Joanna Lumley's India (2017) s01e02 Episode Script
Episode 2
1 Mumbai, formerly Bombay.
The colossus that is India's most populated and intense city.
I've been here before.
A long time ago.
This for me, is very poignant.
This beautiful building behind me is the Gateway to India.
It's on Bombay Harbour and it was built between 1911 and 1924 to celebrate the Royal visit of George V and Queen Mary.
But 24 years after that, the British left India.
And I left as a little tiny baby aged 11 months.
Probably through here onto a ship called the Franconia.
This is a copy of the passenger list.
Lumley, Joanna L.
That's me, Joanna Lamond.
11 months old.
So I don't remember it because I was only chuti baba.
I was carried onboard ship to disappear from India for ever.
But of course, it wasn't for ever.
Because I've come back.
So far on this journey, we've seen wild elephants in the tea plantations of the Western Ghats.
This is extraordinary! I've turned Hindu goddess in Hyderabad.
Very good! And followed in the footsteps of my grandparents to the Himalayan state of Sikkim.
Oh, my gosh.
This is one of my grandfather's letters.
This time, we're travelling from the mighty city of Mumbai, through the western state of Gujarat, to the fabulous and exotic Rajasthan.
Hello, girls.
Seeing how modern India is thrusting skywards into the 21st century.
You do realise this will be just a fat column of billionaires! A special treatment of a Hindu housewarming awaits me.
You can put this on your skin instead of soap.
I'm already feeling better.
Lovely.
And I'm treated to a private view of some astonishing Indian art.
Look at this mirrorwork! Ooh, this is special.
Welcome to India.
This is the city of dreams.
Hot, crowded, humanity intensified.
22 million people are crammed into an area about one-third the size of greater London.
Mumbai is one of the world's most captivating cities.
- Hello.
Welcome.
- Thank you so, so much.
Journalist Namita Davidial, Mumbai born and bred, is whisking me across town.
Tell me about this city.
It's one of those cities which, on one level, is crumbling.
There's a lot of traffic.
The air pollution isn't the best in the world.
And it's crowded.
But people come here from all over the country.
It's a vibrant city.
It's a safe city.
It's got a certain energy very different from the rest of the country.
Sort of a magnet.
The very rich and the very poor, everybody comes here to make their fortunes.
Yes, and then you have a very kind of modern vibe as well.
Absolutely.
It feels like California coming down here.
Really, it's incredible.
Look at this bridge.
It's fabulous.
It is really romantic in different times.
In the monsoon, it's like, ooh.
You want to get off and sing a song or something.
Sing and dance here! Namita works for the famous Times Of India newspaper.
As did a member of my family.
My uncle, my beloved uncle Ivor Jehu, was, I think, the last editor of the Times.
That is the most amazing - Isn't it extraordinary? - It is.
He lived here.
I have a photograph of the old Times Of India building.
I think it's not in that any more.
Is it a new building now? - No, it's the same one.
- The same one? Welcome to my workplace.
Fantastic.
This is where my uncle would have come into the building.
- Isn't that amazing? - Yes, it is.
This imposing building has been home to the Times Of India for over 180 years.
Oh, my gosh! Look at this! I can't really work this out.
You'd fit the plate in there? I don't know.
Something.
This is definitely before my time.
Is it?! India become sovereign democratic republic.
That's 1950.
That must have been the very last year that my uncle was the editor.
Newsprint is in steady decline globally.
But in India, newspapers are booming.
With over 60 million circulating daily.
Despite being only the third biggest newspaper in the country, the Times Of India has a daily circulation of over three million.
And is the most-read English newspaper in the world.
Here's my uncle! There's Ivor! Brigadier Ivor Stuart Jehu.
If I may say, the most distinguished-looking of the lot.
Oh! How fantastic! That's just as I remember him.
Look at that.
With all the other editors.
He was the very last of the British editors.
And then the Indian editors here.
Uncle Ivor! I never thought I'd see that.
Fantastic.
Originally an archipelago of seven islands conjoined using land reclaimed from the sea, Mumbai's 22 million people are squeezed onto a narrow peninsula, making it the second most densely populated city on Earth.
Nearly a quarter of those people, around five million, live in vast slums in dismal, makeshift accommodation.
It's perhaps one of India's greatest dichotomies that alongside such poverty, Mumbai has unbelievable wealth.
And 46,000 millionaires call this city home.
Despite real estate prices being at a premium, the super-rich, keen to escape the congestion at street level, are heading skywards.
This is the World One Tower.
442 metres of it.
It's going to be the tallest residential block in the entire world.
Deepak's going to tell me about it.
Deepak, lovely to see you.
On with my hi-vis jacket.
And on with my hard hat in the hard-hat area.
Got a hoist ready for you.
A hoist? That sounds a bit ominous.
Into this.
That's the hoist.
I'm going to be quite bold about this.
But I have to tell you I can't stand heights.
If I suddenly go quiet, it's because I've fainted.
Come in.
How far up are we going to go? Maybe the fourth floor? No, we are going to the 54th floor.
Uh-huh.
Here we go.
And floor 54 is less than halfway up this building.
Once completed, it will have a stomach-churning 117 storeys.
My God, we seem to have come to the top of the building.
It steps back from here.
Oh, right.
Oh, my God.
I thought we'd shot over the top.
Welcome to the 56th floor on the tower.
- The 56th floor.
- You are 200m high up in the air.
Oh, my gosh! Look at that! That's Mumbai city for you.
Boy, oh boy! What you are standing on is a premium-size apartment.
You've got your view towards the sea.
You can enjoy a cup of tea sitting in the balcony.
The balconies are not open, are they? You can walk into the balcony if you require.
But there will be a handrail.
You will make them nice and high, won't you? That's right.
They will be safe.
I'm almost blacking out with terror at the thought of it.
What if the lift breaks? We've got back-up.
Generators.
Oh, that's not much fun.
You suddenly look through here.
I could fall down there.
If you're nervous about heights, everything is potentially a great, great danger.
And this is the apartment on the other side.
No, this is the living and the dining area.
Bedrooms on the other side.
- So all this is one.
- One single apartment.
Wow! The 300 apartments have access to a swimming pool, a gym, and even a cricket pitch.
But you'll have to stump up a minimum of £1.
4 million for the privilege.
You do realise this will just be a fat column of billionaires! - Won't it be? - Yes.
Billionaires can live there.
More and more people coming in to stay in a place which is congested.
In the future, I can see a lot of towers like this coming up.
So can I.
It will be like Manhattan.
Deepak, to be honest, I'm not sure that I could live so high above the ground.
But if ever you were to have such an apartment, and I was in Mumbai, would you invite me to dinner? Sure.
I feel fine now.
Ha ha! Throughout history, India has been renowned as a land of spirituality.
And has given birth to some of the world's most influential religions.
200 miles inland from Mumbai are the Ellora Caves that may give me an insight to the country's rich and diverse spiritual history.
The caves are actually a series of temples which, between the sixth and tenth centuries, were hewn out of solid rock.
They lie along a valley on an ancient trade route that once linked inland cities with western ports on the Arabian Sea.
This is a Buddhist temple.
It's one of the 34 holy, religious carved caves and temples stretching over nearly three kilometres on this ancient trade route.
I can't tell you what it's like.
It is a mountain which is simply carved out into temples.
It defies description.
I'm going to see if I can go in.
Wow! It's like standing inside a giant fish.
Arched, like a cathedral.
Or like the hull of a boat.
