All language subtitles for The.Beatles.and.India.2021.720p.BluRay.800MB.x264-GalaxyRG

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These are the user uploaded subtitles that are being translated: 1 00:01:53,789 --> 00:01:57,069 My family lived in Arnold Grove in the 1940s. 2 00:01:58,389 --> 00:02:00,629 The Liverpool Blitz was terrifying, 3 00:02:00,709 --> 00:02:02,549 and I will never forget as a child 4 00:02:02,629 --> 00:02:05,229 the drone of sirens and approaching bombers. 5 00:02:06,989 --> 00:02:09,189 The Grove's a really neighbourly place 6 00:02:09,269 --> 00:02:11,629 and we were always in and out of each other's homes. 7 00:02:13,349 --> 00:02:15,309 What was strange for me was the music 8 00:02:15,389 --> 00:02:17,149 coming out of the house at number 12, 9 00:02:18,509 --> 00:02:19,909 the home with the Harrison family. 10 00:02:25,149 --> 00:02:28,069 George's mother Louise loved to listen to Indian music 11 00:02:28,149 --> 00:02:29,149 on the radio. 12 00:02:30,549 --> 00:02:32,429 I'm told that it helped to keep her calm 13 00:02:32,509 --> 00:02:34,149 during her pregnancy. 14 00:02:43,269 --> 00:02:46,589 When I first heard Indian music, 15 00:02:46,669 --> 00:02:50,589 I just couldn't really believe that it was so, so great. 16 00:02:50,669 --> 00:02:53,629 And the more I heard of it, the more I liked it, 17 00:02:53,709 --> 00:02:56,829 and it just got bigger and bigger, like a snowball. 18 00:03:11,589 --> 00:03:13,429 One day, the telephone rang 19 00:03:13,509 --> 00:03:15,509 and my father always answered it. 20 00:03:15,589 --> 00:03:18,469 He had a particular sort of authentic Indian accent. 21 00:03:18,549 --> 00:03:20,389 His Indian accent had remained unchanged 22 00:03:20,469 --> 00:03:22,069 in all the 40 years he'd been here, 23 00:03:22,149 --> 00:03:23,669 and he was shouting down the telephone, 24 00:03:23,749 --> 00:03:26,469 "Ringo who, Ringo who?" 25 00:03:26,549 --> 00:03:28,509 And apparently it was because Ringo 26 00:03:28,589 --> 00:03:31,429 was on the other end of the line asking my father 27 00:03:31,509 --> 00:03:33,229 whether he had a spare sitar string. 28 00:03:35,869 --> 00:03:37,749 The return of the heroes to their native land. 29 00:03:37,829 --> 00:03:39,509 They conquered the colony. 30 00:03:41,069 --> 00:03:43,309 The Beatles, who originated as a small-time act 31 00:03:43,389 --> 00:03:44,949 out of Liverpool, 32 00:03:45,029 --> 00:03:47,389 now have no rivals as the kingpins of the teenage set. 33 00:03:50,429 --> 00:03:51,885 The group had certainly turned Liverpool 34 00:03:51,909 --> 00:03:53,749 into Britain's answer to any pop trends 35 00:03:53,829 --> 00:03:54,949 from across the Atlantic. 36 00:03:57,829 --> 00:03:59,509 On every side there is hero worship 37 00:03:59,589 --> 00:04:02,509 that recall the heydays of Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra. 38 00:04:04,229 --> 00:04:06,109 Beatlemania has ceased to be a phenomenon 39 00:04:06,189 --> 00:04:08,309 and seems to have become a way of life. 40 00:04:11,309 --> 00:04:12,869 My father had never heard of The Beatles 41 00:04:12,909 --> 00:04:16,509 so he knew nothing about anything European or popular. 42 00:04:16,589 --> 00:04:19,229 But what happened was that they'd broken a sitar string 43 00:04:19,309 --> 00:04:21,029 while George was recording "Norwegian Wood" 44 00:04:21,109 --> 00:04:22,429 in Abbey Road Studio. 45 00:04:22,509 --> 00:04:24,269 EMI knew my father 46 00:04:24,349 --> 00:04:26,829 because he was often the person they came to 47 00:04:26,909 --> 00:04:28,469 when they required a group of musicians. 48 00:04:28,509 --> 00:04:30,309 So, when the string broke, 49 00:04:30,389 --> 00:04:32,589 they found my father and he did have one, amazingly, 50 00:04:32,669 --> 00:04:35,389 he did have a set of sitar strings. 51 00:04:39,829 --> 00:04:42,189 So the whole family got in the tiny little car 52 00:04:42,269 --> 00:04:45,629 and they all drove to carry one string to Abbey Road 53 00:04:45,709 --> 00:04:47,189 and there they handed it over 54 00:04:47,269 --> 00:04:48,749 and they watched them recording. 55 00:04:50,949 --> 00:04:53,949 It started with the Indian music. 56 00:04:54,029 --> 00:04:57,949 I like so many Indian instruments, but mainly sitar. 57 00:04:59,269 --> 00:05:01,909 I'd used a little sitar on our records. 58 00:05:06,229 --> 00:05:09,509 The Beatles had already discovered Indian music, 59 00:05:09,589 --> 00:05:11,749 I think when they were making "Help!" 60 00:05:11,829 --> 00:05:13,069 Which is, of course, 61 00:05:13,149 --> 00:05:16,189 the story of a mystic Eastern religious group, 62 00:05:16,269 --> 00:05:18,469 and they are after Ringo Starr's ring. 63 00:05:18,549 --> 00:05:19,749 So they'd already discovered, 64 00:05:19,829 --> 00:05:21,069 and there's that famous scene 65 00:05:21,149 --> 00:05:23,389 about them going into a restaurant. 66 00:05:24,829 --> 00:05:27,309 On the set of how a sitar was used 67 00:05:27,389 --> 00:05:29,749 in a sort of little group that's playing in the restaurant, 68 00:05:29,829 --> 00:05:32,389 George picked it up and was playing with it 69 00:05:32,469 --> 00:05:36,949 and sort of got interested in sitar because of that. 70 00:05:37,029 --> 00:05:39,789 It was a very inappropriate film for most Indians 71 00:05:39,869 --> 00:05:41,269 because that film really lived up 72 00:05:41,349 --> 00:05:43,829 to all the stereotypes about India, 73 00:05:43,909 --> 00:05:46,589 about bloodthirsty thug cult. 74 00:05:46,669 --> 00:05:49,189 The goddess, which was named as Kylie, 75 00:05:49,269 --> 00:05:51,869 was really based on a real goddess, 76 00:05:51,949 --> 00:05:54,469 the Kali goddess, Hindus are very reverential to her. 77 00:05:56,429 --> 00:06:00,029 So the whole film would be offending a lot of Indians. 78 00:06:03,949 --> 00:06:06,549 And then there was this book on the yoga. 79 00:06:06,629 --> 00:06:08,949 While they're on shoot at Bahamas, 80 00:06:09,029 --> 00:06:12,429 the suddenly come across this very diminutive yogi 81 00:06:12,509 --> 00:06:14,549 who cycles up to where they are 82 00:06:14,629 --> 00:06:16,469 and distributes this book. 83 00:06:16,549 --> 00:06:18,589 This is Vishnudevananda, 84 00:06:18,669 --> 00:06:22,389 the first illustrated book on yoga going across the West. 85 00:06:22,469 --> 00:06:25,589 But I don't think The Beatles paid him much attention. 86 00:06:25,669 --> 00:06:28,109 I think much later he thought back 87 00:06:28,189 --> 00:06:30,869 and there was this sort of very mysterious connection. 88 00:06:33,309 --> 00:06:34,549 The palace of the Queen 89 00:06:34,629 --> 00:06:36,549 has lived through many historic events, 90 00:06:36,629 --> 00:06:38,189 and it's our privilege today 91 00:06:38,269 --> 00:06:41,309 to witness one of the most earth shaking, The Beatles. 92 00:06:41,389 --> 00:06:43,109 Fresh from an audience with the Queen, 93 00:06:43,189 --> 00:06:45,789 they hold medals indicating they have been made members 94 00:06:45,869 --> 00:06:48,149 of The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire. 95 00:06:48,229 --> 00:06:49,509 The Beatles, of course, 96 00:06:49,589 --> 00:06:52,189 have proven to be one of Britain's prime exports. 97 00:06:52,269 --> 00:06:53,989 They have brought in more foreign exchange 98 00:06:54,069 --> 00:06:55,589 than many industries. 99 00:06:55,669 --> 00:06:58,069 And the Queen saw fit to reward their economic contribution 100 00:06:58,149 --> 00:06:59,029 to the nation. 101 00:06:59,109 --> 00:07:00,389 The award entitles The Beatles 102 00:07:00,469 --> 00:07:02,869 to put the letters MBE after their names. 103 00:07:05,029 --> 00:07:06,725 That was the most miserable time of our lives, 104 00:07:06,749 --> 00:07:09,549 was the MBE cop-out period. 105 00:07:09,629 --> 00:07:12,509 We got an MBE, which is one of the biggest jokes 106 00:07:12,589 --> 00:07:14,909 in the history of this island probably. 107 00:07:17,829 --> 00:07:19,229 The great cavalcade of empire 108 00:07:19,309 --> 00:07:20,949 makes a grand spectacle. 109 00:07:21,029 --> 00:07:23,829 One of the smallest countries on the map is responsible for 110 00:07:23,909 --> 00:07:26,309 the mightiest Commonwealth of nations in history. 111 00:07:29,669 --> 00:07:32,669 India was always in British lives because of the empire. 112 00:07:32,749 --> 00:07:35,629 We knew about tea and we knew about, you know, rubber, 113 00:07:35,709 --> 00:07:37,749 but the idea of its music 114 00:07:37,829 --> 00:07:39,549 being, in any way, an influence 115 00:07:39,629 --> 00:07:43,589 on anything from this country was simply not considered. 116 00:07:49,469 --> 00:07:51,149 From the music that I play 117 00:07:51,229 --> 00:07:52,709 to get better and better, 118 00:07:52,789 --> 00:07:54,909 musicians generally, in the West, 119 00:07:54,989 --> 00:07:58,189 progress into, say, modern jazz, 120 00:07:58,269 --> 00:08:01,429 but when I first heard Indian music, 121 00:08:01,509 --> 00:08:03,869 there was so much more freedom 122 00:08:03,949 --> 00:08:06,989 and there was so much more in it compared to jazz. 123 00:08:09,029 --> 00:08:12,869 I just couldn't really believe that it was so, so great. 124 00:08:12,949 --> 00:08:14,845 I don't know, then I just started to listen to it 125 00:08:14,869 --> 00:08:19,269 more and more, and to try and listen a bit closer. 126 00:08:19,349 --> 00:08:21,669 And the more I heard of it, the more I liked it. 127 00:08:39,949 --> 00:08:41,349 My mother meets The Beatles in India 128 00:08:41,389 --> 00:08:42,589 well before I'm even born. 129 00:08:44,229 --> 00:08:46,789 I think she, by virtue of being in the "Hindustan Times" 130 00:08:46,869 --> 00:08:48,349 at that point, 131 00:08:48,429 --> 00:08:50,445 being a preeminent journalist, being a chief reporter, 132 00:08:50,469 --> 00:08:53,749 got the opportunity, but didn't really see, 133 00:08:53,829 --> 00:08:55,349 my God, the magic of that moment. 134 00:08:57,309 --> 00:08:58,709 And you know, I'm always asked, 135 00:08:58,789 --> 00:09:00,309 what's the one thing about your mother 136 00:09:00,389 --> 00:09:02,205 that you would have really wished you would do. 137 00:09:02,229 --> 00:09:04,589 And she's been Indian first woman war correspondent. 138 00:09:06,269 --> 00:09:08,269 She's done all kinds of crazy trailblazing thing. 139 00:09:08,349 --> 00:09:10,669 And I always look at this photograph and I say, 140 00:09:10,749 --> 00:09:13,549 "My God, I wish I had been that person 141 00:09:13,629 --> 00:09:15,909 sitting between John and Paul." 142 00:09:20,669 --> 00:09:22,909 This was the first time The Beatles had, 143 00:09:22,989 --> 00:09:24,269 as a group, come to India. 144 00:09:26,189 --> 00:09:29,269 And they symbolised to us, not just a new kind of music. 145 00:09:29,349 --> 00:09:33,149 It was almost like symbolising a new kind of life. 146 00:09:34,549 --> 00:09:37,949 They represented the whole sixties to us. 147 00:09:38,029 --> 00:09:41,029 When I heard they were in Delhi, 148 00:09:41,109 --> 00:09:43,389 I went to the Oberoi InterContinental, 149 00:09:43,469 --> 00:09:45,789 and I sat in the lobby and everyone was circling 150 00:09:45,869 --> 00:09:47,789 all the different entrances of the hotel, 151 00:09:47,869 --> 00:09:49,725 waiting for The Beatles to come out by the kitchen entrance, 152 00:09:49,749 --> 00:09:51,389 by various ways. 153 00:09:51,469 --> 00:09:56,309 I sat near the lift and I waited for Brian Epstein to emerge 154 00:09:56,389 --> 00:09:58,469 because I knew he was their manager. 155 00:10:00,069 --> 00:10:01,765 And sure enough, after a few hours of waiting, 156 00:10:01,789 --> 00:10:04,309 I saw him come down and I sidled up to him 157 00:10:04,389 --> 00:10:06,109 and I said, "Excuse me, Mr. Epstein, 158 00:10:06,189 --> 00:10:07,909 I am from All India Radio. 159 00:10:07,989 --> 00:10:10,029 The government have scheduled an interview 160 00:10:10,109 --> 00:10:11,949 with The Beatles." 161 00:10:12,029 --> 00:10:13,765 And he stopped in his tracks and looks at me, 162 00:10:13,789 --> 00:10:15,749 "How dare you! 163 00:10:15,829 --> 00:10:19,109 The boys will not give an interview. How dare you!" 164 00:10:19,189 --> 00:10:21,909 I said, "I'm just conveying the decision of the government 165 00:10:21,989 --> 00:10:24,069 because this interview has been announced 166 00:10:24,149 --> 00:10:27,869 and it would be very embarrassing if this didn't happen." 167 00:10:27,949 --> 00:10:30,069 "I will not permit this," he said, 168 00:10:30,149 --> 00:10:33,029 "well, I will give the interview." 169 00:10:33,109 --> 00:10:34,365 I said, "Good enough for me, sir, 170 00:10:34,389 --> 00:10:36,389 Brian Epstein, good enough for me." 171 00:10:36,469 --> 00:10:37,789 Is there going to be any change 172 00:10:37,869 --> 00:10:39,189 in the sort of work that they do? 173 00:10:39,269 --> 00:10:41,949 Possibly, 'cause, as I've said before, 174 00:10:42,029 --> 00:10:45,389 there's no dynamic or important change 175 00:10:45,469 --> 00:10:48,309 but The Beatles have always progressed. 176 00:10:48,389 --> 00:10:50,109 And to progress, they have to change. 177 00:10:51,749 --> 00:10:54,029 At seven o'clock I go up in the lift, 178 00:10:54,109 --> 00:10:57,109 I get out and I walk to the end of the corridor. 179 00:10:57,189 --> 00:11:02,029 I knock and there's Brian Epstein in a bathrobe, sweating. 180 00:11:02,109 --> 00:11:05,069 He emerges, walks me across the length of the hotel, 181 00:11:05,149 --> 00:11:08,109 opens the suite on the other side of the floor, 182 00:11:08,189 --> 00:11:11,109 and then I was in with The Beatles, all four of them. 183 00:11:11,189 --> 00:11:12,509 I asked them what they were doing 184 00:11:12,589 --> 00:11:14,349 and they said they had an album coming out 185 00:11:14,429 --> 00:11:15,949 in a month's time. 186 00:11:16,029 --> 00:11:18,909 George Harrison mentioned that he had an Indian influence 187 00:11:18,989 --> 00:11:23,469 in one of the songs, which turned out to be, "Love You To." 188 00:11:23,549 --> 00:11:25,989 And Paul mentioned that he had a classical arrangement 189 00:11:26,069 --> 00:11:27,669 behind one of the songs, 190 00:11:27,749 --> 00:11:30,469 which I think must have been "Eleanor Rigby." 191 00:11:30,549 --> 00:11:33,469 Even then, they were going to be Indian influences 192 00:11:33,549 --> 00:11:34,549 in their songs. 193 00:11:36,229 --> 00:11:38,909 I personally hope there'll be more Indian influences 194 00:11:38,989 --> 00:11:41,389 just generally in any music because it's worth it. 195 00:11:41,469 --> 00:11:43,109 It's very good music. 196 00:11:43,189 --> 00:11:44,749 I just like to see it more popular, 197 00:11:44,829 --> 00:11:46,469 more people appreciating it. 198 00:11:50,749 --> 00:11:53,709 It was the 6th of July, 1966. 199 00:11:53,789 --> 00:11:55,309 Some foreigner came, 200 00:11:55,389 --> 00:11:57,509 they never knew what the name of the person were, 201 00:11:57,589 --> 00:12:00,749 but they were interested in buying some sitars, harmoniums, 202 00:12:00,829 --> 00:12:03,669 and tablas and sarod, and that's all. 203 00:12:04,909 --> 00:12:07,069 The huge crowd assembled here outside 204 00:12:07,149 --> 00:12:10,269 looking the new face of the English people, 205 00:12:10,349 --> 00:12:12,229 like the big hair and all that. 206 00:12:12,309 --> 00:12:13,309 It was a craze. 