The Story of India

21 Sept 2010 – Quick update!

I’ve just added a Grooveshark playlist widget to the website and it is currently rocking some classic Bollywood tunes, check it out for a bit of Asian flavour for the audible senses!

I’ve just watched the first three episodes of The Story of India, which is a 6 part BBC documentary written and presented by Michael Wood an English historian broadcast as part of the BBC’s India and Pakistan season.  I’ve always been fascinated by Indian culture, customs, it’s colours and diversity, it’s epic history and mythology and the beauty of the land itself.  It is a melting pot of different faiths, the birth place of many great ideas and concepts.

This series is a lavish and evocative exploration of the first 10,000 years of the life of India.  It’s a beautiful and interesting look at a culture and people on the surface so different from the Western European world I’m used to and yet highlights some of the key things we all have in common.

The flame that has burned within me to visit this great land has been inflamed once again and I find myself thinking more and more that India must be my next great trip.  I want to immerse myself in the colour, sights, sounds, tastes and spirituality.  Once my latest work contract is up I think I’ll be planning an imminent trip! I’m excited already about the way such a trip might enrich my life.

My research is already under way, I’ve purchased a translation of the Mahabharata to read and I plan to get some of the other key texts.  I’ve also been undergoing the hardship (not!) of watching a variety of bollywood films to tantalise the senses as well as a few great documentaries like The Story of India.  If anyone has suggestions of books I should read, films and series that I should view I would be most grateful.

The photos in this post are courtesy of my flickr friend Swami Stream please check out his flickr stream and his website, you will not be disappointed.  

If you want to purchase The Story of India you can find it on Amazon.  Perhaps if you view it, then you will begin to fall in love with this great nation and want to visit it too!