Original subtitles

Narrator: India.

Land of snow-capped mountains,

Dense jungles,

Vast deserts

And enchanting lakes.

One of the most biodiverse countries in the world,

India is home to countless species found nowhere else on earth.

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This incredible aerial journey captures

The nation's stunning natural wonders from above, for the first time

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Showing how geography and the patterns of nature mold both the landscape

And the lives of its people.

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Narrator: India.

Covering almost one point two million square miles

And home to over a billion people.

This vast country stretches nearly 2,000 miles

From the warm indian ocean in the south

To the mighty frozen himalaya mountains in the far north.

Water is a precious natural resource here, especially for agriculture.

About 70 percent of the population of india lives in rural parts.

The majority of them depend on agriculture for their livelihoods.

Some of these farmers living in desolate areas use water

To cultivate a crop that is neither vegetable nor animal.

Seen from above, the rann of kutch looks completely barren.

Rann means desert.

Thousands of years ago it was a shallow arm of the arabian sea.

The salt from this sea is now locked 20 to 30 feet below the cracked earth.

Annual rains create temporary lakes.

The temperature here can reach 122 degrees fahrenheit

When this extreme heat begins to dry up the lake,

Farmers rush to harvest a valuable product.

Laxman rises at dawn every morning between October and June to mine salt.

Narrator: Laxman is a salt farmer from the agariya community.

The name is derived from the word agar meaning salt in gujarati,

One of india's 22 official languages.

Laxman and his fellow farmers in the rann of kutch produce

Three quarters of india's salt.

The earlier they start piling the salt, the more they will earn.

Laxman uses a technique to extract it that hasn't changed

For over five generations.

First, he uses his own body weight to level out the earth into shallow

Flat basins called pans.

Our aerial view reveals these roughly rectangular pans which spring up

After the monsoon season.

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Laxman uses solar pumps to fill the pans with salt water

From beneath the ground.

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The hot sun starts to evaporate the water.

The salt that is left behind, crystallizes.

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Laxman uses a salt rake to loosen the crystals from the soil.

He tends to his pans ten hours a day to ensure maximum yield.

After 15 days of tough physical work,

Anywhere between 13 to 16 tons of salt is ready for harvest

And then selling at the market.

Narrator: Laxman will keep working until June,

When the ground has given up all the salt it can for this season.

India is on the crossroads between the east and the west.

It has welcomed visitors for millennia.

This spirit is part of its culture and tradition.

Indians believe in an ancient line in hindu scriptures that reads

"atithi devo bhava."

Literally translated it means: A guest is the equivalent to god.

This philosophy represents the unique relationship of a host and guest,

Irrespective of where they come from.

One particular village, in the state of rajasthan in the northwest,

Welcomes a special kind of guest each fall.

Nearly 500 miles away from the rann of kutch,

Is a town called khichan.

A section of the state is engulfed in the great indian thar desert.

The town receives very little rainfall.

Productive agricultural land is scarce.

Although grain is a precious commodity here,

One of khichan's residents pours out dozens of bags onto the ground.

Bhanwar ramji has done this every day between September

And March for the past ten years.

A ritual he has maintained to host a special visitor.

This is the reason why.

The demoiselle crane.

Legend says the infamous french queen, marie antoinette,

Named them in the 18th century.

She believed the birds looked like graceful young women.

Come September, and thousands of these hungry birds

Fill the sky above khichan.

Narrator: The cranes are seasonal visitors to india.

They spend the summer months in mongolia.

When the temperature drops, they embark on an epic journey

Following an ancient migratory route.

They fly south at an altitude of about 26,000 feet over the himalayas

It's a journey of approximately two weeks.

Khichan has become a destination for the demoiselle cranes

For approximately 70 years.

Villagers like bhanwar ramji, take this age-old tradition forward.

He understands the value of feeding these birds through the winter months.

He feeds them nearly one point four million pounds of grain

Over six months between October and March.

That is enough to make close to two million loaves of bread.

Most of this food is given to the villagers by donors from around the world.

Narrator: This generosity ensures the villagers of khichan are able to feed

And water the cranes that come to stay for the winter.

Narrator: The birds take to the wing when spring arrives.

But they will be back in six months to find a cozy

Winter home with bhanwar ramji and the kind souls of khichan.

And with that bhanwar ramji's task will start all over again.

India accounts for about four percent of the world's fresh water.

Conservation of this precious resource is crucial

In an arid state like rajasthan.

So, for nearly a thousand years, people in the village of abhaneri

Used groundwater from this stepwell.