207 00:12:14,669 --> 00:12:16,829 My father and uncle went to the hotel 208 00:12:16,909 --> 00:12:20,349 and show an instrument, and, later on, 209 00:12:20,429 --> 00:12:22,789 gave lesson to George Harrison specially. 210 00:12:24,549 --> 00:12:27,549 After The Beatles, there was a big craze for sitars, 211 00:12:27,629 --> 00:12:30,029 tablas, and other instruments. 212 00:12:30,109 --> 00:12:33,549 In a day, in a month, we were selling sitar like hotcake. 213 00:12:36,949 --> 00:12:40,789 The famous Beatles, they came in 1966 to our stall. 214 00:12:40,869 --> 00:12:42,469 They were dressed very differently 215 00:12:42,549 --> 00:12:45,669 so that the people there could not recognise them. 216 00:12:45,749 --> 00:12:47,309 And they walked into the store 217 00:12:47,389 --> 00:12:50,109 and they started talking about Indian musical instruments, 218 00:12:50,189 --> 00:12:52,909 especially the sitar, the tambura, and the sarod, 219 00:12:52,989 --> 00:12:54,349 and also the tabla. 220 00:12:58,749 --> 00:13:00,629 He was a good sitar player, my father, 221 00:13:00,709 --> 00:13:03,189 and he was showing them how to play it 222 00:13:03,269 --> 00:13:05,229 and how the finger movements are, 223 00:13:05,309 --> 00:13:08,229 how to coordinate both left and right hand, 224 00:13:08,309 --> 00:13:11,109 and, you know, how to strike the strings, 225 00:13:11,189 --> 00:13:12,469 how to pluck the strings. 226 00:13:13,829 --> 00:13:17,629 They asked him whom he learned the sitar from, 227 00:13:17,709 --> 00:13:19,829 he said, "With Ravi Shankar." 228 00:13:19,909 --> 00:13:21,909 Pa-pa-pa-pa, ah. Like this. 229 00:13:27,469 --> 00:13:31,389 Ravi Shankar, as I see it, was really the first ambassador 230 00:13:31,469 --> 00:13:34,869 for all musicians, artists, singers, dancers 231 00:13:34,949 --> 00:13:36,469 from India to the West. 232 00:13:43,349 --> 00:13:44,629 Over the last few years, 233 00:13:44,709 --> 00:13:48,269 I heard the name Ravi Shankar mentioned. 234 00:13:50,029 --> 00:13:54,789 A good friend of mine told me to buy a record, which I did. 235 00:13:56,149 --> 00:13:57,445 This was the first time I'd ever heard 236 00:13:57,469 --> 00:13:59,349 Indian music properly. 237 00:14:02,309 --> 00:14:03,709 But when I first heard it, 238 00:14:03,789 --> 00:14:06,029 I couldn't really, couldn't believe it really. 239 00:14:11,229 --> 00:14:12,829 He's also been turned onto Ravi Shankar, 240 00:14:12,909 --> 00:14:16,029 by the, like, David Crosby and Roger McGuinn from The Birds. 241 00:14:16,109 --> 00:14:17,509 'Cause Ravi Shankar had appealed to, 242 00:14:17,589 --> 00:14:19,509 the sort of the Beat Generation, 243 00:14:19,589 --> 00:14:21,029 going back to the fifties actually. 244 00:14:21,109 --> 00:14:24,189 It was all part of that kind of ambiance. 245 00:14:24,269 --> 00:14:25,749 I'm sure you must have been asked this 246 00:14:25,789 --> 00:14:26,869 lots of times before, 247 00:14:26,949 --> 00:14:28,589 but what's your opinion of, 248 00:14:28,669 --> 00:14:30,669 sort of, English pop groups and American pop groups 249 00:14:30,709 --> 00:14:34,229 using the sitar and the Indian influence in their records? 250 00:14:34,309 --> 00:14:37,669 It will make me very happy if I see that some people 251 00:14:37,749 --> 00:14:40,669 take true interest and learn properly. 252 00:14:40,749 --> 00:14:43,869 Because after having played the sitar for 36 years, 253 00:14:43,949 --> 00:14:47,709 I feel that one has to give some time to it. 254 00:14:47,789 --> 00:14:48,789 Indeed. 255 00:14:53,909 --> 00:14:56,109 My father and my mother were running 256 00:14:56,189 --> 00:14:57,509 the Asian Music Circle. 257 00:14:59,029 --> 00:15:01,869 My father was quite successful at getting musicians 258 00:15:01,949 --> 00:15:06,229 to come to this country and he'd put on concerts for them. 259 00:15:06,309 --> 00:15:09,869 It was very much for erudite English people, 260 00:15:09,949 --> 00:15:11,749 intellectuals who knew about Indian music. 261 00:15:16,109 --> 00:15:18,189 Yehudi Menuhin, amazing man. 262 00:15:18,269 --> 00:15:20,909 He was the president to the Asian Music Circle, 263 00:15:20,989 --> 00:15:23,989 and I think it was through him that Ravi Shankar first came. 264 00:15:26,669 --> 00:15:29,509 And George was fascinated by our family, 265 00:15:29,589 --> 00:15:33,709 and so he was invited round to spend the afternoon. 266 00:15:33,789 --> 00:15:35,349 I think he came round for lunch. 267 00:15:35,429 --> 00:15:36,749 Pattie was there as well, 268 00:15:36,829 --> 00:15:39,189 and then George came quite regularly. 269 00:15:39,269 --> 00:15:42,389 Eventually, I said, if we could get Ravi free, 270 00:15:42,469 --> 00:15:44,189 and the time George was free, 271 00:15:44,269 --> 00:15:46,085 we'd invite them both together and introduce them 272 00:15:46,109 --> 00:15:47,389 and see whether they got on. 273 00:15:48,749 --> 00:15:51,389 And the doorbell rang and I rushed to the door 274 00:15:51,469 --> 00:15:53,949 and there wasn't George, it was Paul. 275 00:15:54,029 --> 00:15:55,469 Then Paul said, "I'm Paul McCartney." 276 00:15:55,549 --> 00:15:58,029 And I said, "I know." 277 00:15:58,109 --> 00:16:02,149 And he came in and a little while after that, 278 00:16:02,229 --> 00:16:04,229 I think George arrived next. 279 00:16:04,309 --> 00:16:07,309 And finally we met, very nicely, 280 00:16:07,389 --> 00:16:09,549 at somebody's house, having dinner. 281 00:16:09,629 --> 00:16:11,909 We met just as two people 282 00:16:11,989 --> 00:16:14,869 instead of being a big publicity gimmick. 283 00:16:16,349 --> 00:16:18,429 Ravi came in and we just said, 284 00:16:18,509 --> 00:16:20,669 "Ravi, this is George, George this is Ravi." 285 00:16:22,349 --> 00:16:25,189 And we had a dinner there, we just ate and talked. 286 00:16:26,549 --> 00:16:28,349 Paul was a little bit on the outside actually, 287 00:16:28,389 --> 00:16:31,149 looking a little bit bored, smoking like a chimney. 288 00:16:31,229 --> 00:16:33,949 My young sister went around collecting the cigarette butts 289 00:16:34,029 --> 00:16:36,869 to take to school the next day, the used cigarette butts. 290 00:16:40,229 --> 00:16:44,229 And from then he offered to give me, 291 00:16:44,309 --> 00:16:48,789 to start me off on sitar with a few lessons, which he did. 292 00:16:48,869 --> 00:16:52,469 He had many students in India, very talented musicians. 293 00:16:52,549 --> 00:16:54,029 So to try to explain 294 00:16:54,109 --> 00:16:58,869 what drew George and Ravi Shankar together 295 00:17:00,189 --> 00:17:02,509 is not easy because it defies logic. 296 00:17:09,869 --> 00:17:12,349 When George Harrison came to me, 297 00:17:12,429 --> 00:17:14,349 I didn't know what to think. 298 00:17:15,709 --> 00:17:18,789 But I found he really wanted to learn. 299 00:17:22,389 --> 00:17:26,149 I never thought our meeting would cause such an explosion. 300 00:17:28,349 --> 00:17:31,189 That Indian music could suddenly appear on the pop scene. 301 00:17:34,349 --> 00:17:36,789 George said that, "I want to learn the sitar," 302 00:17:36,869 --> 00:17:39,629 and Ravi, he said, "Yes, I can teach you, 303 00:17:39,709 --> 00:17:42,709 but it's a very difficult instrument to learn, 304 00:17:42,789 --> 00:17:45,229 and you will have to spend a lot of time 305 00:17:45,309 --> 00:17:48,029 and your fingers will hurt. 306 00:17:48,109 --> 00:17:51,189 It's going to be a difficult thing for you to do, 307 00:17:51,269 --> 00:17:54,389 but I want you to come to India 308 00:17:54,469 --> 00:17:57,709 and I will teach you over there." 309 00:18:08,829 --> 00:18:10,869 So when Ravi invited George and me, 310 00:18:10,949 --> 00:18:12,269 I was thrilled to be going. 311 00:18:13,829 --> 00:18:15,645 You know, 22, I hadn't really thought much about it. 312 00:18:15,669 --> 00:18:18,109 I thought of the King's Road and you know, clothes. 313 00:18:19,469 --> 00:18:21,509 And we started off in Mumbai. 314 00:18:21,589 --> 00:18:24,309 Ravi took us to concerts, private concerts, 315 00:18:24,389 --> 00:18:25,949 that he gave in people's houses, 316 00:18:26,029 --> 00:18:28,389 and then bigger concerts in front of his students. 317 00:18:30,109 --> 00:18:33,829 George Harrison came with his wife, September 1966. 318 00:18:33,909 --> 00:18:35,869 You know, Pandit Ravi Shankar picks him up, 319 00:18:35,949 --> 00:18:39,589 he takes him to the Taj hotel and within about four hours, 320 00:18:39,669 --> 00:18:42,469 the whole of the people in Taj, 321 00:18:42,549 --> 00:18:45,189 it was just filled with people and media and fans, 322 00:18:45,269 --> 00:18:47,389 just coming in, shouting, "George, George, George." 323 00:18:47,469 --> 00:18:50,309 So finally George got just fed up and he told Pandit, 324 00:18:50,389 --> 00:18:52,149 "Let's give a press conference, 325 00:18:52,229 --> 00:18:53,749 Let's go and talk to the press." 326 00:18:53,829 --> 00:18:55,845 So, of course, Pandit Ravi Shankar was the music director 327 00:18:55,869 --> 00:18:57,429 of All India Radio for many years. 328 00:18:57,509 --> 00:19:00,069 So he said, let's go and do a radio interview, studio one. 329 00:19:00,149 --> 00:19:02,749 This is where Pandit Ravi Shankar and George Harrison 330 00:19:02,829 --> 00:19:03,829 did an interview. 331 00:19:04,869 --> 00:19:06,109 So we searched for it, 332 00:19:06,189 --> 00:19:07,645 and we actually opened quite a few spools, 333 00:19:07,669 --> 00:19:10,389 dusty spool lying in the side of a corner. 334 00:19:10,469 --> 00:19:12,765 And then we found George Harrison, there was a paper inside. 335 00:19:12,789 --> 00:19:14,269 It said "George Harrison interview." 336 00:19:14,349 --> 00:19:17,309 The tape hadn't been played in maybe 30 years. 337 00:19:17,389 --> 00:19:18,749 Good afternoon, George. 338 00:19:18,829 --> 00:19:20,069 Good afternoon. 339 00:19:21,469 --> 00:19:23,069 We would like to know from you, 340 00:19:23,149 --> 00:19:26,869 do you think you could not make a public appearance? 341 00:19:26,949 --> 00:19:28,749 If I did want to make a public appearance, 342 00:19:28,829 --> 00:19:30,709 I would have come here to do a show, 343 00:19:30,789 --> 00:19:33,229 and I would've come with John and Paul and Ringo. 344 00:19:33,309 --> 00:19:34,589 It's just like, 345 00:19:34,669 --> 00:19:37,189 all our fans who go to school during the week. 346 00:19:37,269 --> 00:19:38,789 Well if they go on the holidays 347 00:19:38,869 --> 00:19:41,789 and suddenly somebody's making them learn maths 348 00:19:41,869 --> 00:19:44,229 and learn English and learn all this, 349 00:19:44,309 --> 00:19:47,269 then they don't like to do that when it's their holiday. 350 00:19:47,349 --> 00:19:48,589 It's the same for me. 351 00:19:48,669 --> 00:19:50,829 I go around having my photograph taken, 352 00:19:50,909 --> 00:19:53,429 signing autographs and waving at people, 353 00:19:53,509 --> 00:19:56,509 and being a Beatle, and when it comes to my holiday, 354 00:19:56,589 --> 00:19:59,829 then, naturally, I want to not be a Beatle, I wanna be me. 355 00:20:04,149 --> 00:20:07,869 When I was 19, I went to India. 356 00:20:07,949 --> 00:20:11,229 My aunt greeted me at the airport and said, 357 00:20:11,309 --> 00:20:14,509 "Do you know that George Harrison is staying at the hotel?" 358 00:20:16,509 --> 00:20:19,229 We asked around, you know, "Where's Mr. Harrison," 359 00:20:19,309 --> 00:20:20,669 and we weren't told, 360 00:20:20,749 --> 00:20:23,629 and then sort of hopped onto the elevator, 361 00:20:23,709 --> 00:20:25,389 and we started going to floors, 362 00:20:25,469 --> 00:20:27,709 and then eventually there was one floor 363 00:20:27,789 --> 00:20:31,469 where there was a waiter standing outside a room. 364 00:20:31,549 --> 00:20:34,789 And I don't really know what made me do it, 365 00:20:34,869 --> 00:20:37,309 but I sort of hobbled in 366 00:20:37,389 --> 00:20:40,309 and George Harrison asked what I was doing there, 367 00:20:40,389 --> 00:20:41,949 and I just said, 368 00:20:42,029 --> 00:20:43,749 "I would like your autograph, Mr. Harrison." 369 00:20:43,829 --> 00:20:46,189 And he said, you know, he sort of, 370 00:20:46,269 --> 00:20:47,909 he wasn't too happy about me being there. 371 00:20:47,989 --> 00:20:49,669 I also said to him, 372 00:20:49,749 --> 00:20:52,549 he had numerous fans outside the hotel, 373 00:20:52,629 --> 00:20:54,989 and his words were, which I've never, ever forgotten, 374 00:20:55,069 --> 00:20:58,509 "Tell your friends if they like me, to keep away from me." 375 00:20:58,589 --> 00:20:59,845 Which I thought was rather nasty, 376 00:20:59,869 --> 00:21:02,349 but I needed the autograph. 377 00:21:06,149 --> 00:21:07,909 Everything that Ravi had shown us 378 00:21:07,989 --> 00:21:11,749 and told us about him, introduced us to, made an impact. 379 00:21:13,349 --> 00:21:17,029 He took us to the Ellora Caves, fascinating. 380 00:21:18,349 --> 00:21:21,229 And we went to Banaras, Varanasi. 381 00:21:23,469 --> 00:21:24,829 Banaras was unbelievable 382 00:21:24,909 --> 00:21:26,109 'cause we came by boat 383 00:21:26,189 --> 00:21:27,789 and Ravi had explained to us 384 00:21:27,869 --> 00:21:31,909 the whole reason for people coming to Banaras to die. 385 00:21:31,989 --> 00:21:34,909 And they would request that they'd be burnt. 386 00:21:34,989 --> 00:21:37,789 And I was fascinated by this. 387 00:21:39,429 --> 00:21:42,149 The pyres and then the family or the wife or the husband 388 00:21:42,229 --> 00:21:44,789 taking it into the Ganges 389 00:21:44,869 --> 00:21:46,589 and letting their ashes float away. 390 00:21:49,029 --> 00:21:51,429 So Agra, we went to the Taj Mahal. 391 00:21:51,509 --> 00:21:54,509 It's beautiful, I love the story surrounding it. 392 00:21:54,589 --> 00:21:56,589 It was more exquisite 393 00:21:56,669 --> 00:21:59,949 than I could ever have described to anyone. 394 00:22:00,029 --> 00:22:02,669 And then, towards the end of our trip, Kumbh Mela. 395 00:22:04,269 --> 00:22:06,349 There were all these sadhus walking down the road, 396 00:22:06,429 --> 00:22:08,469 and I said, "Ravi, what's they doing?" 397 00:22:08,549 --> 00:22:10,909 He said, "They walk hundreds of miles 398 00:22:10,989 --> 00:22:12,589 to come into this Kumbh Mela." 399 00:22:12,669 --> 00:22:14,829 And I was just watching this spectacle, 400 00:22:14,909 --> 00:22:17,749 and all these people, you know, families or groups 401 00:22:17,829 --> 00:22:20,149 and sadhus, all of India, it seemed. 402 00:22:22,789 --> 00:22:27,389 He also told us about Indian culture and spirituality. 403 00:22:28,749 --> 00:22:32,069 Ravi took us to meet his spiritual guru 404 00:22:32,149 --> 00:22:34,709 and this man was over 100. 405 00:22:34,789 --> 00:22:36,765 And obviously, we didn't know what they were saying, 406 00:22:36,789 --> 00:22:39,589 but it wasn't very many words. 