'who once owned royal trains like this one.

'I'm with train manager Nitin.'

I'll take you another bar. Yeah. Another bar?

Yes, that's our second bar. I like the sound of that.

Wow.

'The interior is inspired by saloons like this.

'Built in the 1920s for a maharaja in Rajasthan.'

What this whole carriage reminds me of,

is of an old-fashioned English clubroom. Yes.

Which is gracious, luxurious...

Yes.

So, it has the origins of the maharajas... Yes.

...but it also has that connection with Britain. Yes.

Gosh, these guys lived well.

'So who were the maharajas?

'For centuries, even under British rule until 1947,

'India was a patchwork of feudal kingdoms,

'ruled by the maharajas.

'Their lives were the subject of countless stories and legends.'

This is the picture of Maharaja Patiala, Bhupinder Singh.

Yes, when did he live?

He lived in 19th century to 1938.

And surrounded by all these beautiful women?

Yes, and actually he had five wives.

Only... only five?

No, sir, he has five wives, legally,

and 365 wives, total. One wife per day.

I... I would suspect that that's probably a little too many.

LAUGHTER

But the maharajas seem to look very well on it. Yes.

'In fact, it was the maharaja's father who had 365 wives.

'Not Bhupinder.

'He is said to have had a more modest harem of 350.'

And he had 83 children. 83?

Yes. How wealthy was he?

That time, was a millionaire, sir. As you can...

We heard that he have the special necklace. Yeah.

In that necklace they have 3,000 diamonds.

Wow! And out of 3,000 diamonds there's a one diamond,

the seventh largest in the world.

And the cos, at that time in 1938, is $25 million.

But right now the value of that...

It'd be about 250 million, I'd suspect.

More than... More than. More than, sir. More than, sir.

Well, I think it's a great vision of good living.

Perhaps, a little extravagant. HE LAUGHS

Wonderful.

JANGLING

I thought that was a valet, I thought.

JANGLING CONTINUES

The call to drink. LAUGHTER IN BACKGROUND

'In fact, not a call to drink, just a rattling glass.

'But I'm taking it as my call to sleep...

'..which is probably just what's needed,

'given that there'll be so much to see over the next eight days.'

TRAIN HORN

Valet service.

Good morning, Sir Trevor, how are you?

Good, very good, thank you. Good to see you.

Oh, good. Did you sleep well, sir? Yes, thank you.

Nice way to start the day. Thank you, sir.

Thank you very much. Thank you.

It's fantastic!

'After a 200-mile overnight journey north,

'we've arrived at the small town of Pachora,

'and we're just in time for breakfast.

'With 23 carriages, the Maharajas' Express

'is as long as five football pitches,

'which means that, in a way, it has its own in-built exercise regime.'

You take a long time to get from your suite to this place.

Cos you have to stop and say hello and good morning to so many people.

It's rather nice.

The swaying...

...of the ride is, um, a little more than you expect.

I suppose you move on the rails even in the luxury train.

'At every station stop, we're given a royal welcome,

'similar, perhaps, to that given to a maharaja.

'Guests are disembarking to tour the local area.'

Good morning.

MUSIC PLAYS

Morning. Morning

Oh, morning. Morning, morning.

'But we're heading somewhere else entirely.'

Rather nice, though, isn't it?

HORNS HONK

'This is old India.

'Pachora is located in the rural state of Maharashtra.

'It's one of the nation's food baskets.

'But despite the economic boom in the cities,

'Maharashtra is struggling.

'I'm here to find out why.

'People in rural areas like this are leaving in droves

'to find work in the cities.

'Ten years ago, 340 million Indians lived in cities.

'In another decade, that figure will be nearly 600 million.

'Ritesh is one farmer who decided to stay.

'He's tended the same plot of land now

'for over 50 years.

'But in four of the last six years, he's been hit by drought.

'This year, it devastated his crop.'

BELLS JINGLE

Hello.

TRANSLATOR SPEAKS

It's very nice to meet you.