The chand baori stepwell has 3,500 steps across 13 levels.

The villagers would walk 100 feet down this architectural marvel

To fetch water.

Countless lives in abhaneri relied on this remarkable water management system.

Water also rules the lives of a unique group of people

On the opposite side of the country, in the far northeast.

It's early morning on loktak lake.

A student arrives by boat at her elementary school.

But this school is unlike any other in india because it floats.

The first of its kind in the country.

A bird's eye view of loktak reveals that the lake is covered in patches

Of vegetation floating on the surface of the water.

Some are circular.

Others are more irregular in shape

And support structures like the school.

These islands are called phumdis.

The meitei people have lived on them for hundreds of years.

The phumdis are made up of thickened soil,

Vegetation and organic matter in various stages of decay.

On these phumdis, they build their homes, called phumsangs.

At loktak lake, the meitei have pioneered a unique fish-farming technique.

They cut the phumdis into rectangular strips

And arrange them in circular shapes called athaphums.

Once the athaphum is anchored, a net is cast within it.

Fish farming is the meitei's primary source of income.

Here, fishermen make their livelihood by catching

Six point six million pounds of fish every year.

Loktak lake is the largest body of fresh water in northeast india.

It covers 95 square miles but it's just 8.8 feet deep on average.

The largest island spreads across an area of 15 square miles

And supports the keibul lamjao national park.

The only floating national park in the world.

Today, loktak lake and the surrounding area is in line to become

A unesco world heritage site.

As the school day comes to an end for this young student,

She journeys home by boat, across this unique ecosystem she calls home.

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India covers 2.4 percent of the earth's land mass.

Some of the nation's most spectacular landscapes are molded by freshwater.

Yet, it is a weather phenomenon that begins over the salty ocean

That dictates the lives of indians more than any other.

It makes landfall over the state of kerala, on the southwest coast.

The indian monsoon.

It has watered these lands for at least 40 million years.

This weather pattern delivers nearly 80 percent of india's annual rainfall.

It swells rivers and irrigates crops.

Monsoon is the lifeline for india's millions of farmers.

It's early June morning in the village of vizhinjam.

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Kumaran and his uncle are preparing to go fishing, as they do every day.

The powerful swells of the arabian sea can sometimes make

Catching fish off the vizhinjam harbor, a big challenge.

And today, kumaran has to battle more than just the moods of the sea.

The dark clouds signal the approach of an occurrence

That sweeps in from the ocean every year.

The stormy weather poses a problem for fishermen like kumaran.

Narrator: Kumaran and his crew venture far out to sea.

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The coming monsoon makes the sea choppy.

Sudden downpours could flood the boat within minutes.

Narrator: Off the coast of vizhinjam, kumaran and his crew

See the deadly storm brewing in the distance.

Kumaran must use the wisdom handed down to him through generations

To survive this encounter with nature and bring home the catch.

Narrator: Now the clouds tell kumaran that the heavy rain is approaching.

It is time to return to vizhinjam harbor.

Kumaran and his crew haul their lines.

Safely back on the beach, they take stock of their day's work.

They have a good catch, one that is large enough to feed their families

Over the lean days that lie ahead and even have some leftover fish

To sell in the market.

The monsoon sweeps from the ocean northwards across india.

The mountains in meghalaya in the northeast of the country

Push the warm moist air above 4,000 feet.

The condensing clouds then burst

And dump over 415 inches of rainfall

Each year on the land below.

The result is the wettest place on earth

And a unique challenge for the people who live here.

Meghalaya is home to the khasis, an indigenous tribe

Who have lived off this land for generations.

Elbin is a khasi born and raised in these hills,

Living in a village near cherrapunji.

He works as a porter and carries vital supplies by foot

Between communities along a network of ancient mountain paths.

But elbin must negotiate big natural obstacles along the way.

A view from the air reveals how water shaped the rugged terrain here.

Elbin must cross steep-sided gorges carved into the rock

By fast-flowing streams to reach his destination.

During the monsoon rains, these raging torrents of water feed into waterfalls

And are impossible to wade across.

Entire communities can be cut off.

But the khasi people have come up with an ingenious solution.

Bridges made from the roots of rubber trees.

Narrator: The khasi people have built root bridges here

For over a hundred years.

They are made from exposed roots that grow big in the thin mountain soil.

The khasi train these roots to grow across the streams.

The bridge builders then rope together multiple roots to make platforms,

Threading them across bamboo poles.

They intertwine and grow stronger to make sturdy decks

As the trees age over the decades.

Eventually, the bamboos are removed.

A mature root bridge can stretch up to 250 feet long.