407 00:22:39,669 --> 00:22:42,149 And Ravi is a reverential towards his guru. 408 00:22:44,149 --> 00:22:45,709 Throughout my life 409 00:22:45,789 --> 00:22:50,309 I look to the great yogi Taj Mirage, my spiritual guru. 410 00:22:51,589 --> 00:22:54,309 As a Hindu, I believe blessing of guru 411 00:22:55,709 --> 00:22:57,589 is the most priceless thing in life. 412 00:23:00,029 --> 00:23:01,909 It was very moving for me 413 00:23:01,989 --> 00:23:06,749 to see somebody as powerful as Ravi, but George adored him. 414 00:23:08,109 --> 00:23:09,869 And here he was humbled in front of his guru. 415 00:23:11,109 --> 00:23:12,829 Ravi said that there was something 416 00:23:12,909 --> 00:23:17,069 that I found in George, where he was so simple, 417 00:23:17,149 --> 00:23:20,869 so down to earth, he looked upon me like a guru, 418 00:23:20,949 --> 00:23:25,149 like a father, and he had absolutely no airs about him. 419 00:23:25,229 --> 00:23:26,309 And that is something 420 00:23:26,389 --> 00:23:27,445 -that we also observed- -That's true. 421 00:23:27,469 --> 00:23:29,949 When he came to our home, 422 00:23:30,029 --> 00:23:34,789 he was absolutely a simple person, not demanding anything. 423 00:23:36,989 --> 00:23:38,285 I haven't learned to play the sitar, 424 00:23:38,309 --> 00:23:40,389 I mean, Ravi Shankar hasn't learnt to play 425 00:23:40,469 --> 00:23:42,549 and he's been playing in 35 years. 426 00:23:44,509 --> 00:23:47,349 He was not a sitar player or a star musician, 427 00:23:47,429 --> 00:23:52,109 but I have not seen Ravi have so much time for someone. 428 00:23:52,189 --> 00:23:56,189 This association, this link, I can only explain it 429 00:23:56,269 --> 00:23:58,789 that they must've had some links in a previous life 430 00:23:58,869 --> 00:24:00,269 that brought them together. 431 00:24:02,829 --> 00:24:06,589 When George and we got connected in '66, 432 00:24:08,989 --> 00:24:11,429 it was like wildfire, you know. 433 00:24:12,869 --> 00:24:14,749 He's like a son to me. Same thing. 434 00:24:14,829 --> 00:24:16,989 Sometimes I feel like his dad as well. 435 00:24:18,749 --> 00:24:19,749 He can be. 436 00:24:25,829 --> 00:24:28,629 George Harrison, he loved India, 437 00:24:28,709 --> 00:24:33,469 he loved Indian music, he loved Indian spirituality. 438 00:24:35,069 --> 00:24:38,789 So this thing, you know, pushed Indian classical music 439 00:24:38,869 --> 00:24:41,869 on the top, you know, fusion we can call it, 440 00:24:41,949 --> 00:24:44,389 Western and Indian classical music. 441 00:24:44,469 --> 00:24:47,389 And that was the biggest fusion ever happened. 442 00:24:54,669 --> 00:24:57,149 And then Harrison came here to record "Wonderwall" 443 00:24:57,229 --> 00:24:59,389 with Indian classical musicians. 444 00:25:01,269 --> 00:25:03,549 He was interested in meeting local musicians. 445 00:25:06,549 --> 00:25:10,469 The Beatles use the sitars in their record. 446 00:25:10,549 --> 00:25:15,109 Somehow we were able to imagine The Beatles as our band, 447 00:25:15,189 --> 00:25:16,829 as an Indian band. 448 00:25:19,149 --> 00:25:20,789 And you know, India was a closed society 449 00:25:20,869 --> 00:25:22,429 and a closed economy, 450 00:25:22,509 --> 00:25:26,229 and it was a not very easy to get your hands on albums. 451 00:25:26,309 --> 00:25:31,109 In 1962 or very early '63 on the international shortwave, 452 00:25:32,669 --> 00:25:35,989 a group of people in Bangalore heard their music 453 00:25:36,069 --> 00:25:38,709 and said, "Hey, wait a minute, this is very different." 454 00:25:38,789 --> 00:25:43,109 What it did really was to liberate an entire generation 455 00:25:43,189 --> 00:25:46,069 from the cultural shackles of the past. 456 00:25:46,149 --> 00:25:48,549 The British had left in 1947, 457 00:25:48,629 --> 00:25:51,589 this core was born in the late forties 458 00:25:51,669 --> 00:25:53,949 or early fifties, mid fifties. 459 00:25:54,029 --> 00:25:55,309 When they came of age, 460 00:25:55,389 --> 00:25:58,109 they rejected the past and embraced the new. 461 00:25:59,829 --> 00:26:03,509 In those days, most of the musicians were really from 462 00:26:03,589 --> 00:26:07,269 the Anglo Indian Catholic Christian community 463 00:26:07,349 --> 00:26:11,149 because they were the ones who were more trained in English. 464 00:26:11,229 --> 00:26:14,229 The Jets was really the first beat band, 465 00:26:14,309 --> 00:26:15,789 it wasn't so much rock music, 466 00:26:15,869 --> 00:26:17,829 but it was known as beat music. 467 00:26:17,909 --> 00:26:21,149 And the word beat was not far from Beatle. 468 00:26:21,229 --> 00:26:24,829 We started to model our lives along the lines 469 00:26:24,909 --> 00:26:28,029 of what The Beatles were doing at the time. 470 00:26:28,109 --> 00:26:30,669 The musicians those days were more into singing 471 00:26:30,749 --> 00:26:34,229 Jim Reeves, Everly Brothers, Pat Boone, 472 00:26:34,309 --> 00:26:36,789 and then bang came The Beatles. 473 00:26:36,869 --> 00:26:39,829 And it was like an electric breath of fresh air. 474 00:26:39,909 --> 00:26:43,189 Whatever we were used to suddenly lost its relevance. 475 00:26:46,069 --> 00:26:47,909 One day we just woke up 476 00:26:47,989 --> 00:26:51,389 and we saw an image of the great Shammi Kapoor 477 00:26:51,469 --> 00:26:54,309 with that Beatle wig in a Hindi film. 478 00:26:55,669 --> 00:26:57,029 That spoke about the enormous power 479 00:26:57,109 --> 00:26:58,749 and the clout of The Beatles. 480 00:27:00,109 --> 00:27:02,389 My mother was a Indian classical musician. 481 00:27:02,469 --> 00:27:04,149 And then she bought me my first 45, 482 00:27:04,229 --> 00:27:06,469 which was, "I Wanna Hold Your Hand." 483 00:27:06,549 --> 00:27:08,989 Straight away and she bought me a British pop magazine 484 00:27:09,069 --> 00:27:11,309 where I could read about what was happening in the UK 485 00:27:11,389 --> 00:27:13,629 and the UK pop scene. 486 00:27:15,029 --> 00:27:16,629 One day one of my classmates 487 00:27:16,709 --> 00:27:18,909 came back to India after the holidays, 488 00:27:18,989 --> 00:27:20,789 and he brought an album by The Beatles, 489 00:27:20,869 --> 00:27:22,469 who we'd never heard of. 490 00:27:22,549 --> 00:27:25,429 By 10 o'clock that night, I'd fallen in love with the music, 491 00:27:25,509 --> 00:27:27,469 that I'd heard it three or four times, 492 00:27:27,549 --> 00:27:28,949 that music grew into me 493 00:27:29,029 --> 00:27:30,869 and I thought, "Wow, this is fabulous." 494 00:27:32,509 --> 00:27:35,509 We used to play those records again and again and again, 495 00:27:35,589 --> 00:27:37,829 you know, somebody listening to the words, you know, 496 00:27:37,909 --> 00:27:39,829 somebody who's trying to figure out the chords- 497 00:27:39,909 --> 00:27:42,189 - Yes, the solo. - And the solos, 498 00:27:42,269 --> 00:27:44,909 and the most difficult part were the harmonies. 499 00:27:44,989 --> 00:27:47,229 Beatles still remain one of the greatest, 500 00:27:47,309 --> 00:27:50,429 you know, harmony groups, you know, ever. 501 00:27:51,789 --> 00:27:54,429 We went to Calcutta, we stayed with a friend. 502 00:27:54,509 --> 00:27:55,949 And the first night 503 00:27:56,029 --> 00:27:57,685 he took us to a restaurant called Trinkers. 504 00:27:57,709 --> 00:27:59,189 But when we walked in, 505 00:27:59,269 --> 00:28:00,949 we were dressed in our Beatle clothes, 506 00:28:01,029 --> 00:28:03,189 and everybody got up and started clapping. 507 00:28:03,269 --> 00:28:04,789 I don't know why, 508 00:28:04,869 --> 00:28:07,429 maybe they assumed we were some famous group but we weren't, 509 00:28:07,509 --> 00:28:09,389 but the owner of the restaurant said, 510 00:28:09,469 --> 00:28:11,949 "Hey, you know, the people wanna know if you guys sing?" 511 00:28:12,029 --> 00:28:13,349 I said, "Yeah, we sing." 512 00:28:13,429 --> 00:28:15,469 He said, "Would you do a couple of numbers?" 513 00:28:15,549 --> 00:28:18,829 So we did, "She Loves You" and "Please, Please Me." 514 00:28:18,909 --> 00:28:20,709 We brought the house down, shook our heads, 515 00:28:20,789 --> 00:28:21,949 et cetera, et cetera. 516 00:28:22,029 --> 00:28:23,789 The owner came and he said, 517 00:28:23,869 --> 00:28:26,069 "Would you guys like a residency?" 518 00:28:26,149 --> 00:28:27,829 And that's how our career started. 519 00:28:29,469 --> 00:28:32,349 We were the first Western music performing group 520 00:28:32,429 --> 00:28:34,389 to be ever recorded in India. 521 00:28:34,469 --> 00:28:37,989 At the HMV studios, and a song which, of I'm not mistaken, 522 00:28:38,069 --> 00:28:41,909 there was a song called "Pain" and "The Girl Next Door." 523 00:28:41,989 --> 00:28:44,189 I think "The Girl Next Door" had some influences 524 00:28:44,269 --> 00:28:45,309 of The Beatles. 525 00:28:45,389 --> 00:28:46,989 Especially the harmonies. 526 00:28:47,069 --> 00:28:49,629 - Especially the harmonies. - The harmonies, yes, yes. 527 00:28:49,709 --> 00:28:51,429 I was planning to go west 528 00:28:51,509 --> 00:28:53,989 because, you know, forget the Indian culture, 529 00:28:54,069 --> 00:28:56,469 the Western culture was what we youngsters wanted. 530 00:28:56,549 --> 00:28:58,349 By some strange paradox, 531 00:28:58,429 --> 00:29:01,109 The Beatles, who lived in the culture I wanted, 532 00:29:01,189 --> 00:29:03,069 were making their way to India. 533 00:29:15,629 --> 00:29:18,829 LSD was really beginning to make its mark in London, 534 00:29:18,909 --> 00:29:21,029 in the the circles that they moved in. 535 00:29:22,869 --> 00:29:25,069 Some newspaperman came up and he said, 536 00:29:25,149 --> 00:29:26,749 "Have you had LSD?" 537 00:29:26,829 --> 00:29:29,509 So I thought, well, I'll either be cagey here 538 00:29:29,589 --> 00:29:31,789 or I'll be honest, so I said, yes. 539 00:29:35,869 --> 00:29:38,069 Oh God, well, I mean, the first time 540 00:29:38,149 --> 00:29:40,709 was when George and Me, John and Cynthia 541 00:29:40,789 --> 00:29:43,989 were invited for dinner by our dentist. 542 00:29:44,069 --> 00:29:45,389 And that was a bit scary, 543 00:29:45,469 --> 00:29:48,269 because, you know, what was happening to us. 544 00:29:48,349 --> 00:29:49,429 Do you know what I mean? 545 00:29:49,509 --> 00:29:51,029 It's just, everything is surreal. 546 00:29:51,109 --> 00:29:54,269 And you look at your hand and you're like 500 years old. 547 00:29:55,909 --> 00:29:58,669 And then I'd hear my voice and wonder where it came from. 548 00:29:58,749 --> 00:30:01,909 And colours, and there's an intensity to it. 549 00:30:05,189 --> 00:30:08,669 When we took the notorious wonder, drug LSD, 550 00:30:08,749 --> 00:30:12,589 we had it and we went out to a club and it was incredible. 551 00:30:12,669 --> 00:30:14,229 When I got onto acid, right, 552 00:30:14,309 --> 00:30:17,749 you know the day that you're at a hundred percent potential 553 00:30:17,829 --> 00:30:19,949 and you can handle whatever the situation is, 554 00:30:20,029 --> 00:30:22,029 with acid, or just after acid, 555 00:30:22,109 --> 00:30:24,629 the percent of good days as opposed to bad days 556 00:30:24,709 --> 00:30:26,189 was just a bit better, you know. 557 00:30:28,509 --> 00:30:30,269 They particularly got into drugs 558 00:30:30,349 --> 00:30:32,229 and Indian music at the same time, 559 00:30:32,309 --> 00:30:34,669 and it seemed like there was some kind of a connection 560 00:30:34,749 --> 00:30:36,349 between the two, there wasn't of course, 561 00:30:36,429 --> 00:30:38,909 because they both preexisted separately. 562 00:30:40,949 --> 00:30:41,829 There must be an intimate connection 563 00:30:41,909 --> 00:30:43,149 between Indian music and drugs, 564 00:30:43,229 --> 00:30:44,789 maybe because of the bizarre sound, 565 00:30:44,869 --> 00:30:46,485 and there should be a drug connection he said that- 566 00:30:46,509 --> 00:30:48,549 Just watch who you're calling bizarre, Dick. 567 00:30:50,029 --> 00:30:51,645 Yes, I have difficulty with the word bizarre. 568 00:30:51,669 --> 00:30:54,509 I meant B-A-Z-A-A-R, the other... 569 00:30:54,589 --> 00:30:56,645 No, wait a minute, there's no way I can get out of this. 570 00:30:56,669 --> 00:30:58,909 To Western ears, the unusual sound 571 00:30:58,989 --> 00:31:02,949 might suggest some sort of chemical intoxication. 572 00:31:03,029 --> 00:31:04,229 I'm not blaming George, 573 00:31:04,309 --> 00:31:06,909 but you know, somehow because of him, 574 00:31:06,989 --> 00:31:10,789 the sitar became really popular among the young people. 575 00:31:10,869 --> 00:31:12,069 The hippies were the ones 576 00:31:12,149 --> 00:31:13,549 who caught on to a new music, 577 00:31:13,629 --> 00:31:15,309 and it just happens that most of them were, 578 00:31:15,389 --> 00:31:18,149 you know, were smoking pot or something. 579 00:31:18,229 --> 00:31:21,229 And, since then, the two got caught up together 580 00:31:21,309 --> 00:31:22,629 but it's really a problem. 581 00:31:24,149 --> 00:31:26,629 Yeah, I requests to my listeners to be in a clear mind, 582 00:31:26,709 --> 00:31:29,709 because I like to put them, you know, 583 00:31:29,789 --> 00:31:31,909 - make them high with the music. - Yourself. 584 00:31:31,989 --> 00:31:34,949 Yes, and I feel rather cheated when they're already high. 585 00:31:38,669 --> 00:31:43,149 LSD opened them up to experiences and awarenesses 586 00:31:43,229 --> 00:31:46,429 of consciousness that they wouldn't have got 587 00:31:46,509 --> 00:31:48,029 in any other way. 588 00:31:48,109 --> 00:31:50,749 Eastern religion, I think, would have been opaque to them, 589 00:31:50,829 --> 00:31:52,765 they wouldn't have been able to understand it at all, 590 00:31:52,789 --> 00:31:54,749 but, having had that experience, 591 00:31:54,829 --> 00:31:56,869 suddenly these things made sense. 592 00:31:58,189 --> 00:32:00,509 George said that when he first took LSD, 593 00:32:00,589 --> 00:32:03,549 he heard voices in the back of his head 594 00:32:03,629 --> 00:32:05,389 saying yogis of the Himalayas. 595 00:32:11,909 --> 00:32:13,469 Maharishi, good evening. 596 00:32:13,549 --> 00:32:17,069 You once said even if only 1/10 of the adult population 597 00:32:17,149 --> 00:32:19,669 meditated for short periods each day, 598 00:32:19,749 --> 00:32:21,629 it would not take more than a few months 599 00:32:21,709 --> 00:32:24,669 to remove the entire accumulation of tension in the world. 600 00:32:24,749 --> 00:32:25,965 - These are your words? - I'm absolutely 601 00:32:25,989 --> 00:32:27,509 convinced about it. 602 00:32:29,109 --> 00:32:30,909 I saw an advertisement in the paper 603 00:32:30,989 --> 00:32:33,669 for transcendental meditation classes. 604 00:32:33,749 --> 00:32:35,229 So I went with a girlfriend. 605 00:32:36,789 --> 00:32:38,829 England I've been visiting once every year. 606 00:32:38,909 --> 00:32:41,029 People do feel stress and strain 607 00:32:41,109 --> 00:32:45,589 due to the greater undertaking in their life. 608 00:32:45,669 --> 00:32:48,669 Paul phoned George and said, 609 00:32:48,749 --> 00:32:50,309 "There's this man called Maharishi 610 00:32:50,389 --> 00:32:53,389 who's going to come to England and talk about meditation". 611 00:32:53,469 --> 00:32:55,069 And I said, 612 00:32:55,149 --> 00:32:56,725 "Oh, that's the same guy that, you know, I follow." 613 00:32:56,749 --> 00:32:58,485 So in those days, when one Beatle did something, 614 00:32:58,509 --> 00:33:01,029 they all did it, so we all went. 615 00:33:01,109 --> 00:33:02,245 Now you've been travelling the world now 616 00:33:02,269 --> 00:33:03,749 for many years. 617 00:33:03,829 --> 00:33:05,165 You've made, I think, something like eight world tours. 618 00:33:05,189 --> 00:33:07,029 Ninth, I returned this time. 619 00:33:07,109 --> 00:33:11,029 This was the ninth completed. 