- 4 months ago
Rob and Rylan's Grand Tour S02E03
Category
🏖
TravelTranscript
00:00Some say the best way to understand life is to take it in your hands and live it.
00:14That's exactly what we did on our grand tour of Italy.
00:18And it changed our lives.
00:21I gave Rylan a crash course in art appreciation.
00:25And I showed Rob how to let what's left of his hair down.
00:28Our cultural odyssey taught us new things about ourselves and each other.
00:34I have been looking at a painting for half an hour.
00:37The experiment is working.
00:40Now we want to take it to the next level.
00:43You're stunning.
00:44We're getting out of the galleries and right to the heart of the art.
00:48Sort of surreal, don't you think?
00:49Crazy.
00:50And culture of one of the oldest civilizations on the planet.
00:55Just walk, just walk.
00:56We're in India.
00:57We have no taboo.
00:59You know, our gods make love.
01:01You know, you can't get to me.
01:02Oh, that's a big one, isn't it?
01:04No, don't go for me.
01:06We're following in the footsteps of E.M. Forster,
01:08who a century ago changed the way the world saw this country in his dazzling novel,
01:14A Passage to India.
01:16That's here.
01:16That's exactly it.
01:17That's literally here.
01:18You have a slightly psychiatric problem.
01:25Psychiatric problem?
01:26Yeah.
01:28Yep.
01:28We're on our own passage to India.
01:30Oh, no, Rob.
01:31Come on.
01:31Come on.
01:32Through India.
01:33You know, I think I've got diarrhea.
01:36And out the other side to see if the art and culture of this amazing country can show us
01:44how to live our best lives.
01:46This is incredible.
01:48Why am I doing it?
01:48Do you know what?
01:48I do anything stupid that...
01:50What?
01:53That is the most beautiful art that I've ever seen.
01:57What a huge clock.
01:58I feel like as the trip's going on, it's getting better and better.
02:02I don't know what's coming next.
02:06Don't read it.
02:07Do it.
02:15Be quiet, babe, all you want.
02:19We're on the final leg of our Indian adventure.
02:23Oh, tuk-tuk reversing.
02:25Oh, okay, what is this driver doing?
02:28We've left the land of the kings, and we're on our way to Varanasi,
02:34where Hindus head to cleanse their souls before they die.
02:39We've just reached the village of Kajuraho.
02:47We're trying to see what the art and culture of this amazing land can teach us
02:51about life, love, and death.
02:53Excuse me, madam.
02:56Namaskar.
02:56And I don't just mean on the roads.
02:59Roundabout ahead.
03:01Roundabout ahead.
03:01Where are you going?
03:02To the left.
03:02Stay here with me a minute.
03:04And then we're actually going to cross, but we're just going to have to wait a minute,
03:07Rob.
03:07Yeah, okay.
03:07We've got round the roundabout.
03:08Being in India has gifted me the sense of being alive more, and that's been beautiful.
03:15Let's go.
03:16Let's take your arm out.
03:17I can't imagine anything I wouldn't do if I felt that it would help me find what life's
03:23purpose is.
03:23Coming around.
03:24Being in India, I'm starting to realise that all the Western technology I own, maybe I
03:31could live without it.
03:32I'd hope to think in a place like this where everything's so spiritual, maybe it is the
03:37start of a different way of thinking.
03:39We've been following in the footsteps, stroke bike tracks, of the author of A Passage to
03:45India, my literary hero, E.M. Forster.
03:49So we had to stop in Kajiraho, because something here blew his mind.
03:54I'm taking you to a sex temple.
03:56Oh, really?
03:57Yeah.
03:58A sex temple?
03:59There's a camel.
04:00Rylan still hasn't read A Passage to India, so to explain why we're visiting a sex temple,
04:05I've got a clip from David Lean's epic film adaptation.
04:09This is where I haven't decided to take a bike ride.
04:12Oh, it's like us.
04:13Yeah, it's Robin Rylan, only in more petticoats.
04:17She's having a lovely old day, but then...
04:19Don't tell me she gets hit by a bus.
04:21No.
04:22She just decides to go off the main road that the British have built, and then look what
04:27happens.
04:28Lean perfectly captures a British woman's sexual awakening when she encounters India's
04:33very different representation of sex.
04:37There's sculptures of people having sex.
04:40Yeah, look.
04:41Probably having sex, and she's never had sex before.
04:44She's a virgin.
04:45That's why she's wearing the white, exactly.
04:46What's she feeling?
04:47Well, she's terrified.
04:49All of this buttoned-up English nonsense.
04:51She finally finds India, and she finds his gods.
04:53She finds the real India.
04:54Precisely.
04:57Oh, look, there are now the monkeys.
04:59Oh, the monkeys.
05:01Oh, the monkeys are terrifying.
05:03They are.
05:04There are monkeys in there, are there?
05:06No, no.
05:10Forster took his inspiration from the sculptures that cover the magnificent temples of Kajuraho.
05:16There's loads.
05:17I know.
05:17It's not just one.
05:18There's a whole complex.
05:19These temples date back to 950 AD, when the area was ruled by the Chandela kings, a Hindu clan
05:27known for their love of art, architecture, and sex.
05:34Today, they may sit in manicured gardens.
05:36But after the fall of the Chandela dynasty, these temples were abandoned and lay hidden in the overgrown jungle, only to be discovered by someone uptight in English.
05:46In this case, a Victorian explorer, who called them indecent and offensive, but this didn't stop the whole area being cleaned up and becoming a major tourist attraction.
05:57In Hinduism, there are four goals that teach you the right way to live.
06:12Before you reach the final step of liberation from an endless cycle of birth and death, you have to master the other stages.
06:19Righteousness, prosperity, and stage three, karma, the pursuit of pleasure.
06:26You know you've got very big legs.
06:28Yeah.
06:29Well, I feel like you could at least be gentlemanly and help me out.
06:32Come on.
06:35We've called in an art historian as an expert to help us get to grips with it all.
06:43My name is Alka Pandey.
06:44Alka Pandey.
06:45Yes.
06:46What a beautiful name.
06:46For a beautiful woman.
06:48Really beautiful.
06:49As you grow older, you love compliments.
06:52And getting it from a handsome young man and a mature man, what would be better?
06:58I love you already.
07:00I love you.
07:01This is beautiful.
07:03Yes.
