Friday, January 2, 2009

The Story Of India

Recently, I came across a TV series "The Story of India" introduced to me by my friend. Even though its not a new series, dont know how it dint catch my eye. It was made and telecasted on BBC sometime back.

Written and presented by Michael Wood, it is one of the most remarkable and inedible series which tells you about all the ups and downs India faced from the time of its birth. Its an incredible series which keeps you glued to your seat for the whole time, taking you on a ride through the 10,000 year History of the Indian subcontinent, till present. While watching it, you'll feel you are spell bounded with your mind in a state "nothing-else-matters". It presents you so much about the culture and heritage of India, that i am sure most of us are unaware of.
It gives us an insight of Harappa / Indus Valley civilization, time of Vedas, Mauryas, Guptas, Cholas, then Moghuls and the recent Indian Independence. Though i dint cover even 5% of what it covers, its enough to give an idea of the vastness of the timeline it takes under.

For eg. Most of us know that North Indians are said to be the decendents of a race called ARYANS . What most of us dont know is that they came from Central Asia (Ural Mountains) and are also called as CAUCASIANS. And the meaning of "Aryan" is "Pure Blood". About South Indian, Dravidians as we know, can trace their roots to Africa. And there is a village still in india which has preserved their genes from ancient times (M13) ... and which are said to be the rarest and earliest genes on the earth.The first civilized society flourished in India near Indus Valley called as "Harappan Civilization" in 5000BC and when it was on its peak, about 5 million people lived there in .

Can you believe it...?? Our India, that time also, was the most populated place in the world. ;) ;)... Jokes apart..!! After watching this series, I truely felt proud of being the part of the Greatest and Oldest Civilization and Culture in the World what we know as "India". I came to know more about my birth place in which i am living for almost 24 years. Though I had studied many of the facts shown in this in my school days in History but still, the vastness and depth shown in this is truely remarkable. I have gained more knowledge of my country, my motherland, of its Old but still preserved in its true form, Rich and Diverse culture.

I feel proud to see that Foreigners taking so much interest and pain to show the real true picture of India, what it was and what it is, but at the same time, it hurts to see that despite having so many class film makers here, no one comes forward to take such a topic. People have time to make documentries on film stars, politicians etc. . But on the topic of National pride, they dont. I dont know, when these people would understand, making things which sells is good, but making only those things is not good and it doesnt make you stand out.

I would say that every indian should watch this documentry once to know his /her motherland well and hence can pass on the knowledge to the future generations so that we dont loose what we have preserved for thousands of years.