620 00:33:11,109 --> 00:33:13,029 Maharishi was the most powerful, 621 00:33:13,109 --> 00:33:16,269 magnetically charismatic person I've ever met. 622 00:33:16,349 --> 00:33:19,149 He was also the happiest person I ever met. 623 00:33:19,229 --> 00:33:21,349 He was filled with this energy 624 00:33:21,429 --> 00:33:23,989 that you wanted to be near him all the time. 625 00:33:24,069 --> 00:33:26,029 All of us who were on his staff, 626 00:33:26,109 --> 00:33:28,469 we fought each other to get into the room with him. 627 00:33:29,829 --> 00:33:31,125 It was just the right time, anyway, 628 00:33:31,149 --> 00:33:32,509 there we were waiting for someone- 629 00:33:32,589 --> 00:33:33,869 Waiting for a guru, 630 00:33:33,949 --> 00:33:35,365 - and he came. - The great magic man to come, 631 00:33:35,389 --> 00:33:36,589 and he came, you know. 632 00:33:36,669 --> 00:33:38,429 There he was, he's just talking about it all 633 00:33:38,509 --> 00:33:39,829 and he had great answers. 634 00:33:39,909 --> 00:33:42,589 'Cause he's got that kind of thing, you know, 635 00:33:42,669 --> 00:33:44,629 and he got a twinkle in the eye. 636 00:33:45,949 --> 00:33:47,909 They told Maharishi that they'd been seeking 637 00:33:47,989 --> 00:33:49,949 a spiritual experience. 638 00:33:50,029 --> 00:33:51,669 They'd been trying to do it through drugs, 639 00:33:51,709 --> 00:33:54,029 but it just didn't work, you know? 640 00:33:54,109 --> 00:33:57,269 And so he invited them to come to Bangor, North Wales. 641 00:33:59,229 --> 00:34:01,869 Where he would be doing a meditation retreat for 10 days. 642 00:34:23,829 --> 00:34:25,389 The Beatles seem to be 643 00:34:25,469 --> 00:34:27,485 among your supporters now, how do you feel about that? 644 00:34:27,509 --> 00:34:30,509 They seem to be very intelligent and I'm honoured. 645 00:34:30,589 --> 00:34:33,509 And so you think that if The Beatles adopt your teaching, 646 00:34:33,589 --> 00:34:34,829 then they can spread it 647 00:34:34,909 --> 00:34:35,789 amongst other young people in England? 648 00:34:35,869 --> 00:34:37,069 And much more, 649 00:34:37,149 --> 00:34:38,949 not only England, but around the world. 650 00:34:39,029 --> 00:34:42,269 Because the word Beatle has gone on in all the continents, 651 00:34:42,349 --> 00:34:45,949 and younger people are fascinated by their name. 652 00:34:46,029 --> 00:34:47,629 What do you think of The Beatles? 653 00:34:47,709 --> 00:34:49,589 Very good, intelligent young boys, 654 00:34:49,669 --> 00:34:51,149 and there's great potential. 655 00:34:51,229 --> 00:34:53,109 And their music? 656 00:34:53,189 --> 00:34:54,549 Music I haven't heard, 657 00:34:54,629 --> 00:34:57,149 but because they are appreciated all over the world, 658 00:34:57,229 --> 00:34:59,949 they must have something very grateful in their music. 659 00:35:05,589 --> 00:35:07,189 I think he's trying to say 660 00:35:07,269 --> 00:35:09,429 is the things we're getting into aren't that important. 661 00:35:09,509 --> 00:35:11,429 Money has taken over from God. 662 00:35:11,509 --> 00:35:13,429 Instead of trying to get where God is, 663 00:35:13,509 --> 00:35:15,749 we all try and get the biggest bank balance. 664 00:35:15,829 --> 00:35:17,149 That's what it seems to mean. 665 00:35:18,829 --> 00:35:21,109 Peace of mind is like an ocean, very deep. 666 00:35:21,189 --> 00:35:24,749 And the activity's only on the surface like that. 667 00:35:24,829 --> 00:35:28,589 So if the waves of the ocean contact deeper level of water, 668 00:35:28,669 --> 00:35:30,709 then the wave becomes stronger. 669 00:35:30,789 --> 00:35:32,365 That means that we're going to be happier. 670 00:35:32,389 --> 00:35:37,069 And much happier and much more creative also. 671 00:35:49,669 --> 00:35:51,589 He was found in his second floor bedroom, 672 00:35:51,669 --> 00:35:54,189 just after two o'clock this afternoon by his housekeeper. 673 00:35:54,269 --> 00:35:57,269 Mr. Epstein has been unwell now for some months. 674 00:35:57,349 --> 00:35:59,069 And he's been in the habit of taking tablets 675 00:35:59,109 --> 00:36:00,309 to help him sleep at night. 676 00:36:02,069 --> 00:36:05,589 When Brian died, The Beatles clearly were lost. 677 00:36:05,669 --> 00:36:08,069 They were like jelly, their manager, their best friend, 678 00:36:08,149 --> 00:36:11,869 their man who they rely on totally for their fame, 679 00:36:11,949 --> 00:36:15,069 for their fortune, you know, their guide in life, 680 00:36:15,149 --> 00:36:16,189 was now gone. 681 00:36:19,709 --> 00:36:22,669 John, where would you be today without Mr. Epstein? 682 00:36:22,749 --> 00:36:23,949 I don't know. 683 00:36:25,589 --> 00:36:28,149 I understand that Mr. Epstein was to be initiated here? 684 00:36:29,309 --> 00:36:30,549 When was he coming up? 685 00:36:30,629 --> 00:36:32,109 Was he coming up in the afternoon? 686 00:36:32,189 --> 00:36:34,085 Coming tomorrow. Just Monday, that's all we knew. 687 00:36:34,109 --> 00:36:36,549 I spoke to him Wednesday evening, 688 00:36:36,629 --> 00:36:40,789 then evening before we first saw Maharishi's lecture 689 00:36:40,869 --> 00:36:43,549 and he was in great spirits. 690 00:36:45,069 --> 00:36:45,949 I wanted Maharishi 691 00:36:46,029 --> 00:36:47,245 to bring him back to life again. 692 00:36:47,269 --> 00:36:49,189 You know, I, by this time, 693 00:36:49,269 --> 00:36:51,029 I'm giving him so much power 694 00:36:51,109 --> 00:36:54,829 and how extraordinary that they were with Maharishi, 695 00:36:54,909 --> 00:36:58,429 who's now going to be, sort of, their spiritual guru, 696 00:36:58,509 --> 00:37:00,989 but also that they could lean on him, 697 00:37:01,069 --> 00:37:02,629 because they trusted him so much. 698 00:37:02,709 --> 00:37:06,549 So, for that moment in time, he replaced Brian. 699 00:37:08,109 --> 00:37:11,909 I understand that the Maharishi conferred with you all? 700 00:37:11,989 --> 00:37:16,509 He told us not to get overwhelmed by grief, 701 00:37:16,589 --> 00:37:20,109 and whatever thoughts we have of Brian, to keep 'em happy, 702 00:37:20,189 --> 00:37:21,549 because any thoughts we have of him 703 00:37:21,629 --> 00:37:23,549 will travel to him, wherever he is. 704 00:37:39,589 --> 00:37:44,349 I come to India because of I want to leave material world. 705 00:37:45,349 --> 00:37:46,349 Come to a simple country. 706 00:37:48,469 --> 00:37:52,029 Ganga is a holy river because it comes from Himalayas 707 00:37:53,269 --> 00:37:55,149 and this place has much energy. 708 00:37:57,109 --> 00:38:00,789 And it come down, no? Takes energy and comes here. 709 00:38:04,669 --> 00:38:05,709 The ashrams or monasteries 710 00:38:05,789 --> 00:38:07,989 of the various religious orders 711 00:38:08,069 --> 00:38:10,189 glimmer over the smooth green water. 712 00:38:10,269 --> 00:38:12,949 Though the sun is hot, the river is icy, 713 00:38:13,029 --> 00:38:15,589 flowing from a glacier high up in the Himalayas, 714 00:38:15,669 --> 00:38:17,349 the land of the Gods. 715 00:38:17,429 --> 00:38:21,109 But Rishikesh, its name means place of the wise ones, 716 00:38:21,189 --> 00:38:23,869 is far from being a remote or desert region. 717 00:38:23,949 --> 00:38:26,269 Its one of the most celebrated centres of pilgrimage 718 00:38:26,349 --> 00:38:27,349 in the whole of India. 719 00:38:29,349 --> 00:38:30,589 In the cool clear air 720 00:38:30,669 --> 00:38:32,749 of Rishikesh, North India, 721 00:38:32,829 --> 00:38:36,349 the meditation retreat of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. 722 00:38:36,429 --> 00:38:38,269 Flower-loving yogi told reporters 723 00:38:38,349 --> 00:38:40,069 that his brand of peace of mind 724 00:38:40,149 --> 00:38:41,669 could only be truly appreciated 725 00:38:41,749 --> 00:38:43,549 by intelligent men of the world 726 00:38:43,629 --> 00:38:47,029 with rewarding activities and high incomes. 727 00:38:47,109 --> 00:38:49,749 The purpose of life is the expansion of happiness. 728 00:38:49,829 --> 00:38:51,629 Anyone can find the way. 729 00:38:51,709 --> 00:38:54,549 That's the basic teaching of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. 730 00:38:54,629 --> 00:38:56,429 Are The Beatles really going to find happiness 731 00:38:56,469 --> 00:38:57,989 here in Rishikesh? 732 00:38:58,069 --> 00:39:00,045 Are they really going to become, as Maharishi hopes, 733 00:39:00,069 --> 00:39:02,189 the practical philosophers of the age? 734 00:39:02,269 --> 00:39:05,149 Or must they return home unsatisfied? 735 00:39:05,229 --> 00:39:07,589 Eternal, rich, young men victims of a fad, 736 00:39:07,669 --> 00:39:09,349 looking for something, anything, 737 00:39:09,429 --> 00:39:11,269 to make their lives worth while. 738 00:39:20,229 --> 00:39:22,749 I was a reporter. 739 00:39:22,829 --> 00:39:27,029 I'd heard that the best thing that a reporter can do 740 00:39:27,109 --> 00:39:30,549 is to beat all the other reporters in getting to the news. 741 00:39:31,949 --> 00:39:33,869 A friend of mine read 742 00:39:33,949 --> 00:39:38,789 that The Beatles were coming to stay with the Maharishi. 743 00:39:38,869 --> 00:39:41,349 And he said, "Saeed, do you know what it means? 744 00:39:41,429 --> 00:39:46,149 The whole world and its media is going to be here." 745 00:39:59,309 --> 00:40:01,189 The idea is to beat them. 746 00:40:01,269 --> 00:40:03,549 How do you beat them? 747 00:40:03,629 --> 00:40:08,469 "Ah," I said, "the idea is to become a disciple. 748 00:40:09,789 --> 00:40:12,909 If I become an insider, I'll get the story." 749 00:40:12,989 --> 00:40:16,029 So I walked in, you had to make some excuse 750 00:40:16,109 --> 00:40:17,669 if you're a drug addict, 751 00:40:17,749 --> 00:40:19,989 if you had failed, if you are a junkie, 752 00:40:20,069 --> 00:40:23,429 he whispered a mantra, a chant, in my ear, 753 00:40:25,989 --> 00:40:29,469 Which I'm not supposed to share with anybody. 754 00:40:29,549 --> 00:40:33,109 Then I went in, and again, and again, 755 00:40:33,189 --> 00:40:34,429 until all the sadhus 756 00:40:35,789 --> 00:40:38,269 who were going to be his managers recognise me. 757 00:40:38,349 --> 00:40:41,189 The password was jaguar will live, 758 00:40:41,269 --> 00:40:43,189 you said jaguar will live then you were in. 759 00:40:45,109 --> 00:40:49,989 From Hardwar, to Rishikesh, 760 00:40:51,549 --> 00:40:53,869 across Lakshman Jhula. 761 00:41:08,629 --> 00:41:11,189 I was taking aback. 762 00:41:11,269 --> 00:41:13,429 It was like a locust storm. 763 00:41:14,909 --> 00:41:18,749 Journalist, after journalist, after journalist, 764 00:41:18,829 --> 00:41:21,429 hundreds of them, "What's going on? 765 00:41:21,509 --> 00:41:23,629 They're not letting us in." 766 00:41:23,709 --> 00:41:25,629 I said, "They're not letting anybody in." 767 00:41:27,749 --> 00:41:30,229 Overnight, I went off to Rishikesh, 768 00:41:30,309 --> 00:41:33,349 with quite a few people from all over India. 769 00:41:33,429 --> 00:41:36,429 And it was very difficult to even know where The Beatles, 770 00:41:36,509 --> 00:41:39,309 where the ashram was, because it was so fortified. 771 00:41:39,389 --> 00:41:41,269 Fortified in the sense that, you know, 772 00:41:41,349 --> 00:41:42,589 there are a lot of police, 773 00:41:42,669 --> 00:41:44,549 there was a lot of bundobust in there. 774 00:41:44,629 --> 00:41:47,469 The whole day, we would just, early morning, wake up, 775 00:41:47,549 --> 00:41:50,949 somebody said, "Hey, The Beatles are coming to the Ganga." 776 00:41:51,029 --> 00:41:52,829 And so we'd all rush up there 777 00:41:52,909 --> 00:41:54,309 and wait there for two, three hours, 778 00:41:54,389 --> 00:41:55,989 but nothing would happen, you know. 779 00:41:56,069 --> 00:41:59,669 But it was like a celebration, it was like an exhibition, 780 00:41:59,749 --> 00:42:02,749 'cause, you know, there was so much of joy. 781 00:42:05,669 --> 00:42:08,909 One day, Maharishi called me in and he said, 782 00:42:08,989 --> 00:42:12,189 "The Beatles are gonna be arriving in a few days, 783 00:42:12,269 --> 00:42:15,709 but I want you to go fix up their rooms." 784 00:42:17,429 --> 00:42:21,509 They put me in charge to make their rooms nicer. 785 00:42:21,589 --> 00:42:23,229 I would have them paint this, 786 00:42:23,309 --> 00:42:24,909 they'd drop so much paint on the floor, 787 00:42:24,989 --> 00:42:26,829 then they'd have to paint the floor. 788 00:42:26,909 --> 00:42:29,149 Anyway, we had curtains put up. 789 00:42:29,229 --> 00:42:34,029 We had mirrors, we even had toilet fixtures that worked. 790 00:42:35,309 --> 00:42:36,669 They have mattresses on their beds. 791 00:42:38,349 --> 00:42:39,989 There's a fan club of real beetles 792 00:42:40,069 --> 00:42:41,949 waiting to welcome them, 793 00:42:42,029 --> 00:42:44,029 but the hardest thing about the life they lead here 794 00:42:44,109 --> 00:42:46,309 are the beds they'll sleep on. 795 00:42:46,389 --> 00:42:49,549 A hard wooden base, a simple, 796 00:42:49,629 --> 00:42:51,429 rather than a spartan existence. 797 00:42:54,909 --> 00:42:56,349 When they did arrive 798 00:42:56,429 --> 00:42:59,789 he introduced them to me and said to them, 799 00:42:59,869 --> 00:43:02,909 "If you want to anything, get a hold of Nancy. 800 00:43:02,989 --> 00:43:06,069 Nancy will be my ears and eyes in case you need anything, 801 00:43:06,149 --> 00:43:07,469 you let me know through her." 802 00:43:19,189 --> 00:43:23,949 So I found my way and I went to the gate and I said, 803 00:43:24,029 --> 00:43:25,069 "Jaguar will live." 804 00:43:25,149 --> 00:43:27,869 "Ah," they said. 805 00:43:27,949 --> 00:43:30,469 Oh, there was a hell of commotion outside. 806 00:43:30,549 --> 00:43:32,749 "How did this bastard get in?" 807 00:43:32,829 --> 00:43:36,429 I said, "I'm just a devotee of the Maharishi". 808 00:43:36,509 --> 00:43:40,669 So anyway, I entered and there under the tree, 809 00:43:40,749 --> 00:43:45,229 Maharishi, George, John Lennon, Paul, 810 00:43:45,309 --> 00:43:48,629 their respective ladies, a whole galaxy. 811 00:43:48,709 --> 00:43:50,549 I mean, I can't keep describing them. 812 00:43:50,629 --> 00:43:52,149 I need a photograph. 813 00:43:52,229 --> 00:43:53,309 So I called the sadhus. 814 00:43:54,709 --> 00:43:57,549 I said, "Look, I'm having difficulty 815 00:43:57,629 --> 00:43:59,949 managing this on my own, 816 00:44:00,029 --> 00:44:03,069 I immediately assumed the role of publicity manager 817 00:44:03,149 --> 00:44:04,909 for the Maharishi." 818 00:44:04,989 --> 00:44:07,349 So I said, "Here's a name, Raghu Rai. 819 00:44:07,429 --> 00:44:09,509 You go outside, call him in. 820 00:44:12,189 --> 00:44:14,829 This man came, who was from the ashram, 821 00:44:14,909 --> 00:44:18,149 and he says, "Mr. Naqvi wants to see you." 822 00:44:18,229 --> 00:44:20,029 I said, "Give me two minutes." 823 00:44:20,109 --> 00:44:24,349 So I went in, I put a big zoom lens on my camera 824 00:44:24,429 --> 00:44:27,029 and put it inside my labaada. 825 00:44:27,109 --> 00:44:31,829 So when I'm walking nobody can see if I'm carrying a camera. 826 00:44:31,909 --> 00:44:35,349 So I walked with him for about eight, 10 minutes. 827 00:44:35,429 --> 00:44:37,549 One sadhu was standing there. 828 00:44:37,629 --> 00:44:41,589 So he was standing next to him, so Saeed said, "Look there." 829 00:44:42,629 --> 00:44:43,789 I was shocked. 