0:00:03 > 0:00:04HORNS BLARE
0:00:06 > 0:00:10You're driving into people! There must be some law!
0:00:10 > 0:00:12There's actual human people!
0:00:14 > 0:00:15You're a very brave man.
0:00:18 > 0:00:20I've never been to India before and I thought,
0:00:20 > 0:00:24rather than dip my toe in the water and slowly acclimatise,
0:00:24 > 0:00:28I thought I'd just dive in and this is Kolkata.
0:00:28 > 0:00:31All I know about it is there's a Black Hole and Mother Teresa,
0:00:31 > 0:00:32neither of whom are here.
0:00:32 > 0:00:36Neither are any of the traditional Indian stereotypes
0:00:36 > 0:00:39of chicken tikka masala, dysentery, call centres -
0:00:39 > 0:00:42it's like an exploding grenade of colour and sound
0:00:42 > 0:00:44and quite a lot of smell, if I'm honest.
0:00:44 > 0:00:46- HE SPEAKS IN HIS OWN LANGUAGE - Absolutely!
0:00:46 > 0:00:4814 million people live here
0:00:48 > 0:00:52in what was once the absolute jewel in the crown of the British Empire
0:00:52 > 0:00:54so welcome to the City of Joy.
0:00:54 > 0:00:57I'm so sorry, I think I just punched you in the face!
0:00:57 > 0:00:59He's not very joyful.
0:00:59 > 0:01:04Kolkata - known to the locals as the City of Joy, although, for me,
0:01:04 > 0:01:06it'll always be the city of a billion car horns.
0:01:06 > 0:01:10- CAR HORNS BLARE - It's India's most chaotic,
0:01:10 > 0:01:12overcrowded and exhilarating city,
0:01:12 > 0:01:15where people from every corner of the Earth
0:01:15 > 0:01:17have come to make their fortune.
0:01:17 > 0:01:19- SHE LAUGHS - That's wrong. I know that's wrong.
0:01:19 > 0:01:23These teeming streets tell the story of India's past, present
0:01:23 > 0:01:26and shiny new future.
0:01:26 > 0:01:31I bring good news. You have won India's Moustache of the Year. Mwah!
0:01:31 > 0:01:34It was once the grandest city in the Orient,
0:01:34 > 0:01:37it's been a byword for Third World poverty
0:01:37 > 0:01:40and now it's one of the fastest-growing megacities
0:01:40 > 0:01:44in the world, riding a property boom to rival London's.
0:01:44 > 0:01:49You don't see Judith Chalmers going into an open poo pit! Bleurgh!
0:01:49 > 0:01:51SHE LAUGHS
0:01:51 > 0:01:57Its citizens are unique - eccentric, joyful and ever so slightly bonkers.
0:01:57 > 0:02:00THEY LAUGH
0:02:00 > 0:02:03I want to discover the secrets of this extraordinary place -
0:02:03 > 0:02:05to get under its skin
0:02:05 > 0:02:08and to understand how Kolkata transformed itself
0:02:08 > 0:02:13from Black Hole into one of the most exciting cities on Earth.
0:02:13 > 0:02:17Welcome to THE CITY OF JOY!
0:02:17 > 0:02:18I think they got that.
0:02:28 > 0:02:30Once upon a time,
0:02:30 > 0:02:33Kolkata was a sleepy little village minding its own business,
0:02:33 > 0:02:34until the British turned up
0:02:34 > 0:02:38and decided it was the perfect place to start an empire.
0:02:48 > 0:02:50Its location on the Bay of Bengal
0:02:50 > 0:02:54meant it was ideal for shipping good British types in
0:02:54 > 0:03:00and vast wealth back to where it really belonged - in Blighty.
0:03:00 > 0:03:04It became the seat of British imperial power
0:03:04 > 0:03:08and the home of the mighty East India Company.
0:03:08 > 0:03:11'In return, we brought tea so that's all right then.'
0:03:11 > 0:03:13- Cheers!- Cheers!
0:03:13 > 0:03:16'Hang on, didn't we nick that from the Chinese?'
0:03:16 > 0:03:20- How's that?- Well, it's got everything going on, hasn't it?
0:03:20 > 0:03:24- It's bitter and then really sweet at the same time.- Strong and sweet.
0:03:24 > 0:03:27Strong and sweet! Bless you.
0:03:27 > 0:03:29'This is Abhra, fellow tea fanatic
0:03:29 > 0:03:31'and authority on all things Kolkatan.
0:03:32 > 0:03:35'He's going to show me the ropes, but, before we start,
0:03:35 > 0:03:37'we need to get one thing straight.
0:03:37 > 0:03:40'What is this place called?'
0:03:40 > 0:03:42Calcutta - Kolkata. Which one?
0:03:42 > 0:03:46Well, speaking in English, we'd say "Calcutta".
0:03:46 > 0:03:48- In Bengali?- "Kolkata".
0:03:48 > 0:03:51- And in Hindi, "Kalkahta". - "Kalkahta"?- Yeah.
0:03:52 > 0:03:56- So, basically, the English mispronounced Kolkata.- Yeah.
0:03:56 > 0:03:57You can get your own back, though.
0:03:57 > 0:04:00You can come to the UK and say the Queen lives in Wandsor.
0:04:00 > 0:04:03Just start randomly switching around vowels.
0:04:03 > 0:04:05It's your turn now, we've done enough of that.
0:04:07 > 0:04:09'The name was changed back in 2001,
0:04:09 > 0:04:12'along with the names of other Indian cities,
0:04:12 > 0:04:15'as a way of reclaiming it from the old colonial masters.'
0:04:15 > 0:04:17I come here as an English person
0:04:17 > 0:04:22sort of embarrassed and ashamed by appalling colonial aggression,
0:04:22 > 0:04:24but it seems to me that you're done with that.
0:04:24 > 0:04:29Yeah, I mean why are you embarrassed? What's so embarrassing for you?
0:04:29 > 0:04:30What's so embarrassing?
0:04:30 > 0:04:32Because we sort of rode in
0:04:32 > 0:04:36and we completely ripped the natural resources from the ground
0:04:36 > 0:04:38and we subjugated the people
0:04:38 > 0:04:41and we tried to carve out a sort of little Victorian England
0:04:41 > 0:04:43in a foreign land and I think that's very uncomfortable.
0:04:43 > 0:04:46We don't have the Empire anymore, we've just got guilt.
0:04:46 > 0:04:48- But you're saying we should just get over it?- Yeah, of course.
0:04:48 > 0:04:50I mean, it's passed, you know.
0:04:50 > 0:04:51Whatever is left of the Empire
0:04:51 > 0:04:55are the old buildings, the tram, the train.
0:04:55 > 0:04:59- The tea.- The tea. It's all ours now.
0:05:00 > 0:05:02Now, that's just showing off.
0:05:06 > 0:05:09Tea - or chai - is a Kolkatan obsession,
0:05:09 > 0:05:12drunk hot and sweet throughout the day in these little clay cups.
0:05:12 > 0:05:15They are the last word in recyclable sustainability.
0:05:15 > 0:05:18Once you've finished, you simply chuck them in the gutter,
0:05:18 > 0:05:21where they're washed away by the rains back to the Hooghly River,
0:05:21 > 0:05:23from where the clay was originally collected.
0:05:26 > 0:05:28It certainly saves on washing up.
0:05:30 > 0:05:31Every day, more clay is dug
0:05:31 > 0:05:34and delivered to Kolkata's army of teacup makers
0:05:34 > 0:05:36and the whole process begins again.
0:05:37 > 0:05:39Namaste!
0:05:39 > 0:05:42You've been busy already. Look at this!
0:05:42 > 0:05:44I'm Sue. Nice to see you.
0:05:46 > 0:05:48So these are all the pots you made yesterday?
0:05:48 > 0:05:51How many do you make on average every night?
0:05:52 > 0:05:563,000! And YOU make 3,000?
0:05:56 > 0:05:58- With your own hands, every day? - Every day.
0:06:01 > 0:06:04They all live and work together in this tiny compound.
0:06:05 > 0:06:08The people here have come from villages in the country
0:06:08 > 0:06:10in order to make money to send back to their families.
0:06:10 > 0:06:13So, what does this bit do?
0:06:16 > 0:06:18'Guddu's aunt Vimla is letting me help out
0:06:18 > 0:06:20'with the first job of the day.'
0:06:20 > 0:06:22Already I can hear sniggering!
0:06:24 > 0:06:29There, you see? That is Play-Doh smooth!
0:06:29 > 0:06:33I'm going to get me some of that! Mmm!
0:06:33 > 0:06:34That's GOOD!