And this is what's giving it this incredible acoustic.
All around here are beautiful statues, carved people.
And the Buddha is sitting in the preaching position.
He's teaching wisdom to the world.
A place of great peace.
But surely the centrepiece and most spectacular example at Ellora is the jaw-dropping Hindu Kailasa temple.
Ohh! What is this?! Ohh! Un be lievable.
The sheer size of this temple is mind-boggling.
Every gateway, hall, walkway, and shrine was cut into the solid bedrock of the hillside.
Ooh! I have to say that, with my vertigo, even leaning over makes me terrified.
I think that probably today, for the first time, just because I am leaning here, it will suddenly tip forward.
No-o! Still, a nice place to die.
The caves served as places for pilgrims and travellers to rest and worship on long journeys.
Look at the size of this! Now we are so far below the top of the ground.
It's like a small town down here.
I can't describe the scale of it.
Such fine, fine carving.
Hands, arms, details, dresses, fights.
Look at the sophistication of this.
They didn't have dynamite.
They had to chisel down into this.
There's nothing like this in the world.
The real revelation of Ellora is that the temples are of several faiths.
And seem to illustrate the spirit of religious tolerance that existed in India 1,200 years ago.
I can't tell you how glad I am that we made the effort to come to Ellora.
It is so beautiful here.
300 miles to the northwest lies the city of Ahmedabad.
Once known as the Manchester of the east, it was at one time the centre of the country's huge cotton industry.
But I've come here to see how India's two main religions, Hinduism and Islam, co-exist in a crowded, multi-faith city.
A local Hindu family has invited me to their housewarming party.
And the market at Manek Chowk seems like the perfect place to pick up a gift.
Only tuk-tuks can come down these tiny streets.
Oh, things are just so gorgeous.
What would I take as a housewarming present? I'm thinking of something like a clock.
Do you think they want a great big metal thing? I want it anyway.
I can't have it.
What I love about this market, the Manek Chowk, is it's packed with everything.
It's got vegetables and Hindu gods.
It's got pots and pans.
It's got tuk-tuk.
It crosses all boundaries.
Everybody from every religion, every age.
There are no barriers in this market.
Not creed or race or class or colour or richness.
Hello, darlings.
Look, look, look.
I think this is jaggery.
Thank you.
It's unrefined cane sugar.
It tastes Tastes like molasses.
It's absolutely beautiful.
Mm! This is a recipe of how to use jaggery.
You can get it in England if you have any Indian shops near you.
Crumble up the jaggery into a saucepan.
Add a little bit of rosewater.
Cut up some rhubarb and put it in.
Put the lid on.
Four minutes, have a look at it.
Lowish heat.
And the rhubarb Thank you very much.
Get it cool again and serve it with double cream.
It's the best pudding you've ever seen.
Totally beautiful.
Fresh, raw cane sugar.
This is sugar that I advise you to eat.
I'm advising you to eat it.
Look, mangoes, mangoes.
- Life is useless without a mango.
- Mango.
Mango? The crew aren't allowed.
They're not allowed mangoes.
I have the mango.
There are too many distractions here.
I need to focus and find the perfect housewarming present -- fast.
Must not, must not.
Clutching my present, I'm crossing town to the western suburbs of Ahmedabad.
I've been invited to a Hindu housewarming party.
Lovely smell of clean washing.
Narrow streets.
Reminds me of Venice in a way.
Hello.
The Chitroda family have said that they've got a ceremony going on.
I've brought them a housewarming present.
I do hope they like it.
I think it's gorgeous.
People may not think it's gorgeous.
There was a pink one.
I went for the orange one because I think it's life affirming.
It's Ganesh, the elephant god with his trunk.
I hope it will bring them luck.
I hope they really love it.
Unlike those sad Christmas presents which arrive without a battery, I've put a battery in.
At least it's working.
There we go, darling.
Probably leading me the way.
I'll just follow on because a cow is involved.
Cows are sacred to Hindus.
And particularly here in Gujarat, a devout state, where their slaughter is illegal.
Across India, they are allowed to wander everywhere quite freely.
And turn up in the strangest of places.
How good to see you.
May I give you this small present? - A housewarming present.
- Thank you.
Mr Chitroda is an interior designer.
He and his wife have only one son, but the extended family numbers over 30.
Tell me, what happens today? Today we are celebrating our new home.
And what will happen? We'll do some puja.
Some kind of rituals to our own god.
A local cowman has also brought along his finest cow and her calf.
How does this cow play a part in the ceremony? We believe that there are 33 crore of gods and goddesses in the cow.
33 crore is how many? - 33,000? - 33 million.
- 33 million! - 33 million gods inside the cow.
33 million gods and goddesses reside in the form of a cow.
Being near the house is good? Or does she come in? - Near the house.
- Just near the house.
These are sacred animals.
You take such care of them in India.
- All over India, the cow is sacred.
- Yeah.
The family has been up since dawn preparing the house.
And have hired a priest to lead the ceremony.
Oh, my goodness! Their new home cost them £125,000.
It's so beautiful.
And they've just finished renovating the ground floor.
In the middle, this beautiful open lotus with a cow in it.
Varsha, how important is it to have a ceremony like this to bless a house? Hindus have been performing ceremonies like these for thousands of years.
After chanting and making offerings to the gods, the focus moves to the cow.
Which is presented with garlands and gifts.
The cow returns the favour and produces a special offering of her own for a heady concoction.
This is the cow urine.
You put all these things inside that and you have to shake it.
This is the five pieces of the cow.
Milk, curd, sugar Honey.
And ghee.
And ghee.
- Keep stirring.
- It's not very smooth.
- Is that all right? - This is fine.
- Good.
- When you take bath, you can put this on your skin.
And straight off, soap.
That's wonderful.
I'm already feeling better.
Lovely.
Good.
The ceremony continues with the burning of dried cow dung.
Which purifies the new dwelling.
Svaha.
Svaha.
When they say waha, what does that mean? Svaha.
It means they are giving the offering to God.
- Uh-huh.
- Svaha.
Svaha.
Svaha.
The sacred cow is where all the 33 million gods and goddesses reside.
They reside in all parts of the cow's body.
And the important part about the dung is that Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and money, who used to be quite vain, she said, 'Do I really have to live in a cow? I think I'm more important than that.
' And she minced off and found herself alone in heaven.
Then she felt terrible and said, 'Maybe I'd like to come back.
' The sacred cow, the cow of all cows, said, 'I'm afraid my whole body is taken up now with 33 million gods and goddesses.
So honey, if you are coming back, you can only be in my dung.
' Lakshmi, in the old days, would have been, 'Oh, no, I couldn't.
' But the new repentant Lakshmi said, 'That would be absolutely perfect for me.
' So Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, resides in the dung of the cow.
Which is why we're waiting to see the dung coming.
Inside, a wonderful ceremony with water and rice.
Everything with a meaning.
Just the most elaborate arrangement with flowers and petals.
Absolutely divine.
This little one has helped us out.
Lakshmi is appearing.
There.
Waiting for something a little larger from her mother perhaps.
Larger contribution.
Don't know how long we'll have to wait.
I did that.
I haven't got a watch.
I don't wear a watch.
I just did that to show passing of time.
Very good, very good.
Thank you.
Thankfully, we don't have to wait too long for Lakshmi to make an appearance.
Thank you so much.
Bye-bye.
I would love that.
Thank you.
It's been wonderful to be a part of this ceremony.
And my housewarming gift seems to have gone down a treat.
India is 80% Hindu.