830 00:44:45,229 --> 00:44:46,429 Then I turned around 831 00:44:46,509 --> 00:44:49,749 and I saw that guy sadhu standing next to us. 832 00:44:49,829 --> 00:44:50,829 And I said. 833 00:44:54,989 --> 00:44:58,389 So he goes to get a glass of water for me, 834 00:44:58,469 --> 00:45:00,269 and Saeed says, "Hurry up, hurry up." 835 00:45:00,349 --> 00:45:01,909 In those days, 836 00:45:01,989 --> 00:45:05,149 we didn't have auto focus, auto exposure cameras, 837 00:45:05,229 --> 00:45:06,509 so you had to set the focus set 838 00:45:06,589 --> 00:45:08,869 and the exposure, everything. 839 00:45:08,949 --> 00:45:13,749 And I take just one picture, nicely focused and proper. 840 00:45:16,709 --> 00:45:19,949 Under the tree, Maharishi Yogi and The Beatles. 841 00:47:25,149 --> 00:47:28,389 See this building, this is the building where they lived. 842 00:47:28,469 --> 00:47:32,389 This room, I'll show you this side, 843 00:47:32,469 --> 00:47:35,589 this is the room of John Lennon. 844 00:47:35,669 --> 00:47:37,189 John Lennon stayed here. 845 00:47:37,269 --> 00:47:40,549 Other Beatles were staying in these rooms, 846 00:47:40,629 --> 00:47:43,469 along with their wives and family. 847 00:47:49,429 --> 00:47:52,349 So when Beatles came, I was a little kid. 848 00:47:52,429 --> 00:47:55,949 We were enjoying the whole atmosphere and the jungles 849 00:47:56,029 --> 00:47:59,069 and Beatles and the Maharishi, we were very close. 850 00:47:59,149 --> 00:48:01,469 We never find he's a celebrity, or some big thing, 851 00:48:01,549 --> 00:48:02,749 we should not go near him. 852 00:48:04,029 --> 00:48:06,069 So this was the place where Maharishi 853 00:48:06,149 --> 00:48:08,589 used to converse with Beatles and guests. 854 00:48:08,669 --> 00:48:13,349 Straight we can see River Ganga, clear water and forest. 855 00:48:13,429 --> 00:48:16,549 There was a raised platform, rectangular shape. 856 00:48:16,629 --> 00:48:19,749 It was used for posing with the visitors and Beatles 857 00:48:19,829 --> 00:48:21,389 for the group photographs. 858 00:49:04,109 --> 00:49:06,029 Maharishi's disciples can wander in peace 859 00:49:06,109 --> 00:49:08,909 amongst the trees and bungalows, 860 00:49:08,989 --> 00:49:12,269 or meditate in some quiet spot overlooking the Ganges. 861 00:49:13,629 --> 00:49:15,469 He doesn't require you to give anything up 862 00:49:15,549 --> 00:49:17,789 except drugs and a week's salary, 863 00:49:17,869 --> 00:49:20,429 in The Beatles case around 11,000 pounds a piece. 864 00:49:22,589 --> 00:49:23,805 What exactly have you been doing, 865 00:49:23,829 --> 00:49:24,829 how do you meditate? 866 00:49:24,909 --> 00:49:26,869 You sit down, you relax, 867 00:49:26,949 --> 00:49:30,949 and then you repeat a sound to yourself, and it sounds daft, 868 00:49:31,029 --> 00:49:34,309 but it's just a system of relaxation and that's all it is, 869 00:49:34,389 --> 00:49:35,829 and there's nothing more to it. 870 00:49:37,469 --> 00:49:41,109 By expanding the conscious capacity of the mind, 871 00:49:41,189 --> 00:49:43,029 mental capacity will be stronger, 872 00:49:43,109 --> 00:49:44,869 thought power will be great, 873 00:49:44,949 --> 00:49:46,709 and when the thought power great, 874 00:49:46,789 --> 00:49:50,029 then the thought will find their fulfilment more easily. 875 00:49:52,389 --> 00:49:56,349 You go into do those interstellar spaces, 876 00:49:56,429 --> 00:50:00,229 where the spaces ultimately shrink into your being. 877 00:50:00,309 --> 00:50:05,069 Now, this gibberish goes on and on and on relentlessly, 878 00:50:06,949 --> 00:50:10,789 and you have these people close their eyes. 879 00:50:10,869 --> 00:50:14,989 And the more unintelligible it gets, 880 00:50:15,069 --> 00:50:19,509 the more profoundly affected they pretend to be. 881 00:50:19,589 --> 00:50:24,349 Because, I can't really imagine anyone being moved by words 882 00:50:24,429 --> 00:50:29,109 which are patently and absolutely absurd. 883 00:50:29,189 --> 00:50:31,309 His lectures were in the nature 884 00:50:31,389 --> 00:50:34,749 of this kind of arcane nonsense. 885 00:50:34,829 --> 00:50:38,949 Nothing succeeds like success, and it succeeded. 886 00:50:39,029 --> 00:50:40,269 Are you a business man? 887 00:50:40,349 --> 00:50:44,189 I don't deal with money directly, 888 00:50:44,269 --> 00:50:46,989 but I'm conducting the movement in 50 countries. 889 00:50:47,069 --> 00:50:49,029 I can't be said to be no businessman, 890 00:50:49,109 --> 00:50:50,869 even though I'm not dealing with money. 891 00:50:52,709 --> 00:50:55,709 I was a young girl, 21 or 22, 892 00:50:55,789 --> 00:50:58,749 so there I was in this beautiful ashram, 893 00:50:58,829 --> 00:51:01,909 I was taken to meet the Maharishi. 894 00:51:01,989 --> 00:51:05,989 He asked me to come close to him, I did, too close in fact. 895 00:51:06,069 --> 00:51:09,149 He said, I'm going to whisper something in your ear, 896 00:51:09,229 --> 00:51:11,429 the mantra, then he said, 897 00:51:11,509 --> 00:51:14,509 "I want you to go down into my prayer room, 898 00:51:14,589 --> 00:51:16,829 and I want you to concentrate upon that mantra. 899 00:51:16,909 --> 00:51:19,469 You're going to feel like a new person." 900 00:51:21,149 --> 00:51:24,269 And I actually believed that this was going to happen to me. 901 00:51:25,909 --> 00:51:29,869 It was a dark room and there was some incense burning 902 00:51:29,949 --> 00:51:32,549 and there was some things hanging on the wall. 903 00:51:32,629 --> 00:51:34,709 And I started repeating the mantra. 904 00:51:34,789 --> 00:51:35,789 I repeated it, 905 00:51:36,989 --> 00:51:39,189 and the only feeling that I remember 906 00:51:39,269 --> 00:51:42,589 there was this intense desire to escape from that place. 907 00:51:43,869 --> 00:51:46,949 I went near the Maharishi and he said, 908 00:51:47,029 --> 00:51:49,149 "How do you feel my daughter? 909 00:51:49,229 --> 00:51:51,469 Do you feel like a different person?" 910 00:51:51,549 --> 00:51:53,429 I said, "Actually I don't." 911 00:51:53,509 --> 00:51:56,909 He looked at me and he said, 912 00:51:56,989 --> 00:51:58,629 "I going to whisper another mantra." 913 00:52:00,429 --> 00:52:03,069 "Back you go, repeat that mantra. 914 00:52:03,149 --> 00:52:05,029 You might have to spend a little longer." 915 00:52:06,269 --> 00:52:08,069 By now, I was in control. 916 00:52:09,229 --> 00:52:11,509 I repeated the mantra, 917 00:52:11,589 --> 00:52:14,349 and within half an hour I came upstairs. 918 00:52:14,429 --> 00:52:16,749 I gave him a glorious account 919 00:52:16,829 --> 00:52:20,149 of how I felt like a totally new human being. 920 00:52:20,229 --> 00:52:22,269 I felt like a different person all together. 921 00:52:23,269 --> 00:52:25,109 That was the only way to escape. 922 00:52:25,189 --> 00:52:27,869 And I walked out into freedom. 923 00:52:33,349 --> 00:52:35,789 Maharishi really influenced. 924 00:52:35,869 --> 00:52:39,469 The Beatles songs and lyrics tremendously, 925 00:52:39,549 --> 00:52:41,269 starting with "Across The Universe" 926 00:52:41,349 --> 00:52:45,389 which is written right after The Beatles learned meditation. 927 00:52:45,469 --> 00:52:48,589 In that song, it says "jai guru deva," 928 00:52:48,669 --> 00:52:51,909 and Maharishi used to use that expression all the time. 929 00:52:51,989 --> 00:52:55,349 Now once more. 930 00:52:59,069 --> 00:53:01,269 It is in praise of the guru. 931 00:53:01,349 --> 00:53:05,029 So John Lennon put that into the song, jai guru deva. 932 00:53:05,109 --> 00:53:08,389 And then he said, "om," and om is the primordial sound 933 00:53:08,469 --> 00:53:10,949 that underlies and gives rise to the universe. 934 00:53:16,189 --> 00:53:17,949 Just the exposure to mantras, I mean, 935 00:53:18,029 --> 00:53:19,685 the idea was a repetitious sound could create 936 00:53:19,709 --> 00:53:21,349 an altered state of consciousness 937 00:53:21,429 --> 00:53:23,349 and you get it in, "Hello, Goodbye," 938 00:53:23,429 --> 00:53:24,869 you get in goo goo g'joob. 939 00:53:24,949 --> 00:53:27,789 Repetitious sounds creeping into their songs, 940 00:53:27,869 --> 00:53:29,349 whether deliberately or not. 941 00:55:11,949 --> 00:55:13,469 I lived for three days in a cottage 942 00:55:13,549 --> 00:55:15,029 at a camp in Rishikesh, 943 00:55:15,109 --> 00:55:17,789 just a hundred yards from The Beatles. 944 00:55:17,869 --> 00:55:20,549 I remember sitting around a bonfire at night 945 00:55:20,629 --> 00:55:23,669 with The Beatles, and Mike Love of The Beach Boys, 946 00:55:23,749 --> 00:55:26,949 And Donovan, and others singing and playing the guitar. 947 00:55:28,549 --> 00:55:31,389 It was a cold, cold evening, and at some point 948 00:55:31,469 --> 00:55:34,749 I muttered to the person next to me, "I'm freezing." 949 00:55:34,829 --> 00:55:37,189 A man seated just ahead of me, 950 00:55:37,269 --> 00:55:40,989 wrapped in a huge brown grey blanket heard me. 951 00:55:41,069 --> 00:55:45,149 He said, "Move up, love, come and share my blanket with me." 952 00:55:45,229 --> 00:55:47,189 It was George Harrison. 953 00:55:47,269 --> 00:55:48,549 I should have said yes, 954 00:55:48,629 --> 00:55:50,869 but by then I had successfully cultivated 955 00:55:50,949 --> 00:55:52,709 an air of nonchalance 956 00:55:52,789 --> 00:55:56,469 and looked at George like he was a nobody and replied, 957 00:55:56,549 --> 00:55:59,349 "No, thanks, George, I'm fine." 958 00:55:59,429 --> 00:56:02,709 Four regrettable words that I could never take back, 959 00:56:03,949 --> 00:56:06,509 and that have haunted me all my life 960 00:56:06,589 --> 00:56:08,589 for what could have been, but never was. 961 00:56:12,149 --> 00:56:17,029 The person who was actually sincere about meditation, 962 00:56:17,109 --> 00:56:21,869 about Indian culture, Indian music was George Harrison. 963 00:56:23,229 --> 00:56:26,149 Maharishi said of all The Beatles, 964 00:56:26,229 --> 00:56:29,709 George is the most advanced, and this is his last life. 965 00:56:31,029 --> 00:56:33,149 George wanted to understand 966 00:56:33,229 --> 00:56:36,189 why he was chosen to be famous. 967 00:56:36,269 --> 00:56:39,749 He found curious that he, a boy from Liverpool 968 00:56:39,829 --> 00:56:42,349 who otherwise would have had a very menial job, 969 00:56:42,429 --> 00:56:45,229 was selected and was famous. 970 00:56:45,309 --> 00:56:47,389 And he wants to know the answer. 971 00:56:49,829 --> 00:56:51,909 Really the only reason to be living 972 00:56:51,989 --> 00:56:55,029 is to have complete full knowledge, 973 00:56:55,109 --> 00:56:56,909 full bliss consciousness. 974 00:56:56,989 --> 00:57:00,309 Everything else is just mundane and secondary. 975 00:57:00,389 --> 00:57:02,189 The purpose is to transcend 976 00:57:02,269 --> 00:57:04,549 from this relative state of consciousness 977 00:57:04,629 --> 00:57:06,469 to an absolute state of consciousness. 978 00:57:09,149 --> 00:57:13,909 Maharishi said, John Lennon has many more lives to go, 979 00:57:15,589 --> 00:57:18,029 and he must not give into his weakness for women, 980 00:57:18,109 --> 00:57:19,589 or it will ruin him. 981 00:57:20,909 --> 00:57:22,429 Keeping company with himself, 982 00:57:22,509 --> 00:57:24,149 it could be part of the treatment, 983 00:57:24,229 --> 00:57:25,909 John stalked along the shady paths. 984 00:57:28,229 --> 00:57:30,829 John Lennon when he first arrived, he was grey, 985 00:57:30,909 --> 00:57:33,629 he'd been heavily into drugs, he just looked awful. 986 00:57:33,709 --> 00:57:35,829 And then little by little, 987 00:57:35,909 --> 00:57:37,989 you saw the change that came over this man, 988 00:57:38,069 --> 00:57:41,149 he had pink cheeks, he started to be very sociable, 989 00:57:41,229 --> 00:57:44,029 he was out playing his guitar, chatting with other people, 990 00:57:44,109 --> 00:57:45,749 and he was having such a lovely time. 991 00:57:47,589 --> 00:57:49,109 Meditation worked all right, you know, 992 00:57:49,189 --> 00:57:51,829 you can handle each day better 993 00:57:51,909 --> 00:57:53,509 than I could handle it before. 994 00:57:53,589 --> 00:57:56,069 I was mediating 8 hours a day and things like that. 995 00:57:56,149 --> 00:57:59,349 And it was really some trip, like acid was nowhere. 996 00:57:59,429 --> 00:58:02,069 Just sitting there just muttering some word in a room, 997 00:58:02,149 --> 00:58:04,309 that's the biggest trip I've ever had in life. 998 00:58:06,669 --> 00:58:10,269 Ringo is always in meditation, 999 00:58:10,349 --> 00:58:12,749 and he goes by feeling and heart. 1000 00:58:12,829 --> 00:58:16,429 Whereas the other Beatles too much brain is in the way. 1001 00:58:18,389 --> 00:58:20,309 Ringo enjoyed a peace of togetherness 1002 00:58:20,389 --> 00:58:23,669 with Mrs. Ringo, it was a very peaceful scene. 1003 00:58:23,749 --> 00:58:25,469 Ringo Starr, two or three days, 1004 00:58:25,549 --> 00:58:27,829 he sees all this and he declares, 1005 00:58:27,909 --> 00:58:32,669 "It's like a Butlin holiday camp," and disappears, he left. 1006 00:58:33,669 --> 00:58:35,389 And then there were three. 1007 00:58:36,909 --> 00:58:38,589 Ringo and his wife, Maureen, 1008 00:58:38,669 --> 00:58:41,149 stayed at the ashram for 10 days. 1009 00:58:41,229 --> 00:58:44,749 Ringo's allergies cause problems with the ashram food. 1010 00:58:44,829 --> 00:58:46,189 He was allergic to so many things 1011 00:58:46,269 --> 00:58:48,789 that he took two suitcases to India. 1012 00:58:48,869 --> 00:58:51,629 One had his clothes and the other one 1013 00:58:51,709 --> 00:58:54,269 was stuffed with cans of Heinz beans. 1014 00:58:55,869 --> 00:58:58,629 But the primary reason that Ringo and Maureen left 1015 00:58:58,709 --> 00:59:01,429 is because they missed their kids. 1016 00:59:01,509 --> 00:59:03,589 Maharishi, I thank him, you know, 1017 00:59:03,669 --> 00:59:05,765 all the time I thank him for giving me what it gave me. 1018 00:59:05,789 --> 00:59:07,189 So I'm glad I've got it 1019 00:59:07,269 --> 00:59:09,149 in case I ever wanna go into it again, 1020 00:59:09,229 --> 00:59:11,149 you know, you can't lose, if you learn something. 1021 00:59:27,429 --> 00:59:30,189 Maharishi wanted to take them off on a trip 1022 00:59:30,269 --> 00:59:32,109 to the Himalayas. 1023 00:59:32,189 --> 00:59:35,469 A company, Ganja's Helicopter Services. 1024 00:59:39,869 --> 00:59:42,109 I'd always wanted to become a pilot. 1025 00:59:43,389 --> 00:59:45,189 I became the chief pilot for the Maharishi. 1026 00:59:46,749 --> 00:59:50,589 And I flew everybody, including the prime minister, 1027 00:59:50,669 --> 00:59:55,349 and Mahatma Gandhi also, and The Beatles. 1028 00:59:55,429 --> 00:59:56,909 Paul kept on saying, "Me, me, me," 1029 00:59:56,989 --> 00:59:58,389 because he wanted to get in. 1030 00:59:58,469 --> 01:00:00,069 And John said, "No, me, me, me." 1031 01:00:00,149 --> 01:00:03,429 And anyway, finally, John just pushed him aside and went in. 1032 01:00:05,069 --> 01:00:07,949 I'm flying John on my left and the Maharishi on my right. 1033 01:00:08,029 --> 01:00:10,829 And the Maharishi lent across me, 1034 01:00:10,909 --> 01:00:13,869 as you know, he had a lot of hair and beard, 1035 01:00:13,949 --> 01:00:16,069 it was difficult for me to fly the helicopter. 