When was the last time you grew a successful crop here?

SPEAKS IN OWN DIALECT

And since that time, no crops?

SPEAKS IN OWN DIALECT

And is that because of the lack of rain?

Yes. How much rain

would you need now to restore this to anything like it was?

SPEAKS IN OWN DIALECT

You'll need about three months rain? Yeah.

Any sign of that? TRANSLATOR LAUGHS

SPEAKS IN OWN DIALECT

SPEAKS IN OWN DIALECT

'So far, the rains haven't come.

'And there's not enough water in the well to irrigate Ritesh's land.

'Next month, his daughter is due to get married,

'but Ritesh doesn't have the money to pay for her wedding.'

It's very difficult to see this changing.

SPEAKS IN OWN DIALECT

From what percentage?

But that's a... In this particular area.

Yes. That's right. Yeah.

That's a catastrophic fall!

That's bad.

'Many of Ritesh's friends face the same problem.

'The government has provided some with emergency loans,

'but farmers can't afford the repayments.'

Why do people keep coming back over and over to this

land like this, to this plot of ground?

SPEAKS IN OWN DIALECT

What's he say?

It's almost... Yeah.

...a kind of spiritual connection to the land,

which is why you must keep coming back.

Yeah, every single day.

Well, I wish you luck,

but, in the circumstances, that seems a...

a very poor thing to say, really.

Thank you, very much. Thank you.

'Much of what I see around me here

'has a strange familiarity to it.

'I grew up in Trinidad,

'an island where almost half the population

'were of Indian heritage.

'Like all migrants, they arrived in the Caribbean

'with their culture, religion,

'lifestyle and, of course, food.'

I remember coming back from school

and always dipping into the Indian festivals because we got free food.

And they always gave us free food.

And one feature of these festivals was elaborate cooking.

And they never turned us schoolchildren away.

And that would lessen the burden on my mother to prepare dinner.

'But there was another reason why, as a child,

'I was drawn to Indian festivals.'

I was born on an island

which had a total population of about a million and a half.

Almost half the population were Indian.

Um... I'm pretty sure that my father was.

My mother was pure Afro-Caribbean and we were the product.

And my father had long, straight black hair

and he wouldn't be classified as, sort of, African negroid.

It's the story of West Indian life.

It's people coming in from other parts of the world,

from Africa and from India.

In a strange, amazing, way,

we are all connected.

Which makes me think that any kind of political philosophy

which tried to divide people is pernicious.

'Home to one sixth of humanity,

'the people of this nation are drawn from many cultures and many faiths.

'The challenge for the new India remains as it's always been,

'to unite them.'

'Day three

'and the Maharajas' Express is 500 miles into its journey

'across the north-west of India.'

'We're headed for Rajasthan

'on our way to India's most romantic city Udaipur.'

HORN BLARES

Gosh, this is so elegant. Yes, sir.

'I'm in the restaurant with train manager Nitin.

'The elaborate design is another illustration

'of the maharajas love of grandeur.'

The peacock is the national bird in India. OK.

This stained glass is come from Spain.

This chair is mahogany.

Mahogany? Yes.

You can see these large tiles. It is from Germany.

From Germany? Yes.

It's more romantic when you'll eat over here, sir.

Yeah. It is.

I take your word for that (!)

'The train has been loaded up with four tons of food.'

That's the kitchen, sir.

'And there are nine chefs on board to prepare it.'

I can hear the sounds of the kitchen.

Yes, sir. CHEF: Yes, sir!

And we're going past the chef, john, nice to see you again.

Thank you, so much. Nice to see you again.

TANNOY: Dinner will be served from 7.30pm onwards. Thank you.

'And there's more. It's another restaurant.'

Wow. It's called Rang Mahal.

Yes, what does that mean? Rang Mahal means colour. Yeah.

So, this is the colourful restaurant.

From the moment I walked in here, I was stunned by this ceiling.

This is the ceiling carpet... Yeah.

...which is made with the horse hair.

OK. Yes.

My goodness.