But the Islamic influence is everywhere.
The city of Ahmedabad was founded in 1411 by Ahmed Shah.
The first Moghul ruler who established the city and built the Great Mosque.
Which, at the time, was the biggest in the subcontinent.
With over 170 million Muslims in India, Islam is the second largest religion.
It's predicted that by 2050, the country will surpass Indonesia to have the largest Muslim population in the world.
It's a great honour to be invited in to observe the call to prayer.
A ceremony carried out five times a day that summons the Muslim faithful to worship.
Elements of all religions can seem strange and bewildering.
But there's an intrinsic part of Hinduism, India's main religion, that holds a dark and dangerous secret.
They poured kerosene on his body and just burnt him alive.
Unique to India is its caste system.
Dating back thousands of years, it's a traditional part of Hinduism that segregates people by birth into many different social classes.
It's a subject I know little about.
But the state of Gujarat is a good place to find out more.
It's the birthplace of the great Mahatma Gandhi.
His non-violent struggle helped to lead India to freedom and independence from British rule in 1947.
But Gandhi also railed against the intrinsic injustices in Indian society.
In those days, society was ruled by very, very strict caste rules.
Which meant that people of certain strands of society felt themselves to be superior to other strands.
And so on and so on, layer after layer, right down to the very bottom.
The poorest of the poor who were known as the so-called Untouchables.
Nowadays, the Dalits.
Gandhi set up laws for living.
The ninth of which was to outlaw the notion of untouchability.
The caste system is supposedly outlawed in modern India.
But even here in Ahmedabad, one of India's major cities, the hierarchy still exists.
Manjula Pradeep is a lawyer and campaigner for the rights of the Dalit people.
Manjula, is this a Dalit community? It is a Dalit community.
This entire area.
No other community lives in this area.
- It's only Dalits.
- It's very hard to believe, in this sophisticated world of India today, international, cosmopolitan, that within it, it can tolerate such separation.
That it can actually treat such beautiful people as this, as you - Thank you.
- Because you're a Dalit.
I am a Dalit.
I'm proud to be a Dalit.
You're proud to be a Dalit.
To be a Dalit, you're simply born into it.
- Yes.
- So how can somebody, looking at beautiful faces like this, know which caste you belong to? - How is it determined? - By your surname, your family name.
We are given a caste certificate when we are born.
- A caste certificate? - Yes, our name and our caste.
You're stamped at birth.
When we go in the schools, we have to mention our caste.
They say that if you won't mention your caste, you won't get scholarships.
As per the government regulations.
We have separate neighbourhoods.
So there is segregation.
- The eastern part of the city.
- Yes.
Why the east? They say that people who are being cursed have to live in the eastern part of the city.
- Cursed.
- Cursed.
Also, people who are low caste, people who are defiled, who are impure.
This is also the same phenomena in the villages.
Manjula is going to introduce me to a Dalit family whose son was the victim of violent discrimination.
The son was working in a milk dairy.
Milk dairy.
He was working there for last two years.
And he was treated as a defiled person.
A defiled person cannot touch milk.
Because the milk comes from cows, the holy cows.
- They felt it contaminated the milk.
- Yes.
Three men, they were dominant caste people.
Just got him.
They poured diesel and kerosene on his body.
And just burnt him alive.
- Because he was an Untouchable, a Dalit.
- Yes, yes.
This is a terrible story.
The young man died from his injuries.
And his attackers were never prosecuted.
His family lives here in one of the poorest parts of the city.
- May we go in? - Yes.
How lovely to meet you.
Tell me, do you have a picture of your son? ~ Here's this beautiful boy.
Ah.
And this is him, as it were, in a better state, in the next world.
- What was his name? - Amit.
- Amit.
Your beautiful son, did he bring in wages? He was working in the milk dairy for three to four years.
- ~ - They have allegations on him of theft.
So they were trying to put criminal charges against him.
So it was a huge case of injustice, quite apart from the murder.
Awful.
This man was suffering before he was killed.
Yeah, he was mentally tortured.
- Aged 20.
- At the age of 20.
- Because he was Dalit.
- Because he was Dalit.
Will my lady friend explain about this beautiful room that she has made here with all these lovely decorations? - Who lives here? - ~ The husband and the wife and the young son.
This boy.
Three of them are living here.
Is there a bathroom here? Is there a kitchen in here? - This is the kitchen.
- Can I see? And they sleep in here? All three? - The bathroom.
- In here? Buckets.
Lovely.
- They don't have toilet.
- No.
But they've made it look Can I say how beautiful you've made it look? Really wonderful.
~ Thank you.
- Thank you so much.
- Thank you, my dear one.
Bless you.
Thank you very much indeed.
The visit to this community, and what Manjula has been telling me, has really opened my eyes.
It's been a terrible shock.
I think I believed it when I heard that Gandhiji was saying that You know, untouchability will be a thing of the past.
I think I believed it when India said, 'We no longer have the caste system.
There are no such things as Untouchables.
' This community just goes to show it's exactly that.
The horrifying murder that took place of a beautiful young man who lived in this house, supported his parents, simply because he was a Dalit, is just unbearable.
The fact that you're marked at birth by your name and who you are, that you're marked into the lowest part of humanity.
20% of India sort of beyond the pale, it's really, really wrong.
It's really wrong.
This haunting phrase she used People aren't allowed to walk in a Dalit's footsteps.
You have to walk off the path in case you're contaminated by even touching the earth.
This has no place in the modern world.
This has to stop.
Makes you think, doesn't it? After the confines of the city, the wide open spaces of Rajasthan, India's biggest state, are exhilarating.
Rajasthan's western flank is covered by the Great Indian desert.
77,000 square miles of arid wilderness that forms a natural border with neighbouring Pakistan.
For centuries, Rajasthan has been synonymous with the great ships of the desert.
The camels.
The Raika people have tended, bred, and made their living from camels for over six centuries.
And just 20 years ago, there were as many as 800,000 of these wonderful creatures here.
But now that cars and trucks are replacing them, the Raika need alternative ways of earning a living from their beloved animals.
Here, baby! And one way is by selling their milk.
They use a baby to start suckling and then the milk starts coming down.
Then they can move the baby away and start milking.
I'm told that camel milk is much more nutritious than cow's milk and has medicinal properties.
Where is your baby, darling? Where's your baby? In 2016, the Indian government allowed it to be marketed for human consumption.
So here goes.
Thank you.
Love the bit of the cigarette at the same time.
Milk spilling over.
My first sip of camel milk.
It's completely beautiful.
It's slightly warm.
Very rich.
Sweet as anything.
This is how we never see cow's milk in England.
Raw milk, unpasteurised.
This is what milk looks like.
This is what milk tastes like.
Thank you very much.
But selling their camel milk is not something the Raika have taken to naturally.
The Raika's whole culture is threatened.
And many leave Rajasthan for menial jobs in the city.
I'm going off to the Kumbhalgarh camel dairy.
The Kumbhalgarh dairy was set up in 2016.
And is the first of its kind in India.
This new venture is offering hope for both the Raika and their camels.
The milk arrives by motorbike.
It's pasteurised, frozen, and made ready for sale.
The project is the brainchild of a former vet Ilse Kohler-Rollefson.
Joanna, I'm so happy that you've come here.
I'm so thrilled to meet you.
This is the dairy.
Exactly.
It's just a tiny little dairy.
But it's a seed for something bigger, we hope.
Tell me what brought you to the whole idea of camel milk.
The camel breeders, they desperately need some income.