1036 01:00:17,509 --> 01:00:20,629 He was telling John down there in the mountains, 1037 01:00:20,709 --> 01:00:23,949 people lived there, they never went down to the valleys, 1038 01:00:24,029 --> 01:00:26,029 and they're praying all the time. 1039 01:00:26,109 --> 01:00:28,229 So John said, "What are they're praying for?" 1040 01:00:28,309 --> 01:00:30,989 So the Maharishi said "They are praying that we crash." 1041 01:00:31,069 --> 01:00:33,429 And John said, "Goodness, why do they want us to crash?" 1042 01:00:33,509 --> 01:00:35,509 They said, "Well, they're on the mountaintop 1043 01:00:35,589 --> 01:00:37,989 with hardly any food. 1044 01:00:38,069 --> 01:00:41,269 And I'm in Rishikesh with all the celebrities there, 1045 01:00:41,349 --> 01:00:42,949 and all the money in the world." 1046 01:00:43,029 --> 01:00:47,189 So John said, "Maharishi, if you don't move 1047 01:00:47,269 --> 01:00:51,589 your head and hair their prayers will be answered." 1048 01:00:51,669 --> 01:00:55,509 And of course, I started laughing and everybody did. 1049 01:00:55,589 --> 01:00:56,909 He had a sense of humour. 1050 01:01:17,389 --> 01:01:21,789 They were visiting Dehradun, George, John, and Paul. 1051 01:01:21,869 --> 01:01:24,229 He said this Saturday, 1052 01:01:24,309 --> 01:01:27,509 they're having celebration in the ashram 1053 01:01:27,589 --> 01:01:31,949 to celebrate the birth of George Harrison wife. 1054 01:01:32,029 --> 01:01:35,829 If I could could bring some other musicians along with me, 1055 01:01:35,909 --> 01:01:37,469 they'll be very happy. 1056 01:01:37,549 --> 01:01:40,389 So I said, I told them, "Okay, I can arrange it." 1057 01:01:46,749 --> 01:01:50,029 So we all sat down, Maharishi gave us a lecture, 1058 01:01:50,109 --> 01:01:52,189 and then I was asked to play. 1059 01:01:52,269 --> 01:01:54,549 There was a composition with George Harrison, 1060 01:01:54,629 --> 01:01:58,829 "With In, Without You," which was based on Dhrag Jhug, 1061 01:01:58,909 --> 01:02:01,389 so I decided to play that. 1062 01:02:01,469 --> 01:02:03,869 And then George was excited about it. 1063 01:02:05,549 --> 01:02:07,549 And I smiled at him, he smiled and he waved at me. 1064 01:02:09,109 --> 01:02:12,669 At that time, Nick sang with me, 1065 01:02:12,749 --> 01:02:15,629 and Nick was just a visiting teacher. 1066 01:02:15,709 --> 01:02:17,949 Now tell me where did that famous photo of us? 1067 01:02:18,029 --> 01:02:19,829 Was it in the middle or was it over here? 1068 01:02:19,909 --> 01:02:20,909 Here? 1069 01:02:20,949 --> 01:02:22,149 Okay. 1070 01:02:22,229 --> 01:02:23,669 - In this area, in this wall. - Okay. 1071 01:02:27,509 --> 01:02:30,589 I have such vivid memories of that birthday party 1072 01:02:30,669 --> 01:02:34,269 where so much music was played, so much glamour. 1073 01:02:34,349 --> 01:02:37,389 Pattie Harrison there in her mauve sari. 1074 01:02:37,469 --> 01:02:40,149 Part of our mission was to bring her 1075 01:02:40,229 --> 01:02:43,709 George Harrison's birthday present to her, the dilruba. 1076 01:02:43,789 --> 01:02:46,389 It was so relaxed coming from Britain. 1077 01:02:46,469 --> 01:02:50,869 The Beatles were impossible to see or touch or reach, 1078 01:02:50,949 --> 01:02:53,229 and here it was a completely different atmosphere. 1079 01:02:54,829 --> 01:02:57,829 They were absolutely natural, all the musicians there. 1080 01:02:57,909 --> 01:03:02,629 I think I spoke to Donovan, Mike Love, Paul Horn, 1081 01:03:02,709 --> 01:03:06,029 and of course, Paul McCartney, Jane Asher, John Lennon, 1082 01:03:06,109 --> 01:03:07,789 I don't think I spoke to George Harrison 1083 01:03:07,869 --> 01:03:10,989 because he was so tied up in both the occasion 1084 01:03:11,069 --> 01:03:13,869 of his wife's birthday and also the music. 1085 01:03:13,949 --> 01:03:17,269 He really was playing music and enjoying music 1086 01:03:17,349 --> 01:03:19,869 and absorbing Indian music. 1087 01:03:19,949 --> 01:03:22,589 There was no pretence about it. He was completely hooked. 1088 01:03:25,349 --> 01:03:28,709 The music started off being very Indian 1089 01:03:28,789 --> 01:03:31,269 and played on Indian instruments, 1090 01:03:31,349 --> 01:03:34,709 but then you could say it deteriorated into a birthday party 1091 01:03:34,789 --> 01:03:36,589 with the "Happy Birthday" song, 1092 01:03:36,669 --> 01:03:40,709 and the British national anthem for some curious reason. 1093 01:03:40,789 --> 01:03:44,629 As the evening went on and perhaps people got a bit fidgety, 1094 01:03:44,709 --> 01:03:46,909 we went outside and enjoyed fireworks. 1095 01:03:46,989 --> 01:03:48,509 Of course, I went away feeling 1096 01:03:48,589 --> 01:03:51,389 that perhaps the meditation was all a bit of a lark, 1097 01:03:51,469 --> 01:03:54,029 because they enjoyed themselves so much in the evening. 1098 01:03:57,229 --> 01:04:00,109 George Harrison was thinking 1099 01:04:00,189 --> 01:04:03,589 mostly of playing better, serious music, 1100 01:04:03,669 --> 01:04:05,629 which belonged to the world. 1101 01:04:05,709 --> 01:04:08,589 But John Lennon was a serious human being. 1102 01:04:08,669 --> 01:04:10,629 He was not very talkative, 1103 01:04:10,709 --> 01:04:13,429 but he's thinking was very beautiful. 1104 01:04:13,509 --> 01:04:17,509 So I was slightly more fascinated by John. 1105 01:04:20,389 --> 01:04:23,149 I think they gave me so much respect, you know. 1106 01:04:23,229 --> 01:04:25,589 They treated me very well, they called me, sir. 1107 01:04:25,669 --> 01:04:28,509 And I was feeling strange, you know. 1108 01:04:28,589 --> 01:04:30,629 I told them, "Don't call me, sir, no no no." 1109 01:04:32,709 --> 01:04:34,869 They could not have seen me at all, 1110 01:04:34,949 --> 01:04:37,749 there was no need for what they did. 1111 01:04:37,829 --> 01:04:40,669 Success had not gone to the head, you know. 1112 01:04:40,749 --> 01:04:42,709 They were simple human beings. 1113 01:04:46,909 --> 01:04:48,109 We came up the path here, 1114 01:04:48,189 --> 01:04:50,589 we were killing time and The Beatles meantime 1115 01:04:50,669 --> 01:04:52,629 had come back to their bungalow 1116 01:04:52,709 --> 01:04:54,709 and they were on the roof, not just The Beatles, 1117 01:04:54,789 --> 01:04:56,429 but many of the musicians were on the roof 1118 01:04:56,469 --> 01:04:58,789 of the bungalow playing music. 1119 01:04:58,869 --> 01:05:02,469 And it's the most memorable thing of my day here, 1120 01:05:02,549 --> 01:05:04,109 was hearing this music, 1121 01:05:04,189 --> 01:05:06,069 which was of course unrecorded music, 1122 01:05:06,149 --> 01:05:09,949 it was just being created at that time. 1123 01:05:10,029 --> 01:05:11,589 And we felt we were in the, you know, 1124 01:05:11,669 --> 01:05:13,469 witnessing the first time round, 1125 01:05:13,549 --> 01:05:15,349 the first version of this music. 1126 01:05:29,749 --> 01:05:32,669 The word was coming to the Maharishi 1127 01:05:32,749 --> 01:05:35,629 that they had suspended their meditations 1128 01:05:35,709 --> 01:05:39,269 and that they were sitting and composing music and things. 1129 01:05:40,909 --> 01:05:42,829 We were there for about six weeks, 1130 01:05:42,909 --> 01:05:47,269 and during that time was no pressure from the outside world. 1131 01:05:47,349 --> 01:05:49,909 There was no pressure of them being Beatles, 1132 01:05:49,989 --> 01:05:52,789 and their creative juices just overflowed. 1133 01:05:54,189 --> 01:05:56,949 They wrote all the songs from "The White Album." 1134 01:05:57,029 --> 01:05:59,789 They worked out gradually what they wanted us to do 1135 01:05:59,869 --> 01:06:02,269 for the rest of their time as Beatles. 1136 01:06:04,349 --> 01:06:05,645 Other than when they're we in the studio, 1137 01:06:05,669 --> 01:06:07,589 they didn't get to spend a lot of time together. 1138 01:06:07,669 --> 01:06:09,349 So in India, they were suddenly together 1139 01:06:09,429 --> 01:06:11,149 like sort of mates again. 1140 01:06:11,229 --> 01:06:14,589 So they could sit out and play in the way that John and Paul 1141 01:06:14,669 --> 01:06:17,749 used to play in the council house where Paul had grown up. 1142 01:06:19,669 --> 01:06:21,989 And you've got Mike Love from The Beach Boys is there 1143 01:06:22,069 --> 01:06:24,669 so they've got that whole tributary of American music 1144 01:06:24,749 --> 01:06:26,029 that had influenced them, 1145 01:06:26,109 --> 01:06:28,069 and Donovan with this kind of folk tradition 1146 01:06:28,149 --> 01:06:30,789 and Paul Horn, who was a jazz flautist, he was there too, 1147 01:06:30,869 --> 01:06:32,789 so you've got a lot of interesting, 1148 01:06:32,869 --> 01:06:34,309 sort of, streams coming in. 1149 01:06:38,949 --> 01:06:40,509 I'll show you the stairs here. 1150 01:06:42,189 --> 01:06:45,349 They'd sit here on these stairs. 1151 01:06:45,429 --> 01:06:48,029 There here was bamboo structure here, 1152 01:06:48,109 --> 01:06:49,829 as a fence, those days. 1153 01:06:49,909 --> 01:06:52,149 They'd come and they'd make new song there, 1154 01:06:52,229 --> 01:06:55,189 staying here, sitting on the stairs. 1155 01:06:55,269 --> 01:06:58,349 And that side, Prudence were living, 1156 01:06:58,429 --> 01:07:02,829 Maharishi told her to be inside, stay with their practises. 1157 01:07:04,949 --> 01:07:09,709 Mia Farrow's sister Prudence way ahead of anybody else. 1158 01:07:11,029 --> 01:07:13,149 As soon as she entered her thing, 1159 01:07:13,229 --> 01:07:18,029 she went into meditation and she has not emerged, 1160 01:07:18,869 --> 01:07:21,269 it's already 24 hours. 1161 01:07:21,349 --> 01:07:22,629 So she's serious. 1162 01:07:23,869 --> 01:07:26,629 They would invite her outside. 1163 01:07:26,709 --> 01:07:29,349 "Hello, Prudence, come out, come out, Prudence." 1164 01:07:29,429 --> 01:07:30,669 And she won't come. 1165 01:07:30,749 --> 01:07:33,709 And then they made a song, "Dear Prudence." 1166 01:07:37,269 --> 01:07:38,909 I think one that's kind of interesting 1167 01:07:38,989 --> 01:07:43,109 is when I came back from a tiger hunt with my eldest son, 1168 01:07:43,189 --> 01:07:46,029 when we came walking in, he said to Maharishi, 1169 01:07:46,109 --> 01:07:50,309 "I shot a tiger today, is that bad karma?" 1170 01:07:50,389 --> 01:07:53,309 Sitting there observing this was John Lennon, 1171 01:07:53,389 --> 01:07:55,429 and John said, "Don't you call that 1172 01:07:55,509 --> 01:07:57,389 slightly life destructive?" 1173 01:07:57,469 --> 01:07:59,789 And I said, "It was the tiger or us." 1174 01:08:03,109 --> 01:08:05,389 Maharishi glared at Nancy the whole time 1175 01:08:05,469 --> 01:08:07,109 they were talking about it. 1176 01:08:07,189 --> 01:08:10,509 Life destruction is life destruction, end of story. 1177 01:08:10,589 --> 01:08:12,509 That's how the song, 1178 01:08:12,589 --> 01:08:16,469 "The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill" originated. 1179 01:08:16,549 --> 01:08:20,429 It was John's answer to Nancy's paltry excuse. 1180 01:08:22,509 --> 01:08:23,869 Because Mike Love was there 1181 01:08:23,949 --> 01:08:25,309 and they knew The Beach Boys music, 1182 01:08:25,389 --> 01:08:27,789 it was this kind of friendly rivalry 1183 01:08:27,869 --> 01:08:29,269 of them wanting to top each other. 1184 01:08:29,349 --> 01:08:30,629 But "Back in the U.S.S.R." 1185 01:08:30,709 --> 01:08:32,829 Is just like a parody of a Beach Boys song, 1186 01:08:32,909 --> 01:08:35,349 but instead of being about the USA, it's about Russia, 1187 01:08:35,429 --> 01:08:37,549 and it was a very novel idea at the time 1188 01:08:37,629 --> 01:08:39,069 to think of a rock and roll song 1189 01:08:39,149 --> 01:08:40,925 that appeared to be celebrating Russian culture 1190 01:08:40,949 --> 01:08:42,669 and had all these Russian names 1191 01:08:42,749 --> 01:08:44,589 and Russian places being mentioned. 1192 01:08:47,949 --> 01:08:49,269 Opposition members today 1193 01:08:49,349 --> 01:08:52,789 demanded in inquiry into Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. 1194 01:08:52,869 --> 01:08:56,589 Alleging that Rishikesh have become a centre of conspirage. 1195 01:08:56,669 --> 01:08:58,789 The issue was raised by Mr. K. Anirudhan 1196 01:08:58,869 --> 01:09:02,309 after a radio transmitter was found on a bus 1197 01:09:02,389 --> 01:09:05,029 near the antibiotics factory in Rishikesh 1198 01:09:05,109 --> 01:09:07,709 belonging to a foreigner. 1199 01:09:07,789 --> 01:09:10,349 The furor broke out in parliament. 1200 01:09:10,429 --> 01:09:13,789 It was led by the communist, backed by the socialists, 1201 01:09:13,869 --> 01:09:18,549 and they said that there was a CIA camp in the ashram, 1202 01:09:18,629 --> 01:09:21,389 and the Maharishi were getting all these foreigners, 1203 01:09:21,469 --> 01:09:24,309 including The Beatles, to destabilise India. 1204 01:09:26,509 --> 01:09:30,269 I give the CIA total credit for sponsoring 1205 01:09:30,349 --> 01:09:33,629 and initiating the entire consciousness movement, 1206 01:09:33,709 --> 01:09:36,429 counterculture events of the 1960s. 1207 01:09:38,229 --> 01:09:41,749 This was exactly the time when Indira Gandhi 1208 01:09:41,829 --> 01:09:43,829 was making friends with the Soviet Union. 1209 01:09:46,789 --> 01:09:48,349 Today we're going to show you a cases 1210 01:09:48,429 --> 01:09:50,349 of attempted espionage by agents 1211 01:09:50,429 --> 01:09:53,469 of the Sino-Soviet Intelligence System. 1212 01:09:53,549 --> 01:09:57,349 If you recognise the way a Sino or Soviet agent operates, 1213 01:09:57,429 --> 01:10:00,549 both in finding someone vulnerable to subversion, 1214 01:10:00,629 --> 01:10:03,109 as well as in their technique of ensnaring him 1215 01:10:03,189 --> 01:10:05,349 and applying pressure to get him to play ball. 1216 01:10:06,949 --> 01:10:11,549 The KGB sent their top man in India, Bezmenov, 1217 01:10:11,629 --> 01:10:14,309 to the ashram to check out the Maharishi. 1218 01:10:16,629 --> 01:10:17,989 My function was to discover 1219 01:10:18,069 --> 01:10:21,509 what kind of people attend this school. 1220 01:10:21,589 --> 01:10:25,269 Yes, there are some influential opinion makers 1221 01:10:25,349 --> 01:10:27,109 who come back with the crazy stories 1222 01:10:27,189 --> 01:10:28,829 about Indian philosophy. 1223 01:10:30,589 --> 01:10:33,629 Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, a great spiritual leader, 1224 01:10:33,709 --> 01:10:35,949 or maybe a great charlatan and crook, 1225 01:10:36,029 --> 01:10:38,549 depending from which side you're looking at him. 1226 01:10:38,629 --> 01:10:41,989 Beatles were trained at his ashram, Mia Farrow, 1227 01:10:42,069 --> 01:10:45,909 and other useful idiots from Hollywood visited his school, 1228 01:10:45,989 --> 01:10:48,149 and they returned back to the United States, 1229 01:10:48,229 --> 01:10:50,989 absolutely zonked out of their minds with marijuana, 1230 01:10:51,069 --> 01:10:53,829 hashish and crazy ideas of meditation. 1231 01:10:55,869 --> 01:10:57,629 Maharishi used to always say, 1232 01:10:57,709 --> 01:11:01,269 "You can never create peace through signing treaties, 1233 01:11:01,349 --> 01:11:05,549 through legislation, through any kind of external means. 1234 01:11:05,629 --> 01:11:07,349 The only way to create world peace 1235 01:11:07,429 --> 01:11:10,229 is for people to meditate." 1236 01:11:10,309 --> 01:11:11,549 See, if you carefully look 1237 01:11:11,629 --> 01:11:13,949 at what Maharishi Mahesh Yogi is teaching, 1238 01:11:14,029 --> 01:11:15,909 is that most of the problems, 1239 01:11:15,989 --> 01:11:18,349 most of the burning issues of today, 1240 01:11:18,429 --> 01:11:21,389 can be solved simply by meditating. 