It can hold as many as 35 people at one time.

Thanks to these ingenious root bridges,

Elbin can safely cross the rivers that become swollen

During the monsoon season

And deliver supplies to khasi villagers

Across the mountains in meghalaya.

Narrator: The land mass containing india was its own separate continent

Until 50 million years ago.

The aftermath of its collision with eurasia shaped india's landscape

And over the years, mighty geological formations

Have crafted many wonders of nature across the nation.

One such site is situated in the heart of the country

In the state of madhya pradesh.

It's early morning in bhedaghat.

A group of boys gather atop a cliff above the narmada river.

The boys' 100 foot tall diving platform is made from a stack of marble.

The rock started life as layers of fossil laid down over millions of years.

The earth's intense heat and pressure

Transformed them into a crystalline form.

And over time, flowing water carved these marble rocks

Into a spectacular three mile long gorge.

The marble here contains high amounts of magnesium.

This makes the rock soft.

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The strong flow of the narmada has molded one of india's

Most spectacular natural wonders.

The dhuandhar falls.

Dhuandhar means flow of smoke.

The river falls almost a hundred feet causing huge clouds of smoke like mist.

From here, the water moves upstream through the towering marble cliffs

That make the perfect spots for cliff-diving.

There is one natural wonder in the country that owes its origin to something

That is out of this world.

Lonar lake is a mystery.

It is unlike any other body of water in india.

The lake is 500 feet deep.

The water here is both alkaline and saline,

And on the banks are pools of fresh water.

A clue to unlocking why lies in the lake's unique topography.

From the air, we see that the lake sits in a depression,

Hemmed in on all sides by a steep 450 foot tall slope.

What could create a lake with such bizarre topography?

A curious terrain, with patches of life and emptiness.

A satellite view reveals the answer.

Lonar lake lies inside an impact crater.

Scientists believe that an asteroid weighing around two million tons

Crashed in central india around 50,000 years ago.

The crater filled with water.

Then life appeared.

Around a decade ago, scientists discovered special organisms

Living in the water of lonar lake.

Study suggests one type of bacteria here uses

The earth's magnetic field to navigate.

Some believe, that the origins of a few of these lifeforms

Could lie elsewhere in our solar system.

Scientists continue their search for answers to the mystery of lonar lake.

India's land border of over 9,000 miles circles

Some of the country's natural wonders.

The political relationship between india and pakistan

Can sometimes make these international

Borders some of the most volatile in the world.

A border area with pakistan is in the state of rajasthan.

The thar desert covers an area of over 77,000 square miles,

Roughly the same size as nebraska in the united states.

And the job of securing this 646 mile long frontier

Falls on the elite border security force, or bsf.

Formed in 1965, it is considered india's first line of defense.

It's 9 am at a remote border post in rajasthan.

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Constable juli devi assembles her squad.

She is one of the mahila prahari, women soldiers

Who are tasked with monitoring the border here.

Narrator: Today, juli must venture deep into the desert.

Juli devi: Party move!

Narrator: Their job is to guard the indian borders

Against unlawful activities.

Juli assigns three bsf soldiers to accompany her on patrol.

The rest of the squad stays behind to guard the border post.

Temperatures in the thar desert can reach up to 120 degrees fahrenheit

Narrator: Despite the scorching heat and adverse conditions,

The dedication of the bsf troops sets them a class apart.

The bsf uses camels to navigate the desert.

It is the only armed force that has an operational camel

Contingent as a force multiplier.

Out on patrol, juli and her three squad members each ride

With a trained camel handler.

These animals are perfectly adapted to operate here.

Studies show, they can survive without water for a long period of time.

Their wide feet spread the load of their bodies

To keep them stable on loose, shifting sands.

When required, they can run at 40 miles an hour in short bursts.

Juli reaches the location of some reported suspicious activity.

She discovers footprints in this restricted area.

It's likely they were made by a human.

Juli believes the footprints are evidence of illegal movement.

They could belong to a smuggler or a terrorist.

Juli reports her findings to the post commander.

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Narrator: The commandant receives the incident report.

Narrator: All further action is classified.

Juli and her team mount up and move out to continue the patrol.

Five hundred and fifty mahila praharis like them,

Monitor this stretch of india's border.

They endure one of the harshest of india's natural wonders

To keep their country safe and secure.

India reveals a nation of spectacular

And diverse natural wonders, from above.

Some are the work of mighty geological processes;

Others are crafted by humans to overcome

The challenges of their environment.

India's spectacular landscape is shaped by its unique geography,

History

And people.