And without the camel breeders themselves, there's no way the camel can survive in India.
- Because it's not being used for transport.
- No.
We really want to use the camel milk as a source of income.
What are the qualities of camel milk that are so different? It has a very high vitamin C content.
Six times as much as cow milk.
It has usually a very low fat content.
And it has something which is very much like insulin.
So if you drink camel milk, your blood sugar immediately lowers.
- For diabetics, a huge help.
- It is.
- It's not the answer but - No, it's not a miracle cure.
But definitely it helps a lot.
Here's the milk.
'From camels browsing on 36 medicinal plants.
' - You want to drink it now.
- It's amazing.
The milk isn't just bottled and sold.
Ilse is expanding the range of produce.
- Look.
- Soft cheese.
Yes, this is soft cheese.
You can make other types of cheese as well.
Please try.
This one is garlic and mint.
This is world-class.
Mm! They are absolutely superb.
Maybe we can turn people in the world round to drinking camel's milk.
It's so good for you, so delicious, so nutritious.
I sound as though I'm doing an advertisement.
I think I am.
There's no better way of taking in sustenance.
Why not let's keep the camel market alive and the livelihood of these extraordinary and fabulous people? Before British rule, Rajasthan had over 20 independent kingdoms, or princely states, that were ruled by monarchs known as maharajahs.
Never formally colonised by the British, these desert territories formed a Hindu buffer against Muslim incursions from the west.
And the maharajahs' wealth and extravagance produced a host of magnificent palaces.
Rajasthan means literally the place of kings.
Raja -- ruler.
Sthan -- place or land.
And for centuries, maharajahs ruled in unimaginable wealth and splendour.
'The maharajah, riding in the golden howdah on the back of his State elephant, and attended by troops, courtiers, and servants, proceeds slowly round the city in great magnificence.
In 1971, Indira Gandhi, India's first female Prime Minister, formally removed the maharajahs' power.
Overnight, they became commoners.
And were made to pay large taxes on their lands.
Now with their power rescinded, the former super-rich of India have had to be creative about making ends meet.
I'm going to stay with a maharajah in a palace in a place called Dungarpur.
I'm hoping perhaps I'll get a glimpse of that former glory and opulence.
This is the stunning Udai Bilas, the former private palace of the maharajah that's been converted into a swish hotel.
This is the Maharani suite.
Come.
This is where I spent last night.
Gorgeous four-poster bed.
Lovely elephant lamp.
Come see.
Look at these heavenly surrounds.
Looking out to this beautiful little floating palace.
Here, a little daybed in case I just wanted to relax here.
Mirrors on the ceiling in case I wanted to look at myself.
Which I sometimes do.
All this fabulous work here.
Come see.
Here, a sort of antechamber.
Lovely mirrored floor.
This, I understand, was so that occasionally, naughtier people could glance down here and they'd be able to see up your pants.
Luckily, I've got trousers on today.
But you see? They'd glance up there.
You get very kind of Because it's so beautiful.
Have you seen the work on these doors?! The only thing that depresses me I mean, these are from so long ago.
Leopards and tigers and antelope and things.
From the days when everybody thought wildlife was forever.
That's the sad bit.
But I'm not going to be sad.
Because this is unbelievably beautiful.
Thank you.
It's been lovely showing you around.
I'm just getting ready now.
The son of the current maharajah, the Prince of Dungarpur, and the man who will inherit all this, is waiting for me downstairs.
- Your Highness.
- Hello.
Hello, I'm Joanna.
How lovely to meet you.
- Welcome.
- Thank you.
I'm absolutely dazzled already.
This courtyard is 1860s.
It was made by my great-great-great-grandfather Maharawal Udai Singh II.
He must have been a great scholar.
A wonderfully educated man.
Well Not really.
He was adopted to the throne.
I'll tell you the story.
The former state of Dungarpur was about to be amalgamated with another state.
The maharawal didn't have any children.
And so our nobles got together and told the British, 'We will find a ruler.
' So they went to this village called Sabli.
There were six brothers.
So they did a test.
They distributed sweets to all the brothers.
And only one said, 'Please offer it to me in a plate.
' Then he shared it with everyone.
So they just picked him up.
He was totally uneducated.
And put him on the throne of Dungarpur.
And this is what he's created.
How extraordinary.
He was your great-great-grandfather? - Great-great-great.
- Three greats.
To maintain its splendour, the prince has had to turn his home into a hotel.
But on the other side of town, he has another more exclusive palace that he'd like to show me.
It's a good chance to give the Jaguar XK120 a little run.
This is an old gateway.
- The gateway to the town.
- Isn't it wonderful? Look at that.
Hello, girls.
How beautiful.
And your great-great-grandfathers, would they have had carriages? - Or would they have ridden on horses? - Yes, very much so.
Watch out, baba! Ha! Since the 13th century, the magnificent Juna Mahal palace has been home to 20 generations of maharajahs.
making it one of the oldest palaces in the subcontinent to be inhabited continuously by one family.
The elephants used to come in here.
Then the ruler would mount the elephant.
How extraordinary! This is the main courtyard.
Known as jamwahchow.
It's a seven-storey building.
There's one storey below.
And six here.
You can see on top the building juts out as you go higher.
Oh, look at this! Now we are going to climb up.
Very narrow staircases.
And the doorways are small.
So mind your head.
People were quite fit.
Even old grannies coming up here.
I'm an old granny coming up here.
Now we're going to enter the main living quarters of the ruler.
Oh! Gosh! This is fantastic! Look at this! Every nook and corner, you'll find a painting.
Oh, how fine.
This is one of the largest collections of wall paintings anywhere in India.
This combination of mirrorwork and paintings and a lot of detail.
- Oh, this is almost -- - I have come here thousands of times.
I still see things I've not seen last time.
Look at this little room here! Look at this mirrorwork.
This is special.
Elephants in full caparison.
Tigers leaping down.
I've never seen anything like it.
Look at these characters.
Speechless.
I'm not.
I can't stop talking.
I'll leave you to explore the rest of the palace on your own.
In three months' time, I might still be here.
OK! I will keep on sending you packed dinners and lunches.
Thank you, Your Highness.
I think they were slightly smaller than me in the old days.
Look at this! Ooh! I do love being in places alone.
Look at this terrace! Kind of mosaic floor.
Beautiful! These are gorgeous.
Admit it, when you get home, you want to have all your doors made like this.
You don't want dull doors, flat doors.
You want intricate doors.
A bit of design.
The seven storeys of this labyrinthine building trace the exquisite evolution of Indian art from way back in the 13th century to Oh, goodness.
The Kama Sutra! Golly gee! Even then, it must have been quite naughty.
Put in a cupboard like this.
OK.
And Rajasthan is a breathtaking place to finish this leg of my journey.
Wow! I'm right at the top of this completely empty ancient palace.
There's the city spread out underneath.
Dungarpur, just spread out.
It's unbelievable.
I couldn't love it more.
I've only just arrived in Rajasthan.
But I think probably this is the best palace in Rajasthan.
Just saying.
Just saying.
Obviously I haven't seen them all.
I just have an instinct.
What I do know, it's got the finest paintings in the whole of India.
Here, free, but a bit secret.
I mean, you can come here.
YOU can come here.
But I am here.
Next time God, how fantastic! Tiger, tiger, burning bright.
Look at that colour! I infiltrate the Delhi fashion scene.
Isn't that beautiful? Oh, I'm going to have to ask for help! And have a private audience with the Dalai Lama.