1241 01:11:21,469 --> 01:11:25,189 Don't rock the boat, don't get involved, 1242 01:11:25,269 --> 01:11:27,909 just sit down, look at your navel and meditate, 1243 01:11:27,989 --> 01:11:30,549 and things, due to some strange logic, 1244 01:11:30,629 --> 01:11:34,789 due to cosmic vibration will settle down by themselves. 1245 01:11:36,349 --> 01:11:41,029 The single aim of spiritually regenerating every man 1246 01:11:41,109 --> 01:11:44,229 everywhere in the world, and creating peace. 1247 01:11:47,149 --> 01:11:48,869 You can get control of yourself 1248 01:11:48,949 --> 01:11:50,869 just by sitting quietly, 1249 01:11:50,949 --> 01:11:55,469 and by turning off from the external problems we have, 1250 01:11:55,549 --> 01:11:57,429 and all this society, 1251 01:11:57,509 --> 01:11:59,589 you can go inside yourself 1252 01:11:59,669 --> 01:12:01,429 where it's always calm and peaceful. 1253 01:12:02,749 --> 01:12:04,749 This is exactly what the KGB 1254 01:12:04,829 --> 01:12:06,789 and Marxist Lenin's propaganda want, 1255 01:12:06,869 --> 01:12:10,069 to distract their attention and mental energy 1256 01:12:10,149 --> 01:12:14,909 from real issues into non-issues, into non-existent harmony. 1257 01:12:16,429 --> 01:12:18,709 Maharishi Mahesh Yogi obviously is not on the payroll 1258 01:12:18,789 --> 01:12:22,429 of the KGB, but whether he knows it or not, 1259 01:12:22,509 --> 01:12:23,749 he contributes greatly 1260 01:12:23,829 --> 01:12:26,229 to demoralisation of American society. 1261 01:12:34,149 --> 01:12:37,229 Paul McCartney and his girlfriend, Jane Asher, 1262 01:12:37,309 --> 01:12:39,749 stayed for five weeks and they left 1263 01:12:39,829 --> 01:12:43,189 because Jane had a theatrical commitment back in London. 1264 01:12:45,589 --> 01:12:46,469 This presumably 1265 01:12:46,549 --> 01:12:48,469 is your first big meditation, 1266 01:12:48,549 --> 01:12:50,829 and what effect has it had on you? 1267 01:12:50,909 --> 01:12:52,469 I think it calms you down. 1268 01:12:52,549 --> 01:12:54,029 It's hard to tell 1269 01:12:54,109 --> 01:12:56,149 because it was so different life out there. 1270 01:12:56,229 --> 01:12:57,829 It'd be easy to tell now that I'm back 1271 01:12:57,909 --> 01:12:59,669 and we're doing some ordinary thing 1272 01:12:59,749 --> 01:13:01,669 to see just what it does. 1273 01:13:04,349 --> 01:13:07,309 They were four working class guys from Liverpool. 1274 01:13:07,389 --> 01:13:11,029 They had an innate sense of not being taken advantage of. 1275 01:13:11,109 --> 01:13:12,749 So when they get together with Maharishi, 1276 01:13:12,829 --> 01:13:16,509 Maharishi is inevitably tempted to capitalise 1277 01:13:16,589 --> 01:13:19,949 on his sudden worldwide fame 1278 01:13:20,029 --> 01:13:21,709 because of The Beatles association. 1279 01:13:23,069 --> 01:13:25,229 They realise that maybe Maharishi 1280 01:13:25,309 --> 01:13:27,869 had been using them all along for publicity, 1281 01:13:27,949 --> 01:13:29,869 ever since the final record, 1282 01:13:29,949 --> 01:13:32,989 that was "by The Beatles Spiritual Teacher," 1283 01:13:33,069 --> 01:13:34,909 it said on the album. 1284 01:13:34,989 --> 01:13:39,029 So John and George started a think something fishy is here. 1285 01:13:39,109 --> 01:13:40,869 He's using us for publicity. 1286 01:13:42,589 --> 01:13:46,149 So they began to hear little bits of news here and there, 1287 01:13:46,229 --> 01:13:47,789 from the grapevine of, you know, 1288 01:13:47,869 --> 01:13:50,229 your Maharishi's planning this and planning that, 1289 01:13:50,309 --> 01:13:53,389 and you're gonna be in it and they're going, "Are we?" 1290 01:13:53,469 --> 01:13:56,789 Maharishi kept promising ABC 1291 01:13:56,869 --> 01:13:59,669 that he would do a special with The Beatles. 1292 01:13:59,749 --> 01:14:01,109 And The Beatles kept saying, 1293 01:14:01,189 --> 01:14:02,829 "We're not gonna do this special," 1294 01:14:02,909 --> 01:14:06,469 but Maharishi kept promising it over and over. 1295 01:14:06,549 --> 01:14:08,389 There comes a time in late '67, 1296 01:14:08,469 --> 01:14:10,469 when Paul and George go to Sweden, 1297 01:14:10,549 --> 01:14:13,469 basically to tell the Maharishi to cool a bit, you know. 1298 01:14:13,549 --> 01:14:15,789 "Don't start making plans that involve us 1299 01:14:15,869 --> 01:14:17,429 without telling us first." 1300 01:14:17,509 --> 01:14:18,869 We're glad to have you here. 1301 01:14:18,949 --> 01:14:20,189 - Thank you. - Thank you. 1302 01:14:20,269 --> 01:14:22,869 We do appreciate your music and... 1303 01:14:24,349 --> 01:14:25,229 That's a posy, yes? 1304 01:14:25,309 --> 01:14:27,309 The smell of the flowers. 1305 01:14:27,389 --> 01:14:29,749 We only decided to come yesterday, 1306 01:14:29,829 --> 01:14:32,349 just to pop over to have a little chat. 1307 01:14:32,429 --> 01:14:33,709 Yes, yes. 1308 01:14:33,789 --> 01:14:35,829 And when The Beatles were in Rishikesh, 1309 01:14:35,909 --> 01:14:39,189 he, without their knowledge was having the discussions 1310 01:14:39,269 --> 01:14:40,709 with a Hollywood film company 1311 01:14:40,789 --> 01:14:43,109 called Four Star International. 1312 01:14:47,109 --> 01:14:49,029 Maharishi promised them 1313 01:14:49,109 --> 01:14:51,229 that they could have exclusive rights 1314 01:14:51,309 --> 01:14:55,349 to make a film about Maharishi and about Maharishi's guru. 1315 01:14:55,429 --> 01:14:57,869 But unfortunately, Maharishi made the same promise 1316 01:14:57,949 --> 01:14:59,349 to someone else. 1317 01:14:59,429 --> 01:15:02,829 He had given rights to Four Star Productions. 1318 01:15:02,909 --> 01:15:06,789 The lawyer arrived in Rishikesh with a signed contract. 1319 01:15:06,869 --> 01:15:09,829 They gave exclusive rights to film Maharishi 1320 01:15:09,909 --> 01:15:12,269 for the next five years. 1321 01:15:13,949 --> 01:15:17,189 Some suits arrive from Hollywood and a crew, 1322 01:15:17,269 --> 01:15:19,469 and John and George were going, 1323 01:15:19,549 --> 01:15:21,869 "We didn't want this, you know we are here to meditate, 1324 01:15:21,949 --> 01:15:24,029 we don't want these film people here." 1325 01:15:24,109 --> 01:15:26,269 And there was a confrontation with Maharishi 1326 01:15:26,349 --> 01:15:28,629 about, "Why you're doing this, we told you not to". 1327 01:15:30,109 --> 01:15:31,709 In any case, 1328 01:15:31,789 --> 01:15:33,909 The Beatles became quite disillusioned about that. 1329 01:15:33,989 --> 01:15:36,709 The film was really kind of a deal breaker, 1330 01:15:36,789 --> 01:15:38,229 and they got very angry 1331 01:15:38,309 --> 01:15:41,309 because they had been granted exclusive rights 1332 01:15:41,389 --> 01:15:44,309 to do this film, and now another film company is there. 1333 01:15:44,389 --> 01:15:45,949 So the whole thing just fell apart. 1334 01:15:51,069 --> 01:15:52,949 I don't know what happened, I still don't know. 1335 01:15:53,029 --> 01:15:56,189 But I know there many rumours around, but John said, 1336 01:15:56,269 --> 01:15:59,269 "That's it we're, we're going, were going." 1337 01:15:59,349 --> 01:16:03,189 But I know John wants to come back to England and see Yoko, 1338 01:16:03,269 --> 01:16:06,589 and so any little excuse and John was ready to go, 1339 01:16:06,669 --> 01:16:08,149 'cause we'd been there for weeks. 1340 01:16:09,509 --> 01:16:11,669 Well, it was only John who was upset. 1341 01:16:11,749 --> 01:16:14,069 John dragged George along. 1342 01:16:14,149 --> 01:16:16,789 And I still think it was when Magic Alex came 1343 01:16:16,869 --> 01:16:18,309 from the Apple Corps group. 1344 01:16:22,229 --> 01:16:25,749 Alexis Margas was one of The Beatles associates. 1345 01:16:25,829 --> 01:16:27,909 In fact, he was very close to John, 1346 01:16:27,989 --> 01:16:30,549 and sort of attached himself to John's hip, 1347 01:16:30,629 --> 01:16:33,309 and Cynthia really didn't like Alexis. 1348 01:16:33,389 --> 01:16:36,909 She was very concerned about this Svengali influence 1349 01:16:36,989 --> 01:16:39,349 that he was having on John. 1350 01:16:39,429 --> 01:16:43,269 John had introduced Alex as, "My new guru." 1351 01:16:43,349 --> 01:16:46,349 He was this electronics marvel. 1352 01:16:46,429 --> 01:16:48,629 Supposedly, he introduced himself 1353 01:16:48,709 --> 01:16:52,189 as somebody who is like Edison and Marconi combined, 1354 01:16:52,269 --> 01:16:55,389 but in fact, he was just a TV repairman. 1355 01:16:55,469 --> 01:16:57,349 He's just a friend of ours who's in electronics. 1356 01:16:57,389 --> 01:16:59,029 Oh yeah. 1357 01:16:59,109 --> 01:17:01,389 He's called Alex, and he's great, he's a Greek fella. 1358 01:17:01,469 --> 01:17:02,845 -And he's invented things- -You know he's Greek. 1359 01:17:02,869 --> 01:17:04,829 He's invented incredible things. 1360 01:17:06,509 --> 01:17:08,349 He was a minx, yeah, naughty, little boy. 1361 01:17:08,429 --> 01:17:10,789 You see, he wanted to have power over John, 1362 01:17:10,869 --> 01:17:13,709 so he would, you know, create all these things, 1363 01:17:13,789 --> 01:17:15,349 pretending he's a scientist. 1364 01:17:15,429 --> 01:17:17,509 He said, "Oh, here's this one from new wallpaper, 1365 01:17:17,589 --> 01:17:19,069 but it's all speakers, 1366 01:17:19,149 --> 01:17:22,429 so the whole room will have this one big speaker." 1367 01:17:22,509 --> 01:17:25,429 So he loved all that, controlling John. 1368 01:17:25,509 --> 01:17:28,669 So clearly and obviously Maharishi was in the way. 1369 01:17:29,669 --> 01:17:31,269 One night, John and Maharishi 1370 01:17:31,349 --> 01:17:33,229 were having this wonderful rapport, 1371 01:17:33,309 --> 01:17:35,749 and I, you know how you can see sometimes 1372 01:17:35,829 --> 01:17:38,669 when a person let's the mask drop from their face, 1373 01:17:38,749 --> 01:17:42,349 and I could see this really dislike of Maharishi 1374 01:17:42,429 --> 01:17:44,389 on Magic Alex's face. 1375 01:17:44,469 --> 01:17:47,549 It disturbed me and I felt something was going wrong. 1376 01:17:48,829 --> 01:17:51,229 No one ever saw him meditating. 1377 01:17:51,309 --> 01:17:52,429 And as a matter of fact, 1378 01:17:52,509 --> 01:17:55,029 he admitted that he came to India 1379 01:17:55,109 --> 01:17:58,909 for the purpose of getting The Beatles away from Maharishi. 1380 01:17:58,989 --> 01:18:03,789 Alexis said, "Oh, it's because we don't want Maharishi 1381 01:18:05,549 --> 01:18:09,069 to have that much influence over the boys." 1382 01:18:11,189 --> 01:18:14,069 I'm totally convinced that Magic Alex 1383 01:18:14,149 --> 01:18:17,229 made a friend of one of the young women at the ashram, 1384 01:18:17,309 --> 01:18:20,389 and he got her to tell John Lennon 1385 01:18:20,469 --> 01:18:22,949 that she was having sex with Maharishi. 1386 01:18:23,029 --> 01:18:25,109 Is this just horrified all of us 1387 01:18:25,189 --> 01:18:26,589 when this whole thing happened. 1388 01:18:27,909 --> 01:18:30,749 I believe that Maharishi made a pass. 1389 01:18:30,829 --> 01:18:32,429 And the reason I believe it 1390 01:18:32,509 --> 01:18:35,949 is because he made a pass at many women that I knew. 1391 01:18:36,029 --> 01:18:38,149 Wasn't the first or the last one. 1392 01:18:39,709 --> 01:18:41,589 Well I remember Maharishi saying that, you know, 1393 01:18:41,669 --> 01:18:43,229 "If you haven't an ugly woman over here, 1394 01:18:43,269 --> 01:18:45,349 and a beautiful woman over there, 1395 01:18:45,429 --> 01:18:46,869 it's just easier for your attention 1396 01:18:46,949 --> 01:18:48,269 to go to the more beautiful." 1397 01:18:51,429 --> 01:18:53,829 John and George didn't believe it at first, 1398 01:18:53,909 --> 01:18:55,949 but finally Alexis convinced them 1399 01:18:57,349 --> 01:18:59,549 and then went and got taxis for all of them 1400 01:18:59,629 --> 01:19:01,429 before they could change their mind. 1401 01:19:03,109 --> 01:19:05,749 While they were waiting for the taxis, John wrote, 1402 01:19:05,829 --> 01:19:08,509 "Maharishi, Maharishi, what have you done? 1403 01:19:08,589 --> 01:19:10,789 You made a fool of everyone." 1404 01:19:10,869 --> 01:19:13,749 The song had a lot of expletives in it, 1405 01:19:13,829 --> 01:19:17,989 and George said, "You can't say that, that's ridiculous". 1406 01:19:18,069 --> 01:19:21,429 So John changed the lyrics to "Sexy Sadie." 1407 01:19:23,109 --> 01:19:25,309 Yeah, "Sexy Sadie," it was actually called "Maharishi." 1408 01:19:25,389 --> 01:19:27,229 And it was a put down in the Maharishi 1409 01:19:27,309 --> 01:19:29,349 in very vicious terms. 1410 01:19:29,429 --> 01:19:31,149 I don't think the chance of it getting out 1411 01:19:31,229 --> 01:19:33,869 with the words that John had originally, 1412 01:19:33,949 --> 01:19:35,549 but basically denounces him 1413 01:19:35,629 --> 01:19:36,949 and says he was a bit of a rogue. 1414 01:19:39,429 --> 01:19:41,709 John dragged George along 1415 01:19:41,789 --> 01:19:44,949 and then he just bolted from the ashram. 1416 01:19:45,029 --> 01:19:46,909 I think Maharishi was a mistake. 1417 01:19:46,989 --> 01:19:48,309 What do you mean he was a mistake? 1418 01:19:48,389 --> 01:19:50,029 We made a mistake. 1419 01:19:50,109 --> 01:19:51,885 We thought there was more to him than there was, 1420 01:19:51,909 --> 01:19:54,629 you know, but he's human, 1421 01:19:54,709 --> 01:19:56,149 and for a while we thought he wasn't, 1422 01:19:56,189 --> 01:19:57,749 you know, thought he was a. 1423 01:20:29,989 --> 01:20:31,709 The Beatles, they were opening us up 1424 01:20:31,789 --> 01:20:34,949 to different experiences in various ways, you know. 1425 01:20:35,029 --> 01:20:38,069 Indian philosophy and Indian music. 1426 01:20:38,149 --> 01:20:39,709 And then when they went to Rishikesh, 1427 01:20:39,789 --> 01:20:42,389 you know, it was the idea of Indian travel. 1428 01:20:42,469 --> 01:20:45,909 It's like, "Wow, looks nice over there, you know, 1429 01:20:45,989 --> 01:20:48,189 they're enjoying themselves in the sunshine." 1430 01:20:50,509 --> 01:20:53,629 There'd been a hippie trail, an embryonic hippie trail, 1431 01:20:53,709 --> 01:20:56,149 in the early sixties, a few people had gone out. 1432 01:20:56,229 --> 01:20:59,029 The whole point being that you drove over land, 1433 01:20:59,109 --> 01:21:02,789 the ultimate destination was in fact Katmandu in Nepal. 1434 01:21:02,869 --> 01:21:06,069 I'm sure The Beatles inspired lots of people to go, 1435 01:21:06,149 --> 01:21:08,229 because this little trickle of people 1436 01:21:08,309 --> 01:21:11,469 on the hippie trail beforehand suddenly turned into a flood. 1437 01:21:15,189 --> 01:21:17,389 Did you enjoy the trip over to India? 1438 01:21:17,469 --> 01:21:21,669 Yes, The journey was terrible, but the trip was all right. 1439 01:21:21,749 --> 01:21:23,669 There was a report that we get 1440 01:21:23,749 --> 01:21:24,509 -we got a very bad report- -Yeah its true, 1441 01:21:24,589 --> 01:21:25,589 we smashed him. 1442 01:21:27,389 --> 01:21:28,829 You didn't like him, 1443 01:21:28,909 --> 01:21:30,565 or you didn't have the patience and decided to go home. 1444 01:21:30,589 --> 01:21:33,149 We were there four month so, George and I were. 1445 01:21:33,229 --> 01:21:35,429 Did you think this man was on the level? 