0:06:41 > 0:06:44That's got Laurel and Hardy written all over it
0:06:44 > 0:06:45if I get anywhere near it.
0:06:47 > 0:06:52OK, I'm sort of making a light sausage. I think this is excellent.
0:06:54 > 0:06:57This is the beginning of my apprenticeship!
0:06:57 > 0:07:00So, how long have you been rolling clay for?
0:07:03 > 0:07:05Do you want your daughter... How old is your daughter?
0:07:07 > 0:07:0911 years. Do you want her to grow up and do this for a living?
0:07:09 > 0:07:11What would you like her to be?
0:07:21 > 0:07:25Vimla has the face of an angel and the strength of Geoff Capes
0:07:25 > 0:07:27and that is a devastating combination to be up close
0:07:27 > 0:07:29and personal with, I have to say.
0:07:29 > 0:07:32There's such an intensity about what she's doing
0:07:32 > 0:07:36and a love of what she's doing and a commitment to it
0:07:36 > 0:07:38that if I take my eyes off her too long,
0:07:38 > 0:07:41she gets really annoyed and I get a lump of clay thrown on me.
0:07:43 > 0:07:46They work an 18-hour day for 15 days at a stretch
0:07:46 > 0:07:48to put their kids through school
0:07:48 > 0:07:50and give them a chance for a better life.
0:07:56 > 0:07:59And if this day wasn't hard enough for these guys,
0:07:59 > 0:08:01it's now started raining,
0:08:01 > 0:08:03which has turned the whole of this alley into a mud slide.
0:08:03 > 0:08:05They've got to quickly work hard
0:08:05 > 0:08:07to get tarpaulin on all the clay before it just washes away.
0:08:11 > 0:08:15I want you to enjoy this moment because this is the moment
0:08:15 > 0:08:17Kolkata got a brand-new shape for its teacup.
0:08:22 > 0:08:24He's Patrick Swayze to my Demi Moore.
0:08:24 > 0:08:25SHE LAUGHS
0:08:25 > 0:08:27Now, that's wrong. I know that that's wrong.
0:08:27 > 0:08:30I don't know if that's a drinking vessel that India's ready for.
0:08:30 > 0:08:33Ahhhh, no! There's a lot of pressure now.
0:08:33 > 0:08:37This is his livelihood, it's not just The Generation Game, you know.
0:08:37 > 0:08:40Why is it doing that? Aaaaargh!
0:08:44 > 0:08:46I got him square in the nuts!
0:08:46 > 0:08:49Yeah, that went right up the old man-skirt.
0:08:52 > 0:08:53Yep. Aaargh!
0:08:56 > 0:08:58What's that?
0:09:04 > 0:09:07I know, I'm angry as well! We're all angry!
0:09:07 > 0:09:09There's a storm outside.
0:09:09 > 0:09:12SHE SPEAKS IN HER OWN LANGUAGE
0:09:12 > 0:09:14'At this point, I think the translator has decided
0:09:14 > 0:09:19'to spare my blushes and is no longer telling me what's going on.'
0:09:19 > 0:09:21It's over? It's gone? You're leaving?
0:09:22 > 0:09:25No, don't give up! You're giving up on me.
0:09:26 > 0:09:27You can't!
0:09:29 > 0:09:32In my head, I thought it would be sexy time, a bit like Ghost,
0:09:32 > 0:09:35we'd make a couple of phalluses together, we'd laugh
0:09:35 > 0:09:38and then suddenly I would just, with a tiny move of my hand,
0:09:38 > 0:09:41just be able to make an extraordinary pot,
0:09:41 > 0:09:43a sort of career-defining teacup
0:09:43 > 0:09:45that would change the face of Kolkata
0:09:45 > 0:09:49and, as you can tell from the fact that everyone's just left me
0:09:49 > 0:09:53and they've cleared away everything, that hasn't really gone to plan!
0:09:56 > 0:09:59'Their daughter Protima has been waiting for me
0:09:59 > 0:10:02'to help her with her English homework.'
0:10:02 > 0:10:07Now, out of all these words, when I am tired, I like to go to...
0:10:07 > 0:10:11- SHE SNORES Place.- No.
0:10:14 > 0:10:17SHE SNORES
0:10:17 > 0:10:24- Sleep.- Boom, perfect! Right, that is excellent. You are...- Clever.
0:10:24 > 0:10:28You are clever. You are never...
0:10:28 > 0:10:31- Bad.- You are very...- Good.
0:10:31 > 0:10:33- I am very...- Old.
0:10:33 > 0:10:35How dare you!
0:10:35 > 0:10:36How DARE you!
0:10:37 > 0:10:40I'm trying to teach her, I'm furious. Furious!
0:10:47 > 0:10:49Fired to perfection overnight,
0:10:49 > 0:10:52Guddu's 3,000 cups need to be delivered across the city
0:10:52 > 0:10:54to the tea shops of Kolkata.
0:10:58 > 0:11:01Is it heavy? Heavy?
0:11:01 > 0:11:03- No.- It looks heavy.
0:11:06 > 0:11:08Heavy! Really heavy!
0:11:08 > 0:11:11I felt like Atlas there!
0:11:11 > 0:11:14He's being really macho there, saying that's not heavy.
0:11:14 > 0:11:16That's REALLY heavy.
0:11:16 > 0:11:19'Thankfully, I'm not Guddu's only hired help.
0:11:19 > 0:11:23'This is where Kolkata's famous rickshaw men come in.'
0:11:23 > 0:11:26- Namaste!- Namaste!
0:11:26 > 0:11:32I bring good news. You have won India's Moustache of the Year. Mwah!
0:11:32 > 0:11:36'The hand-pulled rickshaw is a controversial icon of Kolkata.
0:11:36 > 0:11:40'Banned in other Indian cities, there are still 6,000 of them here
0:11:40 > 0:11:43'plying their trade around these chaotic streets.'
0:11:43 > 0:11:47Whilst I absolutely would never get in one of those as a passenger,
0:11:47 > 0:11:49these rickshaws are vital,
0:11:49 > 0:11:51particularly in the streets of Kolkata,
0:11:51 > 0:11:54which are so narrow that they can't accommodate a normal vehicle
0:11:54 > 0:11:56so this guy with this rickshaw
0:11:56 > 0:11:58can provide all the essential services
0:11:58 > 0:12:02for the millions of businesses that line these streets.
0:12:03 > 0:12:06'These rickshaw wallahs are the delivery boys,
0:12:06 > 0:12:08'the taxi services and the school buses
0:12:08 > 0:12:12'for millions of everyday Kolkatans as they go about their business.
0:12:15 > 0:12:18'They earn about £1.50 a day, just enough to survive on.
0:12:23 > 0:12:25'They're joined on these insane streets
0:12:25 > 0:12:27by every other form of transport known to man,
0:12:27 > 0:12:30'all of them honking horns and ringing bells
0:12:30 > 0:12:32'as if their lives depended on it.'
0:12:34 > 0:12:36You'd think with this volume of people and traffic
0:12:36 > 0:12:39that there'd be fights breaking out all over the shop,
0:12:39 > 0:12:41there'd be road rage. There's none of that
0:12:41 > 0:12:43and the only thing I can deduce from that is this chaos,
0:12:43 > 0:12:46which may appear like chaos to us, is actually a system.
0:12:46 > 0:12:50It's a system that works, people tolerate this
0:12:50 > 0:12:54because these rickshaws and bikes are the lifeblood of the city.
0:12:54 > 0:12:57They work through these tiny little capillaries
0:12:57 > 0:12:59and provide the necessary tools for existence.
0:12:59 > 0:13:03While it looks random, it's actually a pretty effective system.
0:13:17 > 0:13:22But imagine what a congestion charge could do for this place!
0:13:31 > 0:13:34- ..which is situated near the river. - Yeah.
0:13:34 > 0:13:38HORN BLARES
0:13:38 > 0:13:40Also near the river...
0:13:40 > 0:13:43'As you wander the streets of this extraordinary city,
0:13:43 > 0:13:46'you see the legacy of empire on every corner.'
0:13:48 > 0:13:51And what a grand legacy it is.
0:13:51 > 0:13:54The Victoria Memorial, built by George Curzon
0:13:54 > 0:14:00to honour his beloved Queen, is like St Paul's...on steroids.
0:14:00 > 0:14:03This place was sumptuous - wide boulevards
0:14:03 > 0:14:07and ornate buildings, assuming, of course, you were the right sort.
0:14:09 > 0:14:13Back when the Brits ruled the world, Kolkata was a thriving port
0:14:13 > 0:14:15where fortunes could be made.