- Your grandfather's spirit, I think still carry.
- I think he does.
The colossus that is India's most populated and intense city.
I've been here before.
A long time ago.
This for me, is very poignant.
This beautiful building behind me is the Gateway to India.
It's on Bombay Harbour and it was built between 1911 and 1924 to celebrate the Royal visit of George V and Queen Mary.
But 24 years after that, the British left India.
And I left as a little tiny baby aged 11 months.
Probably through here onto a ship called the Franconia.
This is a copy of the passenger list.
Lumley, Joanna L.
That's me, Joanna Lamond.
11 months old.
So I don't remember it because I was only chuti baba.
I was carried onboard ship to disappear from India for ever.
But of course, it wasn't for ever.
Because I've come back.
So far on this journey, we've seen wild elephants in the tea plantations of the Western Ghats.
This is extraordinary! I've turned Hindu goddess in Hyderabad.
Very good! And followed in the footsteps of my grandparents to the Himalayan state of Sikkim.
Oh, my gosh.
This is one of my grandfather's letters.
This time, we're travelling from the mighty city of Mumbai, through the western state of Gujarat, to the fabulous and exotic Rajasthan.
Hello, girls.
Seeing how modern India is thrusting skywards into the 21st century.
You do realise this will be just a fat column of billionaires! A special treatment of a Hindu housewarming awaits me.
You can put this on your skin instead of soap.
I'm already feeling better.
Lovely.
And I'm treated to a private view of some astonishing Indian art.
Look at this mirrorwork! Ooh, this is special.
Welcome to India.
This is the city of dreams.
Hot, crowded, humanity intensified.
22 million people are crammed into an area about one-third the size of greater London.
Mumbai is one of the world's most captivating cities.
- Hello.
Welcome.
- Thank you so, so much.
Journalist Namita Davidial, Mumbai born and bred, is whisking me across town.
Tell me about this city.
It's one of those cities which, on one level, is crumbling.
There's a lot of traffic.
The air pollution isn't the best in the world.
And it's crowded.
But people come here from all over the country.
It's a vibrant city.
It's a safe city.
It's got a certain energy very different from the rest of the country.
Sort of a magnet.
The very rich and the very poor, everybody comes here to make their fortunes.
Yes, and then you have a very kind of modern vibe as well.
Absolutely.
It feels like California coming down here.
Really, it's incredible.
Look at this bridge.
It's fabulous.
It is really romantic in different times.
In the monsoon, it's like, ooh.
You want to get off and sing a song or something.
Sing and dance here! Namita works for the famous Times Of India newspaper.
As did a member of my family.
My uncle, my beloved uncle Ivor Jehu, was, I think, the last editor of the Times.
That is the most amazing - Isn't it extraordinary? - It is.
He lived here.
I have a photograph of the old Times Of India building.
I think it's not in that any more.
Is it a new building now? - No, it's the same one.
- The same one? Welcome to my workplace.
Fantastic.
This is where my uncle would have come into the building.
- Isn't that amazing? - Yes, it is.
This imposing building has been home to the Times Of India for over 180 years.
Oh, my gosh! Look at this! I can't really work this out.
You'd fit the plate in there? I don't know.
Something.
This is definitely before my time.
Is it?! India become sovereign democratic republic.
That's 1950.
That must have been the very last year that my uncle was the editor.
Newsprint is in steady decline globally.
But in India, newspapers are booming.
With over 60 million circulating daily.
Despite being only the third biggest newspaper in the country, the Times Of India has a daily circulation of over three million.
And is the most-read English newspaper in the world.
Here's my uncle! There's Ivor! Brigadier Ivor Stuart Jehu.
If I may say, the most distinguished-looking of the lot.
Oh! How fantastic! That's just as I remember him.
Look at that.
With all the other editors.
He was the very last of the British editors.
And then the Indian editors here.
Uncle Ivor! I never thought I'd see that.
Fantastic.
Originally an archipelago of seven islands conjoined using land reclaimed from the sea, Mumbai's 22 million people are squeezed onto a narrow peninsula, making it the second most densely populated city on Earth.
Nearly a quarter of those people, around five million, live in vast slums in dismal, makeshift accommodation.
It's perhaps one of India's greatest dichotomies that alongside such poverty, Mumbai has unbelievable wealth.
And 46,000 millionaires call this city home.
Despite real estate prices being at a premium, the super-rich, keen to escape the congestion at street level, are heading skywards.
This is the World One Tower.
442 metres of it.
It's going to be the tallest residential block in the entire world.
Deepak's going to tell me about it.
Deepak, lovely to see you.
On with my hi-vis jacket.
And on with my hard hat in the hard-hat area.
Got a hoist ready for you.
A hoist? That sounds a bit ominous.
Into this.
That's the hoist.
I'm going to be quite bold about this.
But I have to tell you I can't stand heights.
If I suddenly go quiet, it's because I've fainted.
Come in.
How far up are we going to go? Maybe the fourth floor? No, we are going to the 54th floor.
Uh-huh.
Here we go.
And floor 54 is less than halfway up this building.
Once completed, it will have a stomach-churning 117 storeys.
My God, we seem to have come to the top of the building.
It steps back from here.
Oh, right.
Oh, my God.
I thought we'd shot over the top.
Welcome to the 56th floor on the tower.
- The 56th floor.
- You are 200m high up in the air.
Oh, my gosh! Look at that! That's Mumbai city for you.
Boy, oh boy! What you are standing on is a premium-size apartment.
You've got your view towards the sea.
You can enjoy a cup of tea sitting in the balcony.
The balconies are not open, are they? You can walk into the balcony if you require.
But there will be a handrail.
You will make them nice and high, won't you? That's right.
They will be safe.
I'm almost blacking out with terror at the thought of it.
What if the lift breaks? We've got back-up.
Generators.
Oh, that's not much fun.
You suddenly look through here.
I could fall down there.
If you're nervous about heights, everything is potentially a great, great danger.
And this is the apartment on the other side.
No, this is the living and the dining area.
Bedrooms on the other side.
- So all this is one.
- One single apartment.
Wow! The 300 apartments have access to a swimming pool, a gym, and even a cricket pitch.
But you'll have to stump up a minimum of £1.
4 million for the privilege.
You do realise this will just be a fat column of billionaires! - Won't it be? - Yes.
Billionaires can live there.
More and more people coming in to stay in a place which is congested.
In the future, I can see a lot of towers like this coming up.
So can I.
It will be like Manhattan.
Deepak, to be honest, I'm not sure that I could live so high above the ground.
But if ever you were to have such an apartment, and I was in Mumbai, would you invite me to dinner? Sure.
I feel fine now.
Ha ha! Throughout history, India has been renowned as a land of spirituality.
And has given birth to some of the world's most influential religions.
200 miles inland from Mumbai are the Ellora Caves that may give me an insight to the country's rich and diverse spiritual history.
The caves are actually a series of temples which, between the sixth and tenth centuries, were hewn out of solid rock.
They lie along a valley on an ancient trade route that once linked inland cities with western ports on the Arabian Sea.
This is a Buddhist temple.
It's one of the 34 holy, religious carved caves and temples stretching over nearly three kilometres on this ancient trade route.
I can't tell you what it's like.
It is a mountain which is simply carved out into temples.
It defies description.
I'm going to see if I can go in.
Wow! It's like standing inside a giant fish.
Arched, like a cathedral.
Or like the hull of a boat.
And this is what's giving it this incredible acoustic.
All around here are beautiful statues, carved people.