07:04So I call them the first art installation.
07:07How wonderful.
07:08So this is all dedicated to the God of love, Kamadeva.
07:12Karma would mean love itself, which includes lust.
07:17He looks the image of Kamadeva himself.
07:20He looks the image of lust.
07:21Yes.
07:22I've been talking to you.
07:22Of love and lust.
07:23Love and love.
07:24Love, lust, longing, desire.
07:26That's me.
07:27Yeah.
07:27There I am.
07:28With that lovely transparency.
07:30Yeah.
07:30Yeah.
07:30Yeah.
07:30Yeah.
07:31Yeah.
07:31Yeah.
07:31Yeah.
07:32Yeah.
07:32These are people indulging in the joy of sexual activity.
07:39And without any sense of shame.
07:41I love that.
07:41No, we have no shame.
07:43Isn't that wonderful?
07:43Good.
07:44We have no taboo.
07:46You know, our gods make love.
07:48Mm.
07:48We enjoy that.
07:50Forrest came here in 1912.
07:52I mean, look, he's that kid saying, have a look at this.
07:54He said it was wonderful, but nightmarish.
07:56It was just so prude back then.
07:58Between beginning and finishing and past Jundia, he wrote a book, Morris, which was never published
08:03in his lifetime about a gay relationship.
08:06And so he was so full of shame.
08:09It's the stuff, right?
08:09That's informed my life to an extent yours as well.
08:12Yeah.
08:14And for him to come here and see all of this sex just out there must have been nightmarish.
08:19Well, it's a culture shock, isn't it?
08:20Definitely.
08:21Precisely.
08:22That's time of Edwardian England when Ian Forster came here.
08:25When they looked at this with all of their buttoned up shame around sex.
08:28He must have been shocked out of his trousers, if you please.
08:33Imagine seeing naked bodies.
08:36Right.
08:36Where they were clothed in layers of petticoat and buttoned up in India, sweating away.
08:42And here you see women standing, showing their bodies, showing their breasts.
08:47I mean, I can see her vagina.
08:49Do you notice you're whispering?
08:50For us, whether it's the vagina, whether it's the breast, whether it's the phallus,
08:55we talk about it quite openly.
08:58But we're not very demonstrative in public.
09:02Unlike the West where people are touching each other, kissing each other.
09:05You won't see that.
09:06We call it the Western way.
09:09But don't forget, the erotic and the spiritual go hand in hand.
09:14Well, a lot of people say sex can be very spiritual.
09:18When you are climaxing, that, it says, is unity with Godhead.
09:22You have to go through these processes to reach the ultimate liberation.
09:26So, basically, I have to have sex.
09:28Every day.
09:28Oh, you ain't got to tell me twice.
09:29Come on, let's go.
09:31Every day?
09:32Twice a day, maybe, if you're lucky.
09:34What about once a year?
09:35Oh, my God, you'll turn into an ascetic.
09:37The fact that these depictions are thousands of years old and they're showing people getting
09:49nushed off, it's like, oh, well, then I'm doing the right thing, clearly.
09:53And actually, as I've gotten older, I've got less worried about feeling the need to hide
09:57talking about sex.
09:59I think sex can be casual.
10:01I think sex can be loving.
10:03I think sex can be an activity to do on a Friday night, if you would.
10:08Here, sex and the body are celebrated on the walls, and not just for reproduction, either.
10:16For pleasure.
10:17And the idea that sex can also elevate you to the divine.
10:22And it's so beautiful to know that that existed a thousand years ago, way before we were taught
10:29that sexual pleasure was something we should be frightened of.
10:33Think about being gay.
10:34It was something we were taught to be dangerous, dirty, furtive and wrong.
10:39Wrong.
10:41What a load of bollocks.
10:43I guess it teaches me that I can have more fun.
10:45I can be more open.
10:46That I can delight in sex.
10:48And most importantly, it validates that sense that all shame is bullshit.
10:53The importance of all this karma business in the Hindu philosophy of life led to one of
11:03the most significant books in Indian literature, and it's one even I've heard of.
11:09Since when of you have been interested in telling me to read books?
11:12Well, I haven't actually read it, but I've seen some of the pictures.
11:15Can I have a look at the Kama Sutra?
11:16Yeah, sure, sir.
11:17Thank you so much.
11:19It's on the top shelf.
11:20Thank you, of course it is.
11:22The original Kama Sutra is an ancient Sanskrit text believed to have been written almost
11:272,000 years ago.
11:28It made its way to Britain in 1883, after it had been discovered and translated by Richard
11:34Burton.
11:35No, not that one.
11:37This one was an explorer.
11:40Burton distributed it secretly because of prudish Victorian attitudes and strict obscenity laws,
11:46and it became the sex bible for the educated elite, particularly when later editions were
11:51graphically illustrated.
11:53Oh, perfect, 69.
11:55No, last time somebody enjoyed 69 was in 1969.
11:59Oh, no, it weren't.
12:01It's about two days before I come here.
12:03But in fact, the British did the book a disservice, because everyone concentrated on the sex and
12:08ignored the other 90%, which was actually a guide to living well.
12:13I'm not sure Ryland's found those chapters.
12:16If she stands four-footed with both palms laid flat on the carpet and you mount her like a
12:20ball, it's known as the milch cow.
12:22It's also fun to mimic animals like dogs, deer, and goats, copying their movements and
12:27their cries.
12:28Arch your backs like two voluptuous cats.
12:31Yes, I could imagine that.
12:33Grind like a wild boar.
12:35Mount her proudly like a stallion.
12:38These games teach new tricks, even to experts.
12:41Would you consider yourself to be an expert?
12:43I wouldn't say I'm an expert, but I'd say I'm good at it.
12:47That is sexist poetry.
12:49It's very arty.
12:50Exactly, beautiful drawing.
12:51They've literally wrote the book, worn the T-shirt, and carved it in a temple.
12:56There's nothing to feel shame about here.
12:58Yes, we might not see people being touchy-feely on the streets, but behind closed doors, they're
13:02freaky in the sheets.
13:03I guess me and Rob can be trusted to master the love part of our life goals in our own
13:10time.
13:11We're heading to the final destination of our cultural odyssey.
13:16And appropriately, it's also the final destination for millions of Hindus seeking the perfect end
13:22to their life.
13:23Here on the banks of the Holy Ganges is a sacred city of Varanasi.