The effect is stunning. I think it's wonderful.

Now, when I first came in here these caught my eye. They are beautiful.

Yes, sir. Are these gold plates?

Yes, sir.

This is the gold-plated plates.

It's 24-carat gold.

And the cost of this one is nearby $500 per plate.

$500 per plate? Yes, sir.

So, you don't want passengers walking off with these plates?

LAUGHTER Definitely, sir.

HORN BLOWS

The lamb looks good.

'So far, I've met many of the ordinary people of India.

'It's hard not to think about their daily battles,

'simply to survive.

'But it's always intriguing to find out how the other half lives.

'Tomorrow, in Udaipur,

'I've been invited to one of the largest royal palaces in all India.

'I'm going to meet the son of a maharaja.'

BUGLE CALL, DRUMS

'In the morning, there's another ceremonial welcome.

'As we prepare to see one of India's most beautiful cities.

'For 500 years, Udaipur has been the capital

'of a vast, princely state known as Mewar.

'Home to half a million people, the city's seven man-made lakes

'were constructed by generations of local maharajas.

'Spectacularly rich, these regional kings of Mewar

'thought nothing of draining Lake Pichola's

'13 million cubic metres just to build another retreat.

'For centuries, even under formal British rule,

'between 1858 and 1947,

'maharajas across all India

'were masters of their own private kingdoms.

'But when the British left, everything changed.

'Every single maharaja was forced to hand over his land

'to the new Republic of India.

'To many ordinary Indians, it was a welcome change.

'Today, maharajas do still live in palaces like this one in Udaipur.

'But since independence,

'their authority has been slowly eaten away.

'Prince Lakshyaraj Singh Mewar is the son of Arvind Singh,

'crowned in 1952 as the 76th Maharana of Udaipur.

'I wanted to find out what it was like for the maharajas

'when the new India took most of the power from them.'

What sort of things were people talking about

when they talked about that change, that period?

Well, to put it very bluntly and straightforwardly,

that now, maharajas are going to start washing dishes.

Was it as, as, as... Yes...

...as stern as that? Absolutely. Absolutely.

Because that's how we was considered to be at that time.

The entire nation was up in arms. There was no question about it.

And let me also be very honest

and give you certain facts of history.

We were the first family to merge in the Republic of India.

We were the first ones to say that there should be a great,

independent, happy, United Republic of India.

'After independence,

'maharajas were given sweeteners in return for giving up power.

'They were allowed to keep their royal titles

'and they received handsome annual purses

'as compensation for giving up their lands to the state.'

What were people who didn't accepted going to do?

Well, I don't know. Some may have perished...

Yes. Some may exist.

But when you're presented with a revolutionary situation,

you come up with revolutionary ideas,

and the idea was certain parts of the palaces were

converted into museums, certain parts were converted into hotels

and, at the same time,

we couldn't give up on a 1,500-year-old promise

of looking after the people.

So, as far as you're concerned, it's worked out well?

Yes. Absolutely.

'It does seem to have worked out pretty well.

'The hotels they opened have entertained the Queen,

'the Shah of Iran

'and American First Lady Jackie Kennedy,

'seen here at the palace in 1962.

'And though the Maharana must now confine his quarters

'to a small corner of the complex, he has still managed

'to corner a decent share of the income from tourism.

'Away from the serenity of the palace,

'Udaipur is a bustling city of half a million people.

'Its markets are a kaleidoscope of colour,

'crammed with exotic vegetables and fresh spices.

'The perfect place for the trained chefs to source fresh produce.'

PLATES RATTLE

'The 67 passengers on this trip are having most of their meals

'in the comfort of the train's two restaurants.

'All prepared by executive chef John Stone and his team.'

SPEAKS IN OWN DIALECT

Please, come, sir. OK. And I'll just show you.

'And John's devotion to his kitchen is transparent.'

This is my most expensive piece of equipment,

it's called the combination oven.

It does everything from boiling rice to baking breads.

Wow. Including microwave cooking.