And the Buddha is sitting in the preaching position.
He's teaching wisdom to the world.
A place of great peace.
But surely the centrepiece and most spectacular example at Ellora is the jaw-dropping Hindu Kailasa temple.
Ohh! What is this?! Ohh! Un be lievable.
The sheer size of this temple is mind-boggling.
Every gateway, hall, walkway, and shrine was cut into the solid bedrock of the hillside.
Ooh! I have to say that, with my vertigo, even leaning over makes me terrified.
I think that probably today, for the first time, just because I am leaning here, it will suddenly tip forward.
No-o! Still, a nice place to die.
The caves served as places for pilgrims and travellers to rest and worship on long journeys.
Look at the size of this! Now we are so far below the top of the ground.
It's like a small town down here.
I can't describe the scale of it.
Such fine, fine carving.
Hands, arms, details, dresses, fights.
Look at the sophistication of this.
They didn't have dynamite.
They had to chisel down into this.
There's nothing like this in the world.
The real revelation of Ellora is that the temples are of several faiths.
And seem to illustrate the spirit of religious tolerance that existed in India 1,200 years ago.
I can't tell you how glad I am that we made the effort to come to Ellora.
It is so beautiful here.
300 miles to the northwest lies the city of Ahmedabad.
Once known as the Manchester of the east, it was at one time the centre of the country's huge cotton industry.
But I've come here to see how India's two main religions, Hinduism and Islam, co-exist in a crowded, multi-faith city.
A local Hindu family has invited me to their housewarming party.
And the market at Manek Chowk seems like the perfect place to pick up a gift.
Only tuk-tuks can come down these tiny streets.
Oh, things are just so gorgeous.
What would I take as a housewarming present? I'm thinking of something like a clock.
Do you think they want a great big metal thing? I want it anyway.
I can't have it.
What I love about this market, the Manek Chowk, is it's packed with everything.
It's got vegetables and Hindu gods.
It's got pots and pans.
It's got tuk-tuk.
It crosses all boundaries.
Everybody from every religion, every age.
There are no barriers in this market.
Not creed or race or class or colour or richness.
Hello, darlings.
Look, look, look.
I think this is jaggery.
Thank you.
It's unrefined cane sugar.
It tastes Tastes like molasses.
It's absolutely beautiful.
Mm! This is a recipe of how to use jaggery.
You can get it in England if you have any Indian shops near you.
Crumble up the jaggery into a saucepan.
Add a little bit of rosewater.
Cut up some rhubarb and put it in.
Put the lid on.
Four minutes, have a look at it.
Lowish heat.
And the rhubarb Thank you very much.
Get it cool again and serve it with double cream.
It's the best pudding you've ever seen.
Totally beautiful.
Fresh, raw cane sugar.
This is sugar that I advise you to eat.
I'm advising you to eat it.
Look, mangoes, mangoes.
- Life is useless without a mango.
- Mango.
Mango? The crew aren't allowed.
They're not allowed mangoes.
I have the mango.
There are too many distractions here.
I need to focus and find the perfect housewarming present -- fast.
Must not, must not.
Clutching my present, I'm crossing town to the western suburbs of Ahmedabad.
I've been invited to a Hindu housewarming party.
Lovely smell of clean washing.
Narrow streets.
Reminds me of Venice in a way.
Hello.
The Chitroda family have said that they've got a ceremony going on.
I've brought them a housewarming present.
I do hope they like it.
I think it's gorgeous.
People may not think it's gorgeous.
There was a pink one.
I went for the orange one because I think it's life affirming.
It's Ganesh, the elephant god with his trunk.
I hope it will bring them luck.
I hope they really love it.
Unlike those sad Christmas presents which arrive without a battery, I've put a battery in.
At least it's working.
There we go, darling.
Probably leading me the way.
I'll just follow on because a cow is involved.
Cows are sacred to Hindus.
And particularly here in Gujarat, a devout state, where their slaughter is illegal.
Across India, they are allowed to wander everywhere quite freely.
And turn up in the strangest of places.
How good to see you.
May I give you this small present? - A housewarming present.
- Thank you.
Mr Chitroda is an interior designer.
He and his wife have only one son, but the extended family numbers over 30.
Tell me, what happens today? Today we are celebrating our new home.
And what will happen? We'll do some puja.
Some kind of rituals to our own god.
A local cowman has also brought along his finest cow and her calf.
How does this cow play a part in the ceremony? We believe that there are 33 crore of gods and goddesses in the cow.
33 crore is how many? - 33,000? - 33 million.
- 33 million! - 33 million gods inside the cow.
33 million gods and goddesses reside in the form of a cow.
Being near the house is good? Or does she come in? - Near the house.
- Just near the house.
These are sacred animals.
You take such care of them in India.
- All over India, the cow is sacred.
- Yeah.
The family has been up since dawn preparing the house.
And have hired a priest to lead the ceremony.
Oh, my goodness! Their new home cost them £125,000.
It's so beautiful.
And they've just finished renovating the ground floor.
In the middle, this beautiful open lotus with a cow in it.
Varsha, how important is it to have a ceremony like this to bless a house? Hindus have been performing ceremonies like these for thousands of years.
After chanting and making offerings to the gods, the focus moves to the cow.
Which is presented with garlands and gifts.
The cow returns the favour and produces a special offering of her own for a heady concoction.
This is the cow urine.
You put all these things inside that and you have to shake it.
This is the five pieces of the cow.
Milk, curd, sugar Honey.
And ghee.
And ghee.
- Keep stirring.
- It's not very smooth.
- Is that all right? - This is fine.
- Good.
- When you take bath, you can put this on your skin.
And straight off, soap.
That's wonderful.
I'm already feeling better.
Lovely.
Good.
The ceremony continues with the burning of dried cow dung.
Which purifies the new dwelling.
Svaha.
Svaha.
When they say waha, what does that mean? Svaha.
It means they are giving the offering to God.
- Uh-huh.
- Svaha.
Svaha.
Svaha.
The sacred cow is where all the 33 million gods and goddesses reside.
They reside in all parts of the cow's body.
And the important part about the dung is that Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and money, who used to be quite vain, she said, 'Do I really have to live in a cow? I think I'm more important than that.
' And she minced off and found herself alone in heaven.
Then she felt terrible and said, 'Maybe I'd like to come back.
' The sacred cow, the cow of all cows, said, 'I'm afraid my whole body is taken up now with 33 million gods and goddesses.
So honey, if you are coming back, you can only be in my dung.
' Lakshmi, in the old days, would have been, 'Oh, no, I couldn't.
' But the new repentant Lakshmi said, 'That would be absolutely perfect for me.
' So Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, resides in the dung of the cow.
Which is why we're waiting to see the dung coming.
Inside, a wonderful ceremony with water and rice.
Everything with a meaning.
Just the most elaborate arrangement with flowers and petals.
Absolutely divine.
This little one has helped us out.
Lakshmi is appearing.
There.
Waiting for something a little larger from her mother perhaps.
Larger contribution.
Don't know how long we'll have to wait.
I did that.
I haven't got a watch.
I don't wear a watch.
I just did that to show passing of time.
Very good, very good.
Thank you.
Thankfully, we don't have to wait too long for Lakshmi to make an appearance.
Thank you so much.
Bye-bye.
I would love that.
Thank you.
It's been wonderful to be a part of this ceremony.
And my housewarming gift seems to have gone down a treat.
India is 80% Hindu.
But the Islamic influence is everywhere.