13:32Millions of people come here to wash away their sins.
13:36For Hindus, it can help them achieve their ultimate goal of life, moksha, the liberation
13:41from reincarnation.
13:43After a life lived so well, you don't have to start again.
13:46Namaste.
13:49Namaste.
13:49People come here to purify their sins, and also they believe that if you're cremated here
13:57and your ashes are spread into the water, you'll achieve enlightenment, the end of the
14:01cycle of reincarnation.
14:04So everyone can see that?
14:05Oh, yeah, they burn them in the open.
14:07That's a lot.
14:09You're not worried to see that, are you?
14:11I don't know if I'm worried until I see it.
14:13Do you know what I mean?
14:14Yeah.
14:15I'm more worried about, like, if we're near it, like, bits.
14:21What do you mean bits?
14:22Well, I don't want to inhale Sandra.
14:25Yeah, I suppose not.
14:26She wants to go in the Ganges, not down my throat.
14:28Yeah, I suppose so.
14:34Ian Forster came here, you know, now.
14:36Can you see?
14:39Look.
14:40That's that, Rob.
14:41It's exactly the same.
14:43Forster was really confused by it.
14:45It was such a kind of cacophony of stuff.
14:47He was like, I genuinely sort of arrived, and he couldn't quite believe it.
14:50I was like, what's going on?
14:52I mean, he obviously wrote it much more poetically than that.
14:55What?
14:57Oh, yeah.
14:59That's somebody's end, my love.
15:00One of the things that I often read is they say, ah, so-and-so died magnificently.
15:11I'd love to be the type of person who could confront death with that same cigarette flourish.
15:19You know, fuck it.
15:20I hope I learn something here in the heart of so much confidence in reincarnation that helps me deal with my fear of death.
15:32I think in the West, you start talking about death, people get uncomfortable.
15:36I'm like that.
15:40You ask me, when do you think you're going to die?
15:42I'm not going to say 90, in case someone's listening, and they go, right, 40, bang.
15:47But I think it's going to be really eye-opening, actually.
15:52Maybe there is beauty in death.
15:58When Ian Forster was here, he said the only way Varanasi could ever be understood was to go among it.
16:05It's just so surreal seeing these people pray, bathe, offer offerings to the Ganges, and then there's just tourist boats just going by.
16:21Literally meters away from them while they're praying.
16:24There is a spiritual energy here.
16:25Oh, you can feel it.
16:26Right.
16:27It's pretty special, isn't it?
16:28While bathing in the Ganges is more a spiritual cleansing than a physical one, physical purity is not overlooked.
16:37Hi.
16:37How are you?
16:38You got treated.
16:40Ian, please.
16:40You clean ears?
16:41Oh.
16:42Rob, I think you should do it.
16:44Why am I doing it?
16:44Do you not do anything stupid that...
16:46What?
16:47Do you think Ian Forster did this?
16:49I reckon.
16:51I bet, yeah, ears clean as a whistle.
16:53This is a traditional way of cleaning the ears.
16:55You will feel the vibration of the ear also.
16:59Oh, yeah, you've got a nice bit of wax there.
17:00Oh, yeah.
17:01This is lovely.
17:02Why are you so into this?
17:04I'll get off on it.
17:04I'll watch ear cleaning videos online.
17:07It won.
17:07Oh, whoa.
17:10Look at that.
17:11What will you do with this now?
17:14Oh, just on the floor.
17:16Oh, that was fun.
17:17Come on, Rob.
17:18You seem to be terribly loud all of a sudden.
17:19There you go.
17:25Varanasi might be a city that's focused on the art of death, but here, in order to die
17:31well, you have to learn to live well.
17:34Oh, I might do it.
17:36All good things come to those who wait.
17:39Now, I will admit, neither of us is particularly sporty, but this isn't sport.
17:45It's culture.
17:46Oh, my God.
17:47I found a group of semi-naked men who come together every morning to train their bodies
17:54and their souls.
17:57Oh, that was a slap.
17:58Oh, I love it.
18:00Oh, my God, he broke his neck.
18:02Come on!
18:03Varanasi's original mud wrestling fight club is thought to have been founded by a famous
18:0816th-century poet, Goswami Tulsidas.
18:11There are thousands of gods in Hinduism, but Tulsidas was a big fan of Hanuman, the monkey-like
18:18god of strength.
18:20Tulsidas believe wrestling developed physical strength, mental discipline, and spiritual
18:25growth, necessary for a fulfilling life.
18:28Come on.
18:29Oh!
18:31Oh, Corey.
18:32This gym, or akara, has been run by members of Pushka's family since it began, over 500
18:40years ago.
18:41For me, in the morning, I like to go and do some exercise for my mind and for my body.
18:47Is it a similar thing, the wrestling?
18:50Yeah.
18:50We have Lord Hanuman's statue there, which we worship before starting wrestling.
18:55In one of his texts, he says, give me strength, power, wisdom, so that I can overcome all my
19:02sorrows, all my problems that are happening.
19:05Through physicality.
19:06Through physicality.
19:07Through workouts.
19:08Yeah.
19:09You should join akara, though.
19:10You mean have a go?
19:11Yeah.
19:12I mean, I've never wrestled a man in a proper setting.
19:15Yeah, in a proper setting.
19:17You should try, because if you don't try, you'll never know.
19:19Exactly.
19:20Like, how it feels to wrestle in front of the god of Balbuddi and Vidya.
19:25You've got shorts, Rob?
19:30I've only got my lucky pants.
19:32I always wear red pants.
19:34I don't think you can wrestle in that.
19:36That's a little bit like...
19:37Why don't you see why not?
19:38I'm a bit worried about them being ripped.
19:39I think it might be...
19:40I think we should get you some shorts, because I don't need to see that.
19:43Can you put your willy away?
19:53Let's go.
19:54Our wrestlers are ready.
19:55Okay.
19:56Yeah.
19:56We're ready.
19:57That's good for the skin, also for the grip.
20:01Oh, yeah.
20:01Great.
20:02Oh, good lord.
20:03Oh, wow.
20:03One.
20:04Two.
20:05One.
20:06Two.
20:07Continue.
20:08Yeah.
20:08Wow.
20:09This is what we're waiting for.
20:10Try pinning him.
20:12Good.
20:13Very good.
20:14Hello.