Anything can be done in this. Yes.

Now, we are getting ready for the dinner. Yes.

Now, everything on top is hot, down below is cold.

I don't have to run to the store to get my vegetables.

They're all here.

Optimum usage of space, which is very, very essential.

SIR TREVOR LAUGHS Yeah.

All the ingredients that you see...

Yes. ..all world class.

If you were an Italian and you wanted a risotto,

I would give you a risotto made out of arborio rice

and not basmati rice. Right.

Still now, in my eight years,

we've never said no to any guest for anything.

You've never had any complaints? Yes.

Food is all about fashion.

And somewhere along with good ingredients,

if you put a little bit of love into it.

The dish automatically comes out good.

All chefs talk about putting love into their food. Yes.

And what about the products that you get,

where do they come from?

I'll tell you, so all my meats are imported.

From where? Er, so, like,

the lobsters come all the way from Australia,

Er... You get lobsters from Australia?

Yes. Norwegian, the salmon is coming from Norway.

Smoked salmon is coming from Norway.

The shrimps and prawns are coming all the way from Malaysia,

the chicken is coming from Sri Lanka,

lamb is coming from Australia.

I don't believe it. Sir, for this train,

you can't have anything but the best.

I knew you were going to say that.

LAUGHS Thank you, sir.

And on the menu tonight?

Sir, stuffed chicken breast,

which has been slit through the centre

and are stuffed with mushrooms,

cooked in white wine along with cheddar cheese.

And along with that, would be a nice red wine reduction.

I like that.

'It seems a miracle that all this can be done on a fast-moving train.'

Tell me about the big difficulty of working in a kitchen

on a quickly moving train,

cos this is... it's not even easy to stand around here.

Are you able to say to the engineer or the driver,

"We're having a gala dinner tonight, could you keep the speed down?"

Sir, we are fortunately, we are very lucky

because on the day when we have gala dinners, the train is static.

LAUGHTER It doesn't move at all.

That's a bit of a cheat! Yes.

But if I request, "Please slow down a bit

"because the soup is spilling or the water's spilling,"

he immediately calls up the driver and the train slows down.

So, you can actually do that? We can actually do that. Wow.

We can actually do it.

That's impressive. Thank you, sir.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

HORN TOOTS

'The Maharajas' Express runs on the fourth biggest railway in the world.

'Its track will go around the globe one and a half times.

'Using the regular service,

'a trip from one end of India to the other,

'the equivalent to travelling between London and Istanbul,

'costs around £12.

'From Udaipur, we now journey 120 miles north to jodhpur,

'on the edge of India's spectacular Thar Desert.

'For centuries, Jodhpur's royal family

'defended their territory from within these impregnable walls.

'Across town, I've been summoned to one of the family's

'less intimidating palaces.'

BUGLE CALL, DRUMS

Thank you, very much.

'With petals thrown at my feet,

'an honour guard before me...

'I'm welcomed to Umaid Bhawan

'the very last maharajas' palace ever to be built in India.'

Welcome to the palace. Thank you very much.

Thank you, sir. Please. Thank you.

Hello. Thank you. Welcome to the palace, sir.

This garland for you. Please, sir.

Thank you, very much.

'The Maharaja himself has agreed to meet me.'

It's a very warm welcome, thank you very much.

'From an ancient fortress...

'..to a symbol of the British Raj...

'..Jodhpur is one of India's most historic cities.

'On the edge of India's Thar Desert,

'temperatures here can reach 50 degrees in summer.

'Today, though, it's a balmy 28.'

BUGLE CALL Extraordinary place, this is.

'This is Jodhpur's Umaid Bhavan Palace.'

It's wonderful.

'And I'm here to meet the last maharaja of Jodhpur.'

MUSIC AND SINGING

'My welcome takes place in the palace's glorious entrance hall.

'It's a magnificent setting.

'In all India

'only the Taj Mahal has a bigger dome.

'Built in the 1920s as a private home,

'I'm told the palace was assembled without mortar or cement.