The city of Ahmedabad was founded in 1411 by Ahmed Shah.
The first Moghul ruler who established the city and built the Great Mosque.
Which, at the time, was the biggest in the subcontinent.
With over 170 million Muslims in India, Islam is the second largest religion.
It's predicted that by 2050, the country will surpass Indonesia to have the largest Muslim population in the world.
It's a great honour to be invited in to observe the call to prayer.
A ceremony carried out five times a day that summons the Muslim faithful to worship.
Elements of all religions can seem strange and bewildering.
But there's an intrinsic part of Hinduism, India's main religion, that holds a dark and dangerous secret.
They poured kerosene on his body and just burnt him alive.
Unique to India is its caste system.
Dating back thousands of years, it's a traditional part of Hinduism that segregates people by birth into many different social classes.
It's a subject I know little about.
But the state of Gujarat is a good place to find out more.
It's the birthplace of the great Mahatma Gandhi.
His non-violent struggle helped to lead India to freedom and independence from British rule in 1947.
But Gandhi also railed against the intrinsic injustices in Indian society.
In those days, society was ruled by very, very strict caste rules.
Which meant that people of certain strands of society felt themselves to be superior to other strands.
And so on and so on, layer after layer, right down to the very bottom.
The poorest of the poor who were known as the so-called Untouchables.
Nowadays, the Dalits.
Gandhi set up laws for living.
The ninth of which was to outlaw the notion of untouchability.
The caste system is supposedly outlawed in modern India.
But even here in Ahmedabad, one of India's major cities, the hierarchy still exists.
Manjula Pradeep is a lawyer and campaigner for the rights of the Dalit people.
Manjula, is this a Dalit community? It is a Dalit community.
This entire area.
No other community lives in this area.
- It's only Dalits.
- It's very hard to believe, in this sophisticated world of India today, international, cosmopolitan, that within it, it can tolerate such separation.
That it can actually treat such beautiful people as this, as you - Thank you.
- Because you're a Dalit.
I am a Dalit.
I'm proud to be a Dalit.
You're proud to be a Dalit.
To be a Dalit, you're simply born into it.
- Yes.
- So how can somebody, looking at beautiful faces like this, know which caste you belong to? - How is it determined? - By your surname, your family name.
We are given a caste certificate when we are born.
- A caste certificate? - Yes, our name and our caste.
You're stamped at birth.
When we go in the schools, we have to mention our caste.
They say that if you won't mention your caste, you won't get scholarships.
As per the government regulations.
We have separate neighbourhoods.
So there is segregation.
- The eastern part of the city.
- Yes.
Why the east? They say that people who are being cursed have to live in the eastern part of the city.
- Cursed.
- Cursed.
Also, people who are low caste, people who are defiled, who are impure.
This is also the same phenomena in the villages.
Manjula is going to introduce me to a Dalit family whose son was the victim of violent discrimination.
The son was working in a milk dairy.
Milk dairy.
He was working there for last two years.
And he was treated as a defiled person.
A defiled person cannot touch milk.
Because the milk comes from cows, the holy cows.
- They felt it contaminated the milk.
- Yes.
Three men, they were dominant caste people.
Just got him.
They poured diesel and kerosene on his body.
And just burnt him alive.
- Because he was an Untouchable, a Dalit.
- Yes, yes.
This is a terrible story.
The young man died from his injuries.
And his attackers were never prosecuted.
His family lives here in one of the poorest parts of the city.
- May we go in? - Yes.
How lovely to meet you.
Tell me, do you have a picture of your son? ~ Here's this beautiful boy.
Ah.
And this is him, as it were, in a better state, in the next world.
- What was his name? - Amit.
- Amit.
Your beautiful son, did he bring in wages? He was working in the milk dairy for three to four years.
- ~ - They have allegations on him of theft.
So they were trying to put criminal charges against him.
So it was a huge case of injustice, quite apart from the murder.
Awful.
This man was suffering before he was killed.
Yeah, he was mentally tortured.
- Aged 20.
- At the age of 20.
- Because he was Dalit.
- Because he was Dalit.
Will my lady friend explain about this beautiful room that she has made here with all these lovely decorations? - Who lives here? - ~ The husband and the wife and the young son.
This boy.
Three of them are living here.
Is there a bathroom here? Is there a kitchen in here? - This is the kitchen.
- Can I see? And they sleep in here? All three? - The bathroom.
- In here? Buckets.
Lovely.
- They don't have toilet.
- No.
But they've made it look Can I say how beautiful you've made it look? Really wonderful.
~ Thank you.
- Thank you so much.
- Thank you, my dear one.
Bless you.
Thank you very much indeed.
The visit to this community, and what Manjula has been telling me, has really opened my eyes.
It's been a terrible shock.
I think I believed it when I heard that Gandhiji was saying that You know, untouchability will be a thing of the past.
I think I believed it when India said, 'We no longer have the caste system.
There are no such things as Untouchables.
' This community just goes to show it's exactly that.
The horrifying murder that took place of a beautiful young man who lived in this house, supported his parents, simply because he was a Dalit, is just unbearable.
The fact that you're marked at birth by your name and who you are, that you're marked into the lowest part of humanity.
20% of India sort of beyond the pale, it's really, really wrong.
It's really wrong.
This haunting phrase she used People aren't allowed to walk in a Dalit's footsteps.
You have to walk off the path in case you're contaminated by even touching the earth.
This has no place in the modern world.
This has to stop.
Makes you think, doesn't it? After the confines of the city, the wide open spaces of Rajasthan, India's biggest state, are exhilarating.
Rajasthan's western flank is covered by the Great Indian desert.
77,000 square miles of arid wilderness that forms a natural border with neighbouring Pakistan.
For centuries, Rajasthan has been synonymous with the great ships of the desert.
The camels.
The Raika people have tended, bred, and made their living from camels for over six centuries.
And just 20 years ago, there were as many as 800,000 of these wonderful creatures here.
But now that cars and trucks are replacing them, the Raika need alternative ways of earning a living from their beloved animals.
Here, baby! And one way is by selling their milk.
They use a baby to start suckling and then the milk starts coming down.
Then they can move the baby away and start milking.
I'm told that camel milk is much more nutritious than cow's milk and has medicinal properties.
Where is your baby, darling? Where's your baby? In 2016, the Indian government allowed it to be marketed for human consumption.
So here goes.
Thank you.
Love the bit of the cigarette at the same time.
Milk spilling over.
My first sip of camel milk.
It's completely beautiful.
It's slightly warm.
Very rich.
Sweet as anything.
This is how we never see cow's milk in England.
Raw milk, unpasteurised.
This is what milk looks like.
This is what milk tastes like.
Thank you very much.
But selling their camel milk is not something the Raika have taken to naturally.
The Raika's whole culture is threatened.
And many leave Rajasthan for menial jobs in the city.
I'm going off to the Kumbhalgarh camel dairy.
The Kumbhalgarh dairy was set up in 2016.
And is the first of its kind in India.
This new venture is offering hope for both the Raika and their camels.
The milk arrives by motorbike.
It's pasteurised, frozen, and made ready for sale.
The project is the brainchild of a former vet Ilse Kohler-Rollefson.
Joanna, I'm so happy that you've come here.
I'm so thrilled to meet you.
This is the dairy.
Exactly.
It's just a tiny little dairy.
But it's a seed for something bigger, we hope.
Tell me what brought you to the whole idea of camel milk.
The camel breeders, they desperately need some income.
And without the camel breeders themselves, there's no way the camel can survive in India.