20:14Fine, fine.
20:16So, I think, Brandon, I think you ought to go.
20:18Go on.
20:19No, no, no.
20:19It's wonderful.
20:20Yeah.
20:21Yeah.
20:22Very nice.
20:23Yeah.
20:24This is so fun.
20:28Listen, I'm not going to lie.
20:30There is not a lot of places you can get me rolling around in mud.
20:33But you've played a blinder by having that bloke.
20:37He's taught us from a lot of speed.
20:38He's taught us from a lot of speed.
20:39Hmm.
20:40He's taught us from a lot of speed.
20:41Hmm.
20:42He's taught us from a lot of speed.
20:42Continue.
20:43He's saying you have a better speed.
20:45Oh.
20:46Yeah.
20:46Power.
20:47I'm not always quick.
20:47Power.
20:48Yeah.
20:48I'm not always quick.
20:48Yeah.
20:49I'm not always quick.
20:50I can take it slow as you want.
20:51Great.
20:51I understand what the wrestling is, and how it's an art, and how it's a form of worship.
20:56But on a personal level, if I get to wrestle with that man every Sunday morning, I'm coming
21:01back.
21:02Thank you so much.
21:10I think we should try one move, though.
21:12No.
21:12We'll kill each other.
21:13Let's just enjoy it.
21:14You know what?
21:14Let's wrestle.
21:15You.
21:15Go and do it.
21:17How are you kidding?
21:18That was a bit like a great match between you two.
21:20Finally, you get your grips on each other.
21:22Yeah.
21:22You can't even get to me.
21:24Look.
21:24You can't even get to me.
21:25You can't even get to me.
21:26Okay.
21:26Power.
21:27Push.
21:28Yeah.
21:29Yeah.
21:32Yeah.
21:33Push.
21:33Push.
21:34Push.
21:35Push.
21:35Power.
21:36Oh, no.
21:38Oh, no.
21:38Oh.
21:39Oh.
21:39There was definitely...
21:40a little bit of underlying sexual tension, I would say, between us.
21:44Maybe one side is.
21:49Wrestling has convinced me of one thing.
21:51If I was going to settle on a god, Lord Hanuman might be my guy.
21:56As well as running a gym, Pushka is the spiritual head of a temple dedicated to Lord Hanuman.
22:04Inside, Pushka says there's an insight into how Hindu culture considers life and death.
22:09This is our temple, Sankat Mochan temple.
22:12Amazing.
22:13With my socks on, actually.
22:15Yeah.
22:15I love the fact that there's a tree inside.
22:18Yeah.
22:18Lord Hanumanji was said to be the bhakt of Lord Ram.
22:21Oh, Lord Hanumanji!
22:25Yeah.
22:25What is he doing?
22:30Yeah.
22:31So he's just worshipping his god.
22:34Wow.
22:34Different people have different ways of calling their gods.
22:37Mm.
22:38And then...
22:39The paintings in the temple depict the various incarnations and adventures of the gods.
22:47So these paintings are all painted somewhere around 1850s.
22:52And it has never been repainted.
22:59This little church in Europe, somebody might have restored it.
23:02We have a very different idea about restoring old things.
23:06Okay.
23:06It's like you disturb the originality of it.
23:09Mm.
23:09And I feel that we are very small people who have a lifetime of 100 years.
23:15And we don't want to spoil something that has been going on from 14 generations.
23:20To clean it or to paint over it would somehow be rude in some way.
23:25It's a way of showing respect to the artist.
23:28That he has done a great job.
23:30Mm.
23:30And we should never edit it or do any modifications.
23:33It's quite something, isn't it?
23:34There's something about it being very dark.
23:36Almost feels a little bit more holy.
23:38Do you think?
23:39Yeah.
23:40Those paintings are just fading away.
23:43They're dying in a city that's devoted to death.
23:47And I think that's rather wonderful.
23:48People come and they say, actually, the initial hand of this artist might have been here.
23:53But he's not going to be here forever and neither will you be.
23:57What this invites us to do is to remember, actually, we're all going to fade.
24:01We're all going to disappear.
24:02We're all going to die.
24:03I'm so delighted in the present.
24:05And there's something poetic about that.
24:16Hanuman's a god of strength.
24:18Yeah.
24:19Do you come here and get strength as well?
24:21It's more about having that motivation to understand that everything in your life should work in a balance.
24:30And in the Western world, a lot of people are not really doing that.
24:35They are just lost in that hustle of making money.
24:38Everyone is just doing that.
24:39So balance.
24:40For many Hindus, the way to achieve balance is through music, as it's both an entertainment and a spiritual pursuit.
24:59Forster called it complicated yet passionate, like Western music reflected in trembling water.
25:06And it's this music that brought the Beatles to India, inspired George Harrison to study with Varanasi local Ravi Shankar, and turned him Hindu, which led to his ashes being scattered into the Ganges.
25:20Rob's obsessed with classical music, and that's why we're heading to a music school where one of Varanasi's traditional quartets is rehearsing.
25:30I'm really excited about this.
25:33My great passion, although I'm rubbish at it, is running an orchestra and classical music and conducting.
25:38So to learn about a totally different tradition of classical music and where it comes from and how it's based and how it's structured is like everything.
25:46And Ryan, if you were at home and you waxed on something in June, what would you put on?
25:50Probably Pussycat Dolls, Dry Home.
25:52Or Chaka Laka Baby, Punjabi MC.
25:58Who's Punjabi MC?
26:02Hi.
26:12Hey.
26:13Hello.
26:14This is amazing.
26:15Can we sit down?
26:16Please sit there.
26:19Is this okay for you?
26:20Yes, this is lovely.
26:21I'd love to hear something, if possible.
26:24Please.
26:25Let's start.
26:25Indian classical music is arranged around an ancient system of rags, melodic frameworks of notes with unique moods and energies.
26:55This is unlike Western music, with a beginning, middle and an end.
27:00A bit like how Indians think about life and death, rags are played in cycles and are constantly reborn.
27:09I know that was like one song, but it felt like a story.
27:18It felt like the story began and it was all like this and then all of a sudden there was a bit of chaos and then it came back again and then you started getting higher and higher and higher and higher and higher.
27:26Performances are improvised and can go on for hours.
27:47Can I ask you about the spiritual connection?
27:50There's a component that's not just about the music.
27:53There's some other dynamic that comes from here, right?