0:14:15 > 0:14:18Immigrants flocked here from all over the world
0:14:18 > 0:14:20so, to avoid any unpleasantness,
0:14:20 > 0:14:23the British divided it up according to colour.
0:14:24 > 0:14:27There was the White Town where the British lived
0:14:27 > 0:14:30and it looked a bit like Kensington on a very hot day.
0:14:31 > 0:14:35There was the Black Town, where the Indians lived
0:14:35 > 0:14:38and then there was this place, called the Grey Area,
0:14:38 > 0:14:40where everyone else lived.
0:14:42 > 0:14:43It's now called Bowbazar
0:14:43 > 0:14:47and it's still full of Armenians, Chinese, Jews and Arabs,
0:14:47 > 0:14:49all rubbing along together nicely.
0:14:52 > 0:14:56That's the best thing - they all happily co-exist.
0:14:56 > 0:15:00Because, you see, the main thing is they live next door to each other.
0:15:00 > 0:15:03They go to the market together, they go to the tea shop together
0:15:03 > 0:15:08so what I feel is, they stopped hating each other
0:15:08 > 0:15:11so they love each other and they're happy!
0:15:11 > 0:15:13ALARM CLOCK RINGS
0:15:13 > 0:15:15We're all awake now, we're all awake.
0:15:15 > 0:15:19You can put the alarm down any time.
0:15:19 > 0:15:22HE SINGS IN HIS OWN LANGUAGE
0:15:28 > 0:15:31Suddenly it's Chinatown.
0:15:31 > 0:15:34Yeah, it's a Chinese temple-cum-club
0:15:34 > 0:15:39so all the Chinese friends of mine hang around here.
0:15:39 > 0:15:43'The Chinese community has been here for 200 years,
0:15:43 > 0:15:47making a fortune in the leather goods business.
0:15:47 > 0:15:50'There were once 20,000 Chinese here.
0:15:50 > 0:15:52'Now, the population is down to around 2,000 or so,
0:15:52 > 0:15:54'but the temple is still going strong.'
0:15:55 > 0:15:58I'm Sue, by the way, it's nice to see you.
0:15:58 > 0:16:03- My name is Ah Ta.- Ah Ta. - My full name is Ho Yen Ta.
0:16:03 > 0:16:06'Ah Ta offers to tell my fortune.'
0:16:06 > 0:16:09What do I have to do, I have to shake three times?
0:16:09 > 0:16:11You have to bow three times and shake one.
0:16:11 > 0:16:14- You have to say your name, your age. - Say your name, what you want.
0:16:14 > 0:16:18I have to say my AGE? This is very difficult for me!
0:16:18 > 0:16:22- Silently, just to the god.- OK. - Telepathically.
0:16:22 > 0:16:26- Only God does know my real age.- For your luck, just for anything.- OK.
0:16:26 > 0:16:30- So I'm going to say my name and my age.- Say your name, what you want.
0:16:34 > 0:16:39(My name is Sue and I'm 45 and now I'm going to...)
0:16:42 > 0:16:45Not a lot coming out!
0:16:45 > 0:16:50- Oh, we have a winner!- What did you ask?- Oh, I didn't ask for anything!
0:16:50 > 0:16:52- You have to ask!- I'll do it again,
0:16:52 > 0:16:54I'm really sorry. Let me do it again.
0:16:54 > 0:16:56It's your name, your age
0:16:56 > 0:16:59and then you have to say why you are looking for the fortune.
0:16:59 > 0:17:02I was so traumatised by having to say my age to the lady goddess
0:17:02 > 0:17:05that actually I forgot. Right, I'm going to do it again.
0:17:05 > 0:17:06All right, here we go.
0:17:08 > 0:17:11- Got it!- Which one was the first? OK.
0:17:13 > 0:17:16So, lot 68 - "A lucky day will bring great celebration.
0:17:16 > 0:17:20"A family so generous, prosperity forever glows.
0:17:20 > 0:17:23"A fruitful year for farming and marriage."
0:17:23 > 0:17:24I'm all over farming and marriage.
0:17:24 > 0:17:26"And for the sick, cure comes at last.
0:17:26 > 0:17:29"Spring - the family is prosperous, safe.
0:17:29 > 0:17:34"Lawsuits will go in your favour, missing things will be found..."
0:17:34 > 0:17:38- It's all good, isn't it? I'm delighted with that.- You're lucky.
0:17:40 > 0:17:42CALL TO PRAYER
0:17:42 > 0:17:46It's Friday afternoon and a few blocks away, past the church
0:17:46 > 0:17:50and the synagogue, the imam calls the faithful to prayer.
0:17:50 > 0:17:5410,000 men work a minor miracle and stop the traffic.
0:17:59 > 0:18:01When the British finally left in 1947
0:18:01 > 0:18:03and India became independent,
0:18:03 > 0:18:06the state of Bengal was divided along religious lines -
0:18:06 > 0:18:08Hindus remained in West Bengal
0:18:08 > 0:18:12and most Muslims were packed off to the newly created East Pakistan,
0:18:12 > 0:18:14now known as Bangladesh.
0:18:18 > 0:18:19Despite this brutal divide,
0:18:19 > 0:18:24Kolkata still has the largest Muslim population of any Indian city.
0:18:33 > 0:18:36Abhra, what's the quintessential personality
0:18:36 > 0:18:41- of your classic Kolkata resident? - Well, they are inquisitive.- Yeah.
0:18:41 > 0:18:44- They are curious about everything. - Does that mean nosy?
0:18:46 > 0:18:48Yeah, to a point, yeah.
0:18:48 > 0:18:52I mean, if we are having lunch or dinner in a restaurant
0:18:52 > 0:18:57and we are having a conversation, anyone from the table beside us
0:18:57 > 0:19:01can break into our conversation. That's perfectly all right.
0:19:01 > 0:19:03Can they eat our food? Is that acceptable?
0:19:03 > 0:19:06Sometimes they can try it!
0:19:06 > 0:19:08I'm forewarned, then, I'm going to be eating like this
0:19:08 > 0:19:09while I'm here. "Get off!"
0:19:16 > 0:19:19In the midst of the multicultural melting pot that is Bowbazar,
0:19:19 > 0:19:23there is a corner of the city that is for ever England.
0:19:25 > 0:19:28Bow Barracks was once a garrison for the British Army
0:19:28 > 0:19:29before the First World War
0:19:29 > 0:19:33and is now home to one of Kolkata's most intriguing communities -
0:19:33 > 0:19:35the Anglo-Indians.
0:19:36 > 0:19:39- Morning, nice to see you. I'm Sue.- I'm Marion.
0:19:39 > 0:19:42- Really good to meet you, Marion. Hi, there!- John.- Nice to see you, John.
0:19:42 > 0:19:47- How's things? What are the names of your dogs?- One is Kerry.
0:19:47 > 0:19:49I thought you said "scary", I was about to back off.
0:19:49 > 0:19:51And she's Brooke Shields.
0:19:51 > 0:19:55'Yes, he really does have a dog called Brooke Shields.
0:19:55 > 0:19:57'The Anglo-Indians - or Eurasians -
0:19:57 > 0:20:00'are the offspring of marriages between British men and Asian women.
0:20:00 > 0:20:04'They occupied a strange niche in colonial society,
0:20:04 > 0:20:06'neither Asian nor European.
0:20:06 > 0:20:10'They are, however, still fiercely proud of their Britishness.'
0:20:10 > 0:20:13My grandfather is British, captain of the ship.
0:20:13 > 0:20:18- I've never seen anyone look more British than this man.- That is true.
0:20:18 > 0:20:22And they were both torpedoed off Sri Lanka in World War II.
0:20:22 > 0:20:24And did he lose his life in World War II?
0:20:24 > 0:20:26Yeah, and my father was the only survivor.
0:20:26 > 0:20:29- Of the whole ship? - Of the whole ship.
0:20:29 > 0:20:33- This is... - Oh, hello. Nice to see you, I'm Sue.
0:20:33 > 0:20:36- Really good to meet you.- John. - Hi, John.- This is...
0:20:36 > 0:20:40We come from Elvidge, descendants of archbishops.
0:20:40 > 0:20:43- So you've traced yourself way back? - Way, way back.
0:20:43 > 0:20:47Way back and we may be even royalty because, you know,
0:20:47 > 0:20:48the kings had so many women.
0:20:50 > 0:20:54Henry VIII had Anne Boleyn and Catherine of Aragon and so far...
0:20:54 > 0:20:55You think there were more?
0:20:55 > 0:20:58And more even and to make them happy,
0:20:58 > 0:21:00they made their sons bishops and archbishops.