- Because it's not being used for transport.
- No.
We really want to use the camel milk as a source of income.
What are the qualities of camel milk that are so different? It has a very high vitamin C content.
Six times as much as cow milk.
It has usually a very low fat content.
And it has something which is very much like insulin.
So if you drink camel milk, your blood sugar immediately lowers.
- For diabetics, a huge help.
- It is.
- It's not the answer but - No, it's not a miracle cure.
But definitely it helps a lot.
Here's the milk.
'From camels browsing on 36 medicinal plants.
' - You want to drink it now.
- It's amazing.
The milk isn't just bottled and sold.
Ilse is expanding the range of produce.
- Look.
- Soft cheese.
Yes, this is soft cheese.
You can make other types of cheese as well.
Please try.
This one is garlic and mint.
This is world-class.
Mm! They are absolutely superb.
Maybe we can turn people in the world round to drinking camel's milk.
It's so good for you, so delicious, so nutritious.
I sound as though I'm doing an advertisement.
I think I am.
There's no better way of taking in sustenance.
Why not let's keep the camel market alive and the livelihood of these extraordinary and fabulous people? Before British rule, Rajasthan had over 20 independent kingdoms, or princely states, that were ruled by monarchs known as maharajahs.
Never formally colonised by the British, these desert territories formed a Hindu buffer against Muslim incursions from the west.
And the maharajahs' wealth and extravagance produced a host of magnificent palaces.
Rajasthan means literally the place of kings.
Raja -- ruler.
Sthan -- place or land.
And for centuries, maharajahs ruled in unimaginable wealth and splendour.
'The maharajah, riding in the golden howdah on the back of his State elephant, and attended by troops, courtiers, and servants, proceeds slowly round the city in great magnificence.
In 1971, Indira Gandhi, India's first female Prime Minister, formally removed the maharajahs' power.
Overnight, they became commoners.
And were made to pay large taxes on their lands.
Now with their power rescinded, the former super-rich of India have had to be creative about making ends meet.
I'm going to stay with a maharajah in a palace in a place called Dungarpur.
I'm hoping perhaps I'll get a glimpse of that former glory and opulence.
This is the stunning Udai Bilas, the former private palace of the maharajah that's been converted into a swish hotel.
This is the Maharani suite.
Come.
This is where I spent last night.
Gorgeous four-poster bed.
Lovely elephant lamp.
Come see.
Look at these heavenly surrounds.
Looking out to this beautiful little floating palace.
Here, a little daybed in case I just wanted to relax here.
Mirrors on the ceiling in case I wanted to look at myself.
Which I sometimes do.
All this fabulous work here.
Come see.
Here, a sort of antechamber.
Lovely mirrored floor.
This, I understand, was so that occasionally, naughtier people could glance down here and they'd be able to see up your pants.
Luckily, I've got trousers on today.
But you see? They'd glance up there.
You get very kind of Because it's so beautiful.
Have you seen the work on these doors?! The only thing that depresses me I mean, these are from so long ago.
Leopards and tigers and antelope and things.
From the days when everybody thought wildlife was forever.
That's the sad bit.
But I'm not going to be sad.
Because this is unbelievably beautiful.
Thank you.
It's been lovely showing you around.
I'm just getting ready now.
The son of the current maharajah, the Prince of Dungarpur, and the man who will inherit all this, is waiting for me downstairs.
- Your Highness.
- Hello.
Hello, I'm Joanna.
How lovely to meet you.
- Welcome.
- Thank you.
I'm absolutely dazzled already.
This courtyard is 1860s.
It was made by my great-great-great-grandfather Maharawal Udai Singh II.
He must have been a great scholar.
A wonderfully educated man.
Well Not really.
He was adopted to the throne.
I'll tell you the story.
The former state of Dungarpur was about to be amalgamated with another state.
The maharawal didn't have any children.
And so our nobles got together and told the British, 'We will find a ruler.
' So they went to this village called Sabli.
There were six brothers.
So they did a test.
They distributed sweets to all the brothers.
And only one said, 'Please offer it to me in a plate.
' Then he shared it with everyone.
So they just picked him up.
He was totally uneducated.
And put him on the throne of Dungarpur.
And this is what he's created.
How extraordinary.
He was your great-great-grandfather? - Great-great-great.
- Three greats.
To maintain its splendour, the prince has had to turn his home into a hotel.
But on the other side of town, he has another more exclusive palace that he'd like to show me.
It's a good chance to give the Jaguar XK120 a little run.
This is an old gateway.
- The gateway to the town.
- Isn't it wonderful? Look at that.
Hello, girls.
How beautiful.
And your great-great-grandfathers, would they have had carriages? - Or would they have ridden on horses? - Yes, very much so.
Watch out, baba! Ha! Since the 13th century, the magnificent Juna Mahal palace has been home to 20 generations of maharajahs.
making it one of the oldest palaces in the subcontinent to be inhabited continuously by one family.
The elephants used to come in here.
Then the ruler would mount the elephant.
How extraordinary! This is the main courtyard.
Known as jamwahchow.
It's a seven-storey building.
There's one storey below.
And six here.
You can see on top the building juts out as you go higher.
Oh, look at this! Now we are going to climb up.
Very narrow staircases.
And the doorways are small.
So mind your head.
People were quite fit.
Even old grannies coming up here.
I'm an old granny coming up here.
Now we're going to enter the main living quarters of the ruler.
Oh! Gosh! This is fantastic! Look at this! Every nook and corner, you'll find a painting.
Oh, how fine.
This is one of the largest collections of wall paintings anywhere in India.
This combination of mirrorwork and paintings and a lot of detail.
- Oh, this is almost -- - I have come here thousands of times.
I still see things I've not seen last time.
Look at this little room here! Look at this mirrorwork.
This is special.
Elephants in full caparison.
Tigers leaping down.
I've never seen anything like it.
Look at these characters.
Speechless.
I'm not.
I can't stop talking.
I'll leave you to explore the rest of the palace on your own.
In three months' time, I might still be here.
OK! I will keep on sending you packed dinners and lunches.
Thank you, Your Highness.
I think they were slightly smaller than me in the old days.
Look at this! Ooh! I do love being in places alone.
Look at this terrace! Kind of mosaic floor.
Beautiful! These are gorgeous.
Admit it, when you get home, you want to have all your doors made like this.
You don't want dull doors, flat doors.
You want intricate doors.
A bit of design.
The seven storeys of this labyrinthine building trace the exquisite evolution of Indian art from way back in the 13th century to Oh, goodness.
The Kama Sutra! Golly gee! Even then, it must have been quite naughty.
Put in a cupboard like this.
OK.
And Rajasthan is a breathtaking place to finish this leg of my journey.
Wow! I'm right at the top of this completely empty ancient palace.
There's the city spread out underneath.
Dungarpur, just spread out.
It's unbelievable.
I couldn't love it more.
I've only just arrived in Rajasthan.
But I think probably this is the best palace in Rajasthan.
Just saying.
Just saying.
Obviously I haven't seen them all.
I just have an instinct.
What I do know, it's got the finest paintings in the whole of India.
Here, free, but a bit secret.
I mean, you can come here.
YOU can come here.
But I am here.
Next time God, how fantastic! Tiger, tiger, burning bright.
Look at that colour! I infiltrate the Delhi fashion scene.
Isn't that beautiful? Oh, I'm going to have to ask for help! And have a private audience with the Dalai Lama.
- Your grandfather's spirit, I think still carry.
- I think he does.