Exploration India

Three 13-year-olds go on a trip of a lifetime to explore the geography of India. Dua, Amalia and Nayan find out what life is really like for the people of India. They take a cruise down the Ganges river, play cricket in an Indian village, visit a remarkable school and go to work with young Indians. The students experience life in two contrasting centres - Patna, a very traditional Indian city, and Bangalore, one of India's fastest growing cities and a place which has a far more westernised feel.

As they cruise on the mighty Ganges, the students discover how the river supports life across the whole of northern India. However the river is under threat from increased pollution and the blind river dolphin is becoming an endangered species. Most of India's population lives in the countryside where the teenagers discover that life is very different from anything they have experienced elsewhere. However, the most basic technology is now having a huge impact on rural livelihoods.

In Bangalore, they experience the working lives of a PR manager in a modern factory, a stallholder who spends his day serving homemade food and a computer-gaming entrepreneur. The teenagers are surprised to discover the opportunities that exist there and also discover how Bangalore has expanded and swallowed surrounding towns and villages. They see two sides of the city, experiencing the more affluent middle class lifestyle and life in the slums where families live in single-room homes.

At the end of their trip, the students visit a unique school that has taken a handful of children from the most deprived communities and given them access to an education that has transformed their lives. The students learn about caste and the impact it has on children's lives.

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S2015E214 - Lord Palmerston Lecture