'Every stone is marked with a number,

'so that the entire edifice can, at a whim,

'be taken down and rebuilt somewhere else.

'Flat pack at its finest (!)

'The man I've come to meet, Gaj Singh was a child king.

'He was only four years old in 1952, when he became maharaja.'

Sir, please, this way. The maharaja is in here.

Oh, thank you.

'After his coronation, Gaj was sent to school in England,

'Returning home just in time for the bad news

'that in 1947, the government had taken away the maharaja's land.

'Then, in 1971, it stripped them of their titles...

'..and made them commoners.'

'Even so, the place has an atmosphere of solemn reverence.'

OK.

'As I'm led in and out of various rooms...'

Going back the way we came.

'..And along various corridors.'

Ah, it's another room.

'It is as if I'm being inspected

'by the all-seeing eyes of former maharajas.

'As I wait...

'..and wait...

'..you'd never suspect that the boy king, Gaj Singh,

'once crowned last Maharaja of jodhpur,

'is today, according to the Indian state,

'just an ordinary man.'

Gosh.

My goodness.

BIRDSONG

'My audience will take place on the terrace.'

Absolutely spectacular view.

Glorious sunlight.

'But where is he?

'Finally, he appears.'

Hello, sir. Good afternoon.

'And I have the chance to ask him how it felt

'to have his maharaja title taken away.'

Of course, it all changed in 1971 with the change of the constitution.

Did you regret having so short a time as Maharaja?

It wasn't that, it was the, um, the way it was done.

We were made to look small from being privileged people,

The press was against, the political climate was against.

And you once said, "We are the bad boys."

What did you mean by that?

We were made out to be the bad boys. I see, yes.

Everything became an issue. Yes.

Individuals went, land ownerships,

and the whole thing, it was a bit of a dampener.

It hit us very badly.

Do you think what was done, was done because of any,

kind of, envy at the privileges?

No, change had to come,

and we said we want it to change, it has to come,

but do it in an honourable way.

So, you think it was done in a dishonourable way?

Yes. Yeah.

HE LAUGHS

'Like the royals of Udaipur,

'the family have maintained their lifestyle

'by converting their palace into an hotel.

'And one that's been voted the most luxurious in the world.'

'But far beyond the terrace, in a secret corner of the estate,

'is a hidden treasure from the long gone clays of the maharajas.

'A genuine Maharajas' royal train.'

Please, sir. Yeah, OK.

'Sadly, though, it's not what it once was.'

So, this is the entrance to the old carriage? Yes, sir.

'Ahmed worked on board in its glorious heydays.'

It's very narrow along these corridors.

One metre?

'The train was built 100 years ago, so that Gaj Singh's grandfather

'could travel in style to the tiger hunting grounds of the South.'

So, tell me about the fact that this was built for his grandfather,

the current maharaja?

Wow. Yeah.

How luxurious were these carriages?

And what's here?

WQW!

Charcoal? Charcoal operated.

Yes. So, it limited how much you could do?

Yeah, very much. In those days. Yes, sir.

'This very English of trains fell out of use after the maharaja died.

'But in the 1970s, a young Gaj Singh brought it back to life.'

TRAIN WHISTLES

'Using it to take his hotel guests

'on sightseeing trips to the desert city of Jaisalmer.'

'Some might call it the first and original Maharajas' Express.'

And then go back. It connected the two places? Yes, sir.

'It connected them, but not for long.

'The tourist trips ended after only a few years.

'And so, for the last two and half decades,

'these once magnificent saloons have stood alone and empty.

'The royal train's demise

'perhaps symbolises that of the maharajas themselves.

'Though, as I look out to the ancient fortress,

'I find it difficult to decide

'whether it really is all over for the maharajas just yet.

'Next time, on the Maharajas' Express...

'..my adventure takes me to India's most extraordinary temple.'

And that helps you to stay healthy? Yes, healthy.

'A meeting I'll never forget.

'And one of the Great Wonders of the World.'

Gosh!

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