0:21:00 > 0:21:03- Well, I never!- Thank you.
0:21:04 > 0:21:08- Oh, look, the three lions! - Yeah!- Amazing!
0:21:08 > 0:21:11I can only apologise for how bad we were in the World Cup,
0:21:11 > 0:21:12I'm very sorry.
0:21:12 > 0:21:14'Their good English often meant
0:21:14 > 0:21:17'they got favoured jobs in the colonial government.
0:21:17 > 0:21:21'But when the British left, many Anglo-Indians felt abandoned
0:21:21 > 0:21:23'and now long for their return.'
0:21:23 > 0:21:26So, what would it be like if you got your way and the English came back?
0:21:26 > 0:21:28- What would change?- Oh, many things.
0:21:28 > 0:21:31We'd be delighted, we'd be really happy.
0:21:31 > 0:21:33Do you observe all the English festivals?
0:21:33 > 0:21:36Yes, yes, we do - Christmas, Easter...
0:21:36 > 0:21:39- And what do you eat for Christmas dinner?- We have a roast.
0:21:39 > 0:21:43- You have roast turkey?- Yes, yes. We have Christmas cake.
0:21:43 > 0:21:46Right now, I have one cake which I made.
0:21:46 > 0:21:49Oh, my word, this looks amazing!
0:21:53 > 0:21:56That is a delicious Christmas cake in the height of...
0:21:56 > 0:21:59- Merry Christmas to you! - Thank you, darling.
0:21:59 > 0:22:02In the height of summer in Kolkata, who would have thought?
0:22:02 > 0:22:05Merry Christmas!
0:22:06 > 0:22:10'What a strange place Kolkata is!'
0:22:10 > 0:22:14The British left behind them a complicated mess of religions,
0:22:14 > 0:22:18cultures and politics, but somehow, with goodwill and tolerance,
0:22:18 > 0:22:20the people of this city are making it work.
0:22:23 > 0:22:26Nobody's 100% anything.
0:22:26 > 0:22:29People have just cherrypicked what they like from other communities,
0:22:29 > 0:22:32other belief systems, from the past
0:22:32 > 0:22:34and made it fit what sort of best suits them so...
0:22:34 > 0:22:38And there's also such a culture of celebration, thinking,
0:22:38 > 0:22:39"Well, why limit yourself?"
0:22:39 > 0:22:42Why limit yourself to one thing when you can have Christmas
0:22:42 > 0:22:45and Easter and Diwali and you can celebrate a sort of lady goddess?
0:22:45 > 0:22:46You can have everything.
0:22:46 > 0:22:50You can feast your way witless 365 days of the year
0:22:50 > 0:22:52and have fun while you're doing it.
0:22:52 > 0:22:56Surely that's the whole spirit of multiculturalism in a nutshell -
0:22:56 > 0:22:58every festival, all the time.
0:23:09 > 0:23:13Kolkata, like the rest of India, is changing fast.
0:23:13 > 0:23:16Its population is exploding with new arrivals
0:23:16 > 0:23:19and the city needs infrastructure to cope.
0:23:20 > 0:23:23There's building work going on everywhere
0:23:23 > 0:23:27and the old icons of empire are crumbling and falling.
0:23:27 > 0:23:30But there is one place deep underground
0:23:30 > 0:23:33that makes you truly proud to be British.
0:23:38 > 0:23:41There is a reason that I am dressed like an extra
0:23:41 > 0:23:45from The LEGO Movie, other than the fact I like it.
0:23:45 > 0:23:50I'm about to go into the Kolkatan sewers.
0:23:50 > 0:23:52Some may say that I've finally reached my level.
0:23:52 > 0:23:55It's my own personal Black Hole. Excuse me.
0:23:55 > 0:24:00Believe it or not, Kolkata's sewers were once the envy of the world.
0:24:00 > 0:24:02Built in the city's Victorian heyday,
0:24:02 > 0:24:05they stretch for 90km beneath the city's streets.
0:24:06 > 0:24:11They are now 130 years old and in need of some vigorous sluicing.
0:24:12 > 0:24:16My nostrils, in one inhalation, have been blasted.
0:24:16 > 0:24:19I will never breathe the same way again.
0:24:19 > 0:24:22In charge of this epic project is the splendidly named
0:24:22 > 0:24:27Mr Nilangshu Bhusan Basu from the Kolkata Municipal Corporation.
0:24:28 > 0:24:31He doesn't look entirely comfortable on that ladder.
0:24:31 > 0:24:34I'm going to show him how it's done.
0:24:34 > 0:24:39Oh, God! It's scary, horrid, smelly and evil!
0:24:39 > 0:24:40Bleurgh!
0:24:42 > 0:24:45They don't show this on the holiday programme.
0:24:45 > 0:24:49You don't see Judith Chalmers going into an open poo pit. Bleurgh!
0:24:51 > 0:24:57- One more step.- Are you the welcoming committee? This is lovely!
0:24:57 > 0:25:01Step over here because otherwise we will lose you.
0:25:01 > 0:25:03I don't want to be lost, not in this.
0:25:05 > 0:25:09'Restoring the sewers to a smooth flow is, dare I say it, a big job.
0:25:10 > 0:25:13'Each night, legions of men armed with poo buckets
0:25:13 > 0:25:17'are sent deep into the bowels of the city to literally shovel silt.'
0:25:20 > 0:25:22How long will these guys work for?
0:25:22 > 0:25:24At night, what are their shifts?
0:25:24 > 0:25:27They normally work from 11 o'clock at night
0:25:27 > 0:25:30to five o'clock in the morning
0:25:30 > 0:25:33because, immediately after five o'clock,
0:25:33 > 0:25:36people start using their toilets and other things,
0:25:36 > 0:25:41it is very difficult to overcome the water that is coming into the sewer.
0:25:41 > 0:25:44So as soon as people wake up and have their first coffee,
0:25:44 > 0:25:45you need to run for cover.
0:25:45 > 0:25:47- Basically, all hell breaks loose.- Yes.
0:25:48 > 0:25:54This sewage system was built in 1875 for a city of just a million people.
0:25:54 > 0:25:57There are now more than 14 million people in Kolkata
0:25:57 > 0:26:01and a traffic system that its designers could never have imagined.
0:26:01 > 0:26:03The demands of a thriving megacity
0:26:03 > 0:26:06are taking their toll on this marvel of Victorian engineering.
0:26:09 > 0:26:12As you can see, there are cracks there.
0:26:12 > 0:26:15- What, you mean the crack above my head?- Yes.
0:26:15 > 0:26:17I mean, the mortar has gone out of that
0:26:17 > 0:26:21because these are here more than 130 years. That you must understand.
0:26:21 > 0:26:24We could have stood just over there!
0:26:24 > 0:26:28No, no, no, don't worry, it has got four layers. It will not fall.
0:26:28 > 0:26:30'And then I made him move.
0:26:30 > 0:26:35'Ironically, not all of Kolkata's 14 million daily movements end up here.
0:26:35 > 0:26:38'Many toilets are simply not connected.
0:26:38 > 0:26:40'But all that is changing as this city modernises
0:26:40 > 0:26:43'and rebuilds itself for the modern age.'
0:26:43 > 0:26:47- Are you SURE this is the right way? - Yes!
0:26:56 > 0:26:59The success of the Raj was built on the close relationship
0:26:59 > 0:27:02between the British Empire and powerful Indian dynasties.
0:27:04 > 0:27:08These noble families became rich beyond the dreams of avarice,
0:27:08 > 0:27:12and Calcutta was home to some of the most fabulous palaces on Earth.
0:27:14 > 0:27:18But when India became independent, Kolkata began to change,
0:27:18 > 0:27:20and these great houses began to fall.
0:27:22 > 0:27:27This is the Tagore Palace, once the swankiest postcode in town.
0:27:31 > 0:27:33- Hello.- Nomoshkar.
0:27:33 > 0:27:37- Nomoshkar. Welcome. - Thank you so much.- Pleasure.
0:27:37 > 0:27:41'Saroja Tagore is a professional dancer and teacher.
0:27:41 > 0:27:44'She's lived in the palace since she was a young girl.'
0:27:44 > 0:27:46So what was this place like when you were a child?
0:27:46 > 0:27:49Well, it was very different from what you see now,
0:27:49 > 0:27:50the reason being that it was...
0:27:50 > 0:27:53'As we enter the palace, we are transported into the past,
0:27:53 > 0:27:56'a world of culture, wealth and power.'
0:27:58 > 0:28:00It's just so elegant.
0:28:02 > 0:28:04'This house was once exquisite.