1446 01:21:35,509 --> 01:21:37,189 I don't know what level he's on, 1447 01:21:37,269 --> 01:21:40,989 but we had a nice holiday in India and came back and rested. 1448 01:21:43,389 --> 01:21:45,909 Maharishi looked visibly frail 1449 01:21:45,989 --> 01:21:48,749 and without his usual effervescence. 1450 01:21:50,069 --> 01:21:52,589 His brilliant and beautiful yogic radiance 1451 01:21:52,669 --> 01:21:55,829 was reduced to grey and to ashen. 1452 01:21:55,909 --> 01:21:57,469 He became physically sick 1453 01:21:57,549 --> 01:22:00,989 when the chorus moved from Rishikesh to Kashmir. 1454 01:22:02,349 --> 01:22:04,349 He's still a nice fella, and everybody's fine, 1455 01:22:04,429 --> 01:22:06,509 but we don't go out with him anymore. 1456 01:22:08,069 --> 01:22:10,549 When the Rishikesh experience finished, 1457 01:22:10,629 --> 01:22:13,309 Paul, John and Ringo just kind of carried on, 1458 01:22:13,389 --> 01:22:15,069 resumed with their lives, 1459 01:22:15,149 --> 01:22:18,229 but for George, India was never a five minute thing. 1460 01:22:18,309 --> 01:22:20,869 India was a lifetime devotion. 1461 01:22:20,949 --> 01:22:22,349 And he wasn't just gonna give it up 1462 01:22:22,429 --> 01:22:24,429 because of the way that Rishikesh finished 1463 01:22:24,509 --> 01:22:26,269 with a bit of a sour taste. 1464 01:22:26,349 --> 01:22:28,789 India for him was something that he continued to push. 1465 01:22:31,389 --> 01:22:33,669 George didn't want to go back to London. 1466 01:22:33,749 --> 01:22:35,829 George was still in meditation mode, 1467 01:22:35,909 --> 01:22:38,629 and he didn't want to go straight back to see the press. 1468 01:22:38,709 --> 01:22:41,469 So he said, "Let's go down to Kerala, just for a week." 1469 01:22:43,069 --> 01:22:45,109 And it was very calm then, and then, you know, 1470 01:22:45,189 --> 01:22:49,309 he wanted to slowly come back into the business life, 1471 01:22:49,389 --> 01:22:52,749 as it were, in London, slowly, in his way. 1472 01:22:55,909 --> 01:22:57,149 I mean, because everybody, 1473 01:22:57,229 --> 01:22:59,589 all of a sudden became an individual. 1474 01:22:59,669 --> 01:23:03,309 John, Paul, Ringo and George. 1475 01:23:03,389 --> 01:23:06,909 The Maharishi phase faded out, you know, 1476 01:23:06,989 --> 01:23:10,349 but the Indian aesthetics and the etiquettes 1477 01:23:10,429 --> 01:23:12,069 remained with everybody. 1478 01:23:12,149 --> 01:23:15,189 Using the influence of Indian music and the culture. 1479 01:23:17,069 --> 01:23:19,629 You know, when you look back at The Beatles story 1480 01:23:19,709 --> 01:23:23,389 on their return to the UK in the spring of 1968, 1481 01:23:23,469 --> 01:23:25,109 there was still the comradery 1482 01:23:25,189 --> 01:23:28,229 that saw them through the madness of Beatlemania. 1483 01:23:28,309 --> 01:23:30,589 Soon to dissolve as the fraught sessions 1484 01:23:30,669 --> 01:23:32,749 of "The White Album" began. 1485 01:23:32,829 --> 01:23:36,269 Working separately most of the time and not as a unit, 1486 01:23:36,349 --> 01:23:39,229 and with Ringo quitting the band for a short period, 1487 01:23:39,309 --> 01:23:42,309 remarkably, they delivered what many would call 1488 01:23:42,389 --> 01:23:43,989 one of their greatest albums. 1489 01:23:45,549 --> 01:23:46,909 When The Beatles were in India, 1490 01:23:46,989 --> 01:23:48,869 Maharishi told them, 1491 01:23:48,949 --> 01:23:52,029 if they don't continue meditating regularly 1492 01:23:52,109 --> 01:23:53,669 their band would break up. 1493 01:23:58,109 --> 01:24:00,309 Now, does this mean a business 1494 01:24:00,389 --> 01:24:03,189 or emotional split within The Beatles? 1495 01:24:03,269 --> 01:24:04,829 I should think a bit of both. 1496 01:24:04,909 --> 01:24:06,909 It's probably to do with growing up and to do with 1497 01:24:06,989 --> 01:24:08,485 there was a time when there were just four of them 1498 01:24:08,509 --> 01:24:10,909 but now they're married and there are children. 1499 01:24:20,949 --> 01:24:24,229 I was born in 1971. 1500 01:24:24,309 --> 01:24:28,149 Same time around when Beatles broke up. 1501 01:24:28,229 --> 01:24:29,509 I mean, even like, 1502 01:24:29,589 --> 01:24:33,189 I guess it's about 50 odd years or something, 1503 01:24:33,269 --> 01:24:35,389 it still sounds fresh. 1504 01:24:35,469 --> 01:24:37,069 It sounds amazing. 1505 01:24:38,189 --> 01:24:39,509 The world would have been like, 1506 01:24:39,589 --> 01:24:42,149 so shit without them, you know? 1507 01:24:42,229 --> 01:24:44,469 The world is so much better to live in 1508 01:24:44,549 --> 01:24:45,789 with that music around. 1509 01:24:47,389 --> 01:24:49,349 The songs that they made in India, in Rishikesh, 1510 01:24:49,429 --> 01:24:51,669 I had no idea and out of them 1511 01:24:51,749 --> 01:24:54,589 some of the songs like "Blackbird," like "Dear Prudence," 1512 01:24:54,669 --> 01:24:56,229 like these are some of the songs 1513 01:24:56,309 --> 01:24:59,589 that I used to perform in my old band in Chennai. 1514 01:24:59,669 --> 01:25:02,349 To have known that they have written these songs in India, 1515 01:25:02,429 --> 01:25:04,389 it just gave it so much more meaning 1516 01:25:04,469 --> 01:25:06,709 because I used to connect to these songs 1517 01:25:06,789 --> 01:25:08,349 as a classical musician, 1518 01:25:08,429 --> 01:25:11,389 more than a person who loves English music. 1519 01:25:12,949 --> 01:25:14,549 I was born in '74, 1520 01:25:14,629 --> 01:25:17,469 so for me to get to know The Beatles happened much later. 1521 01:25:17,549 --> 01:25:20,269 We were not really born at the time when the dressing, 1522 01:25:20,349 --> 01:25:22,749 how a Beatles haircut or the dress that they wore 1523 01:25:22,829 --> 01:25:25,629 really attracted us, I mean, we didn't see that. 1524 01:25:25,709 --> 01:25:28,709 We only heard the music. It's purely the music. 1525 01:25:28,789 --> 01:25:31,869 It sounded very simple, very catchy, 1526 01:25:31,949 --> 01:25:34,429 and you could, you know, have a high recall. 1527 01:25:34,509 --> 01:25:36,909 So whenever you heard a song, you would remember it. 1528 01:25:36,989 --> 01:25:39,509 But when you sat down to work on it, 1529 01:25:39,589 --> 01:25:41,869 to try and see if you can sing that song, 1530 01:25:41,949 --> 01:25:45,189 that is when you realise the complexity of it. 1531 01:25:45,269 --> 01:25:47,669 I don't know how it was appreciated when it was released, 1532 01:25:47,749 --> 01:25:50,709 but it's something that is still relevant today. 1533 01:26:00,029 --> 01:26:02,309 They came to see, in the fullness of time, 1534 01:26:02,389 --> 01:26:03,829 in particular, in George's case, 1535 01:26:03,909 --> 01:26:06,909 George discovered from gathering evidence 1536 01:26:06,989 --> 01:26:10,109 what exactly happened at the end of their stay in Rishikesh, 1537 01:26:10,189 --> 01:26:11,829 and how Alexis Margas, 1538 01:26:11,909 --> 01:26:14,749 Magic Alex had cooked up this whole thing. 1539 01:26:16,029 --> 01:26:18,149 George always loved Maharishi, 1540 01:26:18,229 --> 01:26:19,789 and toward the end of his life 1541 01:26:19,869 --> 01:26:21,589 he went back to see Maharishi. 1542 01:26:22,909 --> 01:26:24,989 George said to Maharishi, 1543 01:26:25,069 --> 01:26:27,269 "I came to apologise" 1544 01:26:27,349 --> 01:26:30,709 and Maharishi asked "For what?" 1545 01:26:30,789 --> 01:26:33,509 And George replied, "You know, for what." 1546 01:26:34,989 --> 01:26:37,389 Maharishi apparently said to George, 1547 01:26:37,469 --> 01:26:40,829 he believed that The Beatles were angels on earth 1548 01:26:40,909 --> 01:26:43,669 and that they were not guilty of any crime themselves. 1549 01:26:43,749 --> 01:26:45,829 So when George came away from that meeting, 1550 01:26:45,909 --> 01:26:48,309 he felt cleansed of his guilt 1551 01:26:48,389 --> 01:26:51,669 of the method of their departure back in 1968. 1552 01:26:53,789 --> 01:26:55,149 I got into India, 1553 01:26:55,229 --> 01:26:57,589 I think that was the one thing in my life 1554 01:26:57,669 --> 01:26:59,909 that I could have done without everything else, 1555 01:26:59,989 --> 01:27:04,909 but that one thing of getting in touch with what's inside 1556 01:27:04,989 --> 01:27:08,149 through Maharishi and Ravi Shankar and indie music. 1557 01:27:10,469 --> 01:27:13,309 And as for the others, well they all warmed again 1558 01:27:13,389 --> 01:27:16,829 to the culture and the spirituality of India. 1559 01:27:16,909 --> 01:27:18,429 The only way we can change the system 1560 01:27:18,509 --> 01:27:20,509 is by changing it non-violently, 1561 01:27:20,589 --> 01:27:22,949 because they've done the violent for millions of years. 1562 01:27:23,029 --> 01:27:25,349 I think the only way to do it is Gandhi's way, 1563 01:27:25,429 --> 01:27:27,949 and that's nonviolent, passive, positive, 1564 01:27:28,029 --> 01:27:29,429 or whatever they call it these days. 1565 01:27:31,389 --> 01:27:35,189 John Lennon spoke kindly of Maharishi in other interviews. 1566 01:27:35,269 --> 01:27:37,789 Ringo and Paul have both said the same, 1567 01:27:37,869 --> 01:27:40,789 everything became okay again, in the end. 1568 01:27:42,349 --> 01:27:44,989 Years ago, we studied meditation with the Maharishi. 1569 01:27:45,069 --> 01:27:46,749 He was one of the ones that wasn't a fake. 1570 01:27:46,829 --> 01:27:48,165 There were a lot of them around that time 1571 01:27:48,189 --> 01:27:50,149 who were into Rolls Royces and chicks. 1572 01:27:50,229 --> 01:27:51,909 He wasn't one of them. 1573 01:27:51,989 --> 01:27:53,789 I actually met him quite recently. 1574 01:27:53,869 --> 01:27:55,389 He lives in the Netherlands now, 1575 01:27:55,469 --> 01:28:00,189 and I took Stella, my daughter and James, my son with me. 1576 01:28:01,189 --> 01:28:02,589 And he is a spry old codger, 1577 01:28:02,669 --> 01:28:04,669 he in his eighties and he's still working, 1578 01:28:04,749 --> 01:28:05,749 he's still going. 1579 01:28:14,709 --> 01:28:18,269 The day when Maharishi died, there was a big storm. 1580 01:28:20,789 --> 01:28:24,029 The water from the river Ganges came whirling up 1581 01:28:25,469 --> 01:28:28,109 and it showered in this area. 1582 01:28:28,189 --> 01:28:30,029 The local folks who came here to pay 1583 01:28:30,109 --> 01:28:32,109 their tributes to Maharishi Mahesh Yogi 1584 01:28:32,189 --> 01:28:33,949 were amazed to see this supernatural thing. 1585 01:28:34,029 --> 01:28:36,629 It was a power of Maharishi 1586 01:28:36,709 --> 01:28:40,109 which brought Gunga on this top of mountain. 1587 01:28:49,189 --> 01:28:50,949 When I first came here 10 years ago, 1588 01:28:51,029 --> 01:28:53,949 this was just jungle, ruins and jungle. 1589 01:28:54,029 --> 01:28:55,405 And we would sneak in through the back, 1590 01:28:55,429 --> 01:28:56,989 there were cracks in the wall, 1591 01:28:57,069 --> 01:28:59,469 and you would smoke pot and see leopards at night. 1592 01:28:59,549 --> 01:29:02,029 This is what people did. 1593 01:29:02,109 --> 01:29:04,829 So I take tourists into the ashram, I show them everything, 1594 01:29:04,909 --> 01:29:07,909 and I'm trying to bring them back into 1968 1595 01:29:07,989 --> 01:29:10,589 and give them some of the experience of The Beatles here. 1596 01:29:12,269 --> 01:29:13,965 Tourists that come here, they really appreciate it. 1597 01:29:13,989 --> 01:29:16,869 They really appreciate to have the sense for The Beatles 1598 01:29:16,949 --> 01:29:19,749 as a historical entity. 1599 01:29:23,029 --> 01:29:25,349 My experience when I went to The Beatles ashram 1600 01:29:25,429 --> 01:29:27,309 was super magical. 1601 01:29:27,389 --> 01:29:29,469 These huge superstars, 1602 01:29:29,549 --> 01:29:32,509 you wouldn't really think that they'd go to a really simple, 1603 01:29:32,589 --> 01:29:35,909 no-frills ashram in Rishikesh. 1604 01:29:38,829 --> 01:29:40,789 The most exciting thing about music 1605 01:29:40,869 --> 01:29:44,629 is the way that it has the capacity to shift cultural norms 1606 01:29:44,709 --> 01:29:46,429 and expand people's minds, 1607 01:29:46,509 --> 01:29:49,149 and in India, that's exactly what The Beatles did 1608 01:29:49,229 --> 01:29:51,989 by bridging the gap between East and West 1609 01:29:52,069 --> 01:29:54,909 in a country that was very much under this, you know, 1610 01:29:54,989 --> 01:29:58,109 dark cloud of colonial rule. 1611 01:29:58,189 --> 01:30:01,949 Which in many ways created a culture of apology 1612 01:30:02,029 --> 01:30:06,509 for being Indian and a reverence for whatever was foreign. 1613 01:30:06,589 --> 01:30:08,349 That what was so powerful 1614 01:30:08,429 --> 01:30:12,189 is for the most powerful band in the world 1615 01:30:12,269 --> 01:30:14,589 to come and revere our culture. 1616 01:30:16,069 --> 01:30:18,389 They had descended in our part of the country, 1617 01:30:18,469 --> 01:30:21,789 and they had embraced the spiritual narrative of India, 1618 01:30:21,869 --> 01:30:23,109 and they had come to Rishikesh, 1619 01:30:23,189 --> 01:30:26,909 and there were images of them with Mahesh Yogi 1620 01:30:26,989 --> 01:30:31,789 and then suddenly we look, they are one of us. 1621 01:30:33,989 --> 01:30:35,309 As kids, as Indian kids, you know, 1622 01:30:35,349 --> 01:30:37,029 we're always rebelling against our culture. 1623 01:30:37,109 --> 01:30:38,485 And then you realise that like something 1624 01:30:38,509 --> 01:30:40,749 that is so influential in pop culture, 1625 01:30:40,829 --> 01:30:42,949 took a lot of influence from India. 1626 01:30:43,029 --> 01:30:46,349 My introduction to them was I happened to be part 1627 01:30:46,429 --> 01:30:49,029 of the age of illegal downloading, 1628 01:30:49,109 --> 01:30:50,989 at the time of like Napster and stuff. 1629 01:30:51,069 --> 01:30:53,829 We used to have "The White Album" on CD. 1630 01:30:53,909 --> 01:30:55,869 That was my first introduction to The Beatles. 1631 01:30:55,949 --> 01:30:58,029 We still felt it's influence 1632 01:30:58,109 --> 01:31:01,749 even though we were born like in the eighties and nineties. 1633 01:31:01,829 --> 01:31:04,229 India is considered this place where you could go 1634 01:31:04,309 --> 01:31:07,149 for a spiritual awakening, for meditation, 1635 01:31:07,229 --> 01:31:09,749 so I think The Beatles came to India to look for that. 1636 01:31:09,829 --> 01:31:11,789 And in some ways they really did find that. 1637 01:31:16,029 --> 01:31:18,389 I guess that's a small gift that India gave the world 1638 01:31:18,469 --> 01:31:19,989 through The Beatles. 1639 01:31:23,989 --> 01:31:25,469 The happiest time in life, 1640 01:31:25,549 --> 01:31:28,069 one of the happiest times was in India. 1641 01:31:28,149 --> 01:31:30,429 I mean, it was just such a groove. 1642 01:31:30,509 --> 01:31:32,309 And it was such a pure thing, 1643 01:31:32,389 --> 01:31:35,069 everything is slightly more in perspective. 1644 01:31:36,149 --> 01:31:37,029 The whole of life 1645 01:31:37,109 --> 01:31:38,669 should be a spiritual experience 1646 01:31:38,749 --> 01:31:42,789 because we are spirits who are just encased in bodies. 1647 01:31:42,869 --> 01:31:45,269 People forget that and think they're just this body, 1648 01:31:45,349 --> 01:31:48,389 but we're actually spirits in bodies. 132623

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