Bharat Mata Ki Jai, the Beginnings
Documentary (Historical Drama) – 80 minutes, 1988. Directed by Shyam Benegal. Hindi w/subtitles in English
Coinciding with the Independence Day of India, we’re showing the first two episodes of the series “Discovery of India” based on the book by Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru. The first episode begins with the story of India starting from the ancient civilizations in the valley of the River Sindhu (Indus), which has lent its name to India and Hindu. To Nehru, there is something unique about the continuity of a cultural tradition that spans 5000 years of an unbroken history. It goes on to examine the question of what defines the idea of India with its vastness and diversity, its rivers and seas, with her richness of life and its renunciation, of growth and decay, of birth and death.
It takes us through the caves of Ajanta that tell us about India’s culture, the forts of Agra and Delhi where the stories from India’s past emerge and through Saranath, near Varanasi, where one could almost hear the Buddha’s first sermon.
The second episode looks at the people of the Indus Valley and its cities to see the link between modern India and the birth of a civilization around the ancient cities of Mohenjo Daro and Harappa five millennia ago. How did that India connect to other ancient civilizations of Persia, Mesopotamia and Egypt? Who were the Indus people and where did they come from? What could be the possibilities to fill in the many gaps in this 5000-year-old story?
Slowly, we see the long panorama of India’s history unfolding itself before us with its ups and downs, its triumphs and tragedies from the perspective of the man who was the first prime minister of India.