0:28:04 > 0:28:06'There was a priceless art collection
0:28:06 > 0:28:08'and the family entertained
0:28:08 > 0:28:11'the world's greatest artists and intellectuals.'
0:28:12 > 0:28:18Now I'm going to take you to the space where we had music concerts.
0:28:18 > 0:28:22- Like an entertainment...- This was basically... Yes, for entertainment.
0:28:22 > 0:28:27Ah! It's impossibly grand, though, isn't it?
0:28:27 > 0:28:30These are all my ancestors.
0:28:30 > 0:28:32These are all, you know, one after the other.
0:28:32 > 0:28:36Saroja is the great-niece of Rabindranath Tagore,
0:28:36 > 0:28:38winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature
0:28:38 > 0:28:41and one of the most important figures in Indian culture.
0:28:43 > 0:28:48The house has kind of lived through its ages,
0:28:48 > 0:28:53it has contributed a lot to the development of not only
0:28:53 > 0:28:57Bengali culture and Bengali art but Indian art and culture.
0:28:59 > 0:29:01Following the partition of India,
0:29:01 > 0:29:04great families like the Tagores fell on hard times.
0:29:04 > 0:29:07The division of Bengal hit them hard -
0:29:07 > 0:29:09they lost half of their estates.
0:29:10 > 0:29:15Kolkata was flooded with refugees and the grand palaces of old
0:29:15 > 0:29:18Kolkata were swamped by the new urban sprawl.
0:29:20 > 0:29:26You can see a very strong contrast
0:29:26 > 0:29:28inside and out.
0:29:28 > 0:29:32It's sort of mind-blowing for a visitor.
0:29:32 > 0:29:37This tiny strip here is this incredible dividing line,
0:29:37 > 0:29:41for me, between tranquillity and chaos, between have and have-not,
0:29:41 > 0:29:43between, you know, modern, busy, bustling India
0:29:43 > 0:29:46and that sense of the past, and its...
0:29:46 > 0:29:49- And there, just poking out, a castle!- Yes.
0:29:51 > 0:29:54Do you love this Kolkata, or do you love this Kolkata, or do you
0:29:54 > 0:29:57understand that there is now a total fusion between the two?
0:29:57 > 0:30:01- I understand that there is...- And you love the two?- Absolutely.
0:30:01 > 0:30:07Absolutely. Absolutely. I work. I'm a professional woman, I'm an artist,
0:30:07 > 0:30:12so I cannot just remain inside, shut down everything and say...
0:30:12 > 0:30:14Like Miss Havisham.
0:30:14 > 0:30:16I would be Miss Havisham, yes,
0:30:16 > 0:30:20and you would find me one day with my white gown and...
0:30:20 > 0:30:21- Cobwebs. - ..my frizzled hair,
0:30:21 > 0:30:25and I'm dying, you know, with my dead body near the fireplace. No, I...
0:30:25 > 0:30:31I want this to have its vibration. I want this place living.
0:30:31 > 0:30:35I want people coming here, I want people to gain something from here.
0:30:35 > 0:30:37I want artists to be born in my house.
0:30:39 > 0:30:42Can you see the other side of the coin, which is
0:30:42 > 0:30:45people who are struggling, people who are in poverty,
0:30:45 > 0:30:48people who lack housing, looking, going, "Well, there's just
0:30:48 > 0:30:51"all this beauty for just a few people -
0:30:51 > 0:30:54"let's knock it down and build a high-rise and we can house..."
0:30:54 > 0:30:56- Absolutely.- I don't know - "1,000 people"?
0:30:56 > 0:30:58See, there are two ways of looking at it.
0:30:58 > 0:31:02Sometimes I feel that this is something which is very grand
0:31:02 > 0:31:06and people want to feel that when there is so much poverty and
0:31:06 > 0:31:09when there's so much dearth of living spaces,
0:31:09 > 0:31:12how is it that one family has taken up such a huge space?
0:31:12 > 0:31:16But you have to understand that life is not about just having
0:31:16 > 0:31:17a space to live.
0:31:17 > 0:31:20Give them...give them culture.
0:31:26 > 0:31:29I'm extremely mentally bewildered right now.
0:31:29 > 0:31:32This family want to preserve this building because it reminds them of
0:31:32 > 0:31:35better times. Many of the people on the streets there would like to
0:31:35 > 0:31:38see this building torn down because it represents for them a kind of
0:31:38 > 0:31:40shameful history that they don't want to be part of.
0:31:40 > 0:31:44It's an India they're embarrassed about, because it conflicts with the
0:31:44 > 0:31:47new idea of progress and development that's so integral to this place.
0:31:49 > 0:31:51The sentence that really stuck with me was,
0:31:51 > 0:31:54"Living is just not about housing,"
0:31:54 > 0:31:57to which I wanted to reply, "It is if you don't have a house."
0:32:00 > 0:32:02That evening, Saroja dances
0:32:02 > 0:32:05for an invited audience of Calcutta's great and good...
0:32:06 > 0:32:09..and Tagore Palace comes alive once more.
0:32:57 > 0:32:59What is the plan for tonight?
0:32:59 > 0:33:03We are going first to one area where people live on the street.
0:33:03 > 0:33:07- There are families that have spent generations living on the street? - Yes, yes.
0:33:14 > 0:33:17Kolkata has long been synonymous with desperate poverty.
0:33:19 > 0:33:21The city became notorious in the '70s
0:33:21 > 0:33:25when Mother Teresa was working with the city's poor and homeless people.
0:33:25 > 0:33:29While much has been done to alleviate the worst of it,
0:33:29 > 0:33:31sadly, there is plenty left to do.
0:33:33 > 0:33:37That work falls largely to charities like the Hope Foundation.
0:33:37 > 0:33:41Each night, Gita and her team run patrols, checking on children
0:33:41 > 0:33:45and vulnerable families living in the most desperate conditions.
0:33:47 > 0:33:49First, they are survivors.
0:33:49 > 0:33:52They are domestic workers in different houses,
0:33:52 > 0:33:54and at night, they sleep on the street.
0:33:54 > 0:33:56So they work in other people's houses by day
0:33:56 > 0:33:59- but they don't have a house of their own?- No.
0:34:04 > 0:34:08This is the Hastings Underpass, a ten-kilometre stretch of road
0:34:08 > 0:34:12and wasteland that provides shelter for up to 10,000 people.
0:34:18 > 0:34:22Because they live under the flyover, there are big rats moving around.
0:34:22 > 0:34:25You see the garbage and that. They don't have a proper floor.
0:34:25 > 0:34:28There are just rags on top of the rags. So under the rags, what are
0:34:28 > 0:34:31- there? It can be anything.- So it's just an open sewer, basically?
0:34:31 > 0:34:33Open sewage. On that, they put a plastic sheet and sleep.
0:34:33 > 0:34:38- Oh, God.- We really get children who are really in a very bad shape.
0:34:38 > 0:34:41There are a lot of children who actually with malnourishment
0:34:41 > 0:34:43have died. We could not save them.
0:34:43 > 0:34:46We have also got mentally ill mothers delivering babies.
0:34:50 > 0:34:53- So can we speak to this young woman here?- Yes.- Hi, namaste.
0:34:53 > 0:34:55- Namaste. - How long have you lived here?
0:34:58 > 0:35:00She is born here.
0:35:00 > 0:35:02What is it like as a woman here?
0:35:22 > 0:35:23All the men pee...
0:35:28 > 0:35:30They tell me that two years ago,
0:35:30 > 0:35:33a young girl was abducted from here and murdered.
0:35:44 > 0:35:47She slept at 2:30 at night, protecting her children...
0:35:47 > 0:35:52So you're constantly very fearful, very anxious? All the time?
0:36:03 > 0:36:09For them, it is like they have nobody to talk...their problems.
0:36:09 > 0:36:12They have nobody to say, so it's...the night-time is that
0:36:12 > 0:36:15it helps them. They share their problems,
0:36:15 > 0:36:20and then they at least try to see how we can work with them
0:36:20 > 0:36:22and place them in various places.
0:36:26 > 0:36:28Oh! Grr!
0:36:28 > 0:36:30CHILDREN CHATTER
0:36:30 > 0:36:34'At the next location, the mood is very different.'
0:36:34 > 0:36:37- Show me where you sleep. Show me where you sleep. - CHILDREN SHRIEK
0:36:37 > 0:36:38Argh!
0:36:43 > 0:36:47That's the most exercise I've had all day!
0:36:47 > 0:36:49That is their prayer room.
0:36:49 > 0:36:51That is their kitchen.
0:36:51 > 0:36:53That is their room.