27:56Every composition dedicated to God and Goddess.
28:00So it's a prayer.
28:01Whenever I practice, first I have to connect with my God like we call our musical God Saraswati.
28:08First we feel like, we have to eliminate every outside thing, all the thinking.
28:23So it's not just singing, you're communing with the divine.
28:25Yeah, divine.
28:25I know that there are sounds and different influences to be sure I've heard in Western classical music,
28:47but there's a whole universe of sound here, of ideas, of shapes, of colours, of textures, of music that I've just never heard before.
28:58And you totally get why people like the Beatles come to this part of the world, sit down and go,
29:05fucking hell, like let's take it and learn.
29:10And something that he explained was that for him, music is divine.
29:15So this is not inspired by God, it comes from God.
29:24Just like no other musical encounter I've ever had.
29:27You come away feeling energised in ways that you can't possibly express.
29:34Oh, it's so good!
29:37That's...
29:38Oh my goodness, that is so good!
29:41It's beautiful.
29:42Your vocals, your vocals are incredible.
29:44The music is just so incredible.
29:46And just to sit in that room as well, you sort of feel the love of it.
29:50And it's storytelling via music as well.
29:53It's not just a three-minute track.
29:55And it seems like there's like four or five different songs in one.
29:59It's a mash-up.
30:00It's like Girls Without Biology.
30:01Shouldn't work, but it does.
30:03The whole of India is actually a bit of a mash-up.
30:12Take religion.
30:13Even in Varanasi, you'll find a mix of Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists, Sikhs, Jains, Christians and loads more.
30:21E.M. Forster actually found it a bit overwhelming.
30:27In search for tranquillity, he escaped five miles up the road to the village of Sanath, where a simple life had taken hold.
30:35Because this is the birthplace of Buddhism.
30:39There's some lovely bits here.
30:40Oddly, for a philosophy where giving things up is essential, it has an awful lot of gift shops.
30:47Oh, I love all this, Rob.
30:48Jones, what are the sort of images of the Buddha?
30:51Do you think it's a bit tacky?
30:52No, I quite like it.
30:54What's your dad?
30:54Yeah.
30:55I've got one of these in my garden.
30:56What have you got in your garden?
30:57I've got that, but it's about that big.
30:59You've got the head of the Buddha in your garden.
31:01Yeah, I built a meditation garden.
31:05Do you meditate?
31:06No, I've not used it.
31:08It's all you got it for.
31:09I'm just like the fountain.
31:11Two and a half thousand years ago, a young prince called Siddhartha Gautama turned away from a life pursuing pleasure and invented a brand new way of living.
31:22Later known as the Buddha, he would become one of the most recognisable icons of devotional art.
31:31His first sermon was actually only to five disciples.
31:35Hello.
31:37Hey, Zappé.
31:39But it happened right here.
31:40Oh, gosh, it's beautiful.
31:42This is nice, isn't it?
31:44To mark that momentous event, in the fifth century, they built this.
31:48The Dharmak Stupa.
31:50Stupa is Sanskrit for a heap.
31:53I don't think you'd be that big.
31:54That's really quite impressive.
31:55That's really big.
31:56The stupa is a 43-metre tall, solid brick and sandstone structure, believed to represent Buddha or his upturned begging bowl.
32:04As one of the sites where it's believed his ashes may be buried, it's now a place of pilgrimage.
32:12They're doing a foster game here.
32:17These are his photos.
32:20Oh, wow, look.
32:21Yeah, yeah, yeah.
32:22Exactly the same.
32:23It's like there.
32:24Right there, look.
32:25There's the indentation.
32:26Yeah.
32:26Look at the quality of the carving.
32:29It's just so intricate.
32:30The flowers and everything.
32:33It's just so pretty.
32:34So the other thing is we're supposed to walk around it clockwise.
32:47That's a tradition.
32:49It's about thinking and reflecting on living a righteous life.
32:53Well, let's go reflect.
32:56Not everyone can find enlightenment in a 90-odd-metre stroll.
32:59But if you're devoted enough and take Buddhism seriously, there's a different, more extreme option.
33:06It just takes longer.
33:09Nyingmappa is a monastery where families send their sons to train as Buddhist monks.
33:15For the first step, they're removed from the world for eight years.
33:19And they start as young as eight.
33:22Look at this.
33:25Hi.
33:27Nice to see you.
33:28Nice to see you.
33:29Where are we going?
33:32Now we do prayer and meditation.
33:35It's for actually cleaning.
33:37It's bad energies.
33:38It's bad energy.
33:39Yes.
33:40How long do we have?
33:42It may take 20 to 25 minutes.
33:44I might need a couple of hours.
33:45Yeah.
33:47That idea that you're so passionate about the idea of enlightenment,
33:52that you'd sacrifice the connection with your own child for eight years,
33:56that's such devotion.
33:59There's an art in this, from the music, to the instruments that are being played, to the sound and the vibration of the chanting, to the colors that people are wearing in the room.
34:23It's an entire cacophony of art.
34:27It's spiritual dance.
34:29That's why whoever you are, you're immediately trying to find some semblance of dinner peace.
34:37And then I fell asleep.
34:39What would a normal day be for these children?
35:00At the morning, they do prayer, meditation.
35:02Daytime, they have a class.
35:04So, like school?
35:04Yeah.
35:05As I understand it, Buddhism is not a religion.
35:07It's a philosophy, maybe.
35:09Yeah.
35:09It is like science, because if you know everything, then you don't do the wrong thing, because you understand everything, right?
35:17To help them reach enlightenment, the monks chant mantras that contain the teachings of Buddha.
35:23Do you have a mantra?
35:25Live, love, love.
35:26Okay.
35:27Prosecco made me do it.
35:31Even he got it.
35:32So, if I was to want to become a Buddhist monk, what would I need to do?
35:40An exorcism?
35:42Maybe you need to leave what you are doing now.
35:45What would I need to give up?
35:46Are you allowed to have a partner?
35:49Actually...
35:50Like a wife, a husband?
35:52Not in the monks.
35:54They can't do that.
35:55So is it celibacy?
35:56Celibacy, yeah.
35:57Yeah.
35:58I'd probably be prepared to sacrifice a few things to find enlightenment.
36:03But I'm worried the main one...
36:09Do you know what I mean?
36:11I don't think I can give that up.