0:36:53 > 0:36:54That's their bedroom.
0:36:56 > 0:37:00# Twinkle, twinkle, little star... #
0:37:00 > 0:37:03CHILDREN CONTINUE IN SAME TUNE
0:37:03 > 0:37:06- CHILDREN:- # No, Papa...
0:37:06 > 0:37:08# No, Papa
0:37:08 > 0:37:09# Open your mouth
0:37:09 > 0:37:11# A-ha-ha! #
0:37:11 > 0:37:14That was a new one on me. I like what you've done with it.
0:37:14 > 0:37:17- Is today a happy day?- Yeah.- Yeah.
0:37:17 > 0:37:19Yeah?
0:37:19 > 0:37:20He's happy because you have come.
0:37:20 > 0:37:23Just change and a little bit fun.
0:37:25 > 0:37:27Are you happy today with what you've seen?
0:37:27 > 0:37:31We know we cannot give everybody a home, house, but we can
0:37:31 > 0:37:33give them education and give them fun,
0:37:33 > 0:37:35loving and help them to dream.
0:37:35 > 0:37:40- So how many of these kids are in school?- All of them are in school.
0:37:40 > 0:37:45Very good. All right. Be safe. Be safe.
0:37:45 > 0:37:50No, darling, I can't take that. That's yours.
0:37:50 > 0:37:53'Just as we're about to leave, Gita spots a little girl
0:37:53 > 0:37:55'that she's been keen to check up on.'
0:37:55 > 0:37:56Where is your friend?
0:37:56 > 0:37:59Where are your girlfriends, where are your boyfriends?
0:37:59 > 0:38:02- Puja...- Ah, Puja - where is she?
0:38:02 > 0:38:06- Where's Puja? - They're all sleeping.
0:38:06 > 0:38:07How old are you?
0:38:07 > 0:38:08SHE TRANSLATES
0:38:08 > 0:38:11- She's ten years.- Do you like school?
0:38:13 > 0:38:14Yes?
0:38:14 > 0:38:16SHE SPEAKS OWN LANGUAGE
0:38:16 > 0:38:19If she becomes absent, she doesn't like.
0:38:19 > 0:38:20No, you have to go every day.
0:38:20 > 0:38:23When you finish school, what would you like to be
0:38:23 > 0:38:24when you are grown-up?
0:38:24 > 0:38:26SHE TRANSLATES
0:38:29 > 0:38:34What a way... What a way to make somebody proud.
0:38:34 > 0:38:38Will you be a brilliant doctor? Yes?
0:38:38 > 0:38:41Will you be the best doctor in all of India?
0:38:41 > 0:38:44Everybody will know. Yeah?
0:38:47 > 0:38:50I will come back to see you and I will say, "Where has she gone?"
0:38:50 > 0:38:52And you will say, "I don't have time to see Auntie Sue
0:38:52 > 0:38:55"because I'm too busy being a great doctor."
0:38:55 > 0:38:57- No, no...- She will give time.
0:39:03 > 0:39:06She's going to sleep. Sleep is boring.
0:39:24 > 0:39:27So there has been plenty of times tonight where I've just
0:39:27 > 0:39:29wanted to cry my eyes out at the things I have seen
0:39:29 > 0:39:32and the things I have heard, which have sometimes been too unbearable
0:39:32 > 0:39:36and probably too difficult to broadcast, but at the end of it,
0:39:36 > 0:39:40we have someone like Rakhi, who is, through the Hope Foundation,
0:39:40 > 0:39:43getting an education, speaking English and wants to be a doctor.
0:39:43 > 0:39:48And it is now past midnight and you are going to bed, young lady.
0:39:48 > 0:39:56Off you go. This way. It's bedtime! Sleep time. Sleep time. It's very...
0:39:56 > 0:40:00It's very late. Come on, I'm taking you to see Puja. Where is she?
0:40:07 > 0:40:09There is, thankfully, another Kolkata,
0:40:09 > 0:40:12away from the dreadful cliches of poverty and homelessness.
0:40:14 > 0:40:18Over the past few decades, India has changed beyond recognition.
0:40:19 > 0:40:23Life expectancy has doubled, literacy rates have quadrupled.
0:40:23 > 0:40:26And ten million people each year move from the country to the
0:40:26 > 0:40:28city in search of work.
0:40:28 > 0:40:30India will soon have the biggest
0:40:30 > 0:40:34and the youngest workforce the world has ever seen.
0:40:37 > 0:40:40As you drive away from the city centre, you see
0:40:40 > 0:40:44the transformation that India's economic miracle is delivering.
0:40:44 > 0:40:47And when you think of Kolkata, you think perhaps more of
0:40:47 > 0:40:49poverty than excess, but that is starting to change.
0:40:49 > 0:40:52Recently, voted to have the third highest
0:40:52 > 0:40:55concentration of the super-rich in India after Mumbai and Delhi.
0:40:55 > 0:40:57You can see the landscape transitioning from those
0:40:57 > 0:41:00sort of low-rise buildings, shantytowns,
0:41:00 > 0:41:04into this brave new world here of high-rises.
0:41:04 > 0:41:06All the money now is in real estate,
0:41:06 > 0:41:08so I guess they wouldn't call them high-rises.
0:41:08 > 0:41:11They would say "opposing buildings with far-reaching city views."
0:41:11 > 0:41:15And some people are doing very nicely out of it, thank you.
0:41:21 > 0:41:25Hi, I'm Sue. Really nice to see you. Anish, very nice to see you.
0:41:25 > 0:41:28Nice to see you.
0:41:28 > 0:41:32This is the Supercar Club, a group of wealthy young men who meet every
0:41:32 > 0:41:35Sunday morning to take their fancy new cars
0:41:35 > 0:41:39out for a spin on the fancy new roads of the new town.
0:41:43 > 0:41:46Why these cars? What do these cars say about you?
0:41:46 > 0:41:51Passion, driving pleasure, kind of stress reliever for us.
0:41:51 > 0:41:54Driving in Kolkata is stress relieving?
0:41:54 > 0:41:57Go to the highway, the roads...
0:41:57 > 0:42:01What speed can you get up to here? 30, 30, 40?
0:42:01 > 0:42:03I guess, for the camera, 30, 40 is good enough!
0:42:05 > 0:42:07Anish is the son of a wealthy family,
0:42:07 > 0:42:10now making his own way in property.
0:42:10 > 0:42:13When you come home, how many women are just on your bonnet?
0:42:13 > 0:42:15- How many women are throwing themselves...- I just make sure
0:42:15 > 0:42:17no-one is there, I like it clean.
0:42:17 > 0:42:19- Oh, I see, they're not allowed. - They're not allowed.
0:42:19 > 0:42:23Get off, ladies. There's only one girl for you. She's bright red.
0:42:23 > 0:42:26You think this particular car has been really important, don't you?
0:42:26 > 0:42:28- Yeah.- So why is that?
0:42:28 > 0:42:33This car is so beautiful, it should inspire other people to work hard,
0:42:33 > 0:42:36to be honest, and to be successful in life.
0:42:36 > 0:42:38That should be the message.
0:42:38 > 0:42:41So this car is a sort of symbol of the changing face of Kolkata?
0:42:41 > 0:42:43Absolutely, absolutely.
0:42:43 > 0:42:46Praveen is a 32-year-old entrepreneur
0:42:46 > 0:42:48and already has a fleet of supercars.
0:42:49 > 0:42:53He's made his fortune by expanding his father's small plastering
0:42:53 > 0:42:56business into one of Kolkata's top real estate developers.
0:42:56 > 0:43:00- I bet your dad is a very grateful man.- Yeah.- He's very happy with you.
0:43:00 > 0:43:03- I just lost my dad a few months back.- Oh, I'm so sorry.
0:43:03 > 0:43:06- I'm so sorry. - A few months back I lost him, so...
0:43:06 > 0:43:08Well, he would be very proud.
0:43:08 > 0:43:12Yeah, because he thought, and probably he's watching me from...
0:43:12 > 0:43:15Because you took a family business and you developed it,
0:43:15 > 0:43:18and that's all a parent wants.
0:43:18 > 0:43:21Oh, I'm sorry, I'm so truly sorry!
0:43:21 > 0:43:24- I didn't mean to bring it up but he would be very proud.- Yeah.
0:43:24 > 0:43:27- To see you driving around in this amazing car.- Yeah.
0:43:27 > 0:43:29And, you know, being so brilliant.
0:43:33 > 0:43:36OK, let's give it a rev. Let's feel it, let's feel...
0:43:36 > 0:43:38ENGINE REVS
0:43:44 > 0:43:47I could grow a beard just from the amount of testosterone
0:43:47 > 0:43:49that's in this vehicle just now.
0:43:49 > 0:43:52Oh! I feel you!
0:43:59 > 0:44:00Oh...
0:44:00 > 0:44:03- This is a beautiful car.- Thank you.
0:44:03 > 0:44:07What I love is you can really feel it being driven. It is so low.
0:44:07 > 0:44:11- Everything is just hard and... - It's so raw, isn't it, and rough?
0:44:11 > 0:44:12Oh, it's just great.
0:44:15 > 0:44:17HORN TOOTS
0:44:20 > 0:44:22Come on, let's open this thing up!
0:44:22 > 0:44:24Sorry, my clutch has gone.
0:44:24 > 0:44:25SHE LAUGHS
0:44:25 > 0:44:27- Have you blown the clutch?- Yeah.
0:44:29 > 0:44:34- I guess we'll take the other one. - All expectation, no delivery.
0:44:34 > 0:44:36- Has it literally gone? - Yeah. Yeah, my clutch has gone.
0:44:36 > 0:44:38Well, that was that, then.
0:44:39 > 0:44:41Clutch has gone.
0:44:41 > 0:44:42Don't laugh!
0:44:42 > 0:44:44Oh, but we did.
0:44:44 > 0:44:45I can't help but feel that
0:44:45 > 0:44:47this scene would be very different at home.
0:44:47 > 0:44:50We'd think they were too flash by half with
0:44:50 > 0:44:52their bright orange Lamborghinis.
0:44:52 > 0:44:55But here, they do seem to be an inspiration.
0:44:56 > 0:45:00Get a good education, work hard, make your parents proud,
0:45:00 > 0:45:02buy a supercar.
0:45:02 > 0:45:06People like these - young, educated, fiercely ambitious -
0:45:06 > 0:45:07are transforming Kolkata.
0:45:12 > 0:45:13This is the new town.
0:45:13 > 0:45:16Mile after mile of shopping malls,
0:45:16 > 0:45:20smooth new highways, apartment blocks and hotels,
0:45:20 > 0:45:22spreading in a vast ring around the city.
0:45:25 > 0:45:29The investment and the ambition here is staggering.
0:45:29 > 0:45:32This is a property boom on a superhuman scale.
0:45:34 > 0:45:36So this is one of how many projects?
0:45:36 > 0:45:39- One out of 17.- 17?- Yeah.
0:45:39 > 0:45:41Do you know how much that totals
0:45:41 > 0:45:44in terms of accumulated wealth from all those sites?
0:45:44 > 0:45:46£120 million.
0:45:48 > 0:45:50- £120 million?- Yeah.
0:45:50 > 0:45:55It has just started. If this stops, my life stops.
0:45:55 > 0:45:59- Really? So that's how closely connected you are to it?- Yeah.
0:45:59 > 0:46:03It's about passion, it's not just about money, it's passion.
0:46:03 > 0:46:07If the passion stays, you're living. If the passion dies, you're dead.
0:46:12 > 0:46:17Oh, there's literally no windows there! I was about to lean forward.
0:46:17 > 0:46:19This is great, isn't it?
0:46:19 > 0:46:22See, I look out at that and I think that is stunning,
0:46:22 > 0:46:26and you look out on that and think, "Mmm! 500 million!" £500 million!
0:46:26 > 0:46:28Save a little bit, Praveen.
0:46:28 > 0:46:31- Save a little bit of green just for me.- Surely. Yeah!
0:46:31 > 0:46:34You lead the way.
0:46:34 > 0:46:36'These apartments cost 60 grand,
0:46:36 > 0:46:38'but for Praveen it is just the beginning.'
0:46:38 > 0:46:41OK, this is how the project is going to look like.
0:46:41 > 0:46:44- Gosh, it's got a home theatre! - Yeah, it has got a big home theatre
0:46:44 > 0:46:48and it'll be getting a library, a community hall, a gymnasium.
0:46:48 > 0:46:51There will be a place to park all your Lamborghinis,
0:46:51 > 0:46:53by the looks of it!
0:46:53 > 0:46:55Well, they are delighted.
0:46:55 > 0:46:56They are very happy with it.
0:46:59 > 0:47:02Your father was obviously a massive influence on you, wasn't he?
0:47:02 > 0:47:06- Yeah.- So much is placed on the son, that he must succeed, make money,
0:47:06 > 0:47:09be in business. Do you feel that pressure?
0:47:09 > 0:47:12I do feel that pressure because
0:47:12 > 0:47:15my father has created a name, and...
0:47:16 > 0:47:21I have joined hand, and after him, I have to make his name even bigger,
0:47:21 > 0:47:25even 10 times, 20 times, 100 times bigger, and that is a big pressure.
0:47:29 > 0:47:33So I'm now starting to really see the scale of development in Kolkata,
0:47:33 > 0:47:36the way that this place is just exploding,
0:47:36 > 0:47:39that the frontiers are being expanded, this city is just,
0:47:39 > 0:47:44you know, it's growing almost in front of your very eyes,
0:47:44 > 0:47:49and this place is symbolic of exactly that, this new frontier,
0:47:49 > 0:47:52and the fact that people will spend money on this project,
0:47:52 > 0:47:55these beautiful homes, when there isn't even a road,
0:47:55 > 0:47:57a bypass or any of the infrastructure you'd expect,
0:47:57 > 0:47:59just shows you how much people are
0:47:59 > 0:48:02banking on the fact that tomorrow is going to be better than today.
0:48:07 > 0:48:09This is the Kolkata of tomorrow,
0:48:09 > 0:48:12a brave new world of middle-class affluence.
0:48:12 > 0:48:16The old Kolkata is being buried beneath a landslide of progress.
0:48:16 > 0:48:21The heritage buildings are falling and a new city is being born.
0:48:27 > 0:48:30But in this rush to modernise, some people are making sure
0:48:30 > 0:48:33that Kolkata retains its unique eccentricity.
0:48:36 > 0:48:38LAUGHTER
0:48:38 > 0:48:43Out in the city's sprawling suburbs, something strange is stirring.
0:48:45 > 0:48:47So it's seven o'clock in the morning
0:48:47 > 0:48:50and it's fair to say the only time I've ever laughed before it's 7am
0:48:50 > 0:48:53was when the person who woke me up tripped over.
0:48:53 > 0:48:57But to laugh is why I'm here in this sort of Surbiton of Kolkata.
0:48:57 > 0:48:58Ready?
0:48:58 > 0:49:00HAAA-ha-ha-ha-ha!
0:49:00 > 0:49:02THEY LAUGH
0:49:11 > 0:49:13Rest.
0:49:15 > 0:49:16(Quite strict.)
0:49:16 > 0:49:18Ready?
0:49:18 > 0:49:21ALL: Ho-ho, ha-ha!
0:49:21 > 0:49:22Ho-ho...
0:49:22 > 0:49:25'Concerned that life was becoming too serious,
0:49:25 > 0:49:29'people began to set up laughing clubs all over Kolkata.'
0:49:29 > 0:49:36ALL: Ho...
0:49:38 > 0:49:40Oof!
0:49:40 > 0:49:43Ho-ho, ha-ha-ha! Ho-ho...
0:49:43 > 0:49:46'If laughter is indeed the best medicine,
0:49:46 > 0:49:48'then these ladies are pure Prozac.'
0:49:48 > 0:49:50Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!
0:49:50 > 0:49:54'They think that laughter cures all sorts of elements, from anxiety
0:49:54 > 0:49:58'to arthritis, and strengthens the immune system to boot.
0:49:58 > 0:50:00'Personally, I'm here for the biscuits.'
0:50:02 > 0:50:03This is ridiculous!
0:50:08 > 0:50:11'So how long have you all been going to the laughing club? How long?'
0:50:11 > 0:50:15- 12 years.- 14, 14. - 14 years.- 14 years?
0:50:15 > 0:50:18And you've all been going that long?
0:50:18 > 0:50:21Together? And why do you like it? What's good about it?
0:50:34 > 0:50:36- Cheers.- Cheers.
0:50:36 > 0:50:38Good health.
0:50:38 > 0:50:40THEY LAUGH
0:50:40 > 0:50:44So have you noticed that Kolkata has changed a lot
0:50:44 > 0:50:46in the last few years?
0:50:49 > 0:50:51Right, that confused me, then,
0:50:51 > 0:50:54because you were doing the international sign for "no".
0:50:54 > 0:50:56There was a lot of "no" action there. Yeah.
0:51:29 > 0:51:33'Since being in Kolkata, I've heard the term "adda" being used
0:51:33 > 0:51:37'to describe a uniquely Kolkata phenomenon.'