36:14Mind you, the time we've been out here, I'm basically a Buddhist.
36:21Of course, the other thing that Buddhists would make Rylan give up is his ego.
36:25What a vast ego.
36:28You want an ego...
36:29Do you want a mirror?
36:30But why do you have makeup and stuff?
36:31That's ego.
36:32That's not ego.
36:33That's essential.
36:34That's egomania.
36:35It's about wanting to be loved and demanding and expecting certain things to be done at
36:40a certain time.
36:41And if it's not done, that interfering with your emotional chemistry...
36:44Is that me?
36:44Do you think?
36:45I think you're a very exquisitely funny, benign diva, which is ego with jazz hands.
36:52I think you're talking about yourself.
36:53I don't deny it.
36:54I definitely have a huge ego.
36:58Yeah.
37:00The whole point is if they took all that away tomorrow, or your makeup and hair and, God
37:07forbid, the tan, you'd...
37:10Perish?
37:11No, but it'd interfere with your sense of happiness.
37:14You would be really troubled.
37:16And that's all about ego.
37:18How you're perceived in the world matters to you in a very deep way.
37:21I mean, I feel the same.
37:23Yours is bigger than mine, though.
37:25What are we talking about?
37:27Ego.
37:30Clearly, Rob and I can't be trusted to find the answers on our own without him annoying
37:35me.
37:35We need help.
37:37And Varanasi is full of people offering it.
37:42Even Forster met a fakir here, a holy man who tried to sort him out with a bed of nails.
37:49Forster refused.
37:50Luckily, I'm not travelling with Forster.
37:53I've got Rob, who found us a Hindu guru called Shailesh.
37:58Hi.
37:58Hello.
37:59Namaste.
37:59First, you have to make a spiritual teacher, what we call guru.
38:05You.
38:06I can be your spiritual teacher.
38:08Tick.
38:09So, it is done.
38:10And then, in our tradition, we say we have to develop 10 qualities in ourself.
38:15What are those 10 qualities?
38:18Patience.
38:20Patience.
38:21Forgiveness.
38:22Yeah.
38:23Humbleness.
38:24Yeah.
38:26Honesty.
38:27Honesty.
38:28Purity of thought, control over your senses, courage, knowledge, truthfulness.
38:36Defo.
38:37And last but not least, is control over your anger.
38:43Oh, no, look.
38:44I'm out.
38:46Deborah Meaden, I'm out.
38:46If anyone has all these 10 qualities, they can attain the salvation.
38:51But if any of them is missing, then the substitute is Varanasi.
38:55The beauty of Varanasi is that for those who haven't successfully managed to achieve the
39:0110 goals of life, the holy city is a bit of a shortcut to a successful death.
39:06Because bathing in the Ganges helps remove your sins, and dying here guarantees you salvation.
39:13It's very peaceful here.
39:18Yeah.
39:19It is.
39:21Every Hindu have the wish, if they cannot die here, at least they get cremated on this spot.
39:28Can anybody come?
39:30Anyone can go to the cremation place any time of the day.
39:35Wow.
39:35We don't have the concept of funeral directors.
39:37Yeah, yeah, yeah.
39:39Everything is done by the family members.
39:42Oh, wow.
39:42I didn't know that.
39:43It takes about two to three hours to complete cremation.
39:47Nothing remains except very, very tiny bones and ashes.
39:52Where do the ashes go?
39:54All the ashes go to the river.
39:56So within five minutes, it will be out of the city.
40:00Look at him.
40:01Who is he?
40:01He's a kind of monk who is on the way to become a big monk.
40:07And what is his body covered in this?
40:09It's all ashes of the dead bodies, you know.
40:11They take the ashes from there, put it on their body, to show the world that one day we are
40:18all going to be the ashes.
40:20Death is like a celebration in Varanasi.
40:23It's like a party.
40:25Definitely it's like a party.
40:26Sometimes when people carry their dead body, you have music, they're dancing.
40:32My cousin Karen at my uncle Bob's funeral put on a black bag and did Tina Turner.
40:37Yeah, exactly.
40:38Ultimate aim everywhere if you will go to the person who is talking about Hinduism, the
40:43one thing he will tell you, no fear of death.
40:46I don't like the thought of my mum not being around.
40:54Like it's something I don't like talking about.
40:57I'd rather block it out.
40:58I've nearly lost my mum a few times before.
41:01And yeah, I can't.
41:08I'm fearful of my mother's death to the point that I can't even imagine the magnitude of that
41:14and how it will affect me.
41:16It's something I really struggle with.
41:22You know, as a person of Jewish faith, there's no concluded view about that.
41:29But I've also been present around dead bodies and you feel a sense of lifelessness which helps
41:37you come to this really solidly concluded view that there was something inside it in
41:43the first place, a soul.
41:44It's the ultimate unanswered question when life is so full of stuff.
41:50Stuff, negative suffering, all, all of it.
41:55It's the absolute crushing terror of finality, of oblivion.
42:00That's the stuff that our human minds can't possibly grapple with.
42:04How could we achieve that spiritual enlightenment?
42:10The first thing what you have to do, you have to make a harmony between the mind, heart and soul.
42:15And for that we have an ancient tradition that is called yoga.
42:19Yoga?
42:20Yoga.
42:21I've never been yoga.
42:22You have never been yoga?
42:23No.
42:24I'm going to go yoga.
42:25True.
42:26Please.
42:27What about him?
42:28Yoga.
42:29And for you, to achieve a spiritual enlightenment, walk barefoot without shoes.
42:35You will find millions of people are walking in the streets barefoot because the natural vibration
42:41of the city will penetrate inside yourself and your balance between the heart and mind
42:47and the soul will come automatically.
42:50Well, what about if I did the yoga and...
42:52No, no, no.
42:53I'm going yoga, babe.
42:54Walk somewhere barefoot.
42:56That can just but remove your negativity and give the positive energy more.
43:04Get rid of your neck.
43:06Shaelish is so celebratory of death.
43:10It's almost a release from this bad world to go to a better place.
43:15So, yeah, I mean, it's one way of looking at death, to not fear it, to actually embrace
43:20it.
43:21I'm not ready yet.
43:22I want to see what people saw.
43:29I want to feel like I might fall before.
43:40I'd like to see what people saw.
43:43All of the religious figures in Christianity and Judaism are depicted either in sandals
43:50or in bare feet.