0:51:37 > 0:51:38I don't know what adda is.
0:51:38 > 0:51:42Can you explain to me? I keep hearing about it but what is adda?
0:51:42 > 0:51:43ALL TALK AT ONCE
0:51:43 > 0:51:46Oh, now, OK! Oh, it's good?
0:51:46 > 0:51:48- Adda, adda.- Is this it? This is adda?
0:51:48 > 0:51:50- This is adda.- This is adda.
0:51:50 > 0:51:52- This is adda?- This is adda.
0:51:52 > 0:51:54I'm in the middle of adda right now?
0:51:54 > 0:51:56THEY LAUGH
0:51:56 > 0:51:59- This is adda.- So what is... What is it? Is it just a feeling?
0:51:59 > 0:52:01Is it a... What is it?
0:52:05 > 0:52:08Story, story. Variety, story.
0:52:08 > 0:52:10What, so what does adda - one word, what does adda mean to you?
0:52:10 > 0:52:12Freshness.
0:52:12 > 0:52:14Freshness? I like that. How about you?
0:52:16 > 0:52:19Fresh air? I'll allow you that as one word cos we'll hyphenate it.
0:52:20 > 0:52:21Energy?
0:52:23 > 0:52:24I like!
0:52:27 > 0:52:28Just one word!
0:52:30 > 0:52:33- Happiness.- Happiness.- Happiness.
0:52:33 > 0:52:35- Happy.- Happy.
0:52:35 > 0:52:36I've just spilt a lot of tea on me
0:52:36 > 0:52:39but it doesn't matter, I'm in an adda frame of mind.
0:52:39 > 0:52:41No, it's good! It doesn't matter!
0:52:41 > 0:52:42That's OK.
0:52:42 > 0:52:44Where I come from, we're not very bright.
0:52:44 > 0:52:45We think you drink like this.
0:52:47 > 0:52:49What's wrong with that?
0:52:49 > 0:52:51This is adda, this is adda!
0:52:54 > 0:52:56THEY LAUGH
0:53:04 > 0:53:07We're doing a remake of Michael Jackson's Thriller.
0:53:20 > 0:53:21WOMEN ULULATE
0:53:23 > 0:53:25In this city of change,
0:53:25 > 0:53:29the past, present and future of India co-exist.
0:53:29 > 0:53:32But there is one thing that is constant -
0:53:32 > 0:53:36God. Or, rather, gods. There are hundreds of them everywhere.
0:53:38 > 0:53:41The Hooghly River is a branch of the mighty Ganges
0:53:41 > 0:53:44and Hindus consider its waters to be just as holy.
0:53:49 > 0:53:52Religion flows through every part of the city's life
0:53:52 > 0:53:55and is the reason that Kolkata exists at all.
0:53:59 > 0:54:03Before anything, before the British Empire, before partition,
0:54:03 > 0:54:05before Lamborghinis and high-rises
0:54:05 > 0:54:07and the accursed invention of the car horn,
0:54:07 > 0:54:09there was this place - Kalighat Temple.
0:54:12 > 0:54:16Kalighat Temple is one of the most important spiritual sites in India.
0:54:16 > 0:54:21A million pilgrims from all over the subcontinent flock here every year
0:54:21 > 0:54:24to make offerings to the great goddess Kali.
0:54:24 > 0:54:26I actually think most of them are here today.
0:54:27 > 0:54:29So Kali is a domestic goddess,
0:54:29 > 0:54:32a little bit like a Hindi spiritual version of Nigella Lawson,
0:54:32 > 0:54:34and people come here for very practical things,
0:54:34 > 0:54:38like, you know, they want a new fridge-freezer or, in my case,
0:54:38 > 0:54:40a new system of traffic management.
0:54:41 > 0:54:44Before I leave, I'm going to brave the crowds
0:54:44 > 0:54:48to try to make an offering to the great goddess herself.
0:54:48 > 0:54:50No-one's ever filmed in the inner temple before.
0:54:50 > 0:54:52We've got billions of permission slips
0:54:52 > 0:54:55but I have absolutely no idea if any of them are going to be valid.
0:54:55 > 0:54:58I mean, what idiotic country gifted India their bureaucratic system?
0:55:01 > 0:55:04I'm here to meet Vutha, a priest and temple guide.
0:55:04 > 0:55:07This is offering to goddess Kali,
0:55:07 > 0:55:11and holy tree, for your family person's name, peace and happiness.
0:55:11 > 0:55:15- So when I see Kali, three eyes. - Three eyes.- Black tongue.
0:55:15 > 0:55:19- One long tongue.- I give the flowers, and I light the incense.
0:55:21 > 0:55:23SHOUTING
0:55:23 > 0:55:27Single, single, single, single!
0:55:27 > 0:55:28'Once inside, it's mayhem.
0:55:28 > 0:55:32'A heaving, pushing, pulling mass of bodies trying to
0:55:32 > 0:55:35'crush into the inner temple to make an offering to the Kali idol.'
0:55:40 > 0:55:42- Come.- Absolute chaos.
0:55:45 > 0:55:47'Apparently, Kali's in there somewhere
0:55:47 > 0:55:50'but it's so packed we can't get through the door
0:55:50 > 0:55:52'and the sheer volume of people sweeps us past.'
0:55:54 > 0:55:56SHOUTING
0:55:58 > 0:56:02I'm not sure if Kali got my... my prayer, but she did get my money.
0:56:07 > 0:56:10'In the relative calm of the second altar chamber,
0:56:10 > 0:56:12'beneath a holy tree, we make another offering.'
0:56:14 > 0:56:17- Namaste Kali.- Namaste Kali.
0:56:17 > 0:56:20- Namaste Shiva.- Namaste Shiva.
0:56:20 > 0:56:22- I come to you.- I come to you.
0:56:22 > 0:56:24- Pray to you.- Pray to you.
0:56:24 > 0:56:26- For my family.- For my family.
0:56:26 > 0:56:28- In our world.- In our world.
0:56:28 > 0:56:30- Peace and happiness. - Peace and happiness.
0:56:30 > 0:56:33- Om shanti.- Om shanti. - Om shanti.- Om shanti.
0:56:33 > 0:56:35- Shanti shanti.- Shanti shanti.
0:56:35 > 0:56:38Shanti means peace and happiness.
0:56:38 > 0:56:39Om shanti.
0:56:39 > 0:56:41- OK?- I feel very blessed.
0:56:45 > 0:56:48It's a quintessentially Kolkatan experience -
0:56:48 > 0:56:52chaotic, bewildering and extraordinary all at once.
0:56:55 > 0:56:58So in the West we're used to religious experiences being quiet
0:56:58 > 0:57:01and contemplative things, in locked and cool churches,
0:57:01 > 0:57:04but here it's a cross between a market, a rally
0:57:04 > 0:57:07and just a plain old-fashioned bunfight. It's...
0:57:07 > 0:57:11All your senses are simultaneously bombarded, which is ironic,
0:57:11 > 0:57:15I suppose, since Kali is the goddess who purifies your senses,
0:57:15 > 0:57:18so I'm in need of huge purification right now.
0:57:19 > 0:57:21It's the perfect end to my adventures
0:57:21 > 0:57:23in this most beguiling of cities.
0:57:30 > 0:57:34You know, I'd be lying if I said that I'd enjoyed all my time here.
0:57:34 > 0:57:37I found some of it extremely difficult, challenging
0:57:37 > 0:57:38and painful to be a part of,
0:57:38 > 0:57:40but the feeling I'm left with
0:57:40 > 0:57:44is of this volume of people living in a small space and coexisting
0:57:44 > 0:57:48no matter what their race, creed, what their social status is,
0:57:48 > 0:57:51and you know, Kolkata may not be able to teach us
0:57:51 > 0:57:52anything about peace,
0:57:52 > 0:57:56but I do believe we've got a lot to learn from it about tolerance.
0:57:56 > 0:57:59Kolkata is changing at an astonishing pace,
0:57:59 > 0:58:03emerging from its colonial past into a prosperous new future.
0:58:06 > 0:58:10It is a dazzling place, truly a City of Joy.
0:58:12 > 0:58:15I just hope that as it develops and grows, it can hang on to
0:58:15 > 0:58:19the beautiful, crazy eccentricity that makes it so unique.
0:58:21 > 0:58:24I haven't met one person, whatever their social circumstance,
0:58:24 > 0:58:27not one person that hasn't had a smile on their face
0:58:27 > 0:58:31or had something good to say about the world, and for that reason...
0:58:31 > 0:58:34I think the future of India is radiant.