43:52So, there's got to be something in it, right?
43:55To see myself.
43:58There's a pile of rubbish there.
43:59There's a cow dung there.
44:01I mean, there's human feces more or less everywhere.
44:03I mean, Rhino's basically spending an afternoon doing fucking yoga.
44:07And meanwhile, I have to sort of avoid getting cholera or necrotizing fasciitis in order to find
44:12some vibration or humility.
44:14It's absolutely typical.
44:16My name is Ashwani.
44:17Nice to meet you.
44:18Nice to meet you.
44:19Where are we going?
44:20We are going inside.
44:21Let's do it.
44:22Let's do it.
44:23Rob might think he's got it hard, but I've got to lose my yoga virginity.
44:27And this is Hatha yoga.
44:30So old, it was practiced by the Hindu gods.
44:34This is the yoga that apparently gets the yogis levitating.
44:38The art is learning to master the slow movements that will transform not just your body, but
44:43your mind.
44:44You can take your left heel.
44:46My left foot?
44:47Heel.
44:48The left heel.
44:49And you place it at the perineum.
44:51Oh, the gooch.
44:53Perineum means that spot which is in between the anal outlet and genital organ.
44:57We say gooch.
44:58Put it in the gooch.
45:01Only in Baranasi.
45:02As it is an art form, as any other art forms, you need a keenness of attention to do the
45:16simple, basic movements.
45:17And it has to be done the perfect way.
45:22First, focus on the point directly in front of you.
45:25Bring the palms together.
45:27Sorry, it's my pants.
45:29That's okay.
45:30That's okay.
45:31You take your time.
45:35Slowly, slight tension in the hands.
45:38Exhale.
45:39Take the hands back.
45:40I genuinely feel like sometimes when I'm trying to relax, I actually shake.
45:45Like my hands physically tremble because my brain is still going.
45:52That's what goes into my head.
45:54It's okay.
45:56Part of me would love to switch the noise up.
45:58The toes are back.
45:59But maybe I'm frightened of silence.
46:03Forehead and the hands to the floor.
46:05Obviously, there's more to my task than just breathing and lying on a mat.
46:10I don't see why Rylan's the only one with a mentor.
46:15Hello.
46:16Namaste.
46:17Namaste.
46:18You're Lucy, yes?
46:19Yeah, I am.
46:20Lucy used to be a high-flying city trader in London.
46:23But in 1999, she quit and moved to India.
46:26I've got no shoes on.
46:28I met a guru earlier who said it was a wise idea for Varanasi.
46:32I see you don't as well.
46:33Yeah, it's a great thing to do.
46:35I've done it for maybe like 20 years or so.
46:38I might jump over this wet patch.
46:45You're walking with a stick.
46:46Are you okay?
46:47I had an incident with a motorbike and avoiding a cow as these things happen sometimes in Varanasi.
46:56Cow accidents.
46:57Yeah.
46:58So I crushed my spine.
46:59So you were a trader?
47:02Yeah.
47:03I was 28.
47:04And at that time, it was like 200,000 a year.
47:08And you gave it all up?
47:09Yeah.
47:11In the blink of an eye.
47:13From the outside, life seemed to be what everybody would dream of.
47:18But it was like having everything here in your hands, but feeling empty inside.
47:23None of these things were enough.
47:25You see, help me understand what I should be experiencing wearing no shoes.
47:34In this modern life, we don't take time to experience the here and now.
47:39So when we're walking without our shoes, it enables us to be present in the here and now.
47:45And then we can experience what you are.
47:49What I am?
47:50Yes.
47:51It's not about not having these things, but it's about not being attached to these things.
47:55Through meditation and yoga, everything in every moment seems perfect as it is.
48:00You do this every day?
48:02Yes.
48:03For how long?
48:04Four to five hours.
48:05Every single day?
48:07Yeah.
48:08It's just my life.
48:09It's how I find fulfillment.
48:14To be able to do yoga next to the Ganges is so special.
48:19It's just the noise sometimes I need to learn to ignore.
48:23Whether that's social media, whether it's friends, anything.
48:28I just sometimes need to be alone in my own self and maybe think nothing.
48:33Think absolutely nothing.
48:36One of the things is I'm weak.
48:38I need encounters with music and beautiful things.
48:41Do you think there's a way that I could find connection without any of that stuff?
48:45I have also loved all of these things.
48:48Yeah.
48:49But through this culture, I found the actual art of living because our life is a living art form.
48:56So your happening or being in Varanasi is almost like a work of art?
49:01Yes.
49:02Oh.
49:03That's how I experience it.
49:06If somebody had told me about Lucy in London, I'd have probably dismissed her story and shrugged my shoulders and go,
49:13Oh yeah, another Westerner going to India to find themselves.
49:16But I feel like she's found something here.
49:19I believe her.
49:20And I spent a career weed whacking my way through bullshit.
49:24And what Lucy did was remind me that so much of the stuff that I think is important really isn't.
49:31All of the commercial success, all of your stuff, ultimately, when you end up in the Ganges,
49:37you're not going to be burnt or buried with it.
49:44With fires burning 24-7, roughly 30,000 people are cremated in Varanasi every year.
49:55Every night, there's an arti ceremony.
49:58That's arti, spelt with the double A.
50:01In this ceremony of light, the rhythmical waving of flaming lamps attracts the attention of the gods.
50:08Meaning darkness can be dispelled, ego can be eradicated, and peace can be brought to the souls of your ancestors.
50:17It's very different from a finger buffet at the golf club, listening to a CD of Robbie Williams' Angels,
50:25or if they're a bit older, Frank Sinatra crooning my way.
50:28Oh, my goodness. Look at this, Rob.
50:38No, it's the last moment.
50:42It doesn't feel sad.
50:43No, it feels celebratory.
50:46Joyful.
50:48The end of a life and the beginning of something else.
50:51I don't know what happens when we die, but when I die, I'd like to be able to see my nan again,
51:00or if my mum's not here, see my mum again, and yeah.
51:04I'd like to think that there is some afterlife where you all meet up and go,
51:08oh, weren't it a laugh?
51:10Didn't you say you were going to bring your mum here?
51:13Oh, no, Linda wouldn't like it.
51:15Why?
51:16She's not a fan of the water.
51:17Oh.
51:21This feels like such a beautiful expression of why it's important to give someone you love,
51:26even though they're not aware of it, a happy ending.
51:29I know.
51:33One thing I've always known about my dad, he's always been totally proud of me,
51:36but we had absolutely nothing in common.
51:39And he has dementia, Lewy body's dementia,
51:43and he's reached the stage now where he's in a home.
51:47And he knows me and remembers me and all the family,
51:50but there are days when it's a sort of jumble sale of disappearing into another place,
51:59where he's not necessarily present.
52:02And bearing in mind the gradual descent of the quality of his life,
52:08actually there's a sense in which when you love somebody
52:13and you watch their demise in that way with such cruelty,
52:17yeah, I'm not afraid, quite the opposite.
52:21I think it's time.
52:23It's time.
52:29God, it's so peaceful.
52:31Brilliant.
52:33The final journey of someone is a public spectacle, but in a really respectful way.
52:40You know, some places when they have festivals are quite sombre,
52:44and this is full of life and energy and colour.
52:48That's really strange that you've said a place of death is full of life.
52:53That's something to take away from here.
52:56That the final resting place of so many is full of so much life.
53:01Yeah.
53:02It really is.
53:06Thanks.
53:07E.M. Forster's Indian adventures lasted almost two years.
53:12His novel, A Passage to India, was controversial for its time.
53:23It radically changed the way Westerners saw Indian culture
53:26and presented a new perspective of what really matters in life.
53:31He died in 1970.
53:34In one of his last interviews, he said that it was his heart,
53:37not his head, that had taken him to India.
53:40And that was where his heart remained.
53:46My heart is coming home with me.
53:49But I also want to take something back of India.
53:52Oh, wow.
53:53Welcome, sir.
53:55This is beautiful.
53:56Look at these.
53:57What are these?
53:58This is Murti.
53:59Murti.
54:00Do you carve it yourself?
54:01I do myself.
54:02Come inside.
54:03Can we have a laugh?
54:04Yes, please.
54:05Wow.
54:06Murti are not just souvenirs.
54:07And they're not just sculptures.
54:08They're seen as an embodiment of the divine
54:11and are made in memory of not just gods, but also departed loved ones.
54:16Ganesh is the very special god.
54:19I make big one.
54:20That is very big.
54:21It's the real sandstone.
54:23Varanasi stone.
54:24The Varanasi stone.
54:25Yeah.
54:26Could you make one of me?
54:27I do.
54:28What about that?
54:29You give a good price?
54:31Good price.
54:32Yeah.
54:33I do it.
54:34Where's your workshop?
54:35I have next buildings.
54:36I'll show you.
54:37Can we see?
54:38Yeah.
54:39After you.
54:40Sure.
54:41It's like a legacy thing.
54:42When people die at home, you have like a little photo on your grave or something like that.
54:45Whereas here, they have them.
54:47And I just think it would be like just a nice thing to have.
54:50And I'm going to have it as you go in my entrance hall.
54:52I've got a nice table.
54:53I'm just going to have it there.
54:55And it's like I'm guarding my own house.
54:58Look at this.
54:59You see the moment where the faces are here.
55:02How do I make like the live faces?
55:04Can I touch?
55:05Yes.
55:06You touch it in the sandstone.
55:07This work is about people remembering people who have passed.
55:10Well, why wait till then?
55:11Well, why would you want to worship yourself?
55:13You're telling me, right?
55:14Yeah.
55:15Couple of up lighters.
55:16Little bit of LED backlighting.
55:18Might be lovely with me.
55:19Might be lovely too.
55:20See, he agrees.
55:21Sold.
55:22You actually going to do it?
55:23Why not?
55:24I do it.
55:25How are you doing?
55:26Good one.
55:27I know you will.
55:28And with that, our own passage to India reaches its final chapter.
55:33I really wanted to see if I could experience a culture that I really didn't know that much
55:42about.
55:43And I didn't know if I'd be able to handle it.
55:45Oh, my God.
55:46We are in the middle of the road, Robert.
55:48But, oh, hello.
55:50I think I'm going to miss it.
55:52Don't be a prick.
55:54You're such a dickhead.
55:55I feel you've changed.
55:59Oh, look at that.
56:00You've definitely become more relaxed about the world around you.
56:03I have never, ever been more embarrassed.
56:07It's India.
56:08It's India.
56:09It's a land of excess.
56:10Yeah.
56:11Yes.
56:12There we are.
56:13Just cast off things that maybe would matter a lot more in Essex.
56:18I mean, you can't see my hands, but I've definitely found myself.
56:22What about you?
56:23You know, what I take from the art and the people here and the devotion is that human
56:30life is exactly this.
56:32It's about what you make of it.
56:34And that when you find yourself in too much dark, remember that there's always hope.
56:38There's always a little bit of light.
56:40Precisely.
56:41You know, I think I've got diarrhea.
56:43This isn't the place, Robert.
56:45Everything here is a walking, breathing piece of art.
56:51And I love that.
56:52There's actually something quite, I'm not even going to say this, but gorgeous about the
56:57chaos of it all.
56:58Am I working?
56:59Yes.
57:00I'm working.
57:01Just because like you, despite all of the outward vestiges underneath it all, it's all
57:07real.
57:08I love it so much.
57:10Where we live, there's order.
57:11There's rules.
57:12So much of it is artifice.
57:13Cow!
57:14Here in India, no one bloody pretends.
57:17And there's shit on the street.
57:19They die on the Ganges.
57:21They tell you the truth.
57:22It feels like a place where the chaos represents something true.
57:27And if life is about looking for truth, then you can find it here, you know?
57:34We're about to go home.
57:36But wait there one minute.
57:40I...
57:41Yeah?
57:42I've got these made.
57:44That's you.
57:45And that's me.
57:46I've got my teeth spot on.
57:48I'm going to be sick.
57:50And I thought we could leave these here so we can see them.
57:56This is our offering to the city for everything it's done for us.
58:00I'm lost for work.
58:01We've got a flight to catch.
58:02Come on.
58:07That is our legacy in Baranasi.
58:26May God bless you.
58:28We'll see you soon.
58:29See you soon.
58:30Bye.
58:31Bye.
58:33Bye.
58:34Bye.
58:36Bye.
58:38Bye.
58:41Bye.
58:43Bye.
58:46Bye.
58:47Bye